The Long Road Back

[HarryB]

And having the little guy helping out must have been fun; he surely looks excited! I was very lucky that my dad used to do the same with me in every aspect (car, small construction/remodelling works around the house/backyard).

[—Bryan—]

Plugs all look decent except #2, which is why I asked about the damaged coil. Looks like it wasn’t firing as well as the rest.

What's your visual cue? I thought #4 looked pretty rough.

And having the little guy helping out must have been fun; he surely looks excited! I was very lucky that my dad used to do the same with me in every aspect (car, small construction/remodelling works around the house/backyard).

We are all too similar, and he's VERY worried about breaking things. I try to allay those fears while also trying to not make him do anything I think actually could break something. For example, I broke the plugs loose before he got them the rest of the way out so that at least he wouldn't feel like he was responsible if one broke off in the head, lol

[— kung fu jesus —]

The second spark plug picture above, I assume those are plugs # 2 & 3. The top one looks sooty and dark, the threads look a little oily.

The rest look fine for their age/mileage.

[—Bryan—]

The second spark plug picture above, I assume those are plugs # 2 & 3. The top one looks sooty and dark, the threads look a little oily.

The rest look fine for their age/mileage.

Close. Second pic was #1 (top) and #2. For some reason I was a moron and took a picture of #1, #1-2, #1-3, #3, and #4 in that order. I should've taken a pic of each individually.

Same prognosis, though? I was surprised how worn the electrode on #1 was. It was almost half of what was left on #4.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Yeah, hard to tell. Bad lighting and angles. I don’t see much to be worried about. They are just old and worn.

[—Bryan—]

Yeah, hard to tell. Bad lighting and angles. I don’t see much to be worried about. They are just old and worn.

That's what I was thinking.

[—Bryan—]

After a couple hours' driving around, I've come to a startling conclusion...


...There is currently nothing that needs to be fixed on this car.


Aside from regular maintenance, there's nothing glaringly wrong with the car. Even the suspension creak from the rear end went away (seemingly for good) when the car was aligned (I had retorqued the upper A-arm bolts but didn't touch the lowers because I didn't want to throw the alignment off). The updates to the ignition have made it smoother and hopefully even more reliable. I still should probably extract that front bolt for the ignition coil, but it's not an emergency (especially since i have a spare).

Long story short: I think this car is ready to paint. I honestly never thought I'd get this far. I'd hoped for it, but never really prepared myself for the idea that it would actually happen.

Here's to hoping!

[HarryB]

Hats off to you; this is all your doing! Upwards and onwards!

[— kung fu jesus —]

[— kung fu jesus —]

Honestly, repainting your car shouldn’t be terrible.I would assume a good shop will account for fade of the original color. Any shop wanting to do paint straight from the code, walk away.

They will probably paint the entire front clip (bumper, hood, left+right fender+ the driver door to blend it.

If you ever wanted a color-matched hardtop, now would be the time to grab one so it can be done separately at the same time.

#sexswingclub

[—Bryan—]

Honestly, repainting your car shouldn’t be terrible.I would assume a good shop will account for fade of the original color. Any shop wanting to do paint straight from the code, walk away.

They will probably paint the entire front clip (bumper, hood, left+right fender+ the driver door) to blend it.

The entire car needs attention, really. I can't think of a single panel that doesn't need something. Heck, even the trunk floor needs painting to cover some of the surface-rusted holes left from the subwoofer the original owner had drilled holes for for.

Good advice in general, though.

I asked in my local Cars n Coffee group since I know there is a LOT of money in that group and guys who are particular about who touches their car. I can't help but at least hope they won't steer me wrong.

If you ever wanted a color-matched hardtop, now would be the time to grab one so it can be done separately at the same time.

#sexswingclub

Honestly, I'd rather spend the money to get a bikini top. The car sits with its top down 90% of the year (including all winter, depending on what the temp was on the last day of the year I drove it).

[— kung fu jesus —]

I know a good shop here that repainted a friend’s NA for $2k in single stage. He painted another friend’s NA for a bit more, but there was damage involved that needed to be repaired before that happened. A full respray with clear and repairs would be $5 +\-

[—Bryan—]

I know a good shop here that repainted a friend’s NA for $2k in single stage. He painted another friend’s NA for a bit more, but there was damage involved that needed to be repaired before that happened. A full respray with clear and repairs would be $5 +\-

$5k is what I expected, honestly.

[lifebyevan]

I’m super excited for you to move onto paint Bryan. The Tick is ready to be fitted once again with all matching panels haha. I think a $5k budget will get you a really high quality respray. There is another laser blue owner about 2 hours away from me who had clear coat failure and he had an economy level respray on his laser blue Miata. He spent $1200 and from all the pictures he posted online it came out really nice in the end. It did need to be buffed to remove the orange peel but that’s as to be expected with that level of a paint job. I’m sure with your budget it the results will be amazing. Please, if you can, document the extent that they do bodywork and paint prep for you car. I would love to see.

Do you plan on painting the black section you welded on in the engine bay during the repair process?

[—Bryan—]

Do you plan on painting the black section you welded on in the engine bay during the repair process?

I don't know. I'll have to see how that affects things. I'd presume that there'd have to be a lot more disassembly involved.