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Thread: My 1995 Brilliant Black NA8C Build Thread

  1. #16
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    Inspiring work, so tempted (again) to tear my car apart! Its so damn satisfying to clean up all that years of dirt. The door cleaning is also great, but I guess eventually you will need to put that moisture barrier back.

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  3. #17
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! Greasemonkey2000's Avatar
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    Great work as usual, Steve and boy what a start! Looking forward to seeing what all you do.

    Another really good product to remove residues(including road tar) is Citrol which is a citrus based cleaner and can be used for removing odors in carpets or upholstery.
    '01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
    '97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
    Instagram: @greasemonkey2000

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  5. #18
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! zco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BRGNA8 View Post
    The car needed a drop badly and I managed to get these off Zico as he was getting rid of these to make way for his Tein Monosports..
    MonoRacing ;) haha

    Great updates Steve! Can't wait to get that car together ASAP!

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  7. #19
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! dnaha's Avatar
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    Your meticulousness is inspiring! Love how thorough you are with your cars. Seeing this reminds me that my Miata could also probably use a clean and refresh like this too
    Follow My Build Thread!
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    1997 Mazda Miata M-Edition
    http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....1997-M-Edition
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    On Instagram: @97NA8M

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  9. #20
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MaRcOp01o View Post
    This was so so satisfying to read through I didn't want it to end.

    The Eunos needs this, when I get some time and save up a little I will be sure to follow in your foot steps haha.
    Quote Originally Posted by tsingson View Post
    I am so happy to see that black goo gone. I have been looking for something to clean it off and now I know something that works for sure. I will be doing mine soon now. I can't wait to read what is coming next!
    Quote Originally Posted by HarryB View Post
    Inspiring work, so tempted (again) to tear my car apart! Its so damn satisfying to clean up all that years of dirt. The door cleaning is also great, but I guess eventually you will need to put that moisture barrier back.
    Quote Originally Posted by Greasemonkey2000 View Post
    Great work as usual, Steve and boy what a start! Looking forward to seeing what all you do.

    Another really good product to remove residues(including road tar) is Citrol which is a citrus based cleaner and can be used for removing odors in carpets or upholstery.
    Thanks guys! Harry, yes, i will be putting some new OEM moisture barriers.

    Quote Originally Posted by zco View Post
    MonoRacing ;) haha

    Great updates Steve! Can't wait to get that car together ASAP!
    Me neither. Then, I can start on the engine and focus on getting that running right hahaha!

    Quote Originally Posted by dnaha View Post
    Your meticulousness is inspiring! Love how thorough you are with your cars. Seeing this reminds me that my Miata could also probably use a clean and refresh like this too
    Thanks mate!

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  11. #21
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    The OEM sound deadening in the boot smelled a bit...funny. Don't know why, but it just didnt smell right. I realised that it was coming from the insulation carpet. I decided to take the insulation off, but the glue residue remained. I didn't have any dry ice (which would have been MUCH easier in hindsight) so I just used what I knew worked : WD40. This is definitely NOT something I want to do again as it took probably 3x longer than what it would have done if I had just went and got dry ice. Instead, my smartass decided to use a plastic scraper, WD40 and shit tonne of elbow grease.

    Work in progress.



    Finally, through the magic of photos, it looks like it took no time at all. Trust me, this process wasn't fun. After taking the goo off the doors and now in the boot, I'm done getting rid of 25 year old goo...



    I will be putting down some fresh sound deadening and insulation. I'm thinking I should just spray the boot with some Lizardskin product, but going to look at all options.

    Now, on to the dash frame.

    The dash has now been out for a while but I never did anything with it. It was now time to take the frame out and give it a good refresh. The frame itself had a lot of brown surface rust on it and it would be a crime to put that back into the car now that I have seen it. Yes, the bar will never be seen once installed back on the dash, but if I don't do anything now I know that it will eventually eat away at me, with my conscious continually asking "why didn't you fix it when you had the chance?!"

    Metal dash frame out with the factory wiring still attached



    Metal dash frame only



    Used Rust Guard's rust converter. This stuff is awesome! Just use a brush to lay a thin coating over it and watch the reaction taking place. Make sure you double/triple glove up because this stuff can get nasty if you get it on your skin.



    After about 30-40 minutes, here is the result.



    After the metal frame had been washed to get rid of the residual rust converter, I gave the frame a good sanding with different grit sandpaper. I forgot to take photos at this point because I was just in the zone. Sanding the frame makes the paint easier to "stick" to. Really, if you wanted to go all out, you should really etch primer the bar, sand it back and then apply the paint but I didn't really see the need, seeing as how well the frame turned out with just the rust converter applied.

    Rust Guard's gloss aluminium epoxy enamel. I laid about 5-6 layers of this on the frame, multiple light coats.



    Work in progress. I had some other metal parts that I decided to get painted in the same paint, such as the battery brackets.



    Result.



    I will be refreshing the dash as well with new crashpads and also possibly looking at laying down some leather on top. Stay tuned!

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  13. #22
    Super Moderator tsingson's Avatar
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    Looks so good.

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  15. #23
    Idling - Listen to it purr...
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    Awesome thread, I'll be taking note since i have a black 1995 NA8 as well!!!

  16. #24
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! LagBlu's Avatar
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    What a nice work here and good to have a helping hand from Zico.
    Keep up the work, love it.

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  18. #25
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Time to restore the dash. I'm well aware of the amazing write up that Adam of Revlimiter did when he was doing a restoration on his NA6 dash to put into Sharka, and I was going to go down the same path of getting the top of the dash covered in leather. But, right now I just need the car back down the road so since the dash was still in very good condition and the plastics were holding up, I decided to breathe new life into the black plastics by giving them a few coats of plastic paint.

    Dash out. I didn't take a photo of it but on the top of the dash, there were a few marks left behind from what appeared to be some sort of attachment which was affixed to the top of the dash with what seemed like very strong double stick tape and by pulling it off, it slightly damaged the dash. Luckily, it wasn't major and the rest of the dash was still perfectly fine and intact for the most part.



    New OEM crashpads waiting to be installed once dash has been refurbished.



    Prepping the dash, getting it ready for paint.



    Sanded the top of the dash with 800 grit and 1000 grit sand paper and sprayed the top of the dash with brake cleaner to get rid of as much of the factory paint which was on the dash. Got the other plastic parts prepped and ready as well.



    After prepping the plastic and getting the surface nice and clean ready for paint, I gave the dash as well as the plastics four coats of satin black from a spray can.



    Result. Thoroughly impressed with how this all turned out!



    Can you see where the problem area of the dash was?



    Closeup. If you notice, there is a small "smooth" area which doesn't have the graining pattern like the rest of the dash. I had to sand the problem area of the dash down using 1500 grit sandpaper, then 2000 grit, then 5000 grit. Unless you go right up to it, you can't notice it.



    Battery brackets and other metal bits refurbished.


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  20. #26
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! LagBlu's Avatar
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    Looks really good.
    would like to do the same in the future with my dashboard and the metal under it. Unfortunately there is a little crack above in my dashboard.
    First of all I have to change my rain rail next time.

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    BRGNA8 (04-04-2020)

  22. #27
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    It's been a while since I've updated this thread. However, I've been posting updates on my Instagram @95na8c

    Dash painted. I still want at least one more coat of SEM paint. Still can't get over how well this came out.



    Decided to swap out the wipers. I'm going to keep these and refurbish them.



    OEM Wipers with Bosch BBE450 wiper blades.



    Can't forget the caps!



    Installed.



    New shipment of OEM ordered parts!



    Brand new Polarg B1 Hybrid bulbs for the rear tail lights.



    Painted the boot. Came out really well! I'm still going to sound deaden this eventually though.



    Surface rust near battery area now gone. The yellow is the reflection from a yellow microfibre cloth wrapped around the battery terminal.



    Installed the refurbished battery brackets and brand new OEM battery holder.





    Pulled out the heater box, blower and AC box.



    The ECU cover had a bit of surface rust and corrosion on there. Gave it a quick sanding down, and a lick of silver aluminium epoxy enamel.



    Came out awesome.



    Took out the blower, the foam had seen better days and it was filthy.



    Dead leaves stuck in the fins of the blower.



    25 years of dust and dirt.



    Insert puke emoji here.



    Closeup.



    After cleaning it with a cloth and warm water, much better.



    New foam laid down.



    Also on the connector clips.



    NB Heater box fully refurbished with new foam everywhere and aluminium heater core, cleaned out blower box and new foam.



    Installed back in the car.





    Wiring attached to the refurbished metal dash frame. Wires had to be held against the frame with zip ties.



    Before re-attaching the frame to the dash, my SEM paint came in the mail. Gave it one more coat all around. In total, the dash, glovebox and associated plastics have received 4 layers of SEM paint.



    Dash, wiring and frame back together as one. Brand new OEM cigarette lighter installed too (what a little bitch to install!)



    As the day turned into night, had just enough time to fit the ARRIVE intake pipe to see how it would look. Looking to powercoat this in black like I did with 96BRG.


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  24. #28
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    A new day, and I couldn't stand the car being so dirty anymore. So, I pushed the car out on to the driveway and decided to give it a much needed clean. I can say for sure that it'll most definitely be requiring a paint correction and proper full detail. Swirl and spider web city!



    Changing out the little things.











    Changing the spark plugs to NGK Iridium IX spark plugs. Look how fouled they are.



    Also changing the ignition leads to OEM Mazda.



    Dash was now back in the car, with a massive help from Zico. Installing the dash is definitely easier when doing it with two people. Turned the key and it started! Success!



    Decided to drain the coolant. After fully flushing out the coolant from the cooling system by pumping it through with water and letting it run until the water came out clear, Zico gave me this bottle of Thermocure. Thermocure removes rust scale and deposits from radiators, water pumps, water jackets, engine blocks, and heads. Rust and corrosion act an insulator and cause vehicles to overheat. This clears away that rust and restores the cooling system to normal working condition and restores the engine’s ability to transfer heat to the coolant, allowing engines to run cooler and essentially last longer. Idea is that once the radiator has been completely flushed from the old coolant, add the whole 1 litre bottle in to the radiator with about 8 litres of water. Let it run for a few days and then flush out. I'm planning to flush the Thermocure and replace the radiator with a Koyorad radiator and OEM coolant and heater hoses so that the cooling system will have a solid foundation when I add the new fresh coolant.



    After cleaning the engine bay after the coolant had been flushed out and Thermocure in the car.



    The final pieces to the interior puzzle.



    Brand new OEM Crashpad was first to be installed. You will need to add silicone or similar get the crashpad to bond with the dash. Usually, there are little clips holding the crashpad in place, but some of mine had broken off simply due to the age of the dash.





    Brand new OEM tombstone and cluster hood cover on.



    Brand new OEM centre console and auto power window switches and hand brake handle.



    Great success!



    Brand new OEM rubber pedals installed.



    Updating the cluster lights with LED bulbs.





    Modified vs OEM+.



    I'm extremely happy that I've reached this milestone and happy to have both cars under the one garage roof. One is a weekender, restomodded with a vintage inspired theme, the other is a work in progress with the aim of a complete OEM+ restoration along with a few personal touches. Both the same, but both very different. However, you still have the same outcome, and that is they're both very fun cars to drive. After driving this black NA around the neighbourhood, I realised just how zippy 96BRG is. Maybe it's because the black car still has an exhaust leak which needs to be fixed and perhaps a busted O2 sensor, but also I believe a lightened flywheel, a free flowing exhaust, upgraded intake pipe and advanced timing to +14 is what makes the BRG so responsive. It isn't until you drive them back to back that you realise how good even a stock MX5 feels. Suspension upgrade has begun with the Tein Flex Z coilovers, but soon it will have a completely refurbished set of upper and lower control arms, any rust removed and painted in satin black, brand new OEM bushings all around along with Mazdaspeed engine and diff mounts, and of course, frame rails and bracing. Still so much to do, but thoroughly enjoying this process! My wallet on the other hand...

    Many thanks again to Zico for giving up his time and helping me out with the removal and install of the dash and picking up OEM parts and stuff on my behalf!

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  26. #29
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    On the next episode of Project OEM restoration: fixing the "big 3" grounding cables, starting with this bastard...


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  28. #30
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    Every time I read this thread I feel that (a) I do everything wrong and (b) this puts Mazda's restoration programme to shame.

    Where is that grounding point BTW?

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