Project Rika

[Demon I Am]

lots of great progress. I want new seatbelts!

[—tsingson—]

Great progress so far! Glad to see this build back from the dead.

[Sarah]

Following on from above we proceeded to finish up bolting it in place.



From there we went on to trim the tin parcel shelf panel, this was easily completed with tin snips, then the carpet was trimmed and fitted. Some people don't bother refitting the seat belt tower covers, but I decided that I wanted the install them, so I cut them down the corner and refitted them.

So with it all fitted I got a couple of other things done including an oil change and putting on the Summer Wheels (despite having snow on the ground at the moment).

I still have some padding to fit, but wanted to take some photos without it fitted first.









As always a special thanks to my Dad who helps me on all of these bigger jobs.

[WASABI]

Great job! The install looks good.

[treeafodo]

Your attention to detail is pretty good on this build.

[Sarah]

Hi All

Its been over 2 years since I posted anything on here. Over the last 2 years I have bought a house, got into cycling, and a returned to other hobbies that I enjoyed when I was younger and don't involve cars.

But recently I have been getting the motivation to start giving Rika some more attention. I don't drive Rika every day any more, she is a weekend car, she has become the toy that I always wanted. I no longer need a car, I have a car because I want one.

So last time you saw me put the roll bar in, that stayed in the car for just over a year and then got removed, due to the MOT tester being a bit of an arse about it. I fully intended on putting it back in, but over a year later its not been reinstalled. I have been thinking about selling it, but I'm still not sure.

So I mentioned getting into cycling, generally these cars and carrying bikes in them are considered in compatible, like some others before me I manage it by removing the passenger seat.

Out for a ride with my mountain bike


Shortly after the last update back in 2013 I got new middle and upper timing belt covers to replace the originals that were damaged.


And the valve cover coat stripped back and painted red.


With the car getting used less often I got a battery cut of thing for her, saves my battery going flat, as sometimes Rika sits around for 2 weeks and more without a drive.

At the last MOT in May they advised the brake hard lines were getting corroded. So I replaced all of the main brake lines with copper. I still need to do the fuel lines as they been noted as well, I have the stuff to do it with, just need to get round to it.


Over the last few months rika has been suffering from coolant leaks. The issue is with the kevlar reinforced coolant hoses that I got from autolink. These are only about 4 years old, and replaced the 21 year old original rubber ones back when I go the car. They have cracked badly and have now caused 2 leaks

Top hose


Heater hose


I have already had to replace the inlet manifold hoses. Today was the turn of the top hose and the heater hoses, new ones are silicone MX5parts hoses.


Full shot of the engine bay


Got at set of 14' OEM BBS alloys for a not a lot of ££

They are in ok condition, only one bit of kerb damage on one of them, no centre caps, but I have some on the way.

Just need to decide if they are going to get refurbed, or just get some tyres and get them on.

[Sarah]

With the weather starting to warm up I got a couple of things done on the car.

First off was a quick cosmetic change. I managed to get some roadster sill plates so I changed from these stick on ones from MX5 parts and went to OEM style ones. I got them off ebay for not a lot of ££, and they polished up really well. Very happy with these.





The other job I got done was in preparation for the cars MOT in May. On the last MOT the fuel feed and return hard lines were noted as having in their words "severe rust". It was only an advisory but I decided not to risk a fuel leak or a MOT failure from them. So I bought 25ft of Copper/Nickle pipe 5/16'' pipe and set about replacing them. With them out of the car this is the rust the MOT mentioned.


I cut the original return pipe just by the fuel filter area, just before it goes up behind the fuel tank. The new piping was bent to match the original items out of the car. The ends of the new pipe and the cut end of the return pipe was flared to give a good solid mounting for the new J30 R9 grade fuel hose with new clips.



With everything put back in the car I reattached the Fuel pump relay, primed the system by bridging the F/P and GND pins in the diagnostic plug. Checked for leaks (there were non), and then started her up, she started as normal

Much more work planned to follow in April as the weather improves further.

[Demon I Am]

Great work!

[Sarah]

So it time to tackle a little rust that has just started to develop before it becomes a real problem.

Today I cut out a small bit towards the rear part of the frame rail on the drivers side close to the fuel filter. Here is a seam that has rusted through.



Got it cut out with a combination of the angle grinder and my Dremel with a cutting disc on. Cleaned up with a power file.



Sprayed with weld through primer and a new bit of metal welded in, welds ground down a little and sprayed with high zinc primer.



Not bad for and afternoons work. Need to finish this repair,then more rust areas tackle tomorrow.

It been a while since I last did any welding and it took me a while to dial in my welding again. Glad it was in a hard to see area.

[Sarah]

Another day and more rust. This time the usual bit on the back of the drivers side sill.

The top layer of metal that is the bottom of the wing was cut out. I accidental cut in the inner part of the sill here and had to run a bit of weld down the cuts to ensure strength remains in this solid metal. I applied rust converter (Rustbuster FE-123) which seems to work extremely well. I have made up the repair sections, and have coated the inner metal with weld through primer, ready for welding in in the morning.



More to follow tomorrow.

[Sarah]

Today I got the new metal welded in, the weld ground down.



I then put in some seam sealer down at the forward edge of the patch in the same location as the original seam. Then came some zinc rich primer, a little filler to smooth things off and primed, ready for top coat tomorrow.



Also today I made a repair to one of the hangers for the exhaust, to extend the life of my mild steel exhaust until I get the chance to fit the stainless steel one I have stored in the loft.

[Demon I Am]

Wow, I wish I had bodywork skills! Great job, so far.

[Sarah]

Wow, I wish I had bodywork skills! Great job, so far.

Thank you , its all about just having a go.

Another day and more rust.

Today I started on the passenger side. This is what it looks like before I started.



Doesn't look too bad, but looks are deceiving when it comes to this area on these cars. I cut out the bottom section of the wing and dealt with the surface rust on the inner structure with Rusbuster FE-123 rust converter. Then over painted that with weld through primer. It was every bit as bad as the other side, perhaps worse. I am certainly glad that I am in time to save the inner structure on both sides.



I have got a new piece of metal cut, bent and drilled for plug welding, ready to be welded in tomorrow. This also has weld through primer on the reverse side.



I have started with the top coat on the drivers side, but a problem with a faulty can of paint means this won't be completed until tomorrow now. More to come tomorrow.

[Sarah]

This update comes a day later than planned due to issues with paint on the drivers side meaning I worked on the car way into the evening yesterday. The paint may still need more attention on the drivers side but its not too bad for now.

Anyway back to the passenger side process. The metal was tacked in and the wheel arch shape achieved by making relief cuts before bending it over and trimming to size.



Then it was welded up fully, the welds ground down and the seam sealer put in at the front edge.



A coat of zinc rich primer followed by a small amount of filler to smooth the welds so that they are invisible once painted. 3 coats of high build primer, then silver coats, and clear coats where need. Finally followed up by spraying the satin finish black coats.

Finished Passenger side, which I am very happy with.



The drivers side came out ok, but not quite as good as the passenger side. Some further attention to the paint will be needed in a couple of weeks time once everything has hardened fully and can be sanded back.



Today I drove back up from my parents place, which is a two hours drive and gave the her a wash once I got home as she was covered in dust from 5 days of body work. MOT booked for the 7th May and i'm back to work tomorrow.

[NCGreasemonkey]

Nice work! If I ever make it to Scotland can I bend an elbow with you to celebrate?