MatosMiata

Nov 27 2017

With everything off, I went to town with sand paper and a spray can

BF11 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



The calipers got painted as well

BF8 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I also greased all the bolts and sliders (these were taped off when I painted them)

BF9 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



BF10 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Nov 27 2017

Once everything was cleaned, painted, and greased, I put it all back together

BF14 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



BF7 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



BF12 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



BF13 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



BF15 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 13 2017

I placed cardboard on one side of my hood and traced the shapes of the hood vents from the opposite side. I used these shapes as templates to cut the mesh grill that will fill them. I laid tape on the mesh and traced the templates onto it. I then drew marks 0.5-0.75" on all sides of the shapes and traced larger outlines (this will be the extra material that sits under the hood and is glued).



PF31 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF32 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF33 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF34 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 13 2017

Of course, the goal here isn't merely to make the car look good. I want it to function perfectly now, so I completely gutted the doors and set about cleaning all the internals.



DF1 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Nothing quite like paint sprayed on top of grease and built up crud lol

DF0 by Jose Matos, on Flickr





All the hardware the shop sprayed over was dumped in paint reducer (the type you use for automotive urethane paints)

DF3 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I dumped the door latch mechanisms in the reducer, followed by a scrubbing and a second bath in Purple Power degreaser (the hardware went in here as well)

DF2 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I then cleaned every last bit of filth off of them and removed all paint

DF4 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



DF3.5 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



The latch mechanisms came out brand new after some scrubbing with a toothbrush

DF6 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 13 2017

I also cleaned all the filth out of the window rail using the left over degreaser and a tooth brush.



DF7 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



DF8 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Make sure to wear goggles if you do this, as degreaser will be flicked everywhere by the brush and it is not kind to the eye!!!!



Post cleaning, I sanded the rails down and hit the steel parts on the bottom with a base coat/clear coat

DF10 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



The finished rails came out pretty good

DF11 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 13 2017

With all of that done, I reinstalled the clean shoulder bolts and delrin window guides onto the windows and used Loctite for the bolts. I tightened them using a T-30 torx and a drill to make sure the bolt wouldn't come out (happened before and the heavy washers in the door sounded like loose coins!)



DF12 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



DF13 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



DF14 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I plan to do a thorough cleaning of the windows later on.

MatosMiata

Dec 13 2017

Meanwhile, my two black hooded cars just sit around waiting for the Miata to rejoin them in frolicking about the streets...



BH1 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 16 2017

I wanted an engine dress up kit from garage star, but they were sold out. So McMaster it is lol! Best of all, I ordered it Thursday night and got it Saturday morning in typical McMaster fashion.



PF35 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



These were needed badly in order to replace the junk bolts the body shop put on the fenders

PF36 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 16 2017

I had purposely delivered the car without bolts for the fenders in hopes that they would both paint the fenders off the car and leave them off for me to install. Part of why I wanted to install them myself was to avoid this foolishness:



PF37 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Of course, they mindlessly over tightened bolts on new paint... so of course it cracked there smh.

MatosMiata

Dec 16 2017

Now, the finish washers won't simply fit due to the shape of the upper fender lip. This required me to grind them down in order to get them to sit flush.



PF38 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



However, it isn't enough to simply grind a side flat as the corners won't allow the washer to move over enough and center over the bolt hole



PF39 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



So I ground the corners down after grinding the flat and got them to fit perfectly



PF40 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 16 2017

From there, I removed the cracked paint around the bolt holes and painted them over with a bit of RTV silicone. The fenders have a coating under the paint that should protect them from rust, but I hate rust so I had to be a little draconian lol.



PF41 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Then, I installed the new bolts and washers. It sucks to see a bit of silicone there, but such is life.



PF42 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF43 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I love seeing the nice hardware in random places, like where the fender bolts behind the door [img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]

PF44 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 16 2017

I also noticed a flap behind my seat which allowed me to access the wire that goes to the door. I picked up a new door sensor at the junkyard and connected it, so I finally have a door sensor. Seems like such an insignificant thing, but it has always bothered me that the car didn't have it.



DF15 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 27 2017

I took my headlights out and hit them with my pressure washer



PF45 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Then, I let them dry

PF46 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Followed by hanging on my rack for paint (I still have the buckets on here, I took them off before paint)



PF47 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



They look really good in low gloss black (VHT roll bar and chassis paint)

PF48 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 27 2017

My engine bay was also looking messy, so I hit it with the pressure washer in order to get it clean for paint. It was interesting to realize my radiator has a gold zinc plating on it.

PF49 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF50 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I hit the bay with black paint

PF51 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF52 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF53 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 27 2017

The trunk was also looking messy. I had cleaned some crappy battery terminals I had before and this left an orange mess all over the trunk.

PF54 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I sandblasted the whole trunk and then tested this new Duplicolor trunk paint. I found that it's basically a clear with grit in it, so I had to do the trunk in black before spraying this over it

PF55 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF56 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



It was too bright out to photograph properly, but it looks great in person

PF57 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



The cap gives you a better idea of what it looks like

PF58 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



PF59 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I always grab trunk breathers whenever I find them in Miatas at the junker

PF60 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



So, a new trunk breather went in

PF61 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Along with new breather tubes(come with the battery)

PF62 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



As did this sweet, golden trunk latch I also pulled at the junkyard (with matching gold zinc plated bolts)

PF63 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 27 2017

The hardware holding my trunk lid on was also garbage

PF64 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



So I replaced the nuts with nice ones from the junkyard (I have quite a collection of golden bolts and nuts from junkyard Miatas)

PF65 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



I'll be sure to repaint the trunk brackets later, since they aren't looking so good

PF66 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 28 2017

Changed out the hardware that holds the lights in. The gold makes a nice contrast with the black of the engine bay.

PF71 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Lights back in

PF72 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

PF73 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Put the plastic pieces back in as well

PF74 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 28 2017

The headlight buckets and the front window guides (the ones that also hold in the triangle windows) were terribly rusted, so they got a sandblasting and paint

PF75 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Rusted areas stripped

PF76 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Primered

PF77 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Painted

PF78 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 28 2017

Rather than watching paint dry, I went to town with more nice hardware

PF79 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



and put my coolant and windshield reservoirs back in

PF80 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

PF81 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

MatosMiata

Dec 28 2017

I also cleaned out the carpets. I started by removing the cardboard backing and sound deadening fuzz from the trunk carpet.

PF82 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



The adhesive that holds on the fuzz can be removed with a little love from a 0° nozzle and some peeling by hand

PF84 by Jose Matos, on Flickr

PF85 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Nothing like a pressure washer for cleaning carpets [img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]

PF83 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



A foam cannon helps too

PF86 by Jose Matos, on Flickr



Plus, it's the only way to have a white Christmas in Miami

PF87 by Jose Matos, on Flickr