Miata repair and paint job

My car was hit twice while parked outside and no amount of wax would buff this dent out. Luck would have it so it was the same front fender being hit each time but I think the attachment points underneath was moved a millimeter or two.. 

The worst part was how the fender made cuts into my tire as I drove, and it was a terrible sound! Also since the paint on this car is so bad after many years in the hyper bright California sun and parking on San Francisco streets I decided to give it new paint also. 

Here is the new front fender, in black primer which is very thin so I decided to give it an extra layer of primer before mounting it.

Front lamps was damaged by flying debris or a rock at some point and was full of water and dust.

Front bumper assembly had to be loosened in order to access the last bolt holding the front fender in place.

Front fender is off!

New fender is on!

Mattias came out to help me with the doors. He helped me remove the mirrors and the door handles, but first he had to remove the inside door panels. Not pain free! He also helped me remove lights and was kind to collect all parts in labeled plastic bags. He is pretty awesome!

You may also notice in this picture that the lower part of the car is white-ish. Thats because while the replacement fender is completely smooth, the car's original paint has a very bumpy orange peel looking paint on the lower part. I always hated the look of this so I decided to remove it by sanding it down. Now the whole car will be smooth when it is finished.
While initially expected to be a one weekend job, this job is has blown into a big one, it has now ballooned into its 4th or 5th week, and Im still looking at another 4-5 full days of work. Which in reality means another 3-4 weeks before it is done.
The reasons for taking so long are many. More than a few problems came up during the fender repair due to the damage to the car, so instead of taking 30-40 minutes to do the swap it took something like 6-7 hours over several days.
Going over the car more closely also revealed more problems with small dents that had to be filled and sanded as well as problems with the front bumper cover which had rotten paint that had to be completely removed. Im not sure if I was misinformed or missed an important part of the information I was given but you cant just use any type of paint remover on painted plastic parts and my result was swelling plastic..
I solved these problems but it all adds up and slows me down. This last week has also been incredibly cold (for California) and has further slowed down the process because the body filler takes much longer to cure, paint takes longer to dry, and it is just plain uncomfortable, but you can work really hard without breaking a sweat!

As cold as it gets

These mornings are extremely cold, as evidenced by the ice on my car in the morning. 

Brrr!

New top!

So its that time again, rain is here! My top has been a bit leaky in the last few years, but since it doesnt rain here all that much, I have just parked it in the garage on those days. However over the summer the rear plastic window really started getting difficult to see through, it looked like a frosted window, more suitable as a bathroom window. I tried to fix it, but it didn't really work. A new top was ordered - with a real glass window this time, and I also had it tinted. The top is made of black canvas that's sandwiched over a rubber core and with canvas backing. Needless to say the new top looks awesome and it also cuts down on the wind noise quite a bit compared to the old thin vinyl top. Here are a couple of before and after shots I took today. 

The new top looks super clean, as if grafted from a new Porsche or something, and the rest of my car looks a bit tired now in comparison... 

There was several open holes and gaps in the old top, as seen in the image above - directly above the seat you see a tear with daylight shining through. You can also see how frosted the rear window was. Not safe!!
An added bonus with the tinted glass is that, at night, cars behind me dont blind me as the rear view mirror.

Towed

Okey, some of you may know my car was vandalized some time last week while parked outside our apt building. Basically they made a mess and tried to steal my car - and failed, but managed to break the ignition on the steering column. No longer able to insert the key or start the car I had to have it fixed. It is now at PR Motorsport in Hayward getting a new ignition lock.
I have always left my car unlocked and empty for days like this; no need to cut through the top.

Long Lost Loves

The day of our wedding in Delaware, Pete presented me with this awesome, awesome camera that had so many features I was in love with. And I loved it so much. But after our trip to Carmel in June, I couldn't find it anywhere. I last had it in his car, but it was no where to be found.

UNTIL THURSDAY. When he found it far under the seat of the car. It's black and so is the interior, so it was hard to see.

But here it is! HAPPY DAY!!!

Nice weekend

We had a great weekend get away / honeymoon to Carmel and Big Sur. We drove down with the top down and loved every minute of it. I have been to Big Sur several times and was excited to show the sights to Heather.

We headed west up the sinuous mountain road and stayed on HWY 1 all the way to Monterey where we stopped for cookies, then we followed the coast to Carmel which was at its loveliest. Searching Yelp we found a great italian restaurant and had a very memorable dinner before we headed to the ranch.

The Carmel Valley Ranch was a pretty swanky place beautifully located on a golf course. The Suite was so large I wish we had more friends with us to share, but the next morning we headed down the coast to Big Sur all the way to Julia Pfeifer State Park. Here we could have stayed longer, but time was running out and we had to get home.

Sunday drive with Mattias

Not easy taking a good picture when driving on a twisty road..
We took a drive up in the hills near Saratoga today, it was really hot, so we kept the convertible top up. Next time I think we need to do this later in the day or when it is not so hot.
I hope Mattias's Porsche is ready then too.

Suspension update 2

I picked up my car Friday afternoon and was very eager to feel the difference. Unfortunately it was raining, so I had to be extremely careful since my tires are so old and crusty. I kept off the highways but I still got a good sense of the change from before I turned the car in.
Previous handling was soft, it absorbed most bumps as a good boat or Buick would do, now things are a bit more firm, maybe a little bumpy, but not harsh. Steering is a lot more direct and the car doesn't roll or feel spongy when I turn in. I also had to get it aligned because all the bushings were changed, which probably improved things a bit also.
Too bad my tires are so slick in the rain, I spun every time I started from a stand still, in second gear!

Suspension update

The Miata has been riding on the springs for a while, which some may say makes for a very comfortable ride (like a Cadillac), but it has also been making weird noises, clunks and rattles. Actually I think the ride has been terrible, and it is not particularly safe either since the tires don't have as good traction when the shocks don't work.
I bit the bullet this week and dropped it off at a mechanic to have him replace the 135.000 mile old bushings, shocks and things like that. Changing the bushings is a pain in the ass and it is kind of a major operation because all the suspension arms, brakes and all has to come off the car. I therefore decided to put in parts that will perform better and last longer while costing about the same as stock (OEM) parts.

The interesting part
Now, the funny thing is that the Miata has somewhat of a cult following. There are hundreds of clubs around the country and a couple good websites that has a wealth of information, I think the best one is Miata.net.
It also has a forum where I met a guy called Bob. I went to see Bob in Cupertino to talk about the suspension and test drive his car to compare with mine, and since he's a retired aircraft mechanic I trust his judgement more than a Regular Joe off the street.

The really intesting part
I mentioned for him in an email yesterday that I had dropped the car off at the mechanic, and the next thing I hear is that he took a trip to the mechanic himself to take a look at it! He even talked to the mechanic and discussed the progress and seemingly made sure things went down well. I am amazed! He even made suggestions to install a special brace to keep a certain bracket from tearing. Wow. Can't wait to see the car on Tuesday.

Smogged

I had to have my car's emissions tested, (a so called smog test) and it passed with great grades. Curiously it passed with better results than two years ago!

Miata update: Meter hood 2

As you may already have read on this blog I have been working on repairing the meter hood on my car, picture above proves I am all finished. I also used some of my leftover leather to fix the big holes that used to be where control arms for the wipers and blinkers are.
Next thing I am going to fix is the windows, they are a bit hard to roll up and down. Im afraid if I leave them as is that the cables my fray and break.