Ebay wheel arch repair panels?
Discussion
Since I've just paid out for tax and insurance, I think I've managed to justify another year of fun from my MX5!
Unfortunately, after the salty winter, it's looking a bit shabby (but on the whole, pretty good for a 91 UK car on 128K miles!), and so needs a bit of TLC (the usual arch tidying). The driver's side looks like it will be fine with a small patch, so no trouble there. The passenger side, however has a fair bit of bubbling around the wheel arch, so I was looking into fixing it properly and cutting out the rust and fixing a repair panel. The ones on MX5 parts are £106, which I thought was a touch steep. I was looking about on ebay earlier and found what looks like the same panels for £49.
Has anyone used either of these panels, and were you impressed by the results? Has anyone used the ebay panels and have any comments on fit/quality - should I save the cash on the ebay panel, or is the fit likely to be poorer, so that it would be better to go to mx5parts instead?
Unfortunately, after the salty winter, it's looking a bit shabby (but on the whole, pretty good for a 91 UK car on 128K miles!), and so needs a bit of TLC (the usual arch tidying). The driver's side looks like it will be fine with a small patch, so no trouble there. The passenger side, however has a fair bit of bubbling around the wheel arch, so I was looking into fixing it properly and cutting out the rust and fixing a repair panel. The ones on MX5 parts are £106, which I thought was a touch steep. I was looking about on ebay earlier and found what looks like the same panels for £49.
Has anyone used either of these panels, and were you impressed by the results? Has anyone used the ebay panels and have any comments on fit/quality - should I save the cash on the ebay panel, or is the fit likely to be poorer, so that it would be better to go to mx5parts instead?
I had a chat to my friendly body man, who reckons that the one arch would be best done with a panel (as it would take a while to match the curvature, without needing loads of filler) - so it should take less time and give a better fit... He's now away for a bit (he's semi-retired), so is going to have a go at sorting mine for me when he's back in late May.
The panels I was looking at are these Link - a search on ebay for mx5 wheel arch panel gives a few different suppliers at similar prices. I don't know if there's any difference between them all- but this looks about the cheapest and seems like a well rated seller...
I'll keep this updated when I get mine done with before/during/after pictures - and would be keen to hear if anyone has used these panels on their cars and how they've held up!
The panels I was looking at are these Link - a search on ebay for mx5 wheel arch panel gives a few different suppliers at similar prices. I don't know if there's any difference between them all- but this looks about the cheapest and seems like a well rated seller...
I'll keep this updated when I get mine done with before/during/after pictures - and would be keen to hear if anyone has used these panels on their cars and how they've held up!
Edited by browno on Thursday 18th March 21:50
That looks like a pretty impressive transformation, and shows that despite rusty sills looking nasty, they're by no means terminal! With that level of rust, did that just need the outer panels sorting, or was there more lurking in the inner panels? Looks like a very tidy repair for a very reasonable price too!
Mine is looking a little bit different to that, unfortunately. The driver's side is starting to bubble on the sill (it's been previously plated, and looks like a new plate will sort that out). The passenger side sill looks fine, but there's quite a big area on the edge of the wheelarch (just above the swage line) that's just split, and there's a couple of other bubbles round the arch. Because of the position there, it will be tricky to make a patch - so I think it's going to be a new patch on the driver's side and a panel on the passenger's.
I'll try to get some pictures up over the weekend to show what I mean!
Mine is looking a little bit different to that, unfortunately. The driver's side is starting to bubble on the sill (it's been previously plated, and looks like a new plate will sort that out). The passenger side sill looks fine, but there's quite a big area on the edge of the wheelarch (just above the swage line) that's just split, and there's a couple of other bubbles round the arch. Because of the position there, it will be tricky to make a patch - so I think it's going to be a new patch on the driver's side and a panel on the passenger's.
I'll try to get some pictures up over the weekend to show what I mean!
Edited by browno on Friday 19th March 07:54
Well, I ordered the Passenger side repair panel from ebay (the seller I linked to earlier) about noon yesterday, to have it delivered to my mate's garage... Phoned him this morning to say there might be a package arriving in the next few days, and it had already arrived, so I can't fault the service!
I'm just waiting now for his body man to get back from holiday and it'll be game on!
Will keep the thread updated with before/during/after pics once we get going on the repairs.
I'm just waiting now for his body man to get back from holiday and it'll be game on!
Will keep the thread updated with before/during/after pics once we get going on the repairs.
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