bad day all round really

[jwigglesworth]

Finally went to pick up car from the garage having had MX5 mirrors put on & partial re-spray (only took 9 weeks!) Anyway, having parted with £2K of the hard earned- decied to give the car a little balst round Thetford By-Pass, just to make sure everything still working m'lud, to find out that the thedriver side mirror has such a light swivel action that above 60 the mirror blows back in. Not good but will have a chat to garage another day. Collect daughter from school, get 50 yards down the road and notice temperature gauge gone right off the scale. Stop & check fan working (it is), cool engine down a little & set off only for it to go off again. Luckily only 1/2 mile from garage so car been deposited there hopefully just overnight as they ahve ordered a new thermostat. Feeling depressed now so may have to locate whiskey bottle later for a medicinal nip or 2.

[GadgeS3C]

Bugger - hope it gets sorted soon.

Just a thought - has the coolant been drained/refilled? Could be an airlock?

Good luck and enjoy the wee dram!

[jwigglesworth]

Thank for the sympathy-much appreciated. Car hasn't been touched for a while and hasn't been drained down to the best of my knwoledge. Good think on the airlock- never occurred to me. Will have a word with them tomorrow. Cheers

[techbotics]

I think you can get kits to repair the mirror swivel on eBay although its usually the opposite problem or frozen solid.

Also sounds like air lock or just no water to me but could be thermostat make sure garage get all the air out when they refil with coolent.

Damian S3

[jwigglesworth]

Thanks for the advice guys, will make sure garage check for air.
Feeling much better now & haven't even had any incohol yet! I wonder what other ailments being on the forum might cure?

[v8s4me]

jwigglesworth said:

........I wonder what other ailments being on the forum might cure?

Having a positive balance in your bank account - it'll definatly cure that

[Top Gear TVR]

Overheating, check for air licks yes but definitely check swirl pot cap is correct type and sealing and holding vacuum properly to achieve top up from header tank when cooling. Cheap, simple and common issue....

[jwigglesworth]

Quick update- got car back today, the garage reckon it Was the thermostat. Quick blast to get home, all seems ok. Hopefully the photos will come out ok- it's never been so shiny!
Also- re the mirrors: nice man from MX5 City says to take off the plastic screw cover & there is a screw in the middle which you can tighten to stop the slack; seems to work so might come in handy if anybody else has the same problem

[phillpot]

A good photograph is all about composition..... you should have shut the bin lid

[greymrj]

That finish does look good and the mirrors do look right don't they? I am fitting mine with the same mirrors this winter and I did get the MX5 mirror spring kit off ebay as mine were well on their way.

Closing the bin lid would be good, even better to spray it to match!

[jwigglesworth]

can't argue with that. don't think anybody will accept is an arty composite before & after shot?

[jwigglesworth]

One thing I forgot to mention- the mirros were NOT sprayed so if you have a Monza red like mine, you should get away with using the standard Mazda red; Saves a little more of the hard-earned

[Scoobimax]

Shiny indeed and the wheels look spanking too

[lewdon]

I am glad you solved your problem. Can I ask what your partial re-spray comprised and how much it cost. it looks like a super finish.
My S2 has generally good paint but has some water marks which won't come off no matter how hard I polish them with T-cut.

[jwigglesworth]

Lewdon,

sorry for delay in coming back to you- haven't been on Forum for a little. To answer your question, whilst a decent job has been done (as per photo) IMHO it was way to much: the bonnet came off, various little nicks scrapes filled in; a small chunk from the header rail filled in; bonnet + wing + header rail all re-sprayed, mirrors fitted + I got him to paint over scratches on the door sill where the door has dropped & scuffed- he says he has filed a bit off the bottom of the door without any side-effects and whilst it isn't perfect the door does close a lot better now.
The total cost of this came to £1000 in folded + £1002 on the card- I leave to you deduce why the 2 payments!
So all-in-all, I think I probably could have done better, perhaps if I had gone for the full re-spray?
Haven't told the misses all this as live in the hope that I may still get a C......... pressie (sorry- don't like the using C word before December)
Hope this of use. Anything else you want to know-just ask.
Cheers,

[QBee]

phillpot said:

A good photograph is all about composition..... you should have shut the bin lid

.....or taken the roof off the car.....

[glenrobbo]

QBee said:

phillpot said:

A good photograph is all about composition..... you should have shut the bin lid

.....or taken the roof off the car.....

Exactly. This is supposed to be a topless forum you know....

Edit: I do think the Biffa bin would look so much better with a dancing donkey sticker on its' flank.
But I may be just jealous..... ( 458 Italia )

Edited by glenrobbo on Wednesday 25th September 21:23

[glenrobbo]

As an aside, the title of this thread reminds me of a classic Simpsons episode in which young Bart complains that "This is the worst day of my life!"
His father Homer lovingly replies "No son, this is the worst day of your life SO FAR."

Am I allowed to quote that?

Only trying to encourage a greater audience for this fine philosophical series



And the Simpsons

Edited by glenrobbo on Wednesday 25th September 21:43

[glenrobbo]

Jezza,
Your S looks really really nice, but after a long time, when the paint has fully cured, you may wish to consider two yellow stripes all the way down the middle to blend in with the native S population.


Your thoughts please........

Delia would love it!

Edited by glenrobbo on Wednesday 25th September 22:03

[lewdon]

jwigglesworth

thanks for the info, much appreciated. It looks amazing in the photo so you just have to put the cost out of mind. I suppose it is probably not that much per hour for the guys time, but its a bit too much for me to justify at the moment so mine will have to get worse before it gets better.