JD™ Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Prompted by Sam's happy thread post, I let my car insurance renew for the first time in my life. About to turn 30, and the £25 I could save by shopping about wasn't worth the time. Getting older has some perks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Out of interest, did your premium go down at all? Hitting Level 3 in December but all my renewals are coming in this 2-3 month period. Still getting generally raped, so it'd be good to know if that would plateau at all in future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD™ Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Yep, it was down from my current provider (AXA), and a little less but not worth it from someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Ah, sweet. There is hope then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Turns out the "bit of welding" was actually rather a lot of welding... And it ended up with a completely clean sheet on the re-test I've given the primer a quick rattle can in Random Red, just to protect it. Booking in the other side for a couple of weeks time, then she's off for a full respray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Good shit Mine's defo not going through with the sills as they are at the moment... EDIT: As a thought, are you doing all the engine work before or after the respray? Was just thinking whether it'd be worht putting off the respray until after the engine shit's sorted just so you don't run the risk of the finish up front getting a bit messed up from all the work going on in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKidney Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Looks like they've done a really good job Mike! Looks very neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Considering the guy made the panels himself, it's a very good job. It also cost about £250, rather than the usual £400 most places charge. That included chopping out shitloads of filler, welding chassis rail, inner and outer sill. A lot of work for the price, that's for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 44 minutes ago, Mark W said: Good shit Mine's defo not going through with the sills as they are at the moment... EDIT: As a thought, are you doing all the engine work before or after the respray? Was just thinking whether it'd be worht putting off the respray until after the engine shit's sorted just so you don't run the risk of the finish up front getting a bit messed up from all the work going on in there? Engine work will be done before spray. Realistically it's gonna be nearer the end of the year for new paint. Cam belt and water pump arrive tomorrow, so once I get back from Barcelona I'll sort that out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 How much of it is actually new metal? Will require some tlc before a respray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Good stuff Mike, decent price that. Weird the offside went first, guess the drain holes must have been blocked at some point. In MX-5 related news, finally got this on the road last night... Runs about 300bhp at the hubs (370ish at the fly according to the dyno operator), when it isn't misfiring, grrrrr.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 I don't know why people bother making panels, Ford KA sills fit mx5s spot on, and are about 12 quid a side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Cracking tip that Tom, cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 I didn't know that either, that's a good shout! A lot of it is new metal, the chap struggled to find metal to weld to, because there was so much filler. Adam, both sides have "gone", but this side was bad enough to warrant MOT failure - someone had done a really shit repair on it previously, so over the course of the year it's obviously started to fall apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 If there was that much filler he should have removed it all and the surrounding metal until solid stuff was found. I'm not a fan of the quality of his work, it looks very rough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 That's why it was cheap. I could pay £600 a side and have it perfect, or I could pay £250 and have what I have... I'm happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Cam belt and water pump kit turned up today......... ...... for a 1.8. Twatttttt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 I hate to say it, because I never like it when I've paid for something then some dickhead on the internet slags it off but I've gotta agree with Paul. Sills aren't something to play about with, they're pretty integeral to that shells strength, especially being a convertible. I'd really be tempted to have them redone before the paint Mike, not even from an aesthetic point of view just pure safety. the KA sills a nice tip if your ever struggling for a sill on anything, they're pretty universal as there's no real complicated profile to them, if I remember rightly even the door shut pressing is gauge how similar to the mx5 too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Surely the outer sill isn't so important? I agree it doesn't look perfect, but surely the structural stuff is behind it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Your partly right, but outer sill also holds a pretty good portion of strength. It creates the box section profile with the inner. Obviously the car isn't gonna fold in half, and will probably never be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 If I had the money, I'd get it done properly, but both sides sorted properly is more than the car is worth. This whole exercise is purely a budget restoration, in an attempt to make it look a little nicer than it does and keep it on the road for more years. Being in to professional restoration, I know you'd want it perfect, but I just want it half presentable and roadworthy - once it's had a cheap blow over in the original colour it'll do me just fine. It'll never be a show car and I don't want it to be. I want to take it on track and not worry about damaging it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKidney Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 If youd have seen the "repair" (I use that term loosely..) I performed on both sills of a Transit Connect today, it wouldnt be Mikes outer sills Id worry about Truely amazing how good seam sealer makes things look. Some black stone chip over it all really finishes it off.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 I once pigeon shitted an old wood saw blade over a sizeable hole then undersealed over it, looked fine and got through 2 MOTs with it 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 For £250 I'd expect a little bit more than that, I know a skim of filler will tidy it up but i'd be fearing what is underneath. If it's that rough on the outside I would hate to think what it's like inside and what he thought he may be able to get away with. Yes you can get away with doing a fairly basic attempt but that't not really the point and for a car that is seemingly a keeper for you and if you are going to the effort and cost of a respray then I would look into getting it done properly at some point. I hope that doesn't come across as me being knobbish as that's not how I mean it to be, I just don't like people getting ripped off or being into potential danger for substandard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 And in the other corner... I've driven around MX-5s with holes in the sills for ages, raced with much worse bodge repairs than that. Given what the car is worth, I don't think it's worth doing a much better job really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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