Got my donor, next steps?
 

My MX5 donor arrived the other day and i want to plan the next steps forward.

The question is do i start dismantling the donor now (taking pictures and labelling as i go) or do I wait until i have the chassis ready and only take bits off the donor when i'm ready to use them ?

What are people's expereinces with this ?

I guess its all down to your preference

Do you have space to store parts or does the wife mind you having a half stripped car in the drive

I will be going strip as you go route as I dont have a lot of space

My personal method would be whilst in one piece would to if possible steam clean the whole car with the engine running as this will save a lot of time later, then spray wd40 or whatever you have, even diesel would do on every nut and bolt that you are going to undo.
Take off only what you need when you need to save time and reduce the chance of loosing something. The rest on ebay or offer on one of the MX5 forums and get some cash back.

Good luck with your build and enjoy. :D

My advice would be to tear it apart of every thing thats needed or that can be sold and get whats left over scrapped while prices are so high..

Bob

Do you know if theres a list somewhere of all the bits that need to be kept ?

I'm a bit worried about flogging the remainder of the shell for scrap only to find i'd missed some useable parts.

PM spud he would let you know whats what.

Bob

TSM is the best method if you have the space, especially every nut and bolt as none are metric and hard to replace - all jap funny threads. If you dont have the space:

Wheels
front and rear uprights
front and rear callipers, brake master cylinder
differential, drive shafts and prop shaft
gearbox, engine inc exhaust manifold + cat and Lambda, engine carbs and inlet upto air flow meter
dashboard and full loom carefully labelled (loom is quite straight forward to reconnect)
handbrake and balance bar / cable
front lower ball joints (new preferred)
engine mounts
keys (which i lost, £50 for a new barrel)
Steering wheel and column (Thanks John, thought i'd miss something)

Sell the rest on E-Bay, if the wings are in good condition these fetch a good price.

AndyH

Don't forget steering wheel and column!

Fuel tank sender unit
wheel nuts
VIN and number plates
clocks and surround
hand brake and gear stick gaitors
Keep the old disks and pads as these are already beded in and might help with the brake test at IVA.
seats can be made to fit with effort

You're right cheers Phil. Heads in a different place at the moment.....:o

AndyH