1973 Volvo P1800ES on MX5 chassis with Ford 5L V8 conversion

Did you mask bare panels before painting them then? I was trying to figure out how you got such a crisply cleaned back edge but I'm guessing masking and painting is what you really did. It's a good idea for keeping flash rusting to a minimum. I'm admiring how factory looking that will be when finished too, it's already most of the way there. Nobody will ever know.

Hiding the engine is easy, just shut the bonnet hood.

At one time, in the marine world,  there was a Volvo sterndrive that used a ford 302. I have been trying to get my hands on a set of the "Volvo Penta" valve-covers. No luck so far, might have to make up a set of my own.

The new car rotisserie earned its keep tonight. I was originally going to have to weld the lower pinch weld seam while laying under the car. MUCH easier this way.



Before and after:

Note how well the Miata lower pinch welds fit inside of the Volvo sills. It is pretty much a perfect fit and I used the original holes where I drilled out the Miata outer sill.





Here is a better picture of the shock tower reinforcement that I welded in last time. Its 1/8" plate that distributes the roll bar tube stress.



The joys of a sandblasted unibody. Been two years and a few efforts with the air hose to clear out the sand, and I can still get this: (going to be right unhappy if this stuff blows out during paint)


Still lots to do, but item #16 crossed off the list tonight. Not sure if I am in this for the fabrication challenge or if I just like to cross things off a list!

It's getting harder and harder to see where one car ends and the other begins.

Good progress!

Been putting this job off for some time because I did not have an elegant solution until now.

The problem is that when I stretched the wheelbase in the front of the Miata, the crossmember's rear mounting points no longer aligned with the mounting points on the Miata underside. You can see the mount hanging in mid air.



For the longest time I tried to figure how to build the Miata tub up to meet the subframe. Finally decided that I was going to have to bite the bullet and cut up my nice expensive V8 conversion K member. Would then extend the tube and  rejoin the two pieces of K member . Would also need to replace the two tabs that make the rear mount for the a-arm.

First things first, jig everything in position so it cant move.




So, next challenge was how to make a nice straight cut on the K member. Used some pieces of 1.75 OD tube to make a collar that I clamped over the frame. This provides a guide for the sawzall and leaves me with two square cut ends. Simply run the sawzall  down the grove between the two collars.





Finished product. 1.25 OD inside of the original frame tube. A 7" long piece of 1.7 OD to act as a filler piece and somewhere to mount the new pick-up point for the back of the A-arm. The person who sold me the K member was nice enough to ship me some spares free of charge! Saved having to fabricate those.



So far everything seems to line up nice. Good proof that when I put the front end back together it was square, or else the extended pick-up points would not have lined up with the mounting points.