MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Having ticked off 2 of the easy things now onto more difficult items, ball joints. Started on the nearside, actually got both ball joints split without too much trouble. I didn't want to remove the upper wishbone and upset the geometry. Used a jack between the wishbone to pull the lower ball joint free. Spent a bit of time removing all the remains of the boot on the upper ball joint and replaced the boot, similar for the lower. However when replacing the lower ball joint tightening the nut the ball joint just spins, this could be that the top threads of the castellated nut are in bad condition. Called a halt and have ordered new lower ball joints (I only ordered covers), to make the job easier. In the future I'll replace the upper arms as the ball joints are integral and replace the wishbone bushes, but at the moment the priority is to get it back on the road. I'm quite surprised how dirty the calipers etc are so a refresh is needed as well. Oh and the Disco replacement has arrived, Which isn't a true Land Rover as it's basically a Ford/Volvo with a Peugeot engine... No plans for this except better headlight bulbs, boot cover and dog guard (because dogs) and maybe a tow-bar. This my wife's car and our dog walk and holiday car.
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Last Edit: Apr 10, 2023 7:49:11 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Disco has gone, dragged off for scrap Shouldn't really get emotional about an inanimate object but it held a lot of memories.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Fun On The Farm.MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Not very eco friendly the plinth is Rosewood, Linn Ittok arm, Ortofon MC10 moving coil cartridge. It's a very early one (~1985/6), I visited the Pink Triangle 'factory' to get the bearing replaced a long time ago but it needs doing again.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Fun On The Farm.MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Some lovely equipment there (Quad & Naim), what's the turntable? looks like a SME arm.
One day I'm going to get my Pink Triangle turntable properly refurbished.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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- The seat isn't insecure it just moves a bit, I've got a replacement seat runner,
- The passenger door can be opened but it's a bit temperamental (needs lubricating and leaving it unlocked)
- Ball joint covers have been an advisory for the last 2 years, I've bought replacements
- Handbrake hopefully just needs a bit of adjustment.
Changed over the seat runner and lubricated the door lock, 2 issues crossed off (I know the low hanging fruit ones...). Do need a new door card though, probably drivers door as well. (Good) Friday is ear marked for the other jobs. Disco replacement should be ready today so need to get rid of it
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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LRO statementIt seems it's no longer financially viable to keep running the magazine. That's such a shame, but indicative of the times I guess.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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I've currently got an abandoned Land Rover Discovery on the drive, although to be fair it's not a wreck (at least externally).
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 31, 2023 15:49:32 GMT
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Last Edit: Mar 31, 2023 15:50:52 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 31, 2023 13:11:45 GMT
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I quite like the idea of an off-road MX5
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 29, 2023 20:59:52 GMT
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Not too bad but the Ball joint covers are a pain, I use a piece of scaffold tube but the top ones really need the arms off, If I do them again I might make a tool to clamp the scaffold tube from the other side of the arm. On ours the handbrake failed when the slider pins had seized, footbrake still passed though, pulled the caliper appart and greased the pins, it's been fine ever since. I was hoping the ball joint covers wouldn't be too hard, oh well. Need to have a read of the Haynes book of lies. I'll be surprised if it's the slider pins as the callipers were rebuilt but then it has been standing, so I'll probably just pull it apart lubricate and adjust. It's a bit of a pain as with the Disco gone and waiting for a replacement we're down to one car. Although I mainly WFH this week I've had to be in the office and I've been using the MX5 for communing duties.
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Last Edit: Mar 29, 2023 21:00:23 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 29, 2023 13:57:15 GMT
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MOT Fail - The seat isn't insecure it just moves a bit, I've got a replacement seat runner,
- The passenger door can be opened but it's a bit temperamental (needs lubricating and leaving it unlocked)
- Ball joint covers have been an advisory for the last 2 years, I've bought replacements
- Handbrake hopefully just needs a bit of adjustment.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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The side view reminds me of Sideshow Bobs shoes. Interesting thing though, I was half expecting it to have a more exotic engine though If I remember right from an article I think the original idea was for this to be Merlin engined.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Is SWMBO holding water divining 'sticks"?
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 19, 2023 12:13:10 GMT
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I've used citric acid, found it more effective than electrolysis.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 19, 2023 12:08:01 GMT
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Problem with these builds is that you get beyond a point of spend where you cannot really turn back. I know how that goes... although sometimes you have to say enough is enough (e.g. my Discovery).
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mar 19, 2023 12:04:55 GMT
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Disco disaster...Having taken the money and decided to repair the Disco I sourced a panel (whole rear quarter), rear bumper and door mirror from Tim Fry in Cheltenham (Land Rover heaven in terms of salvage). I set out on Friday to collect, on the way back, oil light on, stopped won't restart tries to turn over. 2 hour wait for AA when they arrive will turn over and try to start but after a while stops. Recovered home, rigid bar tow behind AA Transit. Yesterday morning check oil, OK even over-full, will start and run for a bit then stop, take serpentine belt of (in the past I've had a Discovery that wouldn't start because of a seized alternator), starts but after a while stops and won't start. Something internal to engine is seizing up, given the age of the car and mileage it's really not worth trying to repair so the sad decision has been to write it off after 15 years of (mainly) faithful service. I'll get peanuts for it especially having spent £400 on parts on Friday. Will probably replace with an BMW X1 or a Panda 4x4. Anyway I have actually made some progress with the MX5. Sidelights.The sidelight have always been a bit of a botch job with teh sidelight glued in and a miss-match between the sides when I quickly need to get an MOT, I've been wanting to get some clear indicators from MX5 parts but they've been out of stock for a long time but finally they were in stock. I did think about the combined intake and TSI aftermarket ones but it doesn't really fit the new resto look. The issue is that these are really US spec with the indicators being twin filament and needing to splice in the sidelights, comparing the wiring, I decided to use the indicator bulb holder from the original lights and wire in the new sidelights. The horrendous soldering is nicely hidden under the heat shrink. Then it should just be a case of installing them right? errr no they didn't fit, there is an moulding on the side that is bigger in the new lights that needed cutting down (compare the old vs new below). But after some junior hacksaw action, and tracing down a bad connection in one of the old bulb holders happy car (and owner). Heater leak...I haven't been using the MX5 because of the heater leaking and losing water, but needing to press it into service as a spare car I needed to do something. The plan being to bypass the heater to (a) prove it is the heater and (b) if that is the case get it mobile. Handily the heater hoses are easy to get at, the first thing I did was to take the hoses off (after a fight with them) and use some copper pipe and the original clips, which looked fine but leaked, not surprising as it wasn't a tight fit. I then found some plastic pipe that was a much tighter fit. Which was fine until the water heated up.... So a hunt around the garage turned up some copper pipe connectors and some jubilee clips, No pictures of them fitted but it would be a picture of the hoses joined face to face with a couple of jubilee clips. Which work well and a couple of test drives have been OK. So I can use the MX5 for a while, while the wife uses the BMW and we sort out getting rid of the Disco (I need to take a personal plate of it) and buy something else. Then when the MX5 is free to work on the list is, - MOT runs out end of March
- Replace heater matrix
- While centre console etc is out replace gear lever bushes etc
- replace tombstone and heater panel with better examples and fit a radio
- Replace door mirrors
- put the 'Miata' badge back on
- Needs a clean to show off the paintwork
- Use it...
Mark
p.s. Despite not being touched for months the MX5 fired up first time (good old Japanese engineering).
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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My first work laptop was a Toshiba of similar vintage (I think), running Solaris (Unix), it did get a Win95 install at some point.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Fun On The Farm.MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Very humorous and I can relate. A few years ago I had food poisoning and lost a over a stone in a week (and I'm not big), not a method of weight loose I'd recommend.
Commiserations and hope you feel better soon.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Is Scalextrics dead?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Feb 23, 2023 10:25:48 GMT
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Anybody else see the recent episode of 'Hornby a Model World' on the Yesterday channel with the guys Scalextrics layout that took over a whole room. Also the development of the Mr Bean Mini car.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,963
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Re welding, pretty sure it's aluminium but bonding would work.
I'm (we're) inordinately upset about this, we were jogging along quite nicely with the car and some careless idiot writes it off, he didn't even get out of the car when my wife went up to him.
Sometimes all I want to do is go back to bed and pull the covers over my head...
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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