Mazda Dismantling – Part III

/ MX-5 Dismantling / By

Day 7 – Need to pick up the pace…!

Time to crack on with the dismantling as my RX-5 has just gone into the build phase at MK Sportscars!

Out came the rest of the loom today along with the heater matrix, clutch pedal and steering column. Also managed to remove the under body bracing without jacking up the car. I was lucky, the four M10 bolts holding it up were not rusted in – happy days!

Image of engine bay without wiring harnesses.
Engine bay without wiring harnesses.
Image of the now removed main wiring harness.
Removed main wiring harness.
Image of interior of MX-5 at end of day 7.
Interior of MX-5 at end of day 7.
Image of removed steering column.
Removed steering column.
Image of well worn under body bracing.
Well worn under body bracing.
Image of engine bay without wiring harnesses.
Engine bay without wiring harnesses.
Image of the now removed main wiring harness.
Removed main wiring harness.
Image of interior of MX-5 at end of day 7.
Interior of MX-5 at end of day 7.
Image of removed steering column.
Removed steering column.
Image of well worn under body bracing.
Well worn under body bracing.
Image of engine bay without wiring harnesses.
Image of the now removed main wiring harness.
Image of interior of MX-5 at end of day 7.
Image of removed steering column.
Image of well worn under body bracing.

Day 8

A good 5 hours working on the strip down today. Jobs done were:
1. Remove power steering header tank and connections between engine and body shell (fluid cooler loop).
2. Drop front anti roll bar.
3. Remove clutch master cylinder and pipe connection to slave cylinder.
4. Disconnected front brake lines.
5. Disconnected rear lambda sensor – I now know what the cable does at the rear of the passenger side of the transmission tunnel!
6. Cut the two exhaust silencer hangers.
7. Cracked off the two driveshaft hub nuts. A 32mm socket and my 600Nm ugga dugga gun made the job so easy. Ugga dugga was only £50 from Amazon.
8. Started to remove the subframe / body shell bolts. Seems that on my MK2.5 there are four on each side at the front – 2x 19mm nuts behind the coilover, and two 17mm bolts at the rear of the subframe. Made a bit of a school boy error by removing all but one of the front bolts (and that was left because I needed a long 19mm socket for one bolt on the O/S). I thought I’d be OK doing this until the body was actually lifted but the coil overs pushed the body upwards and the front suspension collapsed as I pushed the car back into the garage. Fortunately with a trolley jack and a scissor jack I was able to push the subframe back up and loosely fitted one 17mm bolt and the two 19mm nuts. I can now push the car again without crabbing across the garage! 😅

Image of unbolted power steering header tank draining into a bucket.
Unbolted power steering header tank draining into a bucket.
Image of power steering pump without pipework.
Power steering pump without pipework.
Image of front anti-roll bar unbolted from body shell.
Anti-roll bar unbolted from body shell.
Image of clutch master cylinder and rigid pipe removed.
Clutch master cylinder and rigid pipe removed.
Image of clutch rigid pipe to rubber pipe connecting bracket at rear of engine bay.
Clutch rigid pipe to rubber pipe connecting bracket at rear of engine bay.
Image of cut exhaust silencer hanger at rear of car.
Cut exhaust silencer hanger at rear of car.
Image of 32mm rear driveshaft hub nut 'cracked' off using 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
32mm rear driveshaft hub nut ‘cracked’ off using 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of my 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
My 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of draining the brake fluid into a plastic container.
Draining brake fluid into a plastic container.
Image of clamped brake pipe to stop drips until pipe removed.
Clamped brake pipe to stop drips until pipe removed.
Image of one of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Number one of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Image of number two of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Number two of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Image of unbolted power steering header tank draining into a bucket.
Unbolted power steering header tank draining into a bucket.
Image of power steering pump without pipework.
Power steering pump without pipework.
Image of front anti-roll bar unbolted from body shell.
Anti-roll bar unbolted from body shell.
Image of clutch master cylinder and rigid pipe removed.
Clutch master cylinder and rigid pipe removed.
Image of clutch rigid pipe to rubber pipe connecting bracket at rear of engine bay.
Clutch rigid pipe to rubber pipe connecting bracket at rear of engine bay.
Image of cut exhaust silencer hanger at rear of car.
Cut exhaust silencer hanger at rear of car.
Image of 32mm rear driveshaft hub nut 'cracked' off using 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
32mm rear driveshaft hub nut ‘cracked’ off using 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of my 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
My 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of draining the brake fluid into a plastic container.
Draining brake fluid into a plastic container.
Image of clamped brake pipe to stop drips until pipe removed.
Clamped brake pipe to stop drips until pipe removed.
Image of one of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Number one of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Image of number two of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Number two of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Image of unbolted power steering header tank draining into a bucket.
Image of power steering pump without pipework.
Image of front anti-roll bar unbolted from body shell.
Image of clutch master cylinder and rigid pipe removed.
Image of clutch rigid pipe to rubber pipe connecting bracket at rear of engine bay.
Image of cut exhaust silencer hanger at rear of car.
Image of 32mm rear driveshaft hub nut 'cracked' off using 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of my 600Nm ugga dugga gun.
Image of draining the brake fluid into a plastic container.
Image of clamped brake pipe to stop drips until pipe removed.
Image of one of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.
Image of number two of two 17mm rear bolts on the front subframe.

Days 9 & 10

Another couple of days put in and the body shell is ready for lift off! A few interesting points revealed during this final prep
1. Had a look at the brake discs I have on the 1.8vvt and they’re standard Mk2 sizes (255mm front, 251mm rear). This means that the 13″ wheels I’ve ordered from MKS will fit without any caliper bracket changes.
2. Syringing out the fuel tank seemed more like a scene from Carry On Matron!
3. Like the front subframe, the rear subframe also has four bolts through to the body shell. See pics below.
4. Put the wooden blocks inside all of the wishbones before removing the bolts / nuts holding the subframes to the body shell. The suspension will partially collapse even with the bodyshell still in place.
5. Only one nut has caused me angst during the whole process so far – the near side rear rearmost coil over nut. Even the ugga dugga wouldn’t shift it and it rounded the 14mm nut. Had to drill it off and it is in a particularly awkward place to get to (remove the tank filler and breather pipe).

Image of syringing out the fuel tank through the EVAP connection.
New fuel injection system!
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #1
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #1
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #2 & #3
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #2 & #3
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #4
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #4
Image of wood block between front upper and lower wishbones.
Wood block between front upper and lower wishbones.
Image of o/s rear location where the battery cable passes through the body shell
Offside rear location where the battery cable passes through the body shell
Image of the battery cable pushed through into wheel arch and tidied out of the way
Battery cable pushed through into wheel arch and tidied out of the way
Image of donor MX-5 ready for shell off!
Donor MX-5 ready for shell off!
Image of syringing out the fuel tank through the EVAP connection.
New fuel injection system!
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #1
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #1
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #2 & #3
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #2 & #3
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #4
Offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #4
Image of wood block between front upper and lower wishbones.
Wood block between front upper and lower wishbones.
Image of o/s rear location where the battery cable passes through the body shell
Offside rear location where the battery cable passes through the body shell
Image of the battery cable pushed through into wheel arch and tidied out of the way
Battery cable pushed through into wheel arch and tidied out of the way
Image of donor MX-5 ready for shell off!
Donor MX-5 ready for shell off!
Image of syringing out the fuel tank through the EVAP connection.
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #1
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #2 & #3
Image of offside rear subframe / body shell fixing #4
Image of wood block between front upper and lower wishbones.
Image of o/s rear location where the battery cable passes through the body shell
Image of the battery cable pushed through into wheel arch and tidied out of the way
Image of donor MX-5 ready for shell off!

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