Jesus. Christ. That is insanity! I just wish I had a local shop close to me that does it, maybe I am searching using the wrong words but the closest is 3 hours from me.

This

I'd love to buy my own setup, but I just don't want to spend a lot of money on a really one time usage.

I think I'm just going to soak it in a cleaner over a couple days while I cant work on the car. I'm pretty good at making pretty potent cleaning combos. If all else fails I'll ship the bolts to a plater if I get really insane, but I think I'll be able to control my OCD to just cleaning them well.

 

now i must post my box of miata bolts/nuts.

 

Shipping them wouldn't really be a huge deal...

 

True....

 

Ok, that's dope. Where did you have that done?

 

That's not me, but that particular batch was done by a place in Louisville, KY. There's a few options within a couple hours of me that will do the same.

I'm just going to invest in the tools to do it myself and maybe do side jobs for people as an investment.

 

I just got a quote from a shop in Northern Utah for $55 for <20 lbs of bolts. Going to ship them to him tomorrow. Decided to do yellow zinc since supposedly it has higher corrosion resistance than the clear.

 

I would NEVER be able to put a car together after shipping off a multi-pound box of hardware.

 

Does that price include sandblasting? Would of been a great alternative for me when I restored my bike. Instead I went to Ace about 5 or 6 times, dropping somewhere between $20 and $60 each time in SS allen head hardware.

 

Excellent!

The trick is to make a spreadsheet with detailed information before you send it off. Many pictures.

Buying individual pieces like that sucks so bad. I spent over $400 in OEM hardware from Mazda when i was working on the Escort.

I wish i could just buy a gigantic grab bag of Mazda bolts for future projects. Should be easy... they really only use about 3 different bolts, just in different lengths.

 

It's called parting a car out.

1. Buy shitty crashed/rusty/non-running miata (or whatever)

2. Part out everything valuable

3. Keep all the hardware

4. ???

5. Profit


(PS I did basically this same thing with my old RX7 and now have an ample supply of high grade OEM bolts/nuts in all sorts of sizes)

 

Yeah i'll be doing that with my next MX6 coming, but from how much i tend to get out of a car, i really need to part out say... 4 cars, and none of them will be rollers by the time i'm done.

About to just go to the junkyard and start pulling bolts and nuts.

 

I have a confession. Every time I go to a pick-n-pull, I generally leave with a pound or two of hardware. Especially if they don't inspect my tool bag. One time they did and they didn't even care.

I figure I'm stealing all of $.02 of scrap metal value. Or it'll end up sitting in the gravel.

 

I kept all the bolts from both cars so if anyone needs some spares I'll throw them in a box and ship them to you if anyone wants them post zinc'ing.

Yes, includes media blasting, good company. I've done the same replacing bolts on my industrial 6 rack bread oven for my bakery...never again, so much money spent.

I'm slightly terrified.

Decided to come down and work on the car tonight. Couldn't stand being in my store any longer and needed a break.

Replaced the Upper Control Arm boots. I took some detailed photos in case anyone does it.

Item number for the boots is: SEAL, DUST (NA01-34-548)

Use a dry chisel with the angle side facing the control arm and lightly tap it with a rubber mallet slowly going around the bushing so that it evenly goes off the control arm.



I used an old seal from my transmission and it fit perfectly over the metal retaining part of the boot. You don't have to do this it just ensured I didn't damage it, and it gave me a better fit with the PVC Pipe.



Clean out the old grease from the joint and seal surface, and fill with your favorite grease, which for me is Amsoil Dominator Synthetic Grease.



Fill the new boot with grease, put on the seal(if you'd like), and find a pvc pipe that fits perfectly on the boot.



Position the boot onto the ball joint and with a rubber mallet lightly tap on the pvc pipe to get the extremely tight boot onto the ball joint. Try not to flex the boot too much or you'll eject some of the grease.



Make sure the boot is flush on the mounting surface.



Booyah.

Also chemical bath of goodness. Apple cider vinegar, paint stripper, purple power, a little diesel additive. Put it in the backyard since even my respirator wouldn't filter the fumes out. Vinegar for the rust, and the rest to remove the gunk.

 

Also, what do you guys think of changing the color of the Buddy Club Race seats to all black?

I Don't think I'll like the look of red seats in a blue car.

 

Yea that seat is ugly as ****.

 

Brake Booster rust removed and ready for painting. Yes I see the string touching the metal!



Fabric stripped off seats to clean in washing machine. These seats rock for maintenance. All velcro fabric connections and removable padding so you can just toss the fabric in the washing machine.

 

Upper Control arms all done, that was a messy job. Checked all zerk fittings to insure that grease channel through the poly wasn't blocked. Put silver anti-seize on the interior of metal bushing to help with corrosion.



Brake booster all done. A couple runs on the back side but nothing to complain about.



Just waiting on the fabric to dry so I can refinish the seats in black.

 

I don't know why I even bother to post suggestions. By the time I get to it, he'll have already made a decision and implemented it.

For confirmation, I agree with changing the color.

 

I figure if I get no response by the time I get done with the project at hand, I need to make an executive decision. I still appreciate late input as sometimes after I make my "choice" I still haven't actually gotten to it yet!

Currently tearing apart my rear subframe. Holy **** the rust! The rear diff housing is a little scary. The rear hubs have so much rust I think I'd rather replace them not for superficiality but safety!

East coast is not kind to cars.