Time for a bit of an update u think......
Firstly, I'm back!!!!! And more importantly, back behind the wheel of Womble after a short lived affair with a sparkle green v6.
That's a whole new story though.
Lots has happened, and lots will happen over the coming months.
Firstly, womble has a new rear end, custom bumper with spatz and diffuser, originally seen on cleanie, then bagheera.
I've a new set of 17's to go on, and a set of ms skirts to go on too thanks to maZZda, just need to sort out postage from Bulgaria!!
I've also begun tackling the rust on the rear arches, thankfully just bubbling paintwork and good metal underneath.
I'll post some new pics when I find the button to attach them

Excellent news Paul! Can't wait to see what you've been up to recently

She's getting there lee, she looks a bit of a project car at the moment, green rear end and fillered arch and scruffy wheels, which I might keep as a winter set. But its just good to get behind the wheel of her again. Might sound daft but I've changed do much from standard that I have total confidence in her limits, braking, handling etc. Definately more built than bought.

Know what you mean Paul, its a bit weird driving a nearly standard F again after Meanie, must get modding in the new year!!!!

Things are starting yo move a little now, new wheels are in the garage getting a set of nice fresh 225/45/17's fitted. Spigot rings arrived in record time, quick release bumper catches have also arrived, not something id previously considered, but the amount of times the front has been off the screw in bit that currently holds bumper to body is getting a bit chewed up and rattling on both sides. And watching loads of videos on fibreglass repairing for when the skirts arrive.

How wide are the rims Paul and what offset are they?

The wheels are 7j as far as I can remember, with a 40 offset, they fit bang on too wurh no rubs or scrubs, even with a load if teenagers in the back. Though to go lower at the back would require camber bolts and spacers. Super comfy ride too

Well then, time for a bit of an update i think, ive been busy, both at work and with Womble too. So, lets get stuck in.
main change has been on the wheel front, i managed to get a set of 17's which overall were in pretty good conditionquite shiney, and i liked them when i bought them, but when fitted with a set of 225/45/17 they just didnt look right, the tyre sidewall is too big and makes them seem a bit agricultural. ive kept the tyres on for now as the ride is quite nice, but the wheels got a dose of the rattle cans, masked them off to keep a shiney lip effect and im a lot happier with them now.



I also started to suffer from a saggy front end(age is a terrible thing to succumb to), this has been rectified by a set of quick release thingies and now sits a lot better.

the rear end also has been tackled, resprayed and re fitted, the finish looks a little dull but shouldnt be too much of an issue to get it back, compound/colour sand should hopefully solve it.



The engine bay has become a concern, we have had a pretty harsh winter, combined with salty sea air the rust had set in on the once shiney heatshield and intake manifold, plenty of flat sanding has improved it massively and they now shine again, this time though i have got the upper radiator mount in on the act too, flap disc and wire brush bits for the drill has it nearly there though.

Ill also be recieving a new rocker cover from Serena, the one i have is painted with white immoveable glue, nightmare, serena has a spare she has donated to the cause, cant thank you enough, really appreciate it, this too will be polished up to complimet the rest of the bay.



I also gave the high brake light cover a bit of a spring clean too, a fresh coat of satin black, managed to snap off a retaining clip... i will be on the lookout for a whole new cover soon..... gutted



So this is how she is looking now,



Things are shaping up for the next few weeks too, just had delivered a whiteline rear anti roll bar, courtesy of Richard, formerly known on here as Plankton, many thanks indeed. Its stillpacked up as its off to be shot blasted and then powder coated, white of course.



Next delivery after Easter will be an import courtesy of maZZda, a set of ms design sideskirts, looking forward to this one to compliment the ms design rear spats, i turned down the opportunity of the matching front lip, but im not a fan of it, to me it makes the front end appear higher, ill stick with the A-spec front lip.



All is not perfect though, the arch refurb has sprung back to bite mr in the derierre, bubbles of rust, this will be sorted in the very near future, and the engine is blowing blueish smoke on startup, its looking like a decision needs to be made soon and just bite the bullet and get a new engine, this scares the life out of me, never tackled an engine swap before...... i will be asking many questions, lots of times

So thats it for now, see you all at JAE

She's looking fabulous, Paul! I thought I'd never see her again after JAE 2015, I'm so glad you kept her.

While you're looking at rust ... have you recently checked the base of the rear suspension turrets (under the boot trim)? Look very carefully around the white sealant Mazda slapped in the crease there, I thought Sundance was clean but it turns out there's rust on the seam underneath the sealant, which hides it. You can tell, the sealant sort of bulges out and looks uneven. You can feel the rust if you press hard. If you find it you'll need to pare off the sealant with a knife until you find the extent of the rust and can deal with it.

On SD it's nothing too serious (not a Meanie situation - I HOPE! ) but it scared the hell out of me and I'm planning to get under the car this summer and check out that whole back quarter. Also check under the rear washer bottle, Hughie tipped me off about that favourite spot for rust monkeys.

S

Thanks for the heads up, I'll give it a look, I've been, unknowingly harvesting a swimming pool in the spare wheel well, nice and rusty in there, so when I had the bumper off I gave it a good sanding back and a fresh coat of paint. But I didn't poke about by the sealant, ill dive in there over the weekend.

Good progress on the white line rear arb today, bought a selection of wire brushes and flap wheels for the drill. Just need to source some 22mm bushes which will fit now. Think I'll go for poly ones, any ideas, or any generic ebay ones?

Sidedkirts have arrived and I'm very happy with them, they need a lot of work and tidying up, but hey, they're 17yrs old. Think I've found a supplier for white line rear arb bushes.
Swapped over front ball joints, new discs and pads to fit, bit of rear arch rust to properly attend too as well.
All in all, everything is coming together rather nicely:)

I'm waiting to see the progress here man!
And do much pics on the skirts repair!As that's what waits me too
I just postpone it for better weather,time...(im'a bit lazy now,my spring is fatigued)
So, about the bushings for the sway bar, poly ones ate the best choise(as it's stiffer than hell) it will be better to have stiffer bushings!
And i'm so jealous about your rear bumper splitter!
Wheels look damn good!When did you paint the front MS lip in blue? I mean the whole in blue?I saw it just now..I liked it better when the middle section was black. Black is good.
And i'm not a fan of those bumper holders.. they tend to colour fade from sun verry quickly and the rubber dies too..
Don't rely only on them to hold the bumper at the sides!
I like the number plate holder too!
its coming along nice.When you put the skirts you will have to make a photo session!!
If not, we will force you!(me and the dark side)

Looking great. Now its cleaned up there is probably not another rust free whiteline arb on the road. Origional paint is shocking!

Test fit on the skirts, looking good so far, will get some pics up shortly. The skirts need a coat of paint and some filling as there are a few holes in them, but yeah. Test fitting.

As promised

Looking good!
When will we see them painted and fitted?

Sadly they will be seen only on another car, bot inner outer sills and the rails are shot to bits, I've got a hole I can get my fist into with plenty of crusty rusty metal right the way along the rails where the flutes were badly fitted.......
New car time.....

Sad to hear that.
I crossed my fingers that you find a good replacement F.

Oh no!!!!

When did all that come to light, when you were fitting stuff?

Damn

S

Yeah sadly so Serena, what lurks behind trim panels..... It seems to have been badly bodged under the side flute, too them off to test fit the skirts and it didn't look too bad till I started to sand it back as it just looked like surface rust/bubbles at first. I've calmed down and had time to think, need a welder.

Yep, that hot & panicky feeling when the rust monkey yells "HELLO BUDDY!!!" in your face ... I have a local guy coming over tomorrow, who does MOT-type welding work, to check out what might need doing on Sundance ... I have 9 months and ticking to make sure it's fit for the next MOT.

Don't rely on one opinion, though, if the outfit you first pick is doubtful/unhelpful. One person's "Nah, it's past saving" will be another's "No problem, can do".

S

Well blow me down, the old gal only went and bloody passed her M.O.T sailed through on emissions too..... So now the advisory list of work begins, which isn't the end of the world.
But its been seven weeks of not being behind the wheel and how I've missed it, nice long blast out to clear a few cobwebs away, for me and Womble.

So then, update time, after a nervous wait womble passed her mot, there is welding to be done but I knew that was coming. A few things have happened since then. Those who have seen on facebook I've got the side skirts fitted. And, they are not the best, I knew there were some holes where one of the previous owners had drilled and screwed them on to his/her car...what u didn't know was that a knife had been takes to them and really badly cut down. So they looked crap fitted. I had two choices, do a hard repair which turned out to be impossible on soft flexilbe PU or wrap them... U went to the latter option, in urban camp, and I like, its not going to be to everyone's tastes but I've never shyed away from other people's opinions lol.
I then got some yellow tint and did the fog lights, not 100% perfect but u impressed myself.
Few things to fit like the new rear arb and new bubbles of rust on the rear arch gad reared its ugly head again.
Oh to own a 20yr old F.

Pics to follow:)

Looking good Paul.What did you mean by " knife had been takes to them and really badly cut down."?
I didn't understand it correctly, i think.

here you go, you can see part of the cut out section, the rest is below the tape which i'm using as a temporary fix, i'm still unsure whether to keep them or not so no point permanently fixing them in place as yet.

F.ck...
I PM you..

Thought id put in an update after a long while, after a brief flirtation with ratting the car out whilst looking for another car, I decided there is nothing out there that I really fancy, or like the look of so I've been busy getting the old girl back to her best. I've added a fee goodies and I'm tackling some of the mechanicals. Getting the sills welded up in a few weeks, inner CV boot to change, new brake discs and also new cam belt and tensioners to fit. Then panels to re spray back to blue....should keep me busy over the winter months.

It looks like you got a plan for action already.I crossed my fingers everything to go smoot as planed.
Post pics of progress.

Womble's time has finally come, this winters salty roads and saltier sea air has taken its toll. Alas she is beyond saving, I've been putting it off for a long long time now, fixing bits here, welding bits there but I'm now welding over welding and its just not financially viable anymore(not that it ever was ).
I pick up the new car tomorrow, a thunder grey pre ford gls. It needs work, but I have the parts and the friends to make it come good. I'm going all out with this one to fulfil my modding potential, swapping parts, new parts, rare parts and a few trademark marmite choices.......

So raise a glass and bid womble farewell, and while your glasses are in the air, welcome the new car......name as yet unknown