MX5 Fisher Fury build diary

I went back down again because Catherine was out and I wanted to finish the fibreglass inside the rear arches and rear tub to boot floor. It took about 3 hours - I put two additional layers on the most vulnerable parts of the arches where they support the rear wings of the car and where people are likely to lean. I also did the under-arch side of the plates I made yesterday. Then I emptied out the tub to get access (it's very tricky to reach) and finished off the inside of the back panel where the rear tub butts up against the boot floor, behind the fuel pipe you can see here. I also took a photo of the cooling system header tank to try to find out if I can get a pressure type screw cap for it. I brought the cap home and will shop around. You can see the mucky brown colour from the overflows! I suspect the cooling system could do with a good flush.

Then I was able to start on the bonnet bulge where it touches the engine. Neville has already cut and lifted the leading edge of the bulge by 2". Then he found a 1/4 tube of PVC section used for the edging on large vans which had roughly the right curvature. I measured how long the bulge needed to be then using the air hacksaw and a sander slowly worked a profile that will sit into the area cut out. That gave an outline and I cut out the necessary area of the bonnet. Then it was clear that it is the throttle cable mount and the idle control screw that was needing clearance and nothing else.

Once that was done we taped the two cut sections in place and I packed (very badly) the gaps with fibreglass consolidating compound. Now it will need filling to shape, matting to hold it underneath and so on.