Hi all,

The 71 pictures below show the main content of the Italia build and hopefully how easy it is to convert an old MX5 into an Italia.

If you wish to receive a copy of the build manual just email me on dave@retroforza.com

Enjoy.

The lucky MX5, bought from a nice young lady in South West London for the sum of £1700, mechanically and bodily perfect and with only 48000 on the clock!





Although the build manual starts with the front of the car I prefer to start at the back.

I first removed the lights using a phillips screw driver and then the number plate. As this car is an imported Eunos (best car to use by the way) it has a square number plate housing. After removing the boot carpet I unbolted the housing from inside the boot and prised out the plastic retaining lugs.

Then I moved on to the bumper which is mounted with 8 bolts, in 2 squares on either side and is also mounted to the back of the car inside the rear of each wheel arch. Before removing the bumper I made sure that all wiring had been removed.



Total time taken here was 1 hour 30 mins
Weight removed from the car 28lbs 5 oz.
I have decided to use after market mirrors so have removed the existing mirrors. This is a simple task of pulling up and revolving the plastic mirror base and unscrewing the two screws underneath.
Time taken 10 mins



After a quick trial fit of the rear end it was time to grind back to bare metal the areas that will be bonded to it.

I taped up the edge of the cockpit to save it from being ruined by adhesive a subsequent finishing work.







You will notice that the fuel cap has been removed also.



It is important to grind off paint around and inside the wheel arch also.






The ariel was removed also and will be replaced with a hidden version but the ariel can be re used if required.



Once all paint has been ground off the boot lid is temporarily fixed in place using the original bolts, catch and hinges. This is so that the lid can be used as a reference point when lining up the bodywork.



Line the bootlid up to gain the best possible shut lines and so that it will close on the catch (adjustment of the catch may be required) and then tighten the hinge bolts.



It is now time to trial fit the rear end again and to trim any excess off to gain a tight fit and good gaps.





The main areas that may need trimming are at the front of the boot opening, its important to ensure that the body sits very close to the Mazda body down the sides of the boot opening and trimming the front part of the boot will allow the body to drop into place here.





Once a good fit alrond is achieved it is a good time to cut the holes for the lighting, the fuel filler and the boot lock.The rear lights come with a gasket which can be used as a template, the filler cap should be trimmed to allow a ledge for the Aston cap to sit on.A hole cutter was used for all round holes but it is important to take your time to measure all cuts and mark with a pencil before cutting.

I have opted for hidden number plate lamps and so I have cut holes here to allow the original mazda lamps to work, however if aftermarket lamps are used only a small hole will be required.



The fuel filler cap is off centre as it is on the MX5, however the Aston filler cap is wide enough to allow easy filling.



The last thing to do before bonding is to pack out the boot lock with washers to allow it to protrude through the new body work, this is also a key reference point in lining up the body. The rear end has a mark moulded into it to show the cuting point of the boot lock.



The above work took a further 4 hours to complete.

Before the rear end is removed one last time it is worth showing the area between the font of the new body and the shut line at the trailing edge of the doors.



This will require a skim of filler, up to the shut line, to blend in the new bodywork perfectly.



Once ready the bonding adhesive is mixed in a 50/50 ratio and is ready to coat the areas that have been bare metalled. you have around 40 minutes to get the rear end on before the epoxy goes off. The following pictures show the body on and you can clearly see the epoxy which will be covered by a skim of filler later.

S







The holes are where self tappers were used to secure the body whilst the epoxy goes off, they were removed after 24 hours. The rear end is now very strong indeed.

Once the rear end is bonded on the lights can be fitted, I filled the number plate light cut outs and fitted chrome ones instead due to a change of mind.





Then it was time to bend the rear end in with filler, along the leading edge of the new body to the door shut line, along the top of the wing and along the boot lid, take care here to get the gapping right.



Now that the rear end is complete apart from an exhaust pipe cut out.(various options are available in aftermarket exhausts including centre exits and dual exits at either side as well as the standard tail pipe.)

Time now to begin cutting out the lighting, grille and fin holes in the front end. Use a hole cutter where possible. For the fins I used a drill bit to cut a series of holes and then used a small file to flatten out the shape before sanding it smooth. Another handy tool is a grinder fitted with a metal cutter which makes short work of GRP but you need a very staedy hand or you could over do it











Once completed it is time to unbolt the front of the Mazda.

Headlamps should be raised and then dismantled from the car including the motors. The bumper is also removed including the metal reinforcement which unbolts also.







The wings are held on by bolts and captive nuts, top tip here is to liberally spray these with WD40 a couple of days before you tackle them as some may be very stubborn at first. The wings are unbolted inside the door shut, behind the plastic inner wheel arch,(Which will need partially removing from the wing)along the inside of the engine compartment, under the sill and also attached to the bumper.







A Haynes manual will be a very good investment so I recommend you purchase one for this build as it will walk you through removal of the body panels, although not a difficult task.

Once all panels are removed you will need to cut a small amount of core support away from each leading corner, this will enable the new headlamp buckets to fit.






Fit the bonnet first, which will make the location of the front end easier.



As with the one piece rear its important to take your time in getting the gapping right before you bolt the front end on, the tabs are purposely left undrilled so that you can line them up and drill them yourself.
Here are pictures of the first attempt at gapping and of the attachment inside the bonnet.







I trimmed off some excess material inside the engine bay area of the front end, near the hinges, this allowed the front end to drop properly into its correct position.

Top tip...Take it one step at a time , measure twice, cut once. Other than that it is a straight forward job.

This picture is of the mounting point inside the door shut.



A bracket I made up to secure the body to the Fire wall.



This shows a special rod, secured to captive nut which once held the headlamps. This is attatched to the wing and can be adjusted to give the wing the correct radius to match the bonnet, to be fair it didnt need much adjusting but it does make the body nice and taught.



A look at the final gapping.



A sourced a bonnet latch from a Citreon Ax which does the job very well although it needed some packing to get the correct fit. Any number of latches will do the job though.




Turning attention to the doors, it is necessary to fill the character line that runs across 1/3 of the way up the door.




First I ground out the paint both from the line and the sill where the rear end will be blended in.



These were then filled...





Sanded and painted.







Guide coats are used to detect areas still requiring flatting back or skims of filler to finish.

Fit the lighting to the front of the car.






Once complete I went round the car, and after cleaning it I painted all the areas, including the shut lines to ensure uniformity of width. Painting these makes it much easier to judge the finish.













Once happy with the final gapping and the overall quality of the car its time to step back and start contemplating the colour you will finish it in!









I hope youve enjoyed this blog as much as I have enjoyed the build.

Total hours were between 50 and 60 to get to this point.

I sold all the parts that I dismantled from the car, on Ebay, for £525.

The new body weighs less both front and back than the parts removed.