Selene - Nev's NB SE

[Lokiel]

Well done on the rollbar install and write-up - extra bonus points for all the pictures. I was surprised nobody had done one before now.

Chrome fuel lid looks "schmick" (now that you've finally got it).

[ManiacLachy]

The question is, Lokiel, now that you've seen it, will you go chrome?

[dave2221]

Nev,

The surface rust on that plate on the parcel shelf is standard... its just oxidisation i believe.

I had the same rusted problem i noticed when swapping my roof out, and i am sure my roof hasnt leaked... (there was no evidence that it had)

I didn't bother doing much apart from wd40, and giving it a clean......

[Nevyn72]

Nev,

The surface rust on that plate on the parcel shelf is standard... its just oxidisation i believe.

I had the same rusted problem i noticed when swapping my roof out, and i am sure my roof hasnt leaked... (there was no evidence that it had)

I didn't bother doing much apart from wd40, and giving it a clean......

Really? Oh well I've done mine now!

It's been cleaned, rust converted, latex sealed and painted black..... I'll probably never see it again but it makes me happier it's been done.....

[Lokiel]

The question is, Lokiel, now that you've seen it, will you go chrome?

No, Nev's experience confirmed everything I'd feared regarding cost/effort.

Another thing he found that I SHOULD have thought of is that chrome gets dirty VERY easily.

I've developed a habit of putting my left hand on the inner passenger-side roll bar when I get in and out of the car and leaning on it or pushing off it. Your hands contain a lot of oils (witness how grimy your gear knob can get, especially if it's chrome) so I'd have to constantly wipe it to keep it clean.

I'm glad you did this mod though Nev, I always wanted to know what it would look like, especially on a Ti.

[Nevyn72]

I'm glad you did this mod though Nev, I always wanted to know what it would look like, especially on a Ti.

... but you still haven't said whether you like the 'look' or not!..... I'm still not certain I wouldn't have preferred the bar in black but it's too late now.....

[Lokiel]

I think I prefer the black roll bar but it could be because I'm now used to it and it blends in well with my black decklid.

As for the factory windblocker, I think you're better off doing something simpler like this:



- you won't miss the almost non-existant audio from the rear speakers and this small piece is enough to block much of the wind

Alternatively, MINX had a better version:

[Nevyn72]

As for the factory windblocker, I think you're better off doing something simpler.....

Where's the fun in that?

I figure the factory unit will never be re-installed as I'm NOT going to remove the roll-bar!

As these things aren't worth anything significant on the second hand market I might as well have a bit of a play with it and see what I can come up with.
Part of my goal with this project is to have as many of my mods 'look' like factory fitments as possible and modifying and re-fitting the 'factory wind blocker with speakers' is in keeping with this.

I know it can be mounted in front of the roll-bar as it's been done before, but at the expense of some seat travel, which I think will be even worse with the SE speaker shrouds, and with the loss of the ability to fold down the top part of the windblocker....

See this post -> viewtopic.php?p=710048#p710048



However I think I might be able to make it work sitting just behind the Torque box but will require some major surgery!
It will be a fun little project (I enjoy creative jobs like this) and if it doesn't work out there's no great loss and I can just settle for a solution like you posted above.

[track_addict]

Good work on getting the roll bar in Nev. They can be painful. When I had my NA I bought an AGi bar. It took me 2 solid days to install it only for me to find out I couldn't fit! Keen to see what other mods you do and how you go about keeping them look OEM. I think I need to get of my arse and make a build thread haha.

[Nevyn72]

So I started playing with the factory wind blocker today in an attempt to modify it to fit with my newly installed MX5+ rollbar.....

The first step was the determine exactly how much space was available.
It wasn't just a matter of the total width, but also the ability to put the unit in there between the uprights so had to be even narrower!
I found the best way to sort it out was to make a template out of thin plywood and try different sizes, here's the final result....



Then I needed to determine how much depth was available to allow clearance for the widow to drop cleanly.



.... and compare this to how deep the factory wind blocker is.....



Hmmmm...... There's a bulge at the back of the wind blocker that will need to be trimmed about 10 mm to allow clearance for the window.

This next image gives you an idea of how much narrower the factory unit needs to be in order to fit behind the rollbar.
In total the width needs to be reduced by ~70mm and with speaker housing on each end this amount needs to be removed from the middle.... precisely..... so it will be symmetrical when put back together....



Oh well, there's nothing else for it, I'l just have to give it a go!

How best to cut a section out of the middle, with perfectly straight edges?.... Well......

Don't try this at home kiddies!!

[Nevyn72]

So now that I had created two, slightly less than, halves of the wind blocker it was time to test fit and see how it worked out!





Yeah! Looks pretty good so far!

Next job was to remove the bulge from the back of the housing and re-size the cover plate to make clearance for the window to drop.
Here's a picture of the markout for the cuts to made by the trusty dremel. I chose a diagonal cut as this would give the closest profile match on the complex curves at the rear of the housing.



..... and here's the result after a fair bit of fiddling and sanding to get the shapes to a reasonable match...



Finally I needed to test fit again to make sure the window would fall cleanly behind the housing.



It's tight but just fits!

Phew!

[Nevyn72]

With that now done, it's time to join the two halves together permanently.

Had some thin steel angle lying around so decided to use some of that to strengthen the joints when glued together.

Here's the main body....



Here's the blocker housing with the bars that will go inside....




Now the glue along the plastic edges is only being used as a temporary 'holder'.
When it dries I'll come back and 'plastic weld' the seams which should make the bond as strong as the original factory joins.

Then the joins will be cleaned, bogged and sanded.
When I'm happy with the result I'll give the whole unit a coat of vinyl dye/paint to finish it off.

I'll be able to do a bit tomorrow but have visitors from overseas in town so need manage my time while on holidays....
Will post more as it happens!

[emily_mx5]

now that is very very very cool.
I am interested to see what the final result is!

[Okibi]

Great work and thanks heaps for sharing the progress photos with us.

[Lokiel]

This is what I like to see in threads, ingenuity and the guts to follow through on an idea.

One tip though, cardboard is cheaper and faster than plywood when making templates. Corflute is even better if you need something a bit stiffer.