Thanks chaps. Chris, you must have vice like fingers as I had to keep the seals in the freezer and heat up the hub to get anywhere near getting them in. They were OEM too.

Having struggled to get the oil seals in the hubs I'm still left with a 2-3mm gap between the outer face of the oil seal and the front face of the hub. I should have checked on the gap when I took them out but does anyone know if they have to be totally flush with the hub?

LOL!

I have a paper copy of the workshop manual and parts list which seems to work OK!

Clive, thank you for a comprehensive explanation. Makes a lot of sense.

Has anyone tried running with water less coolant and did it make any difference?

Ah!! Hadn't dug that far in.

Thanks Morat.

Crikey that is an epic Gilbertd! I will do as you and RAVE suggest.

Thanks again.

David

I should have said it has three pedals!

Sorry not to respond earlier I've been lying under the thing wrestling with trolley jacks, bits of wood, ratchet straps and curses for a while.

I'm in enough trouble without adding dual control!

The transfer case is now out: what a palaver. Apart from a lot of oil on the casing which seems to have blown back from the gearbox it looks OK. The oil was light brown rather than the bright pink of the gearbox oil. The seals look OK. Is there anything I should replace "while it's out" just in case?

It's bad luck on the oil pressure but you will love the MX5. We've had three and whilst I haven't driven the new one it seems to have returned to the original concept of lightness where the later ones had got a bit fat.

Yes, the engine bay is looking a bit bald.
The shed is full of miscellaneous boxes which hopefully will all fit back in!

Finally found the direct link box.

Thanks again.

Ah,

Thanks Gilbertd. The copy button flashes green on the link briefly but pasting it produces this:-

So, I've extracted the engine and dropped it off at SRS in Sutton who have pressure tested the block and found it to be fit and well. The crank is standard size and reusable as are the heads which have also been tested. Considering the state of the sump contents and the rusted camshaft and pitted rockers I've got off lightly so far. They are going to price up a full chemical clean and cost for the bits.

Whilst it is away I've been messing about with the insulation pad on the bulkhead. The foam had become exposed and where the engine had been run without an offside heat shield the bottom of it was a bit tired. I tried finding a method of sealing the foam to provide a new skin including raiding the medicine chest for Opsite which is supposed to provide a skin. Nothing worked so I contacted Plastidip who were very helpful and patch tested a couple of products on it, settling on ColorBond in Mercedes Anthracite.
After about five coats it looked a lot better and more stable and with the addition of some new heat shield fabric from Textile Technologies it looks quite presentable.
As the heat shield is stuck to the foam I might add some additional mechanical fixing before it goes back in.

I'd add some pics but In Imgur I can't see a direct link button. There is a copy link but that doesn't show up in Preview after pasting the link into the add image button link. I know Gilbert has told me how to do this twice. The joys of old age.

Front of chassis gradually being cleaned and painted.

Trying to work out a method of getting the gearbox and transfer box out bit by bit. The bell housing is off but the rest looks pretty heavy and I need to find a balance point if it all comes out as one.

Like Marty,

I just used an impact gun and looped the belt round the pulley, although it didn't feel like it was necessary. My gun is just a basic Clarke one so nothing fancy.

I restored an "A" suffix a few years ago and it was probably the only car I made a profit on. Agree with Gilberd they are very truck like and some parts now are just unavailable or really expensive such as a wing mirror.
The last one I saw on ebay was £300.
I've driven a later classic and found the seats uncomfortable. Can't comment on the CVC as it is still in bits.
I've ordered the book off ebay for £5.99 so looking forward to a good read.

Thanks Gilbertd, I'll give Ray a call.

Oh dear. The camshaft is shot, the rockers are pitted, the tappets are dished and I haven't even looked at the bottom end yet.

Does anyone have a favourite supplier of oem standard parts for a rebuild?

As a supplementary what were the original colours for the block, head, rocker covers and sump?

Thanks in anticipation.