Labor Day Update

So things are getting pretty dire with this top. I've had to limit driving the car significantly. The window is now only up because its propped into place, as the fabric around the inside of the main part of the top has shed the zipper almost entirely. The tape residue is unsightly, but I had to ensure the window would remain in place while the body shop had the car for a week. I was trying to prevent as much dirt and overspray from getting into the car while the rocker panels were being repaired.

For some good news, I was able to bleed the clutch system and replace the fluid. I used a siphon hose to withdraw the fluid from the reservoir and refilled with new. Using a tutorial from Miata.net, I was able to locate the clutch slave cylinder very easily (on the right side lower bell housing) I was able to access this by removing the RF wheel and jacking up the front of the car. Always use jack stands! There is an 8mm bleeder screw on the slave cylinder, much like a brake bleeder, and I removed any remaining bad fluid from that point.

The old fluid was completely opaque and a dark brown. Clearly, it had not been changed in quite some time. Thankfully, with some new fluid, the clutch seems to operate a little more smoothly than I was used to.

I moved on to siphon the brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir, and replaced that with new fluid as well. However, the bleeders on the front brake calipers seem to be frozen in place. At this point, I did not attempt to remove them with extra force, as I do not have replacement bleeder screws on hand. I will try again to bleed out the remaining old fluid when I do a replacement of all brake lines next spring. I do not anticipate driving the car much until that point. This should give me ample time to set aside a few bucks for front calipers, should I need them.

I will include some better-quality photos in my next update, as well as better details of the completed rust repairs.