So, today we did a lot. I mean a lot a lot but more on that later once I recover from lifting a monocoque off of an MX5.
Todays “Thing we wish we spotted sooner” was when taking the shock absorbers off. There are two bolts, one 14mm and one 16mm on top of the other to lock them in place.
The issue we had was that once the top bolt was off, turning the second bolt resulted in the whole shaft rotating. We tried to lock this in place with the stud extractor as this can hold threaded bolts in place. The issue was that there was not enough thread to grip.
We then tried stacking both of the smaller bolts on top of each other and gripping the lower bolt. Again, as there was not enough thread showing, there was not enough space for two bolts.
So I was standing there, stating at the whole thing, swearing quietly and wondering why the top of the shaft was hollow.
Its an allen key hole. Seriously, this was the loss of 15 minutes of our lives we aren’t getting back. Anyway, if you are ever trying to remove your MX5 or Miata shock absorbers:
Also as an FYI this is something not covered in the Haynes Manual. Not even the loosest of mentions on how to remove the shocks.