January 2008 Archives
Rod knock and at least two quarts of oil burned in ~1500 miles. Great. :(
More commentary to come after I've progressed further through the Kübler-Ross stages.
In yet another in a series of diversions (feature creep), I've started to think about what I want to do about the brake situation. The 1.6L comes with smaller rotors than the 1.8L cars. If this is to be a trackable car, IMHO, I think it needs bigger brakes. :)
I came across some links (this one too) about fitting FD3S/T-II calipers to a Miata. The first one looks like a lot of work to me. The advantage is, though, I have a set of FD brake calipers in my stockpile, so those parts would be free and I have some race and street pads. If I were to, ahem, upgrade the FD, then I would also have spares for this car. ;)
Several concerns with this:
- Cost of pads - I would like to have a wide selection and inexpensive pads. FD pads aren't made by as many companies as a Wilwood/AP/Outlaw caliper, so I'm limiting myself in this aspect. I should research the FD pad size and see what comparable "generic" pad for a racing caliper costs, if it is significantly cheaper, then this is a vote in favor of the racing calipers instead of trying to retrofit FD calipers.
- Cost of rebuild - Mazda kits aren't too bad
- Time/effort to fit - given the FM/Goodwin kits are $1600 for all 4 corners (different brackets for rear to increase swept area/rotor diameter), this needs to be cheap and easy. If there's a way to just bolt them on with an adapter, I'd be all for it but having to cut off the mounts and grind them down isn't very appealing and then I don't have interchangeable spares (until the FD goes bigger brakes).
Bob Bundy has played around with this quite a bit. I have some archived Miatapower posts on the matter for reference. I'm inclined to follow in his footsteps since his car is used for the same thing I intend mine for.
I have a spare set of 1.8L rear calipers/brackets I can use. Add pads/rotors/rebuild kit and I have a bolt-in solution for the rears for more swept area. The issue becomes bias with the fronts. From what I recall reading about the FM kit, they select the front calipers in such a way that a different MC isn't needed and the bias is not affected (with different brackets for the rear). Same thing goes for what I've last heard about the FD from RacingBrake.
I need to get the Miata in the garage with the wheel off and see how the FD caliper would fit and do some research on pads. Bigger rotors are going to be the same money wise and are essentially independent of the caliper decision (thickness aside). They will definitely cost more than a combo set of stock 1.8L rotors/pads from PlanetMiata.com.
More on this after I do some more research.
Put the radiator mounts back together and the automatic throttle body on. Decided to just front the $2.00 and use the paper gasket. It cranked it back up and idles okay (a little hunting though). Yay, back to two running cars.
Found a source for a new TPS sensor connector - a Bosch 4-wire connector but requires minor trimming of the alignment tabs.
Now, I just need to order the pins for the COP plugs and do the wiring to the 'Squirt and it should be ready for dyno tuning.
First track event of the year is coming up early February. I'm not sure if it is realistic to get the car sorted out and a rollbar in it in time...
Found a source for a new TPS sensor connector - a Bosch 4-wire connector but requires minor trimming of the alignment tabs.
Now, I just need to order the pins for the COP plugs and do the wiring to the 'Squirt and it should be ready for dyno tuning.
First track event of the year is coming up early February. I'm not sure if it is realistic to get the car sorted out and a rollbar in it in time...
After putting the car together for the first time and finding a nasty oil leak (which prompted me to pull the oil pan AGAIN), I realized that I capped off the outlet for the valve cover and was pressurizing the crank case. Oops! So, to make sure that wasn't causing the oil leak at the front of the motor, among other things, I added plumbing to the intake side of the compressor so that I didn't cap off crankcase.
Well, you see, you don't necessarily want a hose going directly from crankcase vent to the intake, because there is all sorts of nasty stuff in that vapor, so most folks install a catch-can in between. I built a catch-can out of scrap aluminum tubing, some stainless steel scrub pads and a radiator drain-cock. Remind me to NEVER make my own weld-bungs. Takes for-freaking-ever to tap NPT fittings in 3/8" thick aluminum. Well worth the $3 each to just buy them and weld them in but what can you do when you can't get them locally and you want your car back together ASAP?
Anyhow, I'm pleased to report that the DIY catch-can works like a charm. I've drained for the second time and I'm not getting any oil, only some "milky" liquid, probably mostly accumulated water vapor (but it smells of petroleum products). I guess the motor is okay (no blow-by from rings) and the oil feed/drain for the turbo isn't backing up and causing oil to blow past the seals and get into the intake there, either. It is good when you almost engineer something right the first time!
Well, you see, you don't necessarily want a hose going directly from crankcase vent to the intake, because there is all sorts of nasty stuff in that vapor, so most folks install a catch-can in between. I built a catch-can out of scrap aluminum tubing, some stainless steel scrub pads and a radiator drain-cock. Remind me to NEVER make my own weld-bungs. Takes for-freaking-ever to tap NPT fittings in 3/8" thick aluminum. Well worth the $3 each to just buy them and weld them in but what can you do when you can't get them locally and you want your car back together ASAP?
Anyhow, I'm pleased to report that the DIY catch-can works like a charm. I've drained for the second time and I'm not getting any oil, only some "milky" liquid, probably mostly accumulated water vapor (but it smells of petroleum products). I guess the motor is okay (no blow-by from rings) and the oil feed/drain for the turbo isn't backing up and causing oil to blow past the seals and get into the intake there, either. It is good when you almost engineer something right the first time!
With the radiator mount "broken" (it is really a 5 minute fix, if that, but I want to get better hardware from Lowes/Home Depot instead of the Harbor Freight assortment I originally used), I decided it might not be a bad time to take the car down for a bit and do some maintenance and inspection.
One item I've been neglecting is installing the 1.6L automatic throttle body so that I can have a proper TPS sensor for the MegaSquirt. I still need to find a suitable way to connect to the electrical terminals on the sensor since the connectors are different between the two TPS sensors. Yuck.
I got the TB bolted on, only to find the gasket material not reusable, so I need a new gasket. I started to cut one out of copper but it isn't proving to be as easy as I thought it would. I should probably replace the small coolant lines for the throttle body and thermowax/idle valve while I am at it, since they are original and are a potential failure point.
Another thing I would like to get done is the COP wiring. I need to order the pins from Newark and wire up to the MegaSquirt, which reminds me, I need to mount it permanently, find the missing end-plate for it and while I'm in there, either re-ground the Innovate to the 'Squirt or recalibrate the Innovate output to compensate for the slight difference in AFR shown by the 'Squirt versus the Innovate LM-1 (it errs on the rich side, so I wasn't concerned). These mods would get me to the point where I would feel comfortable in spending money to tune the car (on a proper dyno, of course).
I should also probably reinstall the stock water temp and oil pressure gauges in the cluster so I'm not "blinded" by the lighting from it at night and speaking of night driving, move the Hella lamps from the '94 to this car since it is being driven more or start crafting a dual headlamp pop-up kit ala Moss with Xenon bulbs/ballasts. I'm resisting the urge to put a bar and plate intercooler because of how ugly some of those welds are, among other things.
Ahh, good old feature creep! Down boy, down! Just get it back up and running again!
One item I've been neglecting is installing the 1.6L automatic throttle body so that I can have a proper TPS sensor for the MegaSquirt. I still need to find a suitable way to connect to the electrical terminals on the sensor since the connectors are different between the two TPS sensors. Yuck.
I got the TB bolted on, only to find the gasket material not reusable, so I need a new gasket. I started to cut one out of copper but it isn't proving to be as easy as I thought it would. I should probably replace the small coolant lines for the throttle body and thermowax/idle valve while I am at it, since they are original and are a potential failure point.
Another thing I would like to get done is the COP wiring. I need to order the pins from Newark and wire up to the MegaSquirt, which reminds me, I need to mount it permanently, find the missing end-plate for it and while I'm in there, either re-ground the Innovate to the 'Squirt or recalibrate the Innovate output to compensate for the slight difference in AFR shown by the 'Squirt versus the Innovate LM-1 (it errs on the rich side, so I wasn't concerned). These mods would get me to the point where I would feel comfortable in spending money to tune the car (on a proper dyno, of course).
I should also probably reinstall the stock water temp and oil pressure gauges in the cluster so I'm not "blinded" by the lighting from it at night and speaking of night driving, move the Hella lamps from the '94 to this car since it is being driven more or start crafting a dual headlamp pop-up kit ala Moss with Xenon bulbs/ballasts. I'm resisting the urge to put a bar and plate intercooler because of how ugly some of those welds are, among other things.
Ahh, good old feature creep! Down boy, down! Just get it back up and running again!
I was taking pictures of the car today for the blog and noticed that something finally "broke" on the car. The whole time I've been driving it, I've been expecting "the other shoe to drop" and have mostly met with success.
The driver-side radiator mount lost the one and only bolt/nut/lockwasher holding it, so the radiator was only being held by the passenger-side mount.
Not good because if that mount goes, the radiator is being supported by the two radiator hoses/plumbing which is not very sturdy.
I have some ideas on how to beef up the mounting brackets but I think I'll just put some better quality hardware on there for now until I get a chance to really spend some time on the nose of the car (the ducting), which may require me to change my mounting strategy.
The next VMIC setup I do, I will definitely use a "beefier" mounting strategy than the brackets I fabricated for this project.
The driver-side radiator mount lost the one and only bolt/nut/lockwasher holding it, so the radiator was only being held by the passenger-side mount.
Not good because if that mount goes, the radiator is being supported by the two radiator hoses/plumbing which is not very sturdy.
I have some ideas on how to beef up the mounting brackets but I think I'll just put some better quality hardware on there for now until I get a chance to really spend some time on the nose of the car (the ducting), which may require me to change my mounting strategy.
The next VMIC setup I do, I will definitely use a "beefier" mounting strategy than the brackets I fabricated for this project.
Was observing spool-up patterns driving around in 5th gear around town today. I can floor it at 40mph in 5th gear and the car doesn't go all "weaksauce" begging for a mercy downshift as it would N/A.
2000rpms: seeing positive manifold pressure
2500rpms: ~4-5psi
3000rpms: solid 7psi
Tachometer tends to read high compared to the tach on the MegaTune, so the actual engine RPMS may be lower than indicated. Need to look at datalogs to corroborate.
<evil grin>
I wonder what happens when I turn up the wick to 10-12 psi? I've got the fuel and intercooler for it. Are my pistons and con-rods up to the task, though?
2000rpms: seeing positive manifold pressure
2500rpms: ~4-5psi
3000rpms: solid 7psi
Tachometer tends to read high compared to the tach on the MegaTune, so the actual engine RPMS may be lower than indicated. Need to look at datalogs to corroborate.
<evil grin>
I wonder what happens when I turn up the wick to 10-12 psi? I've got the fuel and intercooler for it. Are my pistons and con-rods up to the task, though?
Stuff left to do:
- Add some ducting to the IC and radiator
- ...not that it really needs it with air intake temps 10 degrees of ambient
- Reinstall undertray
- Clean up the ECU wiring/install
- Get car corner balanced and aligned (bushings/new camber adjustment bolts beforehand though)
- Transmission whines in 4th, investigate possible fluid leak
- Upgrade stock 6" VLSD differential. Uh, yeah. That's not going to last long. Time for something bigger and bulletproof. :)
- Adapt N/A FC3S differential?
- T-II differential?
- Hybrid '94+ Miata?
- Miscellaneous rattles and noises (front bumper cover needs some fasteners)
- Install competition motor mounts, make sure steering shaft rub is resolved (drive a cloverleaf with some speed)
- Permanently mount ECU and stereo amplifier
- Rollbar, seats, harnesses
- Cut out stock seat mounts from chassis to get me needed 1" of height
- Replace POS unsprung race clutch with something more streetable, maybe 1.8L + light flywheel?
- Relocate water temp sender for ECU since it shows false hot (210F+) when bubble or coolant evacuates to reservoir and immediately drops down to ~190 in seconds
- Reinstall stock water temp gauge with linearization mods
- Adapt Autometer pressure sender to stock gauge (break out PIC programming references/beg EE for simple l-pad solution)
- Fix oil leak
- Re-fit piping for Magnaflow catalytic converter
- Move 'squirt fan output to different ECU pin, current pin will be needed
- Wire in clutch-switch for flat-shift/LC (after differential and clutch replaced)
- SuperPro urethane bushings and newer camber bolts
- Bar-and-plate I/C
- Oil cooler
- Make a mold of gauge cluster hood, add "ears" for gauges, modify/fix so the mounting tabs don't break
- Bigger brakes
- Use FD3S fronts or acquire "racing" product
- Investigate price/pad availability for each caliper
- Brake bias with bigger brakes?
- I have spare 1.8L rear calipers/brackets
- DIY "built" 1.8L motor
- Equal-length turbo manifold
- Divorced wastegate downpipe or external wastegate
