Building a blonde young beefcake wearing nothing but skimpy shorts named Rocky
05-22-2014, 12:53 PM
#1182
Newb
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 3
Total Cats: 0
This thread is great. It really looks like you have taken some really unique solutions for items on you car. Looking forward to more updates. Just bought a Miata a few months ago and I have to say that the thing I love most about them it that everyone is not afraid to jump in and do their own work/fabrication.
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05-28-2014, 11:21 PM
#1183
Smallish update, still struggling to find time. Last weekend I spent 9 hours prepping and painting the rear of the car. Both rear quarters + dent repair + new bumper + modified deck lid.
At one point I painted professionally but it's been 7 years or so and these were not ideal painting environments (dusty garage).
After some body work and sealer primer I applied a couple of coats of base trying my best to feather in the edges to make sure everything matched nicely.
New deck lid saw very little prep work before paint. It was in pretty good shape.
Filled the emblem holes and shot the rear bumper. At some point this will see the knife when I fabricate or install a rear diffuser.
I peeled the tape lines while the clear was still wet to make the break lines more seamless. Overall it came out incredible, regardless of the conditions it was painted in.
Made it just in time to attend a local BBQ/Car meet. Ran into a good friend of mine who just happened to be driving Jack Roush JR's race car...
Also - Just installed the ATi Damper, I ordered a dozen of them for inventory to support our recent price reduction so it was hard resist... I've been on thin ice with this motor on the stock damper. A dynamic ATi damper is really the only solid solution on the market. The solid-bonded, lightweight dampers or machined copies of the OE damper only have the ability to target one RPM range so I opted to go this route. I've learned far too much about engine harmonics to justify saving a few bucks.
At one point I painted professionally but it's been 7 years or so and these were not ideal painting environments (dusty garage).
After some body work and sealer primer I applied a couple of coats of base trying my best to feather in the edges to make sure everything matched nicely.
New deck lid saw very little prep work before paint. It was in pretty good shape.
Filled the emblem holes and shot the rear bumper. At some point this will see the knife when I fabricate or install a rear diffuser.
I peeled the tape lines while the clear was still wet to make the break lines more seamless. Overall it came out incredible, regardless of the conditions it was painted in.
Made it just in time to attend a local BBQ/Car meet. Ran into a good friend of mine who just happened to be driving Jack Roush JR's race car...
Also - Just installed the ATi Damper, I ordered a dozen of them for inventory to support our recent price reduction so it was hard resist... I've been on thin ice with this motor on the stock damper. A dynamic ATi damper is really the only solid solution on the market. The solid-bonded, lightweight dampers or machined copies of the OE damper only have the ability to target one RPM range so I opted to go this route. I've learned far too much about engine harmonics to justify saving a few bucks.
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06-30-2014, 11:16 AM
#1185
Alright so last week I had the car out and we really put her through the paces. Pull after pull of freeway (Usually 60-130) runs in the hot Mexico atmosphere... I felt the shift boot get warm and started to smell coolant... I rolled off the freeway (in Guadalajara). I pushed the clutch to the floor when the engine shut itself down.
Opened the bay up and there was coolant EVERYWHERE. Having no clue where it came from (didn't really care to look at the time), I called a tow truck to have the car quickly transported back to Michigan.
I've since had little time - Fab9 has kept me very busy keeping up with orders and with the recent development of our LS Truck Coil Conversion Kit LINK (feel free to contribute your .02).
So yesterday (sunday) I was able to push her in the garage - Compression results were as follows:
1: 158
2: 55
3: 55
4: 159
Sounds to me like a melted cylinder head but I was shortly relieved of this catastrophic thought.
Turns out the OE MLS gasket melted. The coolant in the bay came from my heater core line that exploded once the system was pressurized from the gasket failure. I can't say that I blame the OE gasket, I'm just glad nothing else melted.
I actually stock a good number of Cometic gaskets, so this will be going in next Sunday when I have some free time.
Accessories & Hardware : Cometic MLS Head Gaskets
Opened the bay up and there was coolant EVERYWHERE. Having no clue where it came from (didn't really care to look at the time), I called a tow truck to have the car quickly transported back to Michigan.
I've since had little time - Fab9 has kept me very busy keeping up with orders and with the recent development of our LS Truck Coil Conversion Kit LINK (feel free to contribute your .02).
So yesterday (sunday) I was able to push her in the garage - Compression results were as follows:
1: 158
2: 55
3: 55
4: 159
Sounds to me like a melted cylinder head but I was shortly relieved of this catastrophic thought.
Turns out the OE MLS gasket melted. The coolant in the bay came from my heater core line that exploded once the system was pressurized from the gasket failure. I can't say that I blame the OE gasket, I'm just glad nothing else melted.
I actually stock a good number of Cometic gaskets, so this will be going in next Sunday when I have some free time.
Accessories & Hardware : Cometic MLS Head Gaskets
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06-30-2014, 03:20 PM
#1191
Seems to me that they may have been blown through when the first cylinder to coolant passage was made by the gasket failure. I have to imagine the material was hot and more playable and the increased pressure might have been enough to blow through it.
I wasn't having cooling issues but the new gasket (without the coolant passages blocked on the first cylinder) will allow for better cooling. I must have been short handed on the older gaskets the last time I put this thing back together.
I wasn't having cooling issues but the new gasket (without the coolant passages blocked on the first cylinder) will allow for better cooling. I must have been short handed on the older gaskets the last time I put this thing back together.
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07-02-2014, 04:04 PM
#1197
I went through two tanks of E85 in a matter of hours. I could have ended up with some winter blend and this could have offset my ignition map. It's a high compression set of slugs this time around so it's easy to end up with some high cylinder temps in boost.
At any rate - the Cometic will be an improvement especially because of the coolant passages. As soon as I'm done with today's shipping I'll drag myself out there and slap it back together. Maybe it's time to de-tune until I get it back on the rollers.
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07-02-2014, 04:17 PM
#1198
I know there aren't many turbo track cars near your power level, but I can't imagine a whole night of highway pulls would add up to the kind of abuse someone like bbundy puts his car through with a few laps on track. If they can run above 5000rpm for 45 minutes at a time (you know if his gearbox doesn't explode) and you melt a HG with highway pulls you may have another problem.
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07-02-2014, 04:41 PM
#1199
I do track the car a handful of times each season and although I could see why you might think that - but honestly the power is so unusable on a track that the car won't ever see the continuous load for the length of time it does on the freeway. In mexico.
Freeway roll racing - 2nd to 6th gear of full boost in an RPM window from roughly 6200 to 8300, then slow back down to do it again.
On our local track - I spend most of my time focusing on how to modulate the power to retain traction then coasting through the rest. It's never consistent, full load, high RPM driving.
Moral of the story - This power level doesn't make me faster around a road course. In fact I'm quite sure I'd kill my previous lap times if I unplugged my EBC but who want's less of it when it's just a casual open track day? The reasonable observation for me to make is that I'm simply asking too much from a 1.8L engine that produced very low numbers from the factory.
Freeway roll racing - 2nd to 6th gear of full boost in an RPM window from roughly 6200 to 8300, then slow back down to do it again.
On our local track - I spend most of my time focusing on how to modulate the power to retain traction then coasting through the rest. It's never consistent, full load, high RPM driving.
Moral of the story - This power level doesn't make me faster around a road course. In fact I'm quite sure I'd kill my previous lap times if I unplugged my EBC but who want's less of it when it's just a casual open track day? The reasonable observation for me to make is that I'm simply asking too much from a 1.8L engine that produced very low numbers from the factory.
Last edited by FAB; 07-02-2014 at 04:53 PM.
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07-02-2014, 04:58 PM
#1200
I guess my point is this: Lets say you did 10 pulls, and each lasted 6 seconds. That's 1 minute of high-power high-rpm pulls over the span of an hour or 2, correct?
Whereas on a track, one would spend at least 6 seconds a lap, so maybe 2 minutes (20 laps) in a 45 minute session. Your car may not do that, but Theseus or bbundy's car might. I know you're making more power than they are, but we're talking 4x stock power vs 4.5x stock power.
I'm not trying to put you down, I just don't see highway pulls being as stressful as a full track session with regards to heat buildup. Again not necessarily your track sessions, but the sessions of some of the more competitive cars/drivers out there.
But I've got no experience in high-hp cars in either so maybe I'm just talking out my ***.
Whereas on a track, one would spend at least 6 seconds a lap, so maybe 2 minutes (20 laps) in a 45 minute session. Your car may not do that, but Theseus or bbundy's car might. I know you're making more power than they are, but we're talking 4x stock power vs 4.5x stock power.
I'm not trying to put you down, I just don't see highway pulls being as stressful as a full track session with regards to heat buildup. Again not necessarily your track sessions, but the sessions of some of the more competitive cars/drivers out there.
But I've got no experience in high-hp cars in either so maybe I'm just talking out my ***.
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