they stay in whatever holds them more snugly. doesn't matter which, but they better be in one or the other

I usually get one in the block, one in the head, but 18psi has the right idea.

If you're missing one, your head gasket will float around. It's not held in place by the bolts, only held down. If that makes sense.

EO2K your timing on the cursed water plug fix couldn't have been better. Thanks man! God I hated how tight it was getting a worm clamp around the hose.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438299236

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438302085

Now go order yourself some dowel pins, Mazda PN B630-10-306 http://parts.arlingtonmazda.com/prod...52d306%29.html

Mine are in the block, why for I need new?

And seriously, I don't think you get how much that rear coolant hose bugged me, I could never get the clamp on fully, maybe due to how thick my hose is or something but that rear clamp always made me nervous.

Also, M11x1.5 tap is literally impossible to find locally. I've called every single auto parts/hardware store in the area and no one has it, or if they do it is ludicrously $100+. Guess I'll just blast the holes with my steam cleaner.

Taking a break before I put the head back on but I've obsessively made sure this will go right this time.

Tracked down a M11x1.5 tap and ran it through the stud holes several times and used my air compressor to blast all the junk out. I soaked each in Seafoam prior, and it I still yanked out a ton of grit and grime. all studs go in effortlessly now.

Thanks to BogusSVO and his handy thread on cleaning up the block I ran over the head with a nice hard backed sanding block with 400/800/1000 grit sandpaper. Then checked the tolerances with a feeler gauge and it easily passed Mazdas .006 requirement. I ran over it every damn way I could with the feeler gauge and it happily turned out good.

Then lightly ran over the head as it had just been recently machined flat. I ran over it with a feeler gauge just in case.

https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...stalled-65074/

Gonna try some Amsoil 15w-50 a la recommendation from Savington(seems to help with oil pressure as well even though the weight is heavier?)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438388824

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438388824

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438388824

and an OEM gasket to top it off.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1438388824

Uh. My understanding is that the sandpaper approach is for old-style composite head gaskets, and that multi layer steel like the OEM Mazda 1.8 gasket need a machined surface?

--Ian

It was all within spec as per the service manual(tolerances, not the sanding), and with 1,000 grit sandpaper it is pretty damn good. If it doesn't work, well, I can always take the block out.

Also, 400/800/1000 grit is very very fine sandpaper, and I didn't spend to long working at it.

Machinist use some kind of "RA" number when they machine for MLS gaskets. Not sure how that equates to sandpaper grits.

I suspect you'll be just fine. But, if not, you've been itching to construct a built motor, haven't you? (Just a suggestion . . . resistance is futile, LOL)

That's surface quality, it's a measurement, not a type of grit like sand paper.

Whatever the case may be, it worked. I took it on a quick run around town and usually I'd come back and it'd pissed its parking space from boiling coolant. No such thing this time and the radiator was full with no missing coolant.

The 15w50 Amdoil has certainly done wonders for my oil pressure as well. 50 psi at 3.5-4k rpm and 20 psi at 1k idle. With how hot it gets here the protection is a nice peace of mind. During winter I'll probably go back to T6 though.

Some how my downpipe is too friendly with my steering shaft now and on rough decel, shifts, and 4k rpm it likes to try to turn my steering wheel into a vibrator. Must have cammed the vband too far towards the drivers side.

I rather enjoy not worrying about coolant expansion, temps, lack of coolant, and having lower compression.

I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this yourself unless you are quite fastidious in checking your deck with a feeler gauge 50+ times, and want to deal with the cleanup as well. It wasn't hard, just time consuming in the cleanup.

I don't want to say problem solved, as it's too early for that Hallmark card, but I'll take my few wins gladly. Also, Hornet, no. Just no...no more money invested unless my hand is forced due to repairs. *quickly knocks on wood*

Glad to hear the Dominator helped. Are your oil temps any higher/lower now?

I didn't check, I imagine they would be lower, it certainly took a long time to burp the radiator.

I am also running that same magic Red oil! I can tell you it does a great job at keeping engine interals safe as well. I was very pleased when we pulled my WRX engine and cracked it open after Stage 2 and E85 for 60K miles.

So after all that I was still having coolant issues. So I was getting pretty angry that I would have to take my block to a machine shop and tear it apart again.

Decided to see if there was anything else going on. After doing several test runs and getting the motor nice and toasty(lots and lots and lots of 2nd gear pulls), I came to find that no matter how much I bled the system I was still getting coolant puking out of the overflow tank.

Luckily around this time Bryan was having some similar issues with his and found his coolant overflow tank was way to small.

It makes sense when you think about it. My Trackspeed radiator is massive in comparison to my old radiator and by that logic and the volume of water expanding, the stock overflow probably wasn't going to cut it.

So I tested it with a big 1 gallon tank and low and behold no bubbling/boiling/puking coolant. Temps held rock solid and all is well.

Now to find a tank or have one made that fits the stock location, but is double the size.

I'm not saying this is the solution to anyone else having those issues, but my compression is good, I have no oil in the coolant and no coolant being puked out the exhaust, this was the only thing left that made any sense.

I did order a 13" low profile curved SPAL fan from FAB9Tuning as my OEM single is struggling at idle to keep everything happy. also a new radiator cap from Trackspeed as mine was developing a tiny leak.

Thanks for the brainstorming session Bryan, hopefully this is the last of the cooling system crap I have to deal with for a while.

I would not be surprised if all of your problems are being caused by a 10$ radiator cap.

Sadly or annoyingly the TSE cap is not your standard cap.

IIRC, there's a Dodge Ram rad cap that fits the TSE rad, but I don't remember which one.

If I get mine really hot (like at a track day) and don't idle the motor for 5-10 minutes after coming off track, then it'll puke out of the reservoir overflow. It's never done it just street driving, though.

--Ian