slug_dub

What is with the TIE fighter noises under hard braking?

rikaro

LOL it's the front tire rubbing to the chassis. I know I know....

Keeps my underpowered car's tires warmed up though

rikaro

Weekend project. Putting on BOE exhaust and rear panel eliminator for my buddy's lotus exige s.

rikaro

So I finally got my engine back from the engine builder. There were some issues here and there but it is finally sitting in my garage.

To sum everything up:

-engine builder said oil pressure lost is a pretty big reason why it started knocking again (bought engine used with bearing bits in the pan)
-he said the cause could be a few things. He saw some scoring marks on the oil pump gear (I have pics and can upload later), the excessive use of RTV from the previous "oil pan assembler" could cause the oil issue and lastly the oil cooler might be faulty? He told me to replace it just to be on the safe side

Now here's the plan and a bunch of questions. I hope I could get some advice to get this started. Work is still crazy but will slow down in September. I can then dedicate my time to work on this.

1. So the block is freshly rebuilt with Boundary oil pump and rotating assembly is balanced
2. Block is good so I'll start troubleshooting and testing every part of the oil flow all the way up the vvt head
3. Making sure Tunerstudio was setup properly so it wasn't the tune that will cause
4. Oil pressure gauge will be installed this time so hopefully early detection will be spotted and won't cause any damage

Now the questions:

1. Is there anyway to test the oil cooler? If not then I'll just go find another one
2. I tried googling on an oil lubrication chart for the vvt motor but am out of luck. Anyone have a source?
3. OCV was checked tonight. Put 12v and it retard and advances. However I checked for resistance at 72 degrees F and it read 9.2ish ohms. Factory manual says 6.9-7.9 at 68 degrees. Pretty close?
4. Am I just panicking too much?

rikaro

Got most of my answered over at clubroadster. Here's the next tease:

rikaro

painted

rikaro

some minor update:

Waiting for some parts to arrive so I cleaned up the water neck



I've been advised not to reuse the oil cooler because the metal bits might still be inside and is next to impossible to clean it out. Does anyone know where I can source a good one? I'm hoping not to rebuild it again haha :(

Onyxyth

iTrader: (2)

Looks great dude. Not sure about sourcing a new oil cooler - it doesn't look like you can buy them new anymore. Maybe make a WTB thread in the classifieds.

BMWidmer

Nice seats!

rikaro

finally time to work on it. I had a crazy summer that I had to work every single day till now.

Engine being put together. Will update more soon

afm

iTrader: (3)

No reroute?

rikaro

I've been away for more than half a year but I just wanted to come update you guys with the miata. I still have the car and I have been driving it daily now for the past few months. I'm slowly cleaning things up after the swap.

Restored a momo indy steering wheel over the winter but didn't get to keep it on the car. I still prefer a softer leather wheel





Also replaced my old strap with a leather one. One of my favorite pieces on the car right now.



OLD


NEW




This is probably one of my favorite upgrades on the car. Lotus elise seats with Ryokrob seat rails. Pre-probax isn't as comfortable as the probax one (I have sat in both for long distances) but the seat i got has lumbar support. Top upgrade as I always feel cramped inside a miata so this is a game changer.



Did a track day in July at the Ridge Motorsports Park. If you've followed my thread, I've been going to the same track at around 2013, but the motor died on me so it was parked for a bit (and rebuilt twice. story of my life.) I went back this and was hoping to beat my previous record, which shouldn't be a problem because I have more power now. However, a certain area of the track has been repaved so it runs a new configuration. Most cars are generally 1 second slower than their previous layout. I ran the same 2:04 flat on a really hot day so it's promising that I could get it down to the 2:01s. The VVT engine also requires dyno tune so i can get the most out of it. I was running at the same pace as a 01-05 vvt miata on the straight. I'm now running re71s instead of ra1



picture of engine


Also got some new wheels recently. TE37V 15x8 +25 SL. 4 lbs savings per wheel compared to the drags dr54. I missed the look of the old wheels though :(





The car currently develops an oil leak from the front. I suspect it's from the front crank seal. I'm am crossing fingers hoping that it's not the BE pump as they previously sent me a size that the front crank pulley wouldn't even go on. Otherwise I believe my engine builder didn't install it properly. It was fine for the first 2000 miles of breaking in but starting to leak when I drove the car down to the track track on a hot day. Now it was leaks whenever i park. Otherwise the car is pretty reliable.

I hope that sums up what happened in the past few months. Not a lot but I'm glad I get to drive the car again.