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May I reccomend adding an 8kw chinese disel air heater off ebay to the garage as well? They are about $150, and it can even get my unisulated, detached, two car garage to the mid 50s when it is in the 20s outside. Runs on disel, heating oil, or kero. Just make sure to read up on them a bit, they are copied off an old german design and are perticular about fuel lines and fuel pump orientation and such cause the fuel mix is controlled mechanically....
Garage heating systems have been on my mind. I can get employee discounts on natural gas garage heaters where I work. I need to get an estimate on what install would be as I'd just prefer to leave that one to the pros. In the meantime, I just have a small LP tank fueled heater and its always done the job well enough for what it cost. Its very possible that with all the insulating I'm doing, that the small heater I have will just be good enough. Wanted to talk to my realtor about ROI on heated garages as I plan to flip this house for profits within the next few years.
As you could have probably noticed by now if following along to this hot mess of a build thread, I've really been slacking on getting the engine harness sorted. The only big item to take care of to get the car firing is to finish the engine harness and wire up the essential relays for ECU power. I had purchased an OEM RSX engine harness from a Facebook seller many moons ago, but it really wasn't exactly what I expected. After de-looming it, bare wires were found, improperly soldered wires, broken wires, you name it... Could I have fixed it? Sure! But... After more thought, did I really want to spend a TON of time refurbishing a rough OEM harness and risk burning up a brand new Kpro ECU if I missed fixing a critical wire? Nope!!
So.... a quick call to David at Kpower happened last week and I really lucked out by grabbing the only K24A2 harness that he had laying around in stock. My luck streak continued when I posted the used OEM harness up for sale (disclosing its issues of course) and ended up selling it for a profit. Excited to have this new piece on the car shortly. The only downside to this harness for my application is that there are more wires in the main body of the loom than I have pins available in my bulkhead fitting, so the quick release bulkhead fitting idea will be shelved and I'll stick with the traditional OEM firewall grommet.
I'm going for a 6 speed with 4.3 as well, but I'll probably be shifting at 7600 because Z3. My goal was to never use 1st or 2nd on track and top speed is still about 145MPH so the roval at Autoclub is still doable in a draft without hitting the limiter.
Not much point in building with the Roval at ACS in mind since it's believed to be closing by next year. Supposedly.
Yeah I made those decisions before all that came out. **** nascar, they did the same thing to a local track here. They built a wall at Phoenix International Raceway in order to safely make a couple more infield RV parking spots... and that wall blocked the exit off the roval to the infield road course, so they decided no more road course events.
The female of the household was gone on a girls weekend, so you know what that means.... a weekend with the boys in the garage!
Started working on Friday night. The 5spd in the car didn't have any fluids in it yet, so it was a prime time to have the 6spd installed. I'll say that swapping a trans with the Kswap is a LOT easier than I recall it being on a BP setup. All of the bell housing bolts are easily accessible with a standard ratchet and socket (no extensions needed). The K24 head doesn't get in the way of anything near the firewall and there's plenty of room for your hands. Drop the midpipe of the exhaust out, disconnect the PPF from the trans, and yank the driveshaft and the tranmission pulls right off. While casually working and drinking simultaneously, we had the trans swap done in 2 hours. Added the finest Motorcraft XTM5QS fluid to it to seal the deal.
Next morning, we started off with some quality thinking fuel for breakfast. Goal of the weekend was to get a running car, so we brainstormed how to get there.
First step was finishing up the wiring. Went out and bought some all thread to mount the new battery. Simply drilled through the floor and jam nut the bottom of the threaded rod to the chassis, then its a simple bolt on affair to get the battery secured. Shortened up the OEM power cable and crimped a new terminal on it. Made a new ground strap as well. Happy with the outcome!
While working on the battery, I finished tucking the OEM wiring forward of the firewall. The only OEM mazda wires that I have forward of the firewall now are wipers, headlights, and radiator fan wires. Everything else is Kpower harness for the engine. I drilled a hole underneath the cowl, installed a grommet, loomed everything up, and used p-clips to hold the loom in place which seems to be pretty standard procedure on wire tucks. Rinse and repeat for driver side. Happy with how it turned out.
Once the wire tucking was complete, the fenders could go back on for the first time in a year.
Then lastly the focus was on the engine bay. A lot of small projects were completed and I don't have photos of it all, but here's a brief summary:
Installed coolant hardline underneath the intake manifold which connects rear of the head to the top radiator hose. Used HPS T-bolt clamps for all radiator connections because they are pretty.
Added oil
Pulled the valve cover and timing cover to double check the timing as its always better to be safe than sorry here when a project goes as long as this.
Installed Ktuned oil pressure adapter so I can run both the OEM sensor and an aftermarket one simultaneously. I prefer this piece to the sandwich adapter which has hit or miss reviews on leaking over time.
Installed Ktuned breather filter
Installed Rywire Titanium VTEC solenoid pressure sensor delete bolt as Kpro references RPM and load to active (not oil pressure anymore)
Installed IAT into intake piping
Installed and tucked away the Kpower engine harness
Installed coil pack cover panel and made shims for it so it sits flush
Made and installed engine ground cable. Kpower calls for 3 chassis grounds to be used (engine block, transmission, and timing cover). This seems excessive in my brain, so I just made one from block to chassis to see how it works.
Installed front sway bar with the RB blocks
Installed Kpower adapter harness to get power to the Kpro
Triple checked all relays and engine wiring to ensure proper items were getting power
Registered the Kpro and flashed the base TSX tune to it
All of that got me here. The OEM overflow is temporary for now. I've got some clever ideas in the works to have it completely removed to keep the engine bay clean while retaining an overflow as the high point in the system.
From here, everything was looking like it was ready to test out.
First sign of life was when we went to prime the oil pump by simply disconnecting the injectors. With an oil system that is completely dry, this is an absolutely necessary step. That little battery turned over the motor for well north of 60+ seconds. This was very promising
After the system was primed with oil, we hooked up the injectors. It took a while to get fuel supply to the rail as those lines were also dry, but once fuel got there, it fired right up!
I've only had maybe 45 seconds of run time, but everything sounds good and no visible leaks anywhere at the moment. Coolant system still needs to be completely topped off and checked for leaks. The big takeaway I have at the moment is the exhaust is really quiet and the intake noises on throttle hits are quite loud. Absolutely exactly what I was looking for
I'll keep the thread posted as I'm curious how it'll work out myself.
This neat little Ktuned oil pressure adapter is worth a post of its own. Didn't have a photo of it, so went and took one yesterday. It's got male BSP threads to go into the block, a female BSP thread for the OEM oil pressure switch, and 3 NPT ports for aftermarket senders. The large hex portion of the fitting against the block acts as a jam nut which also provides some support for the weight of the senders cantilevered off of the block. Without it, the tiny BSP threads would have to support the entire weight of the senders, which isn't as ideal. The jam nut portion also has an o-ring on the internal diameter against the adapter shaft, and an o-ring on the face that mates to the block to help prevent any sort of leak. Lots of thought into this small piece.
We've got the same battery in our LD e46, dropped 45 lb and despite people telling us it wouldn't start the car hot, it started better than the stock battery all season lol.
When utilizing Kpro, you no longer need the VTEC oil pressure sensor as VTEC is actuated via RPM & load in the ECU instead. The Kpower harness doesn't even have a plug for it due to its lack of necessity.
The peasant solution would be to just leave the sensor unplugged, but then it just looks unfinished with an obnoxious blue plug in one of the most visible areas on the engine. The JDM versions of the K24A have an OEM plug in this spot, but I couldn't find the OEM part number. After a quick email to David, he mentioned that Rywire sells a super swaggy titanium bolt that plugs this sensor port. If David calls something swaggy, you know its gotta be good right? While the material is surely overkill, it fits the bill perfectly. #muhOCDispleased
I was hoping to have the car on the dyno this week, but some last minute Amazon orders to get the coolant system sealed up were supposed to arrive on Wednesday and didn't show up until Sunday night. Might need to push dyno to next week depending how progress goes.
Still waiting on some backordered items from Black Friday (thanks COVID)... One of them is coolant system related, so I'd love to get that part in before bleeding the system..
Making the best of things, I'm slowly but surely getting the garage insulated. Bernie is relatively upset at the lack of progress on the Kswap too, but don't worry it'll get done soon and more dearly awaited garage updates are coming quickly..
Also sold the truck in December to pick up a newer, nicer, more cost effective daily driver.
Finally got one of the last pieces in the mail I was waiting for. Picked up a DaveFab washer fluid tank...
Now you may be asking "Matt, why do you need a washer fluid tank for your kswap?". The answer is, I technically don't, but I'm being OCD and want a clean looking, yet functional, engine bay. Seeing as I work full-time designing cooling module systems, playing around and taking extra steps on the coolant system just falls in line with what I do every day.
From day 1 of the Kswap, one of the main complaints I heard about it was that the system was difficult to bleed. The OEM Mazda radiator location is lower than some of the coolant passages in the head, which makes burping the system a challenge without jacking the front of the car wayyyy up to force the radiator to be the highest part in the system. To overcome that, I had Tractuff make me the custom rear water neck with radiator fill port. This is now my new highest point in the system. The hope is that with the new fill port being the highest point in the system, coolant system bleeding should be much easier (with the car on level ground) and the engine bay won't have that ugly OEM overflow tank catching your eye. Made a quick little diagram to explain below. The DaveFab overflow will be cleanly underneath my GS cowl cover. Relocating some critical coolant system pieces also opens doors to some sweet intake and radiator system ideas on the front end of the car, which I've got 99% of the research done on already. Progress will be slow on that as its not super critical right now, but it is something I really want to complete eventually.
To make the DaveFab tank work, there is a 21mm hole for the OEM washer fluid pump that needs to be sealed. To retain the functionality of the tank as a washer tank in the event that I ever change plans and sell it, I plan to just pick up a set of sealing washers from McMaster to block off the hole. I'll have a barbed NPT fitting on the passenger side of the tank to run my overflow line to, and it should work out well.
Buddy of mine came over and we got a pile of "little things" done as long as the garage finally warmed up to mid-20 degrees!.
New brake fluid / bled entire system with ATE Type 200
Installed spare dyno wheels a friend lent me
Connected misc transmission wiring
Replaced some worm gear coolant clamps with t-bolt clamps.
Filled with coolant
Drained the tank of its peasant 87 octane fuel by bypassing the fuel pump relay and replaced with fresh 93 octane goodness.
Updated DaveFab tank to work as a coolant overflow.
....but most importantly, the car is on the ground idling for the first time in 1.5 years! Coolant system completely bled out with the car on the ground as pictured with the handy rear water neck design. Just need to button up some wiring on the interior in the coming days, then it'll be time to schedule some dyno time to make some noise.
Long overdue update, so here's been what's been going on the last month or so! Big changes!
Winter can get pretty long and make you have competitive event withdrawals as a car guy, so thankfully Road America puts on some pretty neat Winter AutoX events. While I wouldn't take the miata to one of these (because salted roads and a car that rusts at the sight of salt), I do have the perfect substitute. The S3 daily! I asked a fellow miata buddy of mine if he wanted to co-drive, and it didn't take much convincing for him to jump at the opportunity. Pictured below is us rocking out of Turn 14 prior to entering a slalom at about 75mph (note how flat the car is)
The S3 itself is a showroom stock car down to the 400tw all season 225/45/18 tires. I haven't touched a thing on it, and have been just enjoying the car as it sits for a daily. I wasn't sure where we were going to fall, but came out pleasantly surprised with taking home 2nd & 3rd place respectively out of the field of 88 cars that showed up (only to be beat by an STI that by all accounts should have been faster with more power and 30mm more tire). I was bested by Jason in my own car, but that's part of the fun. We were going back and forth all day on who was faster, and he ended up on top in the end so congrats to him on that. We both found it extremely satisfying to have this weird thing called torque from our powertrain, which we were not used to having in our n/a BP life we live in the summer. The A3/S3 chassis is really solid out of the box and with a couple very small tweaks, I could easily see this car being an amazing backup car in the stable that could take home 1st place finishes locally for these winter events. Extremely happy with the purchase so far.
As can be seen in the photos from my previous posts, my garage was a chaotic disaster zone. Between honey-do list projects, general home renovations, and garage insulation work, there left little space or room to really just focus on the last few items of the kswap that were left outstanding. Fast forward through a ton of beer consumption and some awesome helping hands from friends, I managed to finish the garage insulation project, got all the OSB hung on the ceilings and walls, and finished a majority of endlessly growing honey-do list of the time. Also insulated the ceiling and installed a new garage door opener as the old one was having hiccups. The garage floor was also old, pitted, cracked, stained and disgusting overall, so I had a contractor come in at the end of March to professionally repair and epoxy coat the floor. The end result of both of these big garage projects in March gave me a solid starting space that any car guy would love to have.
While I still have paint and general lighting to finish in the garage, AutoX and Track day events are starting up soon and I still didn't have a completed kswap. With my new garage workspace finally decluttered and a comfortable temperature, the motivation to just finish it already kicked in. Started with looming all of the loose ends for the modified dash harness.
Once the dash was installed, I could start testing all of my wiring to make sure I didn't cut something I wasn't suppose to. While testing the hazards out, I couldn't help but snag a photo on how awesome the switchback halos look on this car.
From there, I had to wire in all of the aftermarket gauges that I added. From left to right we have AEM wideband, Longacre Oil Pressure, Longacre Coolant Temp. The old cig lighter is now upgraded to a USB charging outlet with digital voltage readout as well. Last but not least, the radio works as expected because every true street car needs one. The new headunit makes the simple component speakers that I have in the doors sound far better.
Then finally, I got the gauge cluster and sparco wheel installed with the NRG QR. Really liking how the interior is tying together. You can still see the un-loomed power window switch harness off to the side. I've got some ideas on aftermarket toggles that I need to finish yet, but for the sake of time I'm holding off on that for the short-term.
So tonight the seats go in. Everything is working except for a low-beam bulb issue on the headlights that I believe I know the issue for. No coolant or oil leaks from what I can find so far, but I do have a slight exhaust leak I need to check in on.
I have a tune scheduled for this Saturday with the local shop that Kpower takes all of their cars to, so hopefully we will have a successful session without too many hiccups and put down some nice power! Corner balance, new front end alignment, and remounting the aero to the car will take place in the week following. First event for the car is planned for the 25th of this month so I need to get all my ducks in a row. Hoping to get a few early season AutoX events under the cars belt, so I can hit the ground running for Gingerman at the Miata Meetup the end of May. WOOHOOO!
Sold the truck in December to get the Audi knowing that if I ever needed a tow rig, the gf's Explorer Sport would be up to the challenge with plenty of towing capacity to spare. Was pleasantly surprised with just how nice this towed.
Anyways, what you are really here for... DYNO STUFFFF
Got the car down to Mikey at Mspec, which is who David recommended locally (and where David brings all his Honda powered toys). All strapped in and ready to rock.
First things first is calibrating the TPS and all that boring IAC stuff. After that, a fixed VTC angle should be ran across the RPM band. Here you can see 10, 20, 30, 40 degree intake cam phases fixed. Once you understand what VTC angle is making the most power at any given RPM, it's as simple as calibrating the VTC angle required against RPM to maximize performance. This single task is, in my opinion, what makes properly street tuning a K-series so challenging to do well. Mikey took practically no time to sort this out, but I suppose that's what you can do with probably 20 years of experience and base timing maps that are proven and ready to rock. The power numbers were already pretty impressive at this phase.
After a few tweaks, and smoothing out some of the torque curve to minimize torque dips/peaks I was left with 231whp / 186wtq. Super happy with that figure for essentially a junkyard motor. You'll likely notice that there are still some dips in the curve. The tuner mentioned that this is likely due to the header design. The Kpower header is designed as good as space allows for in the miata chassis, but could benefit from increasing the size it necks down to in the crossover region by the transmission bellhousing (which isn't physically possible). Nice to understand regardless!
So far no major hiccups to resolve. Going over the car with a fine tooth comb to ensure I didn't miss a possible leak or loose piece of hardware. Trying to minimize the growing pains that I know all swapped cars generally need to work through.
10-09-2020, 03:47 PM
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