Oscar

iTrader: (2)

Lightly coat with oil, clingfilm it, largest ziploc you can find. Done.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I'm loving the attention to detail and all the fancy tools you're using (like that wiseco ring compressor, didn't even know about those, been using a craptastic vatozone one)

codrus

It's only been 3 weeks, and it was packed in grease and a heavy plastic bag when it arrived. Looking at the photos I took, the surface rust was there when it arrived. This isn't a used cam, it's brand new from Mazdaspeed, so something's wrong.

But yes, I did follow that procedure with all the parts that came back from the machine shop.

--Ian

codrus

Yeah, I'm a firm believer in having the right tool for the job, and, well, I like having excuses to buy more tools. The last time I did this I used a micrometer to measure the bolt stretch, that was a real PITA because the ends of the bolts are slightly domed rather than being flat. The ARP bolt stretch gauge makes it easy. It's not quite as accurate as the micrometer, but it's plenty accurate enough for the Carrillo spec of 0.004 to 0.006 stretch (I aimed for 0.0055) and the spring-loaded pointers grab ahold of the indentations on both ends of the bolt very nicely.

The ring compressor is simple -- it's just an aluminum cylinder with a hole through it, 84mm on one side, tapering out to a few mm larger on other. It works very well.

--Ian

codrus

So 10 minutes with a scotch-brite pad and the MSM cam cleaned up pretty well. I went to put it in and, unsurprisingly, need a bunch of new shims. Ordered.

Then I disassembled, inspected, and reassembled the oil pump. While tightening one of the screws, it felt a bit funny. I looked at it and the rear case is cracked:



Doh. I dunno how that happened -- pretty sure I didn't crack it while torquing, I wasn't putting much torque on it at all. I have another used pump from the donor motor that's high-mile (and I'm not going to use), but theoretically I could just steal the rear case from it. OTOH, it's not clear to me if the pump parts are fully interchangeable. The two pumps have different casting numbers on them, and the high-mile one uses phillips-head screws instead of the torx on this one. Different parts suppliers for Mazda, perhaps?

Ah well, I'd been sort of on the fence about buying a Boundary pump anyway. This was an OEM pump that I put it when I built the motor 4 years ago, since it only had 10K miles on it and no oil-related damage I figured it was OK to reuse, but if something happened to crack the rear case, I dunno. I all looks normal inside, but this is an area I don't want to screw around with.

In other news, back in August I signed up for a track day on the 5-mile Thunderhill course, before the Miata broke. Since I couldn't take the Miata there, I decided to rent a car instead. I sat in Savington's rental, but I don't fit in it. In fact, I'm not sure I'll fit in any Miata with a full cage, the left side top bar on the cage is where my helmet wants to be. So I rented something a bit different instead:



--Ian

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Anxiously awaiting the Monday update with track vids. I've not been on the 5 mile Thunderschleife as of yet

codrus

Alas, I forgot to bring the charger and the high-cap battery for the GoPro, so I've only got as much video as I could do with the half-charge I had remaining in the other two batteries. I do have some, at least.

This is early on in the day with a car I've never driven on a track I've never driven, so my lines and braking points are far from ideal.

Overall, I like the new west track, but I think I agree with the people who say that it's better as a standalone track than as an integrated 5-mile track.

--Ian

codrus

OK, why don't the youtube bracket delimiter thingeys work on that?


--Ian

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

What did you think of the SRF?

codrus

Acceleration-wise, it's a lot like a stock Miata. Motor is a 1.9L out of a Ford Escort, something like 115 hp with a minimum weight around 1700 lbs IIRC. It's VERY eager to turn in, more so than any other car I've ever driven. It's also oversteer-biased in static cornering, and needs throttle input to keep the back end in line, something like an old 911. Unassisted brakes, so the pedal is very firm, the clutch is also quite heavy. It's light, but non-power steering and a small diameter wheel means a fair bit of steering effort -- my arms are still sore today.

The shift linkage on the one I drove was very vague and the gas pedal was low relative to the brake, which made it difficult for me to heel-and-toe. Downshifting from 3rd to 2nd was difficult, and a fair bit of time I'd wind up sitting in the middle of the corner with no drive, hunting for gears. There are two tight left-handers on the new course (don't remember the turn numbers now), plus turn 11 on which I wanted 2nd, eventually I quit trying and just left it in 3rd for them. It worked, but coming out of the corner at 2000 RPM was definitely not the fast way around. Presumably this is all stuff that could be fixed and tuned to the driver given a bit of time.

I hadn't realized just how much wind buffeting there is on your helmet in an open car like this, going into turns 1 and 14 it's quite significant.

Lap times for them on the 3-mile course is something like 2:05 IIRC, which is about 5-10 seconds faster than a Spec Miata. Grip levels from the slicks were pretty high, although I don't have any gee recordings. I was running well off that pace, however.

I put in something like 2.5-3 hours driving it. This was an event with no run groups, which was a bit of a challenge since the SRF has no odometer, no fuel gauge, and no clock. With lap times approaching 4 minutes, it's hard to keep track of how long you've been out there, and I managed to run it out of fuel and had to be towed in. Doh! Fortunately it was right before lunch, so there wasn't much track time lost.

All in all it was a lot of fun to drive, a taste of something different. I've done 50+ track days in the last 15 years, but except for a couple in my old B5 S4, they've all been in the Miata. I'm glad I rented it, but I don't think I want to own one.

--Ian

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

There's a new & improved SRF formula coming out soon, I think by 2016 it will be replacing what you drove at SCCA national competition. Modern engine, more modern other stuffs, and much more power.

The new formula sounds interesting, the old (current) ones never really interested me but I've always been curious to drive one.

codrus

The guy I rented it from (Ric Heer, CSR Performance | Your Northern California Customer Service Representative for SCCA Spec Racer Ford) was talking about the "gen 3" cars. It sounded like the major difference is the drivetrain, with the existing chassis being upgraded to the newer specs. I didn't get the impression it was a huge increase in power, the focus was more on getting a new source of motors because the old ones have been out of production for years and it's hard to find parts for them.

The rental cost was a grand. Not cheap on an absolute scale, but not particularly expensive for an arrive-and-drive race car either, it's around the same level as the various rental Miatas I looked at.

I was very happy with the service from Ric, and would recommend for someone local in NorCal who wants to give it a try. If you have a buddy who also wants to try it out, I think you can split the cost between two people on the same track day with a small premium to cover additional consumables used.

--Ian

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

I think initially they are going to restrict the Gen 3 cars to have performance comparable to the current cars, but I thought after a few years they were going to uncork them a bit.

I'm trying to remember from some random article I read a few months ago so my knowledge is extremely questionable and unreliable, at best.

As long as they sound better I'll be happy. You always know when the SRF guys are racing because it sounds like 30 lawn tractors doing synchronized mowing...

codrus

Ordered a BE pump from Savington earlier this week -- unfortunately it probably won't arrive til next week when I'm out of town, so that part of the build is stalled for a while. Ah well, the new valve shims should be arriving from Mazda tomorrow, so at least I can finish putting in the MSM cam.

--Ian

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Well, the rest of the shortblock can come together without the pump, right?

codrus

Not really. The rods, pistons, and crank are all installed already. I could bolt the head on, but the next step after that is to start putting on the various parts for the timing belt, and that requires the oil pump be installed.

--Ian

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Well, yeah. That's what I meant by shortblock. Which Boundary pump did you decide to go with?

codrus

I went with the one Andrew recommended -- I think it's the "high flow" unit.

--Ian

williams805

iTrader: (2)

Good thread. I wasn't aware of FM's torque plate either, probably would have went that route.

Glad you went with BE pump. I mean why not at this point and horspower level? I went street/strip but wish I would have added shims.

Looks solid. Keep up the god work.

codrus

If it had been a 100K+ mile pump of unknown origin, no way would I have reused it, so a BE pump is a $200 premium over a new OEM pump. That's little enough to be pretty obviously the right choice. Instead I had a 10K pump that was (I thought) known good -- that means the BE pump is a $450 premium, which is less obvious. Since it turned out to be questionable due to the crack, that changed the equation.

Speaking of equations, last weekend I cleaned the rust off the intake cam (scotch brite took care of most of it), and measured the lash using it with the shims that were already installed for the stock ones.

Now-shiny MSM cam:



And I wrote a spreadsheet to calculate the right shims to use



And I ordered a few shims from Mazda. Here's the box they came in -- a cubic foot to hold 5 quarter-sized discs of metal? Seems a bit silly.



And I put them in:




Alas, after doing this, all six of the intake valves that I changed (the 2 for #1 were fine) are now slightly too tight. Grr. The spec is .21mm +/- .03 mm, so .18 to .24. That works out to .0071 to .0095 inches. I aimed for the low end of the spec, figuring the tighter the gap the more lift I'd get, and thus fractionally more power. Alas, I can now only get the .006 feeler gauge in, not the .007. I haven't quite decided what to do about this yet.

--Ian