Fire Resistance Test Performed. You know, for Science.


It appears I shouldn't use this near stuff that gets super-hot because unlike carbon fiber (which is highly fire resistant) and fiberglass (which is usually fire resistant unless the resin isn't) this stuff likes to burn and isn't self-extinguishing. At least it isn't prone to reigniting once it's out. Still not a good solution for high-heat applications though, looks like.

 

Call that a warning light? THIS is a warning light

It's a trailer clearance light, in a housing made from a piece aluminium angle. You will not miss that if/when it comes on.

In fact it is still sitting in a box of bits left over from the racecar part-out.

 

Cramming lots of updates in because I leave for the track tomorrow.

The one big concern I have about this upcoming track weekend is engine temperature - I'd like to keep an eye on it properly, but the analog gauge in the car doesn't tell me when I'm breaking 220'F which is what I really want to know. I was considering various solutions including strapping a laptop down in the car during the sessions when I remembered I'd bought a copy of TS Dash Pro as part of a package with TunerStudio MS (I had to buy it! It was on sale!) "Welp," I said, "I can at least see what it does."
So I went here...
TS Dash Pro Download
...and poked around. Wait, there's an image I can just dump on a raspberry pi 4? I have a few of those lying around. IT Guy and all. Hmmm, I think I have a little touchscreen connected to that NAS I put together for fun because the case was cute. I can steal the monitor too.
Let's see what happens when I power it on...

It BOOTS?!?

It Boots? It Runs? Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait. It's Never this easy. It Can't be this easy. I should go plug this into the Miata.

Wait...It WORKS?!?
OMG it WORKS. That was STUPID easy. Dump image on pi, plug pi into MegaSquirt and power, Done!?!? No way. It CAN'T be that easy. It just CAN'T.
But it Works...

This is one of the nifty little touchscreens with a mount for the pi board and dedicated cables to run power, the touch function, and the HDMI screen straight off of the board. Good thing I saved those. (Good thing I found them after all this time too!)

Mounting the Pi board on the touchscreen

Carry the considerably more compact unit out to the car for testing and...Darned if it doesn't work! That's crazy
The last challenge (other than sourcing shorter cables to plug into the power and the megasquirt) was where to put the little beast. Jeff at the shop suggested using double-sided tape to stick it to the dashboard. It looks cool there and all, but I can just see it flying around if there's a shunt. The best place would be in the double DIN space where Sean put the AFR gauge and all of the switches. I would be perfectly happy relocating all of those somewhere else, but I don't have time before the next track day...hmmmm...
One trip to Ace Hardware later and I'm ripping the tombstone apart

Late night working on the mounting solution

A fair number of tools required

Four 1 1/2" spacers and screws later and I've got a double-stacked double-din area. There's still room to shift (I checked first), I can reach behind the screen to work the toggle switches as needed, I don't need to see the AFR gauge because the digital gauge cluster already has one, and when I want to remove the unit all I have to do is pull four screws and two USB cables and Bam! Clean removal.

It lives! IT LIVES!!

Now to button everything up

It took a bit to do the installation, but the core functionality was done in the time it took to put an image on the SD card and to boot a raspberry pi. Ridiculously, insanely easy. I'm flabbergasted.

 

Great updates, but man we need to work on that cold start and tip in from idle

 

You're not wrong there, but in Tim's defense it was starting beautifully when he was done tuning it. It had an occasional miss so he said the injectors needed to be cleaned. I told the shop who dumped a bunch of injector cleaner through the fuel rail and apparently the injectors had really needed to be cleaned because it appears to have significantly altered the start, idle, and afr in general. *Sigh* Welp, always something to do.

Speaking of which spent the day out at Inde Motorsports Ranch on Saturday. The new ramps were necessary to keep the Miata from high spotting on the edge of the trailer and they worked fine, but the 45' transitions between boards make for a very dramatic loading. I'll see what I can do to improve those transitions.

At the track again...just can't wait to get on the track again...

First time out since the engine rebuild and first time on that track. Started out in the slowest/starter group since I am still getting used to the car and had only driven the track in simulation. The first two sessions were good learning - went from a 2:30 on the very first lap to a 2:05 in the middle of the second session. Still tons of room for improvement as per the grip chart (and the clock - I was slower than everything but a Mercedes C280)

Got Grip - now I just need to use it!
Point-bys are mandatory in the starter group so I just waved everyone by until I had clean track and then went to work. Not good for lap times but I need to sort the brake points and corners first. I didn't even bother using the higher boost setting. I was tempted, but it was a hot day that just got hotter as it progressed and I didn't want the extra heat. As it was I was getting up near 220 in the 4th session, and my GoPro overheated and shut down before I even got on the track.

The third session is where they introduce the "new drivers" to the red group. I had concerns. They were justified. First lap, just warming up the tires - I'm old and boring so I just push in the corners a bit to get things warmed up. Second lap, kick things up, going into the twisties and oh. what. a. shock. a Camaro off in the dirt. There's a reason I despise those cars in Assetto Corsa EVO.

Dirt nap for the Camaro

Half a lap later and there's a track-wide black flag.

Someone (not me) screwed up pretty big time...
I appreciate the fact that they have an "ALL" sign to throw with the black flag so I know it wasn't something I did.
Anyway, *Sigh* Back to the grid where we sit for 4 minutes of our 20 minute session waiting for whatever the mess was to get cleaned up. Then it's out again behind a lightning-fast Mustang. (No, not the blue one - there's a red one in front of him.)


So...yeah. Spent the entire lap stuck behind the mustang without a point-by and nothing to practice other than not rear-ending a much slower car. I went back to the pits and changed to the next group up (with the sympathetic blessing of the organizers of course.) I'd rather be a rolling chicane in intermediate than be in the starter group once the new drivers are added.

As mentioned previously the fourth session was hot. Too hot for the camera and pretty near too hot for the car, even at the lower boost levels. The nice thing about the intermediate group is point-bys are recommended but not mandatory, but I waved everyone past anyway and happily went back to work on the corners. I was the slowest - two seconds slower than the next-slowest in the group (at least of the ones running a transponder) and I had some pretty slow lap times in the mix because I opted to wave virtually everyone by as they caught up, but it'll get better. It also didn't help that for the last two laps of the session my car decided it didn't want to go into 5th. I ran the entire track in 4th instead, which was what I used for the twisties anyway. I figured it was the heat; that transmission can get weird when it gets hot. When I got back to the pits I went to back in to my spot and...it wouldn't go into reverse either. Pushed the car back into my spot. Even after cooling down the car wouldn't go into 5th or reverse. Every other gear, no problem. Researched the issue. I find it worrisome that pulling the hex nut on the passenger's side of the transmission (say, by mistaking it for a fill plug) makes the internals come loose and causes this exact issue, and that the solution is to replace the transmission. I haven't put a wrench to the transmission at all, and I've driven it a fair amount before the engine rebuild and never had this problem. *Sigh* In any case it appears I need to buy a new transmission for the Miata. It's going to be a 6 speed again because I just put in that 3.63 rear end and it's staying. At least it isn't a Porsche. Porsche transmissions are stupid-expensive.

 

Gee Emm, that is an AWESOME warning light. I have warning light envy now.

 

It comes as a surprise to no one involved that the shop's junkyard source couldn't find a single miata transmission in the US or Canada. I had figured it was going to go that way based on our attempts to find a 1.6 block a few months ago, so I had already tracked one down and am having it delivered to the shop. Hopefully I'll have 5th and reverse again in the next few weeks. I'll also look into what it would take to rebuild my current transmission as a spare because it looks like NB 6 speeds are going the way of miata hardtops - infrequent and expensive. I wish that circlip modification was an option! https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...m_content=post
It doesn't seem like that's what failed on my current transmission but I certainly wouldn't mind the extra insurance. I did call walter motorsports and was informed they don't work on NB 6-speed transmissions so there won't be any help coming from that direction. Next is talking to the shop and there's always the transmission shop across town that rebuilt the AWD transmission on my Flex successfully. It took a few tries, but at least they only charged me for parts on the second attempt. >.<

In other news, I thought I heard some rubbing when I was in the twisties this weekend. I didn't see anything after the first session, but when I was pulling the miata off of the trailer at the shop today I noticed this...

Passenger Front

...and this...

Passenger Rear

...and This...

Driver Front

...and THIS.

Driver Rear

Yup, looks like I heard rubbing. On every wheel. I'm going to need more room for rubber or to decrease body roll more. I thought Sean put in coilovers but I can't find anything specific in his build thread at the moment other than a picture when he was getting ready to put in new eibach springs back in 2017:

2017 suspension shot

Maybe I need to replace suspension components too.

 

Lift it.

That's the reason for those two rings are under the springs.

What width are those tyres? I see they are /45s but the NA is IIRC more limited in wheel/tyre width than the NB. Wheel offset?

 

Good question Gee Emm, let's see...

Found some more suspension and wheel information in the small mountain of receipts I got from Sean while looking for the wheel offsets. Woot!

Rubber: 225/45R-15 Kumho Ecsta V730 SL. Sean ran the same size rubber back when he tracked the car.
Wheels: Konig Dial In 15 x 9 4x100 73 ET35
Sean rolled all of the fenders back in 2015
Based on receipts the car has a FM V-Maxx XXtreme Stage 2 Track Pack package suspension kit installed in 2013...
https://flyinmiata.com/products/na-f...43374965227775
...and the springs were replaced with a set of eibachs in 2017.

I'll lift it if I have to, but I'd prefer to keep the car's center of gravity as low as possible of course. That being said, since the newest suspension component is 8 years old stuff could be pretty tired. The car has mostly been sitting for those 8 years though. Heck, I don't even know what a good ride height is on that car. More to research...

 

One thing I found recently on the 6 speed topic is this video
I'll need to rewatch it, but I think it's a similar idea to the circlip mod, just performed differently. I'm in the same boat as you, I'd like to stick with a 6 speed but I don't want them to be a consumable.

 

Just watched the video SimBa - this is really good information! Thank you for that! It's quite different from the Circlip mod and sounds like that might be what happened to my transmission on Saturday - there was certainly enough heat, although my effects were basically the opposite of what he described. That could potentially be a match too though, depending on how it slipped. My plan is to drop in a replacement transmission and to rebuild the existing one if possible so I'll be getting a look inside at some point. If it's rebuildable then I'm thinking of doing both mods if I can find a machine shop to do the circlip change because why not? Welding that ring in place sounds like a sensible step regardless.

Researching V-Maxx rebuilds at the moment - I strongly suspect the coilovers on the car are long overdue and it's not going anywhere anyway.

 

Did that info have pinch weld heights, or similar? It does seem that something has sagged/leaked/moved. Bottom line is, if you want to stop the rubbing, the car has to be lifted one way or the other.

Thanks for that vid SimBa. I am looking at the NEAT option, which they call the 'circlip mod', this looks the same, just welding the gear directly and ditching the circlip - if I understand it right. Herring is only a couple of hours down the road, much more convenient than shipping a gearbox literally halfway across the country.

 

That's what I was thinking as well Gee, IIRC this seemed to be similar to the circlip mod but kept everything in place via a different method (welding vs the circlip).

Unfortunately there don't seem to be a ton of options for us in the states. I did reach out to TRE but didn't hear back. If the welding option works then I'd be able to get that done locally most likely.

 

Turns out it is not the same. I know Johnny's seen it, but for others this is the result of a phone convo with Todd Herring this morning.

 

Now we need somebody stateside to do these mods! I'm going to have a probably-rebuildable NB 6 speed ready to repair and mod as soon as it gets swapped out for the (hopefully) working one I found. Oz has cool accents and 'roos and all, but it's not cost-effective to ship transmissions all the way there to get them sorted...

 

Team Rip Engineering in Michigan (?) is the shop that I've heard will do the circlip mod. Not sure how accurate that is anymore, but they seem to be really well respected in the Evo world.

They've done work with Gears and Gasoline on YouTube and my buddy sent in his Evo's diffs/trans to them and they've been holding up to ~450 whp.

I go back and forth on all of this as well. It's a lot of work/money to build a transmission that's still probably going to shred the teeth off a gear if you go much over 350-400 whp (or so the hivemind says). For those of us that just want a reliable 350-ish it might be worth it though

 

In the happy coincidences department Sean messaged me the day you posted this so I asked him. For a car he hasn't touched in years he remembers a staggering amount of information! He provided the optimal ride heights as designed, the spring weights he used...heck we even talked about upgrading the turbo (which is happening!) Jeff at the shop was all like, "We can adjust the ride height!" and sounded all happy about it. That should at least sort any sagging that's occurred over the years it sat. Sean is looking for his fender roller too - once he finds it then the car and I are planning to visit him and work on the fenders some more. He thought there was some more room we could get out of those fenders.

To this point, I'm not planning to go above 300-350hp for the next few years at least. I'm not saying never, but while I learn the car, learn the local tracks, etc, I'm thinking I won't be going above that even with a fresh turbo 1.8. Since my old 6 speed gave up the ghost at around 200hp (and I wasn't even beating on it) I'm planning on beefing these transmissions up somehow. I'll probably put the replacement in as-is, hopefully rebuild and solidify the failed one in the car currently, and then swap that one in, solidify the replacement, and keep it as a spare. That's a lot of transmission swapping but it keeps the car on the road/track and gives me the toughest transmissions in the long run.

Pictures! I support my local track photogs whenever I can so here's a shot of the car in it's current configuration, happily rubbing paint off of the fenders at Inde (or at least close to doing so.)

Rub-a-dub-dub!

Inde apparently decided to take some drone shots during one of the sessions I was in, so here's a fun one for you - this shot contains both my spot in the paddock and my car out of the track. I give you...WHERE'S JOHNNY?
I am in this one, really!

 

Two trips to the track. Both hundreds of miles away. In what I would have thought would be an abundance of caution I trailered the car to the two events.
At the first event the car blows the rings and starts dumping oil all over the engine compartment with an emphasis on the exhaust manifold. Good thing I brought a trailer.
At the second event the transmission fails on the car and I'd have been faced with driving hundreds of miles on a transmission that had already lost 5th and Reverse. No idea if it would have made it. Good thing I brought a trailer.

So since the car is off at the shop again I might as well work on trailering improvements since it appears I'm going to be stuck trailering the car for the forseeable future. $&%^$*(^&*.
The current trailer I have access to is actually really nice but the Miata barely fits. As in less than 2' between the tiedown points and the D rings, both front and back. Even if I went to axle or wheel straps there isn't enough distance to do a straight run with a heavy-duty tiedown strap. Heck, there isn't even much room to go diagonally. That made for some...challenges...getting the car strapped down for the trip to/from Inde.

Spaghetti anyone?
The only way to fit the big tiedowns was to go diagonally. You're not supposed to X both the front and rear though. Heck, some people swear the car will immediately fling itself off of the trailer and into the nearest school bus and/or minivan while exploding into flames if you X either the front or rear, but my options were limited. In this case I X'd both the front and rear and then added some straight runs to the front using some lovely small chinesium tiedowns from harbor freight. They say they can support 3,000lbs each. Yeah right. But as supplemental bracing, welllll...it's what I had. Fortunately no school busses or minivans were harmed during the trip.



Overlapping. Ugh.
The rear X overlapped right where the ratcheting mechanism was so it was trying to chew through the straps on the way out. I wrapped and wired an axle strap between the tiedowns to prevent this from happening on the return route.

Clearly a better solution is required. I can live with X strapping the rear but the front end needs a better solution. And happily with the right supplies it shouldn't be too bad - it's a short (12" - 16"), straight run from the baby teeth to the D rings so I can use a chain. I just need to find hooks that fit.
You know how many folks list the WIDTH of their hooks on websites?
That's right...pretty much none that I could find.
Off to Ace Hardware yet again. They have a set of grade 70 cast chinesium hooks that might fit - they're awfully beefy but they might fit. Do I remember to buy one on my way to visit the car at the shop? Heck no.
Off to a different Ace Hardware that is at least close-ish to the shop and lo and behold they have a pair of 1/4" grade 70 cast chinesium hooks (rated to over 3100lbs) that look like they'll do nicely. I buy both, go back to the car, try the hooks on the rear tiedown points and yup! They're perfect. Much better than the bigger ones at the other Ace Hardware. Stand up, whack my head on the wing and leave a bump that lasts for days. Glad I was wearing a hat or there'd have been blood. Clearly I should have taken up crocheting or needlework instead of car racing. Oh well.
So with two more hooks and a short length of chain I should be good for fastening down the front of the car; I can use the monster straps I've got now to X the back and we'll be golden.
Does the nearby Ace Hardware have grade 70 chain? Of course not.
Off to the original Ace Hardware. They have the chain. Do they have the size hooks I need? Of course not. They appear to be discontinued. Hopefully not because they failed under load, but honestly they're overkill for what I'm doing so I figure they'll be fine assuming I can find two more.
I'm actually pretty good at finding information and materials on the web. It still took me a not-inconsequential block of time to track down two more hooks. They're coming from Oklahoma I think. Once they get here I'll at least be able to satisfactorily fasten down the car.


Two more hooks and these will be done at least

The other trailering takeaway from the trip was that the Supplemental Ramps V1.0 were passable but not ideal. The 45' transition between each board made for a lot of drama, and one of the ramps actually came close to scooting out from under the aluminum trailer ramp when I gunned the car to get it over one of the 45' hops. Good thing I put a big lip behind where the aluminum ramps go, but I don't feel the need to risk that again. Offloading at the shop was fine at least. Boringly uneventful even. Just the way we want it.
And so last Sunday the ramps got upgraded to Supplemental Ramps V1.5
Step 1 was smoothing out the transition between the boards using a handheld 3" belt sander loaded with 80 grit paper. Other tools could have been used but that's what I had in the shed. Did I take any pictures of that step? Heck no. It was very hot and kinda miserable work though so you're not missing much.
Then they received Pigs.

Pigs! And sanded.

When I was stenciling the closest ramp the nozzle on the orange spray paint can flew off. The straw didn't pop up immediately though - it kept shooting paint all over the ramp, in the air, etc. It finally decided to unstick and stop spraying. I collected the nozzle, put it back on the can and stenciled the pig on the the second ramp. It looked Ok, but that first pig looked like something from The Last of Us. So I grabbed a can of black paint and added a top layer in black. It turned out Ok.
Finally I added a hardwood strip along the back edge which will hopefully prevent the ramp from scooting out from under the aluminum trailer ramps, particularly when the front of the car is on said aluminum trailer ramps.

Stay-put strip added
And there you have it. Supplemental Ramps V1.5 ready for testing whenever I have a Miata and a trailer around. Hopefully the Miata will be home in the next few weeks. Hopefully.

Ready for testing! Now with Pigs!

In completely unrelated news Google Photos has added a new function called "Remix" to the phone app. Presumably they named it that because naming it "Give us your photos for free so we can use them as training for our AI engine and we'll let you see the crappy results, at least in limited quantities" wouldn't get many participants.
Here's what it did to one of the photos of my car at Inde:

Well at least it's close. Ish.

Back in the day the old Photos program on Windows had an option to turn a picture into different style sketches - line drawings, watercolor, etc. It's long gone of course, and now we get this abomination instead. In limited quantities. They'll probably want to charge for it at some point too.

 

Trailering is Good. It conserves track tyres, allows lost of tools, spares to be taken, and (hopefully) the towmiester provides more comfort on the trip. Like you I have had to use it twice (in 20 years), once the very first time when the head came off a valve 300km from home, and once when the same car was written off 900km from home.

 

I have had good experience looping through the wheels for tying down the car. At least 20,000 miles that way. Just a strap with a D ring at the end combined with a short ratchet strap at the other end.