After two days of work the dash is going back in. I opted to stop last night because I have to get up for work at 5 soooooo I needed at least a few hours of sleep so I could continue today!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7ab1533423.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ea8089a43a.jpg

So I don't think my vvt oil squirters had crush washers...anyone else find that when tearing down engine? How necessary are the crush washers on install?

From what I've seen, the older motors have thinner squirters with washers, the newer ones have thicker squirters with no washers.

Thanks! I actually installed the crank then I had to take it out because the clearance of the squirters with washers to the counter weights of the crank was too close for comfort. So I redid it

Quick Update: I spent sometime yesterday doing some engine building work instead of tuning my miata with the new VTPS I got for the 1.6...(priorities) Got the crank in an torqued to spec.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...33b2d7ebd9.jpg





This morning I was going to continue and get the piston rod assembly put together and into the engine annnnnndddd upon just verifying the bottom compression Wiseco NPR XX rings in the bore this morning to see how much I needed to gap them I noticed something odd...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a2d161cb9a.jpg
I only need to have .018" on the bottom compression ring. So why is it at .022" and even a .024" feeler gauge fits in the gap without me even modifying it? HMMMMM

What is your piston to wall clearance. Mine were pretty big too, bigger than j originally wanted.

I couldnt find the paper where I wrote down the bore measurements I took after it came,back from the machine shop. I believe the largest ptw was .003"

Got it figured out thanks for the help!

Made a lot of progress the past two days. Was able to get my new piston ring set filed down to .017" and .020" (was going to be 17 & 19 but I went too far on one ring...ooops)

Got those installed on the pistons and put together the piston/rods. Ran into a slight issue with the Ebay rods and that was the small bore for the wrist pin had a slight lip on it that needed sanding down. I also very much suck at installing the wire locks...Really dug into the piston shown below...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b561e20cb1.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e5e4dbbabf.jpg

Yeah, the lock rings can be troublesome.

And painful to the fingers. Today the bottom end goes together. So. Effing. Hyped.

I was able to get piston rod assemblies installed on sunday. Now to seal up the bottom and move onto the head.

What was the answer to the ring gap question. Inquiring minds want to know.

So I remembered I had spoken to my machinist about the details of the application, but did not remember discussing a specific piston to wall gap. I went ahead and brought home a micrometer from work and measured my pistons individually and all of them resulted in a p2w of .0029" - .0031". All bores were 3.3085".

Update with interesting twists!
 

Well even while working and with Hurricane Irma prep I was able to get some work done on the car. Had a kinked front brake line and that was received in the mail Friday. On that note I just want to say that Emilio and the 949racing group did an outstanding job processing and shipping my order within the moment they received payment. That there was amazing customer service! Much appreciated!

Got my oil pan welded up with aluminum bungs for oil temp sensor and oil return line. Finally finished modifying MBSP so that ARP studs and nuts didn't contact it. I'll upload a picture tonight. Will need to change out the oil seal from the BE Oil pump I have to the OEM one before installing it. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...93600fae55.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5cc1ba062e.jpg

One other note: I wanted to post this not to beat on Fab9 but just to show everyone that I have not had any follow up from Bryan since early August. Check out the conversation:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1f68727749.jpg
I have learned my lesson. Even after the screw up before this when I was offered a shirt, I said no and moved on.

Another interesting item is this bracket for COPs from a Toyota Prius: Mazda BP engine- Individual coil adapter plate

Picture:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2f5018ae59.jpg


Vendor is saying the following coils work:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0a8ad3486c.jpg

According to the vendor these are the same as the COPs I am running so for about $130 bucks you have a COPs setup that functions the same as the COPs setup I have currently without modifying the valve cover or having to trim and mess with spark plug wires.

Bracket has been purchased! About to buy the other COPs and see how they work on my 1.6 before I install on 1.8. This seems to be cheaper than LS Coils and could be a plug and play solution. Vendor (Sam Q) is very responsive via email and helpful.

Got some work done yesterday on bottom end! Hopefully today will be installing rear main, MBSP, Oil Pick up, and Oil pan. Would be nice to be done with bottom end so i can focus on the easier stuff!

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e1bf532055.jpg



Also managed to drill and tap intercooler for GM IAT. Picture to follow later.

Well i was able to make lots of progress...slowly...

Got head installed. Wrinkle painted valve cover. Not sure i liked result. Sand blasted some other parts. Decided to remove: a/c in engine bay, ill pull the rest later, power steering and probably depower rack, and maybe charcoal canister. Looking at painting engine bay burnt orange, go hokies, and tucking some wires, but not all.

Disclaimer** the aforementioned toyota cops solution did not work out but vendor was great to work with and took all parts back and bought coils i got from ebay from me. That's just good people and excellent customer service.

I'll be going to the ls coils setup once I get wires cleaned up, engine fully prepped for install, replacement engine mounts, rack depowered, power steering removed, canister removed, and rest of ac out.

More to come!

Was about to start doing timing belt and realized I had not cleaned up my intake and exhaust ports on the head. So I prepped to do that yesterday and as I was firing up my new HF 21 Gallon Air compressor I noticed it was louder that usual and whaaaaboooommmm: https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8fa5092a08.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3a563e7e41.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...60be02cc3f.jpg

Looks like I will be driving to North Charleston this Saturday morning instead of getting my engine build finished up. :loser:

Got replacement air,compressor then I decided to do a thing....

1.6 out and modification of wiring harness in full effect. This garage is a mess!

Polling MT.net: Wire in gm flex fuel sensor in case I want to run E85 on mkturbo???