So after a few distractions, like my wife running the Detroit Marathon this year (She did great !) I managed to sneak a little time in the garage, not too much to report....

Planning the plumbing for the turbo drain - boy was it nice to mount this up, even if it was just for a short time...my GT2554r on a BEGI cast mani





Located the Oil drain, pretty much a straight shot down from the Turbo. I'm using -10an weld on fitting into the sump...

 

Installed the Oil and Water pumps, seal carriers and sump.



Engine turns over soooo smoothly

Just prior to the head going on, last look at the shiny pistons...please tell me I didn't block the oil hole...

 

So here's Red White Blue in action 2 weeks ago. Started out really muddy then dried up. Great day - this was a Day/Night event. Running with Lights was pretty fun ! Managed to get 2nd in class behind a 911....pretty chuffed with that !

 

I run with the SCCA, I mostly do Rallycross but enjoy the odd road rally too, especially Press on Regardless just after Labor day in Michigan.

There are lots of regions who do rallycross across the US - check out their site
The Sports Car Club of America - RallyCross - find your local region and run the heck out of your car ! You will have a blast and learn some great car control in a (mostly) safe environment, not too spendy either, entry for this event was $45....

 

nice build!
inb4 your engine turns yellow

 

Nice to see you are getting the turbo set up. Should be fun next year!

Here is my current progress ('90 Mazdaspeed Miata Rallycross Project-Page 17: Builds and Project Cars forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine)

 

I've done rallyX, I want to know more about that road rally. Is there a forum for such a thing?

 

Awesome build here, loving the engine assembly shots. Inspiration for my engine build this spring.

 

Best thing to do would be to search TSD, time speed distance or Road rally on the web for general info. You should also checkout your local SCCA regions and see if they have a site and postings. If it's anything like Michigan now is a good time of year because we put on some novice orentation events in the early part of the year.

The Sports Car Club of America - Rally

This link has rule details and links to the regions etc.

If you don't feel like running a 1st event volunteer to work controls, you get the feel for the event without the pressure of competing and get to drive many of the same roads the competetitors do.

Good luck, you should try it, it's a lot of fun !

 

Why thank you !

Going a bit slower than I had hoped but it's getting there slowly....

 

Evan, you have some awsome pictures ! Nice ! Good luck with the cleaning project, so what r you doing with the engine out anyway ?

 

A little more progress, put a new water pump and oil pump on, and the head is now back on where it should go....Also popped on the timing belt.



I decided to use a core plug in the old water outlet and do the coolant re-route thing



and then given i run in dirty dusty enviroments I wanted to close off the holes this created in the covers - here's the backplate



and here is the front cover



I may throw a little paint on that one....

 

Took out the VCTS butterflies and welded up the holes.



Couldn't resist some minor port matching.....

 

I am installing a lightweight flywheel with new clutch as well as changing most of the gaskets as they are leaking. I would like a larger turbo but we will see how that goes.

I'm basically just going through the whole thing since I just dropped it in when I did the swap two years ago without checking anything to see how it ran. It ran well so I didn't mess with it and just topped off the oil that leaked out.

 

Head and cam cover on, blank installed for the old CAS - using the core plug trick and a bit of goop....

 

After trying to put my old 1994 fuel rail on I realized I needed something for a VVT head...I rushed out an bought a 2003 rail only to discover this also does not work because its a return-less system. Not wanting to go return-less, it seems you can use a 1999-2000 rail which has the port on the end for a damper, this can be swapped out for a FPR, problem solved....

2002+ rail not worky - FPR hits the head/manifold


All installed
still needed to do a little grinding on the front manifold through bolt that holds the two halves together to prevent contact/crushing the return line, but it all fits nice and snug now...

 

At last ! finally got to pull the engine, out came the engine, trans and rear diff and drive shafts...





Tech tip - don't forget to undo the earth strap...

 

I've had this sitting on my shelf for sooo long, been dying to fit my new gizmo...Wilwood brake bias adjuster. Took a leaf out of Keith Tanners book to find a nice mounting location, felt awful cutting a hole in my tunnel, but once the drill started there was no turning back....

 

I like this project a lot. Subscribed.

 

Here's my inexpensive reroute setup - Moss spacer, drilled and tapped for the Water temp sensor and inlet for the cabin heater, Kia thermostat cover and some decent length bolts. Will use the escalade hose also when this gets in the car.