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Yeah I'd be worried about contact on the oil pickup tube contacting the oil pan if one had to get a lot of material off. I just did a thorough seal job and crossing fingers it's fixed!
I already had some contact with the pickup tube. I thought it would be easy to bang a dent in the pan for clearance, but it was not. I think my clearance is OK now.
Engine is out. And I somehow managed to disconnect everything the first time, so I didn't end up under a dangling engine with a 10mm wrench trying to get that one last ground point disconnected.
Also, I really, really hate the FM butterfly brace. I mean, sure, I guess it's OK when it's on the car, though I made so many changes at the same time when I installed it that I have no idea what kind of difference it made. But it's in the way of everything under the car and a pain in the *** to remove.
And while I'm being an old man shouting at a cloud - why, why, why don't vendors pony up the extra couple cents to send JIS fasteners instead of this 13mm ****? 10, 12, 14, 17, 19. THOSE WRENCH SIZES AND ONLY THOSE SIZES. And don't get me started about the freaking SAE size fasteners on the oil pan. This isn't a 1930s tractor, there's no reason to use SAE, just like there's no reason to use slotted screws.
Did I mention I'm (occasionally) neurotic?
Quick question - which power steering fittings do I need to be concerned about shaving down?
I'm still working on the harness design, but I've been doing more wrenching than designing. Now that the engine bay is empty, I can work on the wiring that is there already.
Sanity check - I'm intending to build an engine harness that's completely independent of the Miata chassis harness. Is it sane to remove the engine bits of the Miata harness simply to clear up space in the engine bay? Or would a sane man just wrap all these wires up and tuck them out of the way?
Personally, I buy my JIS stock from Bolt Depot. It has to travel across the country, but their prices are better than McMaster and ... well, their prices are better than McMaster. I keep a ****-ton of M6 and a decent selection of M8 on hand at all times. On this project, I've started to feel like I should stock some longer M10 sizes.
The biggest news of the week is that I sold the old drivetrain this week. That's money coming in for once. There's a lot of money that's gone out (see summary in the first post).
My Honda Fit accelerator pedal came in this week. I know the heater core is considered difficult to remove, but I think this pedal assembly is even worse. It was pretty chilly when I got a chance to work on the car this weekend so I didn't really feel like pulling out the grinder and lop the excess bits off of the mounting plate. Instead, took the dash apart and worked on the electrical harness. There's actually a lot of room in the cockpit with the entire dash out!
The harness editing started because I lopped off the engine connectors to give to the new engine owner. Since I don't plan to re-use any of the old engine harness, I decided to remove the now-unused wires from the harness. It also makes room for the new harness to squeeze through the stock wiring grommets. I pulled the unused, connector-less wires back into the cockpit and traced them back as far as possible. I also removed the wires that originated at the ECU connectors. It's tedious work, but I'm hoping to end up with a chassis harness that is functional and independent of the engine harness.
I'm tired. It's been a long week. But I do feel like I accomplished something, even if it isn't. massively visible.
Heads up on the Fit pedal, the return spring is so weak, you have to hold your foot up, rather than the pedal pushing back. I ended up adding an extra external spring to my Fit as one of the first mods.
Heads up on the Fit pedal, the return spring is so weak, you have to hold your foot up, rather than the pedal pushing back. I ended up adding an extra external spring to my Fit as one of the first mods.
really? I forgot to mention it, but I thought the return spring on this pedal was too stiff. I feel like it could launch a kitten into outer space. I was thinking of removing one of the two springs I see in there.
what year did your pedal come from? I’ve seen a bunch of different pedals from Fits, this is a 2010.
Mine is a 2011. Maybe it has to do with seating position? I went from a 97 civic to the Fit and my ankle would hurt from holding my foot up after 15min. Nothing to do but try it once it is in I guess.
My colleagues are being annoyingly noisy inside our 3000 square foot lab, my Bluetooth headphones won't Bluetooth, and the task I have to do is annoying, so screw it, I'm going to sit in the lounge and do something I enjoy. Which is to catch y'all up.
Progress has not been amazing over the last few weeks.
(swears at photo website that wants a triplicate log-in to download photos..)
I dropped the engine in for a test fit. What a royal pain in the ***. I found the best approach was to lift the engine by a bolt in one of the starter holes and the outboard-most bolt on the front engine mount. this gave the engine the necessary lay-over, which I limited with a chain that ran from the exhaust manifold. I got the bottom of the oil pan pretty much level on the initial lift, which made sliding it into place fairly easy. I've only got one small area of the subframe to bash with a hammer.
I had thought I was going to reuse the intake manifold studs, but it quickly became clear that you can't get the intake manifold onto the head with the water-pump/alternator/tensioner/idler tower in place. I'd rather not use bolts directly in aluminum, but I guess no one has found that to be a problem?
I think the exhaust manifold studs may come out too. I can't get the down pipe on with them in the way. Oh bother.
I was relieved to find that the intake manifold doesn't foul my ABS plumbing. I bent a few lines while screwing around on that side of the engine bay, but none got kinked, so I can at least run it as-is while I sort the swap out. Maybe down the line I'll redo them for compactness and beauty.
While pondering the DBW throttle situation, I found that Porsche uses a 74mm Bosch throttle body on some of their vehicles, and it's surprisingly inexpensive! $157 with with free shipping from FCP Euro. Actual Bosch product. Add "Porsche" to the list of brands that are involved in this mess.
I'm not sure if this throttle body is compatible with the KMiata throttle body adapter, but the bolt pattern is fairly straightforward. I decided that I wanted to make my own adapter, not because it's cheaper or easier or makes more sense, but simply because I have a mini mill and a lathe and I like to use them. Even though the mini mill is pretty much too small for anything and the lathe needs work. So I scrounged some aluminum from my scrap box, spent $50 on a new counterbore, and went to town. The mini mill doesn't have enough Y travel to cross this entire 4.75" block at one time, so I ended up doing two set-ups to get the holes drilled, tapped, and counter-bored. The center point is my reference and was finished with a good end-mill so it'll be reasonably circular to center up on the lathe for boring the 74mm through hole. I don't have the appropriate reamer. I need to do a little trimming to clear the motor on the throttle body, but it should come together this week.
In wiring news, I started running wires from the device connectors to the bulkhead. I think I'm going to end up with a bulkhead fitting using one of the AC line holes as the termination point for the engine harness in the engine bay. It's easy to see why people charge through the nose for a custom wiring harness.
Question regarding the fuel rail - I haven't tried it with the OE injectors, only the RDX injectors, but it seems like I'll need to fab up some spacers to mount it without crushing the injectors. Has anyone using the KMiata-sourced Karcepts fuel rail had to do this? The RDX injectors don't really "click" into the injector bores like I recall from the Miata ones. Is that expected? I guess I should get off my tail and try one of the original injectors.
I may repeat this question in a separate thread, but I'll broach it here: Bosch makes an integrated MAP/IAT sensor. There's the motorsports versions ($$$) and then there are the ones on F150s and Focus STs ($$). It looks like they're the same layout as the Honda sensor. I think it'd be a nice upgrade to kill two birds with one sensor, but is it a good idea to take the IAT measurement inside the intake manifold? Is this sensor likely to heat soak in the intake manifold?
A few comments I can make based on my swap so far.
Buy a load leveler for your engine hoist and install is pretty straight forward and simple (unless something specific to the Z3 swap is giving you heartache that didn't give me issues on my A2?).
I've bolted my intake manifold (and header) down using the bolts provided by Kmiata and had zero issues so far (but admittedly not much run time). Obviously, you don't need Hercules strength to hold this part on. Haven't heard of this being any concern online either really.
There should be OEM Honda fuel rail spacers. I initially had a similar issue with a gap between the intake manifold and fuel rail before realizing I forgot about them in my parts bin from when I tore the motor down. They look like this. Once you toss them in, everything fits like you'd expect.
A few comments I can make based on my swap so far.
Buy a load leveler for your engine hoist and install is pretty straight forward and simple (unless something specific to the Z3 swap is giving you heartache that didn't give me issues on my A2?).
I've bolted my intake manifold (and header) down using the bolts provided by Kmiata and had zero issues so far (but admittedly not much run time). Obviously, you don't need Hercules strength to hold this part on. Haven't heard of this being any concern online either really.
There should be OEM Honda fuel rail spacers. I initially had a similar issue with a gap between the intake manifold and fuel rail before realizing I forgot about them in my parts bin from when I tore the motor down. They look like this. Once you toss them in, everything fits like you'd expect.
Thanks! I'm sure those spacers are knocking around in my bin of neatly-filed K24 parts.
I have a load leveler for the engine. The issue is that it really only fits fore/aft and my problem was tilting the motor left/right. I think I have it figured out now, but I did spend some time scratching my head.
I'm sure the steel-bolts-into-aluminum head thing is 95% my own neurosis, so I'll just go with it. What, me worry?
I don't actually have the fuel rail spacers. I must have thrown them out. One more thing to order.
I finished the throttle body adapter the other week, or was it weekend? I've lost track. It's still a bit thick. I'll probably put it back on the lathe and shave it down at some point.
I also got the new DW200 fuel pump in. I hate gasoline in its uncombusted, liquid form. Also its gaseous form. Apparently I have quite a bit of fuel left in the tank. I'm going to have to drain it (pump it out more likely) and replace with fresh when I go to tune. That's a ways down the road though. I also plan to run new fuel hard lines down the driver's side. Getting the lines up to the top of the tank is going to be unpleasant.
My Black Friday orders have both arrived - a solid-state battery cut-off switch and an Amphenol Duramate bulkhead connector, plus some regularly-priced terminals and connectors. I'm still working on the wiring diagram. The wiring in the cockpit has sort of been abandoned for the moment.
In other news, I've thrown a wrench in the works. I'm moving from renting a townhouse in downtown San Jose to an actual house in a nicer neighborhood where my dog has a yard and I can (barely) fit my enclosed trailer in the driveway. Also, the new property manager is a BMW racer and is cool with my turning the garage into a workshop. Lease starts 1/1. Moving sucks and it'll disrupt my timeline, but I think this'll be a nice upgrade for me and my dog. So expect a minor hiatus while I pack up the garage and move into the new place.
In other news, I've thrown a wrench in the works. I'm moving from renting a townhouse in downtown San Jose to an actual house in a nicer neighborhood where my dog has a yard and I can (barely) fit my enclosed trailer in the driveway. Also, the new property manager is a BMW racer and is cool with my turning the garage into a workshop. Lease starts 1/1. Moving sucks and it'll disrupt my timeline, but I think this'll be a nice upgrade for me and my dog. So expect a minor hiatus while I pack up the garage and move into the new place.
Just a note of caution... be sure there are no HOA rules or city ordinances about having a trailer parked in your driveway... Even if the property manager is OK with it, it may cause problems.
I had our trailer at our house for 4 months before I started getting nasty grams from the town code enforcment... had no idea there was an ordinance because it's violated all over town, and apparently only really enforced on a "complaint" basis. I guess someone complained... and continues to, 'cause if I have the trailer home overnight I get nasty grams in the mail the next week.
Just a note of caution... be sure there are no HOA rules or city ordinances about having a trailer parked in your driveway... Even if the property manager is OK with it, it may cause problems.
I had our trailer at our house for 4 months before I started getting nasty grams from the town code enforcment... had no idea there was an ordinance because it's violated all over town, and apparently only really enforced on a "complaint" basis. I guess someone complained... and continues to, 'cause if I have the trailer home overnight I get nasty grams in the mail the next week.
Yeah... I've checked the San Jose city ordinances. The trailer may be registered as a commercial vehicle (I don't recall those details), but even if so, its GVWR is under the 10k limit after which there are increased restrictions on where I can park it. No HOA or neighborhood association. I hope there aren't any issues and I'm willing to stake a bet on it. There's a 80s Class B motor home parked in a driveway down the block that I'm pretty sure is being used as housing. The neighborhood is tract housing that's now $1m for a 1300 square foot house on a 5000 square foot lot. The tax history for "my" house shows that it's assessed at $100k, which means it probably hasn't changed hands since the first tech bubble, maybe even before that. I'm much less concerned about the trailer in this driveway than in the driveway of the similarly-priced house I looked at in a tony neighborhood. That one was all about curb appeal. My new neighborhood is about a roof over your head.
10-30-2020, 07:03 PM
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