Looks like a killer weekend for all of you out there, definitely jealous. Congrats on the W and good luck this next weekend!

 

I had the same issue with my return lines. I tried rubber and silicone lines. Finally I got a longer 3" or so metal drain adapter and got some fire shield for it. Seems like that's good for a season or two at least now.

Funny how stuff like this isn't mentioned much, but is actually a pretty big deal on turbo track cars.

 

I was using evil energy fuel hose for a while with a bit of DEI heat sheath. That seems to work pretty well. I'm not seeing the abuse that the regularly tracked cars are though. I don't remember why, but I swapped out to some pretty heavy duty gates stuff that I believe FM packages in their turbo kits. We'll see how that holds up.

 

Are there no AN fittings for the turbo available and then do steel braided line back to the block?

 

This also puzzles me. Since its a Garrett knockoff I know it has provisions for an AN line. A teflon line with steel overbraid wrapped in firesleeve is expensive compared to a rubber line, but pennies compared to the headaches and dangers of a melted oil drain.

 

There definitely is an AN adapter, at least for the T28 stuff. My turbo came with an AN drain fitting installed when I got it from Pulsar. My block is setup with a barb fitting so I just swapped over to that when I got mine, but going to an AN Stainless line might be a good upgrade next time I'm in there.

 

Aww c'mon guys, stop chiding me for not making the smartest and most obvious decision haha.

Ok so the turbo actually has a proper Garrett CHRA now, but yeah, the old one had the same bolt pattern and a 10AN drain fitting could be fitted. Dunno why I didn't think about that earlier. Just another one of those things that worked fine enough when I buttoned it up and I had twelve other things to get done before the car's next event so I never thought about it again. I'll add making an AN drain to my list, but it probably won't get done for a while. I already have a 45* drain fitting in the block that can't be removed without pulling the engine mount, and I really should get my brake duct situation figured out first, along with a bunch of other things I have on my to-do list.

I had update training down the street from an LKQ Tuesday and Wednesday this week, so naturally I came home with another motor. Pricing was kinda weird, the last two motors I had shipped from LKQ cost $450-500 with shipping. They had a handful of 2.5's on hand for $310 a pop, but when I got there, I was told there was a $100 core charge, something that you don't get hit with when buying a motor from them on eBay. Weird. I wound up paying $446 out the door for this motor with 88k miles on it. Not gonna complain.



Current plan is to sell the OG 2.5 and build this motor up with Mitch's old Fab9 Stage 1 cams. I basically decided I don't want the OG 2.5 going back in, as the Esslinger Stage 2 cams in there only make more power than the F9 Stg 1's above 6,300rpm, and they make a decent bit less below that. The Stage 2's were fine when I was running redline at 7,200rpm, but now that I've dropped it to 6,800 with the turbo, they're gonna net a decent-sized loss. I put the OG 2.5 up on FB marketplace as a complete motor (minus valve cover and oil pan) for $1,300 and got a ton of interest... from folks on the east coast. It'll sell eventually. I think I can build this motor the way I want it for around $700. Mitch gave me the cams for free, and I had the journals polished for $80. Mazdaspeed valve springs will run me another $125, then I'll just need friction washers, a balance shaft delete plug, maybe a couple cam buckets, and a few one time use parts. I'm not going to pull the bottom end apart and regap the rings on this one.

Got the cams back from their polishing at the machine shop last week. Shiny!



Also came up on this bitchin' little catch can on Monday. Got a dealer trade in and had to pull this thing off so it'd pass smog. We can't sell cars with aftermarket equipment, so this little guy is mine now. It's got a removable mid-section to change volume and the baffling looks much nicer than what was in my previous Amazon catch can. Fits much neater in the tight space under the TB/manifold plenum too.





Not gonna lie, my old can was zip tied to the strut tower bracket, so this is a BIG upgrade lol.

Locked and loaded for MTTC Buttonwillow on Sunday! I think it's just gonna be Ryan Passey and I in unlimited class. Should be some close competition

 

Should I update to unlimited class so that I can have third place? I am going to get killed in modified.

Also: https://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchan...ode=GTOR-28-35

 

Can you please? I'm gonna look like a dunce with fourteen seconds between me and Passey You'll be getting up there Friday night? I'll shoot you my number and drop a pin if I get there first. I imagine all the MTTC guys will pit together and I'm gonna try and grab a spot with them.

Stoked to see the car in person and hang Saturday!

Gonna order that fitting so I have to get my *** in gear on the braided oil drain project...

 

Don't forget the gasket.

I should be up there Friday night. Car is blue now, but will be in the trailer overnight. My old turbo Volvo will be there too with the new owner.

 

Solid weekend! Yesterday ended up busy as hell, and was a great time! Got to meet and hang with @rb92673, chopped it up with the MTTC gang and talked with Emilio and Sonny at length, got five solid sessions in, and set a new PB! My transmission is also now stuck in neutral with the shifter stuck in fourth, but more on that later

Oh yeah, and I got my first (and possibly only ever) Unlimited class win! Never mind that it was by default





As I said, it turned out to be a super busy day. I ended up instructing a student for the first two sessions. Then the MTTC gang, one of my buddies, and a few guys I know from NASA were out there as well. It was a super social day (which was great!). This culminated in me taking jack sh*t as far as pics go. Missed getting any photos of RB's Miata, the boys, and even the Hypermiata. Mega fail on my part.

Headed up late Friday night and was greeted by some solid fog at the bottom of the Grapevine, all the way to Buttonwillow. It was proper cold by SoCal standards and the car was completely soaked by the time I made it to the track. The fog would persist into the morning. There was dew buildup everywhere and it was misting on and off all the way up to the first session. Conditions were looking like they were going to be nice and slippery for the first session at 8am.



I parked next to @DUDELOL's bro in the paddock, next to the garage that all the SuperMiata guys were parked in. To my pleasant surprise, my buddy Tim's car magically appeared next to mine when I got back from registration in the morning. He'd signed up last minute and had no idea I was going to be out here. I was just a tad slower than him before the turbo install. My car's running a bit faster than his now, but we should be pretty even once he adds some proper aero to it. His car's awesome. It's got a built 4G63 making 450whp on high boost, but he runs it closer to ~400 for track use. Thing's been reliable as heck for him too. He's got over 20k miles and probably 30+ track events on it now. Tim would go on to run a 1:58.99, which is kick *** for someone's first time at BW.



Oh yeah, so first session. We're on grid. It's just over 40* out and still kinda foggy, kinda wet, and my car's taking for-goddamn-ever to get up to temp. I figured this would strictly be a shakedown session. For better or worse, I ended up sandwiched in the middle of a bunch of fast cars in grid, and the pace coming out of the gate was pretty high.


"Alright, just take it at your own speed and get a feel for the traction out there", I tell myself. Turn two (Off-Ramp) is a tight hairpin with its apex right at the crest of a hill. If you're gonna run into wheelspin or oversteer anywhere on track, it's going to be there. I go around it on cold tires and get ready for the wheelspin, but the car stays hooked. Huh. Next few corners are about the same, it's cold and it looks damp, but there's still grip on the track. Curbs are kinda slippery but that's not the end of the world. The green flag comes out and I'm stuck in the middle of a bunch of 'vettes and we get to work (I try not to get mowed down). Ended up PB'ing on lap 5 with a 1:57.06. Not bad for a warmup session!



Temps would largely stay the same throughout the day, topping out at 50* or so. The car was so happy with it. Coolant and oil temps never increased above 190* and 210* respectively, and I don't think I saw IAT's crack over 75*. Tires didn't seem to overheat at all either, still hooking up well 6+ laps into a session. Buttonwillow has a lot of elevation changes and violent compressions/bumps, and I did note I was getting some audible tire rub on both ends of the car, mostly the rear. Luckily the rub is minor and didn't leave any cuts/marks/evidence on the tires, so I'm not gonna worry about it for now.


Sessions two and three, I ratcheted my times down further, bagging a 1:56.86 then a 1:56.67. I had a couple laps where the predictive timer showed I was on track for a 1:55, but I either ran up on a car doing a cooldown lap or made a mistake and threw it away. I was actually driving about 10% more cautious than normal too, because many of the dirt portions surrounding the track were muddy from the rain, and an off would necessitate getting the car towed out.

This lap was looking really good until I just kinda... didn't brake or really attempt to turn coming up on Phil Hill.


Luckily the dirt here wasn't soaked, but was softened up real nice from the moisture. Didn't damage anything. I went off here at GTA back in November and f*cked my sh*t all the way up, having to spend almost two hours stitching the splitter back together with aluminum angle from other parts of the car

Final session. I was absolutely happy with running a 1:56 for the day, but I knew a 1:55 was possible, and wanted to at least try to get closer. There weren't many cars on grid so I had that going for me, and ambient temps were still nice and cold. I ran a couple 1:57's in traffic (and being traffic to a couple cars myself), then suddenly after four laps there was nothing but open track ahead. I threw together a pretty solid lap that looked like it was on track to be a mid-1:56, and was just a few seconds from the start/finish line. Right before I got there, the trans dropped out of gear and the motor started banging off the rev limiter. Trans was stuck in neutral with the shifter stuck in the 4th gear position. There weren't any cars around me so I pulled off next to the pit exit and got a tow back to my rig.

I already kinda had a hunch of what had happened. I've got an NC1 6 speed in the car, which differs from the NC2/3 6 speeds in the 3/4 shift fork/hub assembly and has a slightly shorter 6th gear. The 3/4 shift fork on these transmissions is a known failure point, and the fork/hub were beefed up pretty substantially on the NC2/3 transmissions. Luckily, it looks like Mazda revised the NC1 replacement shift forks as well, with some sources saying they moved from cast to forged parts, and a couple racers back in 2008 saying that the first run all had manufacturing defects. I hit up the FB groups before driving home, and got some confirmation from a couple of the "sages" on there.





Luckily the shift fork in question is $60-70 and looks like it takes fifteen minutes or less to replace once the trans is out. Not sweating it too bad. Given that it's just a shift fork and the issue's been reported mostly by track users on cars all the way down to stock-power use, it doesn't even seem like the failure was torque-related.

Dropped the car off at work today and will pull the trans tomorrow, then order the shift fork assuming that's what's broken. I could throw my backup 5 speed back in... but I only have the stock clutch for that trans and it would probably blow anyways if I got a clutch that could hold the car's current torque output.



Luckily a local buyer texted me yesterday and put down a deposit to buy my OG 2.5 for asking price, so I took that promised scratch and bought another cheap NC1 6 speed off eBay last night. I'll be popping an updated shift fork in that one too and will probably just sell off the 5 speed for lunch money.



Four weeks until the NASA SoCal/AZ season opener at Chuckwalla. I probably won't sign up for any more track days between now and then. I wanna figure out a brake duct/deflector setup for this car, decide if I'm gonna up the spring rates, maybe finally corner balance it, swap the side mirrors out for ones that don't fold back at 90+mph, and and and and and....

 

It was nice to meet you. I felt outclassed with all the other nice and fast Miatas. I instantly came home and loaded the parts cannon for more suspension stuff.

 

Likewise, dude! I wouldn't say you were outclassed at all. Not many other Miatas out on Saturday that were running an engine swap Your car looked good on track, can't wait to see how you like it after more suspension modding/adjustment.

Transmission is out and partially pulled apart. I was wrong. The shift fork is intact but it looks like the hub is likely damaged. Can't slide the 3/4 selector forward or backward like the other ones. Mazda Motorsports sells the whole upgraded NC2/3 fork/hub assembly to upgrade an NC1 trans, but their website isn't allowing me to scroll through all the pages so I can't tell what it costs currently. Called around a couple shops this morning and found one in Hollywood that's done the swap before. They want to see the trans first but are likely willing to do it. Might drop it off there on Saturday as I don't really want to mess with it further myself.





3/4 shift fork/hub at the bottom of the pic. Normally one of the fork "teeth" break off, but it looks like my hub just failed instead. The NC2 got a much beefier fork and hub assembly.

More things are in motion. Buyer's coming by tonight to pick up the OG 2.5, Backup NC1 6 speed is on the way from PA as well. Sucks that NC2 6 speeds are nearly impossible to find, but hopefully this shop is willing to swap the upgraded parts in for a reasonable amount seeing as the entire trans doesn't need to be disassembled to do so.

 

Where is the failure in the transmission photos?

 

Not possible to see really, but the fork pictured is stuck and won't move back and forth. Transmission is stuck in neutral while the shifter is stuck in 4th gear. I'll get better pics if I decide to try and pull it apart.

 

Drivetrain things are coming along at an increasingly silly rate.

I ended up selling the OG 2.5 on Monday. Took a bit of the scratch from that to order the upgraded NC2/3 3rd/4th gear shift fork, hub, and synchros from Mazda Motorsports. Parts ended up being a little over $500 out the door. After my post on Sunday night, I found out I was critically wrong about the location of the 3/4 shift fork. I thought it was a part of the transmission top cover, but it's not. It's under the trans tail housing, with a 55mm nut, main shaft bearing, and a stack of gears guarding it. Oops. I'm still not sure if I'm gonna tackle that myself or just take it to a transmission shop that will make quick work of it.


Updated parts.


Random pic of an NC1 vs NC2/3 shift fork.

All the while, I've been keeping an eye out for more 6 speeds. NC1 6 speeds are aplenty and seem to be going for around $1,200-ish. The NC2 6 speeds with the more reliable 3/4 assembly are damn near impossible to find and seem to be going for $1,800+. I searched for one unsuccessfully for a few days until yesterday one popped up at a local JDM dismantler, saying "call for price". I called them up and was told the transmission they had was a 2015 (NC3) JDM unit with 49k miles on the clock. $800 out the door. Too damn good to be true. So I cruised over there anyways and saw the car in question sitting in the lot. It was indeed an NC3, and I was able to confirm the trans was a legit late-model unit, as the NC2/3 6 speed shifter bushing is shorter and has a wider OD than the NC1 unit. F*ck it, I bought the thing and slammed it in the car today. The fluid inside looked brand new and it shifts great.


You know the shop is legit when you have to dodge the forklift driver and working mechanics just to get into the main office.


NC2/3 shift lever on the left, NC1 on the right.


Ready to fight for its life.

Then, upon getting home from the dismantler yesterday, I saw a post on FB from Prestige Spares saying they'd got a couple NC's in for partout. There was a 3.7 ratio open diff for sale as well as a couple NC1 6 speeds. I've been wanting to replace my 4.1 LSD with a 3.7 for a while, but the 3.7 R&P is $450 from Mazda Motorsports and I know install probably won't be cheap. Prestige had the 3.7 diff up for $175 and the NC1 6 speeds for $535 each. They also had a starter and throttle body available, which I kinda wanted for spares. I messaged them asking about bundling the package and they told me $710 shipped for the trans and diff and they'd throw the starter and TB in for free. Done. I placed the order and will get the 3.7 R&P transferred to my current diff once it gets here. Maybe upgrade the NC1 to the NC2 3rd/4th gear internals too, or just keep it as a disposable spare.

I've seen complaints about Prestige before, but I bought my NA's 3.6 diff from them and had no problems, so hopefully there won't be any issues this time around.


Back runnin'.



While I was in there, I installed this one piece braided clutch line. The OEM clutch line is a hard line that runs to the shock tower, transitions into a rubber line, then continues downward and transitions back into a hardline which runs through a bracket bolted to the motor mount then snakes around the oil filter perch to get to the slave cylinder. If you want to pull the motor out the bottom, the clutch line needs to be disconected and the system rebled after. Bleh. This braided line just follows the firewall and follows the brake and fuel lines straight to the slave. Sweet.

With my transmission situation taken care of for the immediate future, I gotta move on to brake cooling next. Pad wear isn't abhorrent with the added power, but it could be better...

 

Sounds like a whole lot of winning to me. I thought the NA/NB transmission situation was a bummer, but I guess we've got it better than I realized.

Someday we all need to get the TKX swap figured out and be done with it.

 

Yeah, it's the same exact thing over here. NC2 6 speed box is supposed to be pretty stout in regards to WTQ input, failures seem to happen more so in relation to track use, hard shifting, etc. Not as many guys blowing them out from high horsepower, more failures just from general track use, even at N/A 2.5 power. There's also fewer FI NC's out there, so smaller sample spread of failures in the wild...

I'm monitoring this very closely. https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=786388

That thread ends back in Aug of last year, but I spoke to Bryan at Fab9 on the phone last month, and he said they're still working on making their TKX swap ready for sale. Main hangup currently is that they're finding out it's gonna cost way more than they initially thought. I think their original target minus the TKX gearbox itself was gonna be ~$4,500, and now they're projecting in the realm of $7k. They've got some cool specs with their kit, though. Retains the PPF, no driveshaft adapters (the bits that partially f*cked my NA ZF6 swap), and a bell housing that mates directly to the MZR engine with no adapter.

8HP swaps are becoming really popular with the platform too. There's three or four guys I've seen on the FB groups who have done their own conversions with Jaguar 8HP's that bolt straight into the MZR: bell housing, torque converter, flexplate, starter and all. This would probably actually be a cheaper swap. However, I'm hesitant to swap in an automatic and add 100lbs to the car along with another system that requires more tuning and adds more potential failure points.

Luckily I have enough transmissions now that I probably don't need to worry about any swaps for the immediate future. I'll circle back to this once I've blown this transmission and the two others lol.







Couple pics from a guy on one of the FB groups. 8HP out of a 15-17 Jaguar 2.0L EcoBoost. Transmission bolts right into the MZR/Duratec and the dude made a bracket to adapt it to the PPF.

 

The electronics for the 8HP is still pricey from what I understand. It is nice there is a bolt up option instead of having to do adapter plates.

A racing dog box would be nice.

 

8HP is badass but heavy IMO. And standalone TCUs have super nice features (including virtual clutch, trans brake etc) that would make it even better, but as said, they come at a price.