While I'm waiting for my clutch to get finished I'm checking things off my to-do list. This weeks project is a front sway bar. I picked up a pair of Rhodes 24mm kits from Summitracing. they look pretty good. I'm not 100% sure where the mounting should be on a sway bar so I made it as wide as possible and centered the link mounts on the control arm as best as I could. to do that I needed to add some frame extensions. I'm left with about 1/8" clearance between the tire and the sway bar at full droop and full steering lock. that gap will get a little wider when i put the drop spindles in.

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finally got my clutch!!!!!!! it arrived yesterday, got the tranny back in today, gonna finish it up and get it running in the morning so i can see how god awful its gonna be to drive this thing. nothing like a $150 engine sporting an almost $2000 clutch

I can't thank Vince at Aasco Motorsports enough for all the time and effort that went into designing and machining this beautiful piece of awesomeness.

 

Multi disc clutches definitely get better after break in/couple hundred miles

 

Damn, $2k, you got taken for a ride on that thing. My quarter master twin disk with release bearing was only $800, I just used a flex plate for the starter drive and quatermaster customized a button flywheel to just match the flexplate I sent in.

 

For a BP or an FE3N? I wanted readily available off the shelf parts for when I ruin this thing learning how to drive eith an absurdly heavy and grabby clutch.

 

Mine was mzr with T5. Which meant I did have to drop another like $300 on the Tilton release bearing because the quartermaster one doesn't work great with a t5. Since all it was to them was match the bolt pattern on the flex plate and and match the spline on the input shaft.

 

"Oh man you got taken for a ride, because I have this totally different part that was made for a totally different trans/engine combo, and it cost less"

How about this: you both got taken for a ride, because I bought a stock 1.6 miata clutch on alibaba for $3.50

 

Can I get a ride Vlad?

 

That alibaba clutch is going to cut your feet off. Defeet yo ***!

 

Reworked my brake and clutch pedals for a little bit higher leverage ratio. clutch now feels great with no more stalling on take off. brake pedal got about 2" longer and I had to massage the wheel well for clearance of the longer clutch pedal.




I also found a fix for a problem no one else seems to have. I'm not a fan of AN fittings cause they require harder to find materials and tools to make the lines and don't looks as clean to me as nicely bent steel lines. The problem I ran into was that the clutchmasters FCV-2000 flow control valve only comes with a -3AN fittings. The threads in the valve itself are 3/8-24. I couldn't find anyplace that makes a 3/8-24 to a metric bubble flare m10-1.0 standard fitting that will match every other brake/clutch line in my truck. I was being told by everyone, including clutchmasters, that the only way was to get the -3AN to metric bubble flare adapter and use a -3AN to -3AN coupler making the valve twice as long and adding extra potential point for the system to leak. while on hold with a local hydraulics company to see if they had a solution I was playing with the valve and fittings and accidentally screwed the fitting in backwards. Turns out a -3AN has 3/8-24 threads. So I picked a pair of -3AN to bubble flare adapters, put them in the lathe at work, and cut them to the exact dimensions as the original fitting. I'm not sure that was even necessary but I have access to a lathe and it took a few mins each.

 

Thanks for the tip, clutch dumps with ease now. This thread delivers again!

 

Nice. Thats a delay valve right? It sure looks a lot cleaner than the "red neck clutch slipper" I ran in my car. Its super satisfying to be able to dial in a perfect launch every time.

 

Yea it has a check valve so you can press the clutch at full speed but on the return its forced through a fixed orifice to slip the clutch for a split second as not shock load the tranny. It's also supposed to be good for not lighting the tires up at every shift.

 

The race truck is getting a bigger radiator and fitted for A/C this weekend.
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new bigger radiator is installed, a/c condenser is installed. I had to make some hose adapters cause the engine is 1.25" hoses and the upper on the radiator is 1.5" and the lower is 1.75"

size difference. new on left


condenser mounted with foam and fan mounts


i had to cut out the existing mounts and make new upper and lower mounts. there's a cross brace on the lower mount to protect the radiator



the pile of hoses and the adapters needed to make them fit





I had to build my own bump steer kit cause no one has one in stock and I didn't want to wait until mid July for one to get shipped to me. ball joint studs from speedway, 3/4 Heim joints from speedway, misalignment spacers from Ruff stuff 4x4 shop, grade 8 bolts from ace hardware. even after buying a tap it was still cheaper than a complete kit.

 

Picked up some Cobra wheels 17x9s 245/40/17s up front and 17x10.5s 275/40/17s in the back. The fronts fit perfectly after i took the sway bar out. it was hitting the oversized tie rod ends and needed to be reworked anyways, the rears may need some flares or something cause they stick out really far.

 

Looking sick man! Thanks for the updates, love watching this thing evolve.

 

went to the track Wednesday to get some times but on the way to the track the release fork said no. I think its because I set my clutch pedal limiter stop too low and the clutch and slave are stronger than the arm. new one is ordered from Mazda, if it happens again I'm going hydraulic throw out bearing.

 

big OOF. You have to drop the trans to replace this, right?

Super stoked to see this thing ripping. It's seriously one of the most entertaining builds I've ever seen.

 

Yea, had to drop the trans, but its already replaced , I welded a plate to the back of the new one to strengthen it. Then went tuning on 28psi and E85 thanks to 18psi and after making all the power the rear freeze plugs on the left side ejected :( seems like the engine is unharmed but I have to wait til the sleeve retainer cures before I know for sure.