Don't sell it. We might work something out.

Yeah, trying to start my Miata to roll it off the trailer at Thunderhill a couple weeks ago (40F) made me realize that the battery badly needed replacement.

--Ian

Something I learned. If for some reason your battery drops too low during cranking, or something weird happens, the megasquirt can get stuck in a "battery too low" state. Simple key cycle fixes this. But it took me a while to figure out because I was too lazy to go grab my computer.

So if it tries to start, then just cranks without firing, try a power cycle.

Pretty sure that'd be the same intercooler I'm running.

Ground Control to EO2k
Ground Control to EO2k

Oh god, what did I do now?

See? This is happens to build threads when the car is done, or the owner is broke, or has no time, or hasn't been driving the car to break things and thus the need to fix things and update the thread.

The majority of the above apply. :party:

Actually, I said I was trying to drive the car on Fridays to keep it moving and I didn't get a chance to do that this last week. Instead, I drove 750+ miles in a rental car all over the state to help my Mom move.

It's funny. We build our cars all summer, take them to one event, then park them through the winter ("winter" for you) and they sit.

I don't think my build thread has had a meaningful update for 2 months.

I don't know if you've realized this yet....but...

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

Yeap. That's why I'm trying to make mine something I can drive every day.

heh, yous ghtys :giggle:

You need to break your car and be miserable again.

el oh el

but really - the car works, it makes great power, and everything is good. what the problem is?

Did you ever resolve the smoking issue?

Yeh, whats aboot the exhaust oils & lubes?

Exactly. Kinda.

^^ That's why kinda.

It still leaks oil past the exhaust valve stems and still make smoke when you start it. Thanks to my handy-dandy MiataTurbo Approved DIY Proctology Scope, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there is no oil in the intake ports. $7 well spent if I do say so myself. I've moved to Amsoil Dominator 10W-30 for "winter" use, but I think I've put all of 12 miles on that oil? I also need to do a compression and leakdown test, but again, I've had no time to screw with it.

I'm not convinced changing oil is going to accomplish anything. Something mechanical needs to be resolved. I've briefly considered just throwing the engine at Andrew at Trackspeed and saying "I'm a ritard and I have too much money, would you be willing to fix my expensive toy?" but I don't have too much money anymore, so it is what it is.

Definitely want to know more about your lubes.

All Amsoil, applied liberally :naughty:

You could change the valve stem seals yourself in a few hours if you had a special tool that fit a miata cylinder head.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1449615411

That looks home made? Gesso has a plasma cutter, I think. If he does not have one I bet his mom does. I bet I could make that. While I have the ability to make things like that, I don't have the facilities to make things like that. Its times like this where I miss working in the machine shop.

Mazda has a SST for this exact purpose, but the last time I inquired about one I think I offended the poor guy from Mazda on the other end of the line with my uncontrollable laughter when he quoted me a price.

Yes it's home made. I used a porta-band and a hand drill to make it. The socket piece I made years ago for my regular store-bought valve spring compressor that works when the cylinder head is off the car. If you had a dremel and patience*, you could make one with that and a hand drill.

*lots of patience....

/shrug, I was bored on the train and there was nothing new in your thread. Plus look at all the good discussion that came from it!

I could totally make that tool, how much do you think people would pay for them? Or maybe we make a nice one and have it as a loaner kinda like the pan tap?

My head needs valve springs, so I would have a use for that tool. :)

--Ian

I like all of these ideas. You even have a spare head in your garage that we can test it on! (if I don't steal it)

Between Gesso and myself I think we stoleborrowed most of your fancy tools already. The least we could do is hook you up. :bigtu:

If you build one anything like the one I made, I can reccomend a few design changes to make it easier to use and work better.

Make it taller than I did. Gives you more room to work without the tool being in your way.

Build a piece that connects the two outer hooks together at a second point. That prevents them from ever being able to slide off the cylinder head. My setup, you had to get the tool tensioned against the valve before those little hooks would stay exactly in place.

If you use a nut/bolt assembly to turn to actuate the tool as I did, weld the nut to the upper frame so you don't have to use a wrench to stop it from turning.

Other than those faults it worked well. Even with the problems mentioned above, it only added to the frustration of getting it going, once it was installed and on the spring it was easy, just turn and watch it do its thing. And I have heavy double valve springs, so it was worst case on loading for the tool.

Based on the recommendation of Hornetball, I bought one of those valve service kits. Amazon linky:
Works great. Valve stem pliers are a huge improvement over needle nose. The hardest part was cranking the motor to force the rope up against the valves to hold them in place.

Is that the one you have to bang on with a hammer? Because that scares the shit out of me :noes:

Well, you can. But unless you're a girly man, you really don't need to. Just grab it and push down. You can hear the retainers click into the magnet, and then you let off.

Putting them back on was a little tricky, but you get the hang of it after the first few. Gotta have an egg carton handy to keep the small pieces in, because they're real easy to lose if you drop them.

Watch this video: It is for the snap-on tool, but they are nearly identical except for price. I used the rope trick, where you stuff a length (about 2') of soft rope (clothesline) into the cylinder through the spark plug hole when the piston is at bottom dead center. Then you crank the engine by hand until the rope is compressed up against the valves, thereby holding them in place.

Yep! I've been using the rope trick for years. I even used it to lock the crank when I torqued the nut on the harmonic balancer ;)

Cool video, but I'm wondering if it'll be that easy with the head still on the block, and block still in the car, and also fighting 74lbs seat pressure of the Supertech doubles.

I also just saw this:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41r0HSGUxgL.jpg

It looks like it functions in a similar manner to Pat's homebrew tool. At $16.55 it might be worth ordering one and giving it a shot. It's prime so I can return it if it sucks and order the KD Tools one you posted.

Are you sure you're not shopping in the hardcore sex toy department again?

--Ian

I lol'd. On mobile or I'd prop :)

They're back!?
Bout fuckin time.

How did I get so many props. And how do I have 9k posts. I need a life.

MT.net is life.






(For the deeply disturbed)

how did I.....nvm

Let me know how that works out. I'm in the market for a cheapish compressor that fits our heads - or maybe i'll just build one.

Well, fuck me sideways. The week ended with me receiving a 25% raise, a substantial Christmas bonus, and after 14 months of unemployment my wife got not only one but two job offers.

I'd say its been a good week. :D

Can do, I ordered it last night but it might take me a few weeks before I get around to playing with it. Lots of holiday commitments on the horizon.

:eek5: :eek5: :eek5: :eek5: :eek5: :party:

Congrats Gordon, well deserved sir.

:party:

Thanks! Its nice that someone in the company finally noticed I've been busting my ass into the ground for the last 6 months. My OT numbers this year have been redonkulous.

Wife already hid my bonus check, so no xidas for me. She knows me too well :rofl:

Congratulations on the raise and bonus.

Grats! So the turbo LS3 build starts when??

LS7

he's not a peasant

:likecat:

LS9!

--Ian

isn't that just the 7 with a heaton bolted to the top of it?

The LS7 is a 7.0L, the LS9 is 6.2L (blower on a block based on the LS3)

--Ian

oh that's right. low compression and all that

I'd still take the 7 :)

and bolt twin efr's to it (obviously)

only dilemma for g: get them gold plated or print them out of titanium?

First baller problems!

AIUI, GM used the LS3 block for the LS9 instead of the LS7 because the larger bores on the LS7 meant thinner cylinder walls and not enough strength for boost.

--Ian

*not enough strength for OEM standards and lots of boost

And here I would by happy with a 4.8 iron block with a mild cam, valve springs and a pair of cxracing 3071Rs. 800hp on the street, 1200 for the strip.

Lol, how much of a bonus do you people thing I made?

Tomorrow is Miata day :party: It was 33°F this morning :noes:

I was more thinking that since your wife has a job and you seemed to be doing ok before that.....can't that new income source just be all miata?

:giggle:

(thats how marriage works right?)

Gold plated titanium, obviously.

I'll pass your recommendation on to the wife :bigtu:

She got notification yesterday that she's made it to the last round of selection for a third job. She's freaking out a bit because its serious decision time.

Inoritej? Marrying you was easy. Probably the first real life tough decision the poor girl's had to face! Give her a big hug from all of us (seriously) (you know the hug we"re talking about) and let her know it will all be OK.

Lovin' me is easy, cos I'm beautiful. :p

No Miata today. I had to be in the office at 6:30 and I didn't want to get up ridiculously early to make sure it started and warmed up. Ain't nobody got time for that.

It's disturbing how much of a difference it makes in warmup time when you remove the oil cooler/warmer sandwich plate. I don't have logs or anything but the results are dramatic. I'm sure in the long run it was a good choice because it eliminates about a dozen points of failure, but I need to watch oil temps and be patient.

My early AM task was getting the 55" 4k up in our office, now we are watching the despecialized edition of A New Hope. Discussions are in the works with our VP about the possibility of shutting down the department on the 29th at noon, steal the company 'Party Bus' and then drive up to The Tech and catch The Force Awakens on the Hackworth IMAX dome :party:

That's what we're doing. Work is canceled after lunch, Tek is taking us to go see it. There was even talk of adult beverages provided.