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So the car has had a mystery small coolant leak. I finally bought a coolant pressure tester to find it.
Well, even after sitting overnight, couldn't' find much. I did find that my brand new (fel-pro I think) thermostat gasket was leaking through the gasket. Not on either sealing surface, but through the gasket thickness itself! Never seen that before, kinda dumb but easy fix.
But that leak was tiny, and no way it was the real leak. It took all night to loose a few drops.
So after going back and forth, I decided that's it, I'm doing everything that's left that wasn't done when I "replaced the entire cooling system".
That included: water pump (which was 5k miles/8years old), heater core (original), gasket on thermostat housing part, o-ring on water pipe that goes into mixing manifold. And new thermostat gasket to replace the new one that leaked.
Of course water pump means timing belt, so I did tb/wp/tensioner/idler/cam seals/crank seals/valve cover gasket. Also cleaned up a lot of the parts/covers while it was apart so it looks better now.
When the water pump was off, there was evidence of it leaking, I think. Also the bearings were notchy, and it had bearing play. So it definitely needed to be replaced.
In the interest of being reliable, went ahead and did the heater core. OMG that was awful. Ended up using rubber hoses just past the stupid o-ring things to make assembly possible.
Also the fuel pump was replaced in 2016 with a walbro 255HP. Worked fine, but replaced it anyways with a DENSO stock replacement. Also changed the gasket on the sending unit for good measure.
And, put a new set of motor mounts in it. Originals were 25 years old. Looked mostly ok, but swapped them.
Got it all back together. No issues.
It drives a lot better/smoother after the new motor mounts. Unbelievable how much newer the car feels with new mounts. I think I'm gonna do the rear diff mounts now just to see if that makes much of a difference.
Fuel pump is now silent, nice.
And.... After driving it a few days, it appears the coolant leak is gone!
So overall, it's now even more enjoyable to drive. This is the highest level of refinement/niceness I've ever experienced from a NA/NB miata. It feels better to drive now than I ever thought a 25 year old car ever could.
Also gave it the first hand wash.
Now the list of things I know it needs is getting quite short: Passenger side soft top seal leaks, need to delete the bose and put in a real stereo, swap stock fogs that are broke for aftermarket that works, and new tires to fix rubbing and oldness. I think that is everything left!
Diggin' the 10AE-NB. I've been loosely following what you're up to, as I recently got a really clean, bone stock, and low miles '03. It's the cleanest miata I've ever had, so I felt it when you said (in the video) that it's the "highest level of refinement" you've experienced. Thx for taking the time to document!
Diggin' the 10AE-NB. I've been loosely following what you're up to, as I recently got a really clean, bone stock, and low miles '03. It's the cleanest miata I've ever had, so I felt it when you said (in the video) that it's the "highest level of refinement" you've experienced. Thx for taking the time to document!
Glad you like it! I've really enjoyed driving it now that it's mostly good to go. Congrats on the 03! That's the best way to buy a miata IMO.
The racecar is officially ready to go to the track!
Plan is to be there this Friday if weather permits.
There is always something that could be done before going, but I think it's good enough. I have a list of future improvements/upgrades, but for now, I think it's good enough to go racing.
Super excited. I've put a ton of time, effort, and dollars into this. Really looking forward to getting it back to the track.
But in short, we made 2 passes, and the car is running OK.
First pass I had to abort due to a part from the truck in the other lane, falling off his truck and into my lane in front of me! Luckily, I saw it and slowed down and went around it. But this pass it dead hooked a 1.69 60'. Unfortunately, I shifted to 2nd at 6,200 RPM.... LOL. Still went 8.14 @ 52 mph.
After the pass I noticed I was way too lean. So I added 10% fuel and pulled 3 degrees timing. Better safe and all that, I have no intercooler but still on E85 not methanol.
Second pass went better overall. I didn't get a good burnout, so it spun hard on launch so 60' was only 1.78. I still shifted 1-2 way too early at 7500. If you listen to the audio, you can hear the motor is just starting to sound good and then I shift and it drops to like 5,500.... And then I really wanted to see if the flare on the 2-3 shift was fixed, so I hit 3rd right before the finish line at probably 6,800 and then dropped back to 5,500 again.... However, it still went 7.45 @ 96.6 despite all that and only 13 psi of boost on E85.
I'm guessing I'll be able to get 100+ mph and 6.XX times out of it at 13 psi boost once it's launching better, with more timing, on methanol. Which if that happens, will be matching my previous best of 6.93 @ 103 mph, which previously took 30-32 psi of boost to achieve.
Got several things to do in preparation for the next event!
But overall really happy with how it went. I think this is going to be in the 5's in a few weeks if it holds together.
I bought some amazon 660lb scales so I could weigh the car. Only about 175 shipped for 4 of them.
Result?
(This is ready to race, all fluids/fuel topped off, no driver. Has 8.50 cert cage too)
I have been thinking the car was around 1900 lbs. I was close! 1916.5 lbs.
Part of why it's heavy on things I can change
Front wheels/tires could be lighter
Stock OEM top is 50lbs I think
Corner glass could be lexan
Rear diff cradle is stupid heavy (1/4" steel construction)
Both stock subframes still. I want to lightweight them a bit.
Motor mounts are super beefy, going to buy or build lighter ones at some point.
My goal is to pull 100lbs out of the car at some point. Not certain if I can, but that's the goal and I think I can get close if not achieve it.
Still, I'm happy that the car is more or less 1900lb race weight!
04-24-2024, 11:09 PM
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