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It also came with a spare BP that is now sitting in my apartment's spare bedroom (gf is thrilled). Not 100% sure what to do with it. It's already in pieces and everything looks relatively good. Perhaps, get one of these rebuild kits with some ebay rods, light machine work (hone, pressure test head, hot tank) and call it a day? I can easily be talked out of the ebay rebuild kit, a few hundred more gets me a kit from FM or rock auto. At this moment the car doesn't need a new motor, the 150k mile 1.8 is chugging along fine, so this is more a fun project. Ultimate goals would be to go turbo right around 250 rwhp. My last turbo miata achieved close to that with a stock motor so I'm thinking no reason to go nuts. Thoughts?
Also now that I'm in California (last turbo was in NC).. should I go with a BEGI kit to keep her smog legal-ish? She just passed smog with the 1.8, so that's nice. I got my 95 with a VVT and ms3 to pass, so it's really a "looks" thing (ie carb OE #) no? I fear that relying on a finding a shady smog will kill resale value and be pretty frustrating in general.
Anyways, glad to be back in a Miata
Last edited by eurojulien; 02-16-2018 at 09:23 PM.
make your measurements and if its fine -> quick and dirty hone, new rings, ebay rods, new gaskets everywhere and maybe an oil pump... really make sure your head is fine.
nothing better than having a full spare long block, makes life easy
The car came with an MSM box which had some synchro issues. The fourth to third shift was about impossible to do without grinding.
I went to a local JDM supply house to buy a replacement 5 speed (had my reasonable panties on). When I got there, i noticed a 6 speed
off to the corner.. turns out it had a bad 5/R shift fork. Knowing those parts were good in mine I decided to pick it up instead of a 5 speed:
Next step was disassembly in my apartment's guest room closely following the miata 6 speed 6 speed overhaul manual. Got some tarp to cover the carpet and a piece of countertop from a nearby unit getting renovated.. trying to keep things clean and one day get my security deposit back here
I suspected this was the issue, a bearing had slid out from the 5th gear/reverse fork:
All apart:
The culprit:
I went back and forth whether or not I should swap out the part for a new one or just drive the bushing back in the fork. With a new part being $150 and over a week out I rolled the dice and just pressed it back in. Worse case I can always grab one from the trans in my car.
Next morning I woke up and tackled reassembly. WHAT A BEAR. Even closely following the factory manual there wasn't one step I didn't have re-do once, or twice to get just right. There was also a plethora of special tools I didn't own. For instance the reverse gear and the counter shaft have a gear that has to be twisted a specific method and held there.. some cursing and allens worked.
Calm Before the Storm Said Allen The FSM said to assemble the whole deal and zip tie it together. Pretty Neat trick TBH Kind of a mess, haha. Once the whole enchilada is back in the front case you have to find neutral. That was again a pita. Mid Case back on, working on 6th gear and shift linkage. AND Back together.. and guess what? It wouldn't go into any gear ARGHHHH. I went to pick up my head from the machine shop and decided to take the top case back off and see what went wrong... I had accidentally engaged 6th gear manually. DOH.
And that's it until I stick her in my car and try her out. I'm feeling positive about it because when I brought her home I couldn't get into 5th & Reverse and now all gears slide in easily.
That's hardcore and ballsy doing that in an apartment. I would have made a huge mess! Good stuff and you confirmed I never want to pull apart a transmission.
I got my 95 with a VVT and ms3 to pass, so it's really a "looks" thing (ie carb OE #) no? I fear that relying on a finding a shady smog will kill resale value and be pretty frustrating in general.
:
I had to take my MSPNP + DIY intake + wideband out to ensure I pass smog. I went to a a friend (known him for 20 years) who did the smog check (he owns the place). The only favor he did was pre-testing of the car to see if it would pass when the actual test is done, the rest of done according to the law. He would not overlook anything...
Here is what my friend told me - they get tested by "customers" bringing cars that have emissions/evap systems altered and see if they fail visual or one of the tests, they try to pay cash if they are failing in order to pass, etc. Of course all these "customers" are working undercover. Penalties for smog station owner or tech who are caught doing this regularly - up to five years in federal prison, and the charge of making false statements in a record carries a maximum penalty of two years. Fines and penalties for station owners can range between $5,000 to $250,000. Fines are almost always accompanied by the loss of the smog station's and smog technician's licenses. For customer - civil penalty of at least $150, but no more than $1,000.
Here is the real kicker - this SMOG Only testing place he opened with $50K loan 20 years ago has made him a fairly well off financially. He owns several homes, apartments and has paid for two kids going through college.
Chapter 2: The Motor
I decided to build the spare motor that came with the car. It looked like it was a well-cared for BP as all the bearing that came out of it looked great. I brought it to a machine shop and them do the following work:
1. Hot tank block, oil pan and valve cover
2. Resurface and check the head, valve job and valve stem seals
3. Hone Block
I also had a small issue that the engine hoist would not fit through the bedroom door (where I had done the trans work). So in the dining room it went!
Most understanding (Badass) Girlfriend in the world. Everything setup for the work to begin.Checked the main and the rod bearing clearance.. right between .0015 and .002" for the rods. New rings on the new pistons + ebay rods. I wanted to use the older pistons which had been sandblasted but sadly a nick by one of the piston rings stopped me from feeling comfortable using them. I did measure out each ring in the block and they were right in spec. Lubed up everything and torqued it down New Oil Pump installed with windage tray Oil Pan on HG on along with ARP Studs Head on, torqued ARP studs to 54ft-lbs per a thread here on MT. New TB Kit installed including WP. And that's it. Left the Alternator, intake and other acc off to help transport the motor. The Exhaust manifold came back off actually. GF was out of town.. but TBH it really tied the living/dining room together New Owner Came to pic up the motor and my old MSM transmission I had as well In the elevator - lol. I didn't ride with, I took the stairs. Loaded up in the buyer's Audi.. We actually didn't have to lift the motor in. We rolled the engine hoist to the audi, put our weight on the bumper so the engine would clear the bumper. Once the engine was in the cabin we just took our weight off the bumper and with the car back at it's normal ride height, it was enough to get the wheels of the engine hoist off the ground. Worked like a charm.
Having to assemble a motor from boxes that I didn't take apart took some patience and a lot of googling. At the end it came together nicely. I ended up trading the motor for a JRSC kit and some headers as I really didn't feel like pulling my motor out any time soon. He will more than likely dig back into the motor and upgrade other components as he sees fit down the road but this should be a decent starting platform.
A bit of an update. I ended up selling the JRSC that I traded for the motor and bought a DIY MSPNP and some 4age itbs instead.
Car came with a spare NA8 gauge cluster that had Rossa Revlimiter faces and a KG works panel. To make it all work (and keep my mileage/oil pressure gauge) I had to swap the guys of one cluster to another This turned out to be harder than I thought since the frame of the cluster had to be modified to allow proper lighting to the tach and the coolant temp sensors are different I had to swap out everything. And installed.. Oh I also picked up a wideband. Next step, assemble my first Megasquirt. I've wanted to do this for years but never had the guts to do it. I pulled the trigger on a DIY MSPNP and got to work on it following several guides online. And Doneski! car actually fired right up on it once I got the firmware and maps flashed. Actually did something other than miata during my spare time.. A nice hike with friends!! GF asks me to return stuff to ikea across town? I say its the perfect opportunity to street tune! Yes I'm wearing a BT headset.. make fun all you want :P After Ikea I made another stop to buy a set of silvertop 4age ITBs! Working out the throttle location after mounting them to the T3 adapter. Best desk ornament ever!
Cheers
I like the way this looks, want to hear it running.... should be fun.
For sure, I've got a few SD trips planned this year.
Originally Posted by hquakers
I love everything about this thread. Anyone bitching about needing a garage should read this thread.
Haha, thanks! Most of my car work is always done in the most random of places. The few times I had a garage It felt... amazing
Originally Posted by ridethecliche
I guess nothing keeps you motivated to finish fast like an SO that may be unhappy if the apartment looks like a garage for too long!
Yeah, I can't put up with clutter either, so it works out
Good work man!
Thank you!
Originally Posted by Braineack
rofl
:-P
Originally Posted by LukeG
That's hardcore and ballsy doing that in an apartment. I would have made a huge mess! Good stuff and you confirmed I never want to pull apart a transmission.
Thanks! Tranny work (lol) just takes patience really.
So last night I put in ~5 hours worth of work, and this was the result: Don't see it?
Let me help I reinstalled power steering and the AC compressor/condenser/lines/etc that the seller gave me from one of this parts cars. About 20 bolts were missing but a quick trip to Home Depot Racing got that sorted. Having never taken these parts off the car it was a bit like assembling a puzzle.
Still have to wire in the compressor switch and the pressure switch for the a/c before I get it charged.
Awesome thread. You are definitely more dedicated than me to working on your car at your apartment. Back in my apartment days I just befriened someone with a lift and traded off working on his car for lift time.
Saw this little guy on the highway the other night. #midnightclub
The guy who bought the motor I built got it installed and running. Glad to hear it's running well!
In other news I got a 15/16" Brake booster off a sport package non-abs nb2. I had to block off one of the ports with an alen bolt I bought off ebay but it all worked out well. Brake pedal feels amazing!
In case you forgot what she looks like with all the apartment pics - lol
Anyways, got started on my ITB install by getting the adapter on there.
I continued on to install the itbs and make necessary modifications to the fuel rail for them to clear.
Lastly I stuck the on stacks to see what it would all look like. At this point everything was installed finger tight to check clearances, etc. Took a break for lunch and then everything came back apart to install the vacuum lines.
Here she is all buttoned up. About to crank her up for the first time. I'm still running MS off speed density at this point.
Ran like crap but made the right noises (sorry for the low quality)
Next up is to install the GM IAT sensor (you can see my airbox is still in there for now), do the VTPS mod on the MS2 board, wire in the TPS and finally set everything up for Alpha-N. Oh I forgot.. tune tune tune.
Got things finished up on Sunday. VTPS mod done on megasquirt, TPS wired in (butt connectors for now, going to clean up the hardness and re-wrap it down the road) and also found that two of the throttles where way out of sync causing idling issues.
Still have to remove the airbox.
Not in love with the location of the GM AIT but it will do for now.
More brap braps for your enjoyement:
Next step is ITG filter and figuring out ITB mode on MS.
Hiya friend, it's your ol'pal that bought your 95 VVT
Nice build, I'll be following this thread so keep it posted.
I was changing the timing belt for the VVT and it ended up turning into a "while I was in there" type of job, so I pulled the head to replaced the head gasket...and then ended up rebuilding the head. Necessary? Probably not, but I had nothing better to do, so why not.
This was before I cleaned and lapped the valves. They're much more shiny now.
12-28-2017, 01:15 AM
Apartment Build - Julien's 1.8/6
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