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FWIW - new Roadmaster towbar for flat-towing to the track;
Towed to Atlanta Motorsports Park yesterday for the TNIA. Worked like a boss - better'n renting a Uhaul dolly - hooks up in 15 min.
[BTW - Yes, it's purple. Yes, it's scruffy. No, I don't give a f**k.]
I have a tablet in my dash, replacing the Blose, and it's been there for a long time;
There's also other stuff crammed behind the tablet, and it gets HOT back in there. How hot? Hot enough to cause the battery to start bloating and pushing the screen out of the bezel of the tablet. So, I had to replace the battery in the tablet;
But then I said, "Hey, why not cure the disease instead of treating the symptom?" So I found a 12v powered, temperature-sensing relay thingie and bought some computer case fans;
Stuffed the whole kit 'n kaboodle into the dash and...voila! Temeprature controlled fans that exhausts all of that bad old hot air and keep my tablet running for another 4 years!
BTW - with ambient temps in the low 90's the temp inside the dash was getting up to 120*F. At first I had a single 60mm fan blowing on the tablet. But that was not up to the job, So I swapped that for two 80mm fans, and they seem to be keeping the temps under control. And if you're wondering about battery drain...don't. I've had a 2-battery hookup (stock, in the stock location, and a motorcycle battery on the other side) for quite a while. The fans and relay all are running off the bike battery. So, if that goes flat, it doesn't jeopardize my "main" battery.
...and in case you don't want to dig, here's the bike battery in the trunk (this was the first installation iteration - it's much better now, I just didn't feel like taking another picture);
...and this is the "Battery Doctor" isolator that keeps the main and aux batteries separate when discharging, but allows both to be charged from the alternator.
To flat tow, do you have to leave key in ignition as to not lock the steering? I've never seen that before.
Key in the ignition, bungee around wheel to the bracket for the anti-sub belt on the floor. This helps the steering to re-center after turns. Works like a charm.
Well, after 3.5 years of faithful service, my CXRacing chinacharger has finally given up the ghost.
Not really, it hasn't failed. But a seal on the hot-side is starting to leak oil into the impeller housing and I get some oil burning on cold starts. Once the hot-side gets hot the oil-burning stops, but my neighbors probably aren't happy with me when I leave out for work and trail a faint plume of smoke until I reach the main street. My long term solution is an EFR 6758, but I don't have that kind of coin right now. So I'm band aiding it with another CXRacing until I can save for "the real deal" and start playing with the Big Boys.
In the meantime, I've taken this opportunity to replace the trusty old FM log manifold, with the sexy new Kraken manifold that's been collecting dust on my workbench. That required some small changes because the Kraken manifold positions that turbo about an inch higher, and an inch forward of where the FM manifold did. So, I had to;
- Put a "connector" between the downpipe and exhaust pipe to take up the 1" difference (kludgy, yes, but I'll fix it when I get the EFR
- Cut a new notch in the (pseudo) frame rail to clear the compressor housing (again, because of the forward offset of the Kraken)
- Trim the intake air cleaner heat shield (ditto for the offset)
None of that was rocket-science, just minor annoyances.
The new/old CXRacing turbo comes in on Thursday. Before it goes on the car it'll get a full port-job on the IWG because, why not? And I'll probably port-match the IM as well (again, why not?). Then It'll be a few more months of slow spooling and power limitations until I can reach EFR-Nirvana.
looks good, any performance benefits felt between the fm and kraken?
Hard to tell at this point. I've had to make some minor tweaks to the VE table and I haven't had a chance to explore the boundaries. One thing is very obvious is that the exhaust note is definitely different,. I'm assuming that's because it flows differently (better?).
Well...FrankenMiata started smoking again (and he was so young, it's a shame when they start bad habits) and this time it's not the turbo.
Yesterday, while sitting in a parking lot doing a little roadside Megasquirt tuning (yes, that never ends), I saw a blue haze drifting behind me and I wondered what poor sap was polluting the environment. That "poor sap" was me!! A lazy cloud of oil smoke was gently wafting out of my tailpipe (sounds poetic, huh).
I quickly hightailed it back home and shut 'er down. I pulled the plugs and all were nice and dry, but - peering into the spark plug hole - I could see that the tops of all four pistons we glistening with oil in the glow of the flashlight. I can only guess that the oil rings were stuck in their grooves and I was pumping oil into the combustion chamber.
There's only one way to find out...open it up and inspect the damage.
I'm hoping for the best (stuck oil rings only), but expecting the worst (damaged rings, scored cylinder bores, scuffed pistons). At best; it's new rings, hone the cylinders, clean up everything and drive off into the sunset. At worst; it's a 0.5mm overbore, new pistons and ditto above.
This is #4, but there's similar damage on #3. My first thought was that this was because of a backfire situation I was encountering several months ago. But the question is; "Why did it take 3 months for the damage to show up with the oil burning?"
I'll answer that question later. The task now is to get the pistons out and inspect the cylinder walls for damage. I'm hoping for (but not optimistic that) the wall damage is minor and can be cleaned up with a hone. Otherwise I'm looking at a .040 overbore (I'm already at .020 over). Either way, it's new pistons. I'm thinking Mahle or Wiseco - I've already got Supertech's in there now.
Here is a detail of the broken edge after cleaning the #4 piston;
What's more interesting (to me) is the beginning of another crack in the valve relief on the other side;
The picture's not very clear, but the crack is just below the scraper. That's telling me that those relief cuts are just big stress risers and will (always?) fail eventually.
The piston top was gunked up w/ burnt oil residue so what you see is post-cleaning. The turbine wheel was damaged, and there were at least two broken blades. Other than that, there was a small amount of damage to the top of the combustion chamber (some minor pitting) and there seemed to be no damage to the valve faces or valve seats. The cylinder walls look "passable" (i.e. no deep gouges, some minor scuffing) and can be dealt with through honing the cylinders.
I think I dodged a bullet with this one.
Now come some decisions;
1) I've already decided to replace the 6-puck ACT clutch disc with a continuous-face one from California Clutch. I'm tired of the "chattering" that I get from the 6-puck on low speed engagement. Also, the springs on the center hub on this disc are fully captured. I had a FM disc fail once before when the springs "escaped" - that's the only reason the ACT was in there.
2) Do I put the "whiny" 6-speed with the worn gears back into the car? Or do I learn to become a transmission mechanic and field-strip that trans and put in a gear-set from a "spare" 6-speed that has a damaged reverse gear (of course, fixing the reverse gear). OR do I enter into "5-speed land" with a 5-speed that has been collecting dust for about 2 years.
3) To muffle, or not muffle, that is the question. Up until now The
was doing a great job of keeping the noise to a (barely) acceptable level. But when I put in the Kraken exhaust manifold, the exhaust note changed and it's no longer semi-loud...it's just loud! I don't mind, but I don't think my neighbors appreciate the mellow tones from my exhaust. I don't want the car to be "Lexus quiet", I just want to take the edge off. Maybe and "el cheapo" Ebay catback? Suggestions are welcome.
PS - I've got some Wiseco's on order. Should be here tomorrow.
I checked the clearance and it was at .0035" to .0038" across all 4 cylinders. I read that .0035 is a good number, and I'm some worried about that big(ish) cylinder.
Hope I'm not going to suffer terminal piston slap.
05-18-2017, 06:55 PM
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