Drilling block for oil feed?
 

So I've just been swapping out the engine on my '93 1.6 due to a crank issue, built up the new engine almost ready to drop into the car again. Last thing on the list was the turbo oil feed..... But the hole I had on my old block (hotside by flywheel) doesn't exist on this new one!

After doing a bit of research the later UK cars didn't come with them which is a bit of a bummer. I have found out you can T off of the pressure sender on the other side of the block but seeing as I already have my line sorted and the engine out the car, can I just drill and tap into where it should be?

Please say you can!!

Thanks in advance :D

T off the sender...
/ thread.

I have the oil line and a tap already. If I went for the other option I'd need a whole new line with new fittings and everything. Hence the question!

good luck.


/thread.

Well, you may have had it sorted for your old block.

:ohnoes:
:burncash:

Get a new line and fittings from FM or find the parts yourself, because if you ---- this up and drill into the water jacket or something we're just going to laugh at you.

You would need to drill and tap several inches in at the perfectly correct angle or else you have a good chance of hitting other things in the block. Joe Perez even says it is not worth attempting to tap.

You shoulda done a 1.8.

Oh really that far in?? I was working under the assumption that it'd only be a few mm's worth of metal to go through, any more than that and I agree... It's probably not worth the risk!

Drillin' for oil in Mazdaville, eh?

Sung to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies:
Yeah, I looked at doing this a couple of years ago on an NB block.

The casting feature to support the oil feed is actually still there, but the problem is clearance. You'd need to drill a hole about 3mm in diameter and 10cm deep, perfectly centered, with absolutely zero error in the angle of the drill. Otherwise, you'll perforate the block.


http://img37.imagefra.me/img/img37/2...wm_bf36560.png


http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/2...2m_7793951.png


A *really* competent machine shop might be able to pull it off, but I sure as hell wouldn't attempt doing it to my own engine at home.

JP, thanks a lot for the helpful (and mature) reply! That has sealed the deal, its a no go situation.

I already have an oil filter sandwich plate which I use to supply a temp guage, so I think I might try and utilise a port off of this for the feed instead. Hopefully Pirtek can lengthen my existing line and throw the correct fitting on for that, or perhaps I can bore out one of them to accept the m10x1.5 fitting...?

100% chance a drill that size will walk.

Darn, I wanted him to try it. :D

Just a shot in the dark. What about a high quality EDM machine or rifle bore type of machine? I'm sure someone around here has access to some crazy stuff. Not saying it's a good idea, just cool that it "could" be possible.

Yes, a gun drill would have no problem with that. It'll drill that hole exactly where you point it - the harder part, imho, is positioning the block on the milling table. If the hole is parallel to the head surface and side of the block...piece of cake. Even a regular long-reach drill bit would do the job.

By hand - no way!

--Ferdi

OTOH, drilling for water is not a problem. Done this twice already. You need to drill about one inch deep, so no big deal.

Yeah, the water hole is easy. It's a shallow cut, and more importantly, high precision is not required. There's nothing delicate that you'll hit if you're off-center or not straight, and since your target is the water jacket, it's pretty much impossible to miss.

Taking water from this location also has the advantage of permitting a hose-routing which encourages convective movement of water after the engine is shut off.

Are there any disadvantages to taking the feed from the sandwich plate as opposed to where I had it before? Aside from the obvious hassle of routing it.

I know I don't really have a choice in the matter now but it would at least put my mind more at rest if there weren't! To me it just seems like a bit of a bodge...

To the best of my knowledge, all of the commonly-available oil filter sandwich plates allow the user to draw oil from the system on the pre-filter side, rather than the post-filter side. So the oil which you're getting from it is technically un-filtered, inasmuch as it contains whatever might happen to be floating around in the oil sump prior to filtration.

That's the only potential drawback I can think of, and of course sufficiently many people have been running in this configuration without having reported any serious harm.

Tapping into the hole which supplies oil to the pressure sensor (as is done with the Bell and FM kits) will provide you with post-filter oil.

Saying that, I already have one of these:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1341522387

So once the hose is made up I could theoretically use either location?