Matt's Mazdaspeed BP6D Build Thread
 

Hi guys,

First post after lurking and reading a lot here!

I am making this thread to share what I've learned and will continue to learn along the way as I build my first engine and bring my '04 Mazdaspeed Miata back to life! I picked her up in late November of 2020 with 138k. It was a Nevada car for its whole life then Utah for a year. The car has zero rust but the rest of it was in pretty bad shape. The paint was and is awful, the dash was and is awful. It was stanced out with seized brake calipers, cut chassis braces and slammed to the ground on Form and Function Coilovers that were beat up after only 10k miles. It did come with a Mishimoto radiator and FM Intake and manual boost controller but was otherwise stock. Here is what she looked like when I brought her home:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...abd652072d.jpg

To get into my driveway I had to immediately change the wheels and raise the ride height.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6087c9da4.jpeg


I started out fixing the most necessary stuff first, the brakes and suspension. I got brand new calipers all the way around with some new brake pads, braided lines, new rotors and Hawk HP520 fluid. Then I bought some Advanti Storm wheels and wrapped them in fresh rubber. The clutch also felt a little weird so I got a new slave and master with the new line from moss miata. I added bigger sway bars (turns out the MSM has a bigger rear sway already so the racing beat one was the same size lol) and adjustable end links from 949.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f228cab48.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8c2f83311.jpeg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4a8fc9f8d.jpeg


Once I had fixed all this I was excited to finally drive my car after 6 months! It sat over winter so I didn't work on it at all. After my first drive I noticed coolant was disappearing. Couldn't find a leak anywhere then one time at night noticed some coolant coming out of my exhaust as vapor/smoke. Sigh. So I did some research and came to the conclusion that it was the headgasket. I've never worked on cars growing up so this was daunting. I did lots of research and took the plunge. I also replaced those coilovers with FM Vmaxx's.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...475fc0384.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8fcac05a1.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ea2fc6bde.jpeg


Since the head was off I got it decked and cleaned. I did all the other maintenance items like front seal, timing belt, gaskets, etc. But figured hey lets have some fun too! So I bought a MS3 PnP, FlowForce 725cc injectors, FM Boost gauge and AEM Series X wideband, UK flat top intake manifold, stage 8 locking hardware for the turbo, Vibrant intercooler, Fluidampr harmonic balancer, lots of various hoses. I'm not lying when I say it took me 3 months to do all of this. I felt way in over my head and wanted to give up at various points but it was also incredibly rewarding and fun at the same time. I had it towed to the tuner after a big fail of trying to get the base map to even idle for more than 2 seconds.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...53c047e4b.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...70a45acb6.jpeg


However now we are at present day... I am still burning coolant. I have no idea why. The only thing I know for a fact I did incorrectly was not hammering in the head alignment dowels, I merely placed them to line up the gasket and head. So maybe its that. Or maybe my block is way worse then I thought. I only got the head decked after all. I also reused the stock headbolts , which I believe are stretch style so that could be an issue as well (ARP studs were crazy backordered). I enjoyed the car for less than 500 miles but here is a fun pic lol.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c10a726bc.jpeg


Here is where I think the real fun is going to start. I decided screw it, I'll keep the BP5A in there and let it burn coolant while I drive it a bit this summer but I picked up a BP6D with 170k miles from an automatic car that previously had an overheating issue. I got it pretty cheap for todays prices and am going to tear it down and build it up. Then swap it in to my 'Speed. All while this is going on I'll be fixing the interior with a new dash, new climate controls, hopefully get the aftermarket radio to work (grounding issue I think), new seats and brackets, roll bar, harnesses and steering wheel as well as a Robbins OEM top. Nobody tell my wife about this thread LOL.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3adc21e46.jpeg


Here is my build list that I am planning. I would love feedback on pain points, possible upgrades or cost savings points or anything at all that you experts think is relevant!

Block:
Supertech pistons (still researching best compression ratio and if I should go to a 84mm bore)
Manley rods
ACL Rod bearings (4B8351H-STD)
ACL Main bearings (5M8353H-STD)
ACL Thrust bearings (1T8353H-STD)
ARP Main studs (218-5401)
Boundary oil pump VVT version with 3shim (incase I add oil cooler later on)
36-2 trigger wheel

Head:
deck and rebuild with OEM or supertech valves
Supertech valve stem seals (VS-T6E/VS-T6I)
ARP head studs (218-4701)
Maybe new springs too?
Port and polish?
swap over my BP5A intake cam?

Turbo:
Kraken full turbo kit with 3" turbo back
Garret 2860RS (not 100% decided)

Other:
DW200 fuel pump
Plan on e85 in the future, more research needed
Probably need a fuel pressure regulator
Probably need to find a bigger throttle body
relocate IAT sensor with the new DIY autotune one down closer to intercooler
Oem gasket and timing belt kit
Clutch (no clue on which one or what kind to get yet, need to research)


Other random thoughts and considerations:
some radiator shroud or ducting to close fan gap
re-drill radiator drain plug that might be leaking just a bit
will my Megasquirt work with the BP6D still since it was mazdaspeed specific?
my tuner said my current idle issue is due to the Flow Force injectors and recommend the ID 1050's so may be switching to those eventually. Didn't get any help from FF with my logs but others seem to have good experience with these injectors so may wait until engine is built and give these another shot.
delete AC, not sure if its worth it (5x racing has a little tube kit)
delete EGR recirc tube and register it in a state that doesn't require emissions
The BP6D is a VVT motor, will need to research tuning related to it and if it will work with my Megasquirt
Maybe get some better motor mounts
Need to figure out what all I need machine shop to do...balance rotating assembly with clutch and flywheel (find lighter one?), bore, hone, surface/deck, clean crank

As you can tell there's a lot I don't know and a lot I'm still learning and figuring out. I am making this as a medium to gather my thoughts and keep track of things and maybe as some entertainment to y'all haha. But hopefully eventually this thread will have good info for others in my shoes that are learning and want to build a fast and fun car! If I think of other things I will continue to add them. Thanks for reading!

-Matt

Had some time with fantastic weather so I got the engine torn down! Its actually in pretty good shape, a little scoring on a couple cylinders but otherwise good. I've also decided on the EFR 6258 turbo and 9:1 compression for the 84mm bore. Bore is going to be necessary now due to the scoring. Need to get it off to the machine shop for the presumably months long wait lol :cry:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6645c89084.jpg

I am also working on a MSM with a mishmash of parts.

I'm using the FF 900cc injectors with 93 octane and getting pretty good idle with minimal tuning work aside from injector settings. What were the specific idle issues? I'm a weirdo running a Haltech so that could very well cause a difference.

I put my IAT in the intercooler outlet pipe; just took it to the local exhaust shop with the appropriate bung and $30. I'm using the standard GM IAT that I think pretty much everyone uses.

oh sweet! Yeah I wish I would've gone bigger from the start so ID1050s may be in my future haha. I've heard good things about Haltech but bought a MS without really knowing much about competitors. I've kind of narrowed it down to what I think the issue is. The majority of idle issue seems to be resolved just by staying in gear until around 1.5k then clutching in, since it likes to oscillate really hard. Basically I can't free rev the engine at all or it will oscillate and die. But I believe this may get solved once I install the new GM IAT sensor. Currently running the stock one still and its literally almost touching my radiator hose so I think its getting horrible heat soak and throwing off the readings.

Thinking of doing exactly that, somewhere down by the IC. Thanks for chiming in! Are you still running the stock turbo? The intercooler piping from the hotside is so restrictive.

Now that you mention oscillation I recall having to re-calibrate my IACV adjustment screw to get the car to idle correctly with the new injectors. I believe I put the ECU into open-loop idle and locked the spark advance value and then adjusted the screw until the idle was slightly above what I wanted. This keeps the ecu from using large timing or IACV adjustments to keep a steady idle.

IAT could also cause some minor AFR issues; I had a similar thing where the terminals were poorly crimped so if I went over a bump the right way the ECU would go from normal air temp to -40* F and throw everything off.


I am still on the stock turbo; it's more or less maxed out at 12 PSI. The car came with a relatively big IC and a Bell Tuning intake which seems at least a little bit less convoluted. I've opted to keep PS and AC because street car and it gets muggy in the south; that complicates the piping considerably.

Thats a good idea, I may have to give that a try, thanks! I read that since it was idling fine on the stock ecu and I never touched the idle screw that I shouldn't try messing with it. I'm going to probably pay a remote tuner to look more at my idle and probably make a post over on the MS forums and get some ideas of what other settings might affect it.

UPDATE TIME:

It has a while since I've been on here but I've just been accumulating parts and haven't done anything since my last post. I had a week off work and spent 60hrs in the garage doing all this stuff to get the interior in better shape. Previously to that I had also painted the calipers with POR-15 black paint to keep the corrosion at bay and disassembled the BP6D, which has been at the machine shop for over a month now.

First, a glamour shot...


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a610ae93b8.jpg

A couple pics of the motor being torn down...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6f4a9962c7.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a1a3933a1d.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f05ffda759.jpg



The interior work time! I started with a Hard Dog Hardcore Roll Bar. Getting that thing lined up and drilled by myself was quite tricky and took a couple days because I didn't want to rush it. I then silicone sealed the backing plates since they are in the wheel well.



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a894d872d7.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...67af8d76e8.jpg

In between frustration and tired break on the hardtop I replaced the soft top. Again, pretty tough for a one-man-show but not impossible. Quick tip for the retaining bracket during reinstallation, do the center bracket first!! A couple guys in the local community gave me that tip after I spent literally 3 hours trying to get that bracket in after I already had the sides on. Also should've done that before I put the roll bar in lol, oh well!

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...907222c7f3.jpg


While waiting on fabric adhesive to dry I moved onto the big project of the interior. My dash was cracked and the HVAC fan control button was snapped off so I had no fan control, the glove box was also very scratched up from a PO's dog. I pulled the dash and swapped over the top section from a black/tan dash and snagged a new HVAC control panel off eBay. I swapped over the lock from my glovebox to the new one as well.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...edd2c88e5a.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4e632ebd6e.jpg

My cat Ascari snuck in there while I wasn't looking!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f99bda5ff6.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...079a84259b.jpg

Eagle eyed viewers will notice the shifter boot difference in the last two photos. I also did the Shifter rebuild kit form 5x Racing, what a fantastic difference! I also feel a slight reduction in heat and smell from the trans since the boots were torn to pieces. There was ZERO fluid in my trans tower, which certainly isn't good.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...45d42bcc9f.jpg

I also put on a fresh new shift boot with red stitching to match! Next up was the steering wheel that was pretty worn. Plus I needed more leg room so my knees weren't in the wheel. I went with a NRG short hub and quick release and a Sparco steering wheel. It really transforms the feel of the car since that's what you're touching all the time while driving. I also took this opportunity to remove some sort of aftermarket immobilizer that the PO had installed with a mess of wires under the steering column.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a28c06688b.jpg

Since my carpet was already up for the new seats coming and the roll bar, I did some FM frame rail braces, to stiffen up the car. Between the roll bar and these braces, the stiffer chassis is very noticeable and I could not be happier.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fccedb7b60.jpg

Our other cat Harpurr was checking out the new Sparco QRT-R's. No good pics of them yet since I haven't put the harnesses in but I did make sure to retain the stock 3pt belts for street driving. You can also see some new FM delrin door bushings which help a ton with door rattle.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dd1185ecf6.jpg

And lastly, just this morning I wrapped up installing a GM IAT sensor and moving it to the cold side of the IC to help with the insane heat soak my stock IAT sensor was getting. Stock sensor was touching the radiator hose and just soaking all that heat into the sensor itself. My IAT's went down during boost lol.

Also, yes I know...JB weld. But its only there for a year until I get the good motor back and do new IC piping all the way around, and I don't know how to weld anyways. Stock Mazdaspeed IC piping is SUPER restrictive and very narrow. Also wired up a generic Deutsch connector for the stock IAT wires.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7b1fc39f71.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d476004806.jpg


WELP that wraps up what I've been up to on this lately. Currently I have pretty much all the parts for the motor build, just need to buy the Kraken kit, the EFR 6258, Radium fuel rail and possibly some fuel pump and FPR stuff. There's a new gas station going in by my house and I'm crossing my fingers they will have e85.

If anyone has any questions on anything please don't hesitate to ask!! My insta is @meowmotor. I'll get more good pics up once I get it out for some drives, still dealing with a horrible idle tuning issue so I can't trust the car to travel very far.

-Matt

Well thanks for nothing Matt :) ! I trawled for a photo like that before I pulled my dash, and now you post exactly what I was looking for, when mine has been out (for new heater core) and now back in! Sadly though, your LHD heater assembly is different to the RHD, so it would have only misled me. For anyone looking to do a RHD, the difference is in the aircon unit, and in the couplings between the blower box and the heater box. I'll get around to posting the story of my dash saga on my build thread, but for now I have to get the car back on the road first.

Your mazdaspeed has a 6-speed, which does not have turret fluid. You can actually fill your trans through the shifter hole. So if you did put “turret” fluid in, your trans currently has ~4qts in it. Remove the fill plug and let it drain till it stops, or pull and replace the drain plug, and pour only 2 qts in the turret.

Haha apologies!! Probably for the best then as to not lead you astray! Glad you got it figured out, these dashes aren't too terribly hard to pull out thankfully. Link that thread when you have it, I'd be curious to see the difference.

Well crap! Thanks for the education!! I only put the recommended 40ml of fluid in the turret so it wasn't much. I'm assuming the drain plug then has that second "plug" like my Golf R has where you let it drain and it basically only drains to the level that's required? I haven't changed the trans fluid on this yet so that and the diff and probably engine too all could use a good fluid change.

You'll be fine then. But it sounds like it's time for a flush anyways. Yes, it's the same as almost any manual transmission and most differentials, a drain plug and fill/level plug. Drain till it's dripping, install drain plug, fill till it drips, install fill plug, done. There have been some folks who mistake a detent screw for the drain plug, so make sure you remove the right one. You know it's right when you see both fill and drain on the same side. If you're not sure, google images will help. Because most people are on jack stands, and most, if not all, fluid pumps are complete piles of garbage, I would suggest removing the drain for a good 10 minutes, replacing the crush washer and installing the drain plug, then simply pour 2qts of your favorite trans fluid into the turret and call it good. It's not an issue to be a tenth of a quart too high or too low, so no need to remove the fill plug.

I have a pretty decent fluid pump but I still think you're right, doing it through the top will be a breeze. Thanks Curly! I feel honored you stopped by my thread :)

Some pics of the new seats, I absolutely love them. Not the comfiest for long drives but 100x better than the ripped up stock leather seats. I had to do some transmission tunnel persuading with the hammer and trimmed down the Bell Raceworks bracket a bit to get the driver seat as far in as possible. It touches the doorcard but the impring is maybe half an inch and doesn't bother me at all.

I was also able to get some longer eyehole bolts and retain the stock 3pt buckle for street driving. Then I had the backing plates welded under the car by a local race shop.

As far as fit goes, I'm 6' and wear 33"x32" jeans. The shoulder fit is snug but I'm still able to lean over to access my phone/wallet so its not super squished like I was afraid would happen in a Sparco Sprint. These QRT-R's are a little wider.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9ae1fbe5a6.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4e71c109af.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c8c62c1644.jpg

So next... I got my block back from the machine shop and I'm not very thrilled. They did not tell me my piston to wall clearance. They cut my rings, like I asked, but claimed that all the pistons are the same so it doesn't matter which cylinder they go to. So now I have to weigh each rod/piston combo (they assembled them) to try to see if I can get balance close or if I'll need to swap some rods around. And also take all the rings off and check gap. They also didn't give me back my piston or rod spec sheets and I need to call them about that, hopefully they didn't lose those...

I also noticed a few small scratches in the cylinder so I'll post some pics later this week to get some input on if I should be worried or not.


Beyond that frustration, I ordered a Radium fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator kit from fab9. Decided, screw it, I'm gonna be ready for e85 out the gate! I've also decided to spring for the EFR 6758 as well after watching CarPassionChannel's dyno comparison video. I'm not chasing his hp numbers but it will be nice to have a little more turbo than I need shooting for that 400 crank number. (especially at altitude here in CO)

I also am going to order the Kraken turbo kit in the next few weeks. My only hesitation is ordering the intercooler kit form him as well. I have the fab9 stage 1 intercooler already and would love some "plug n play" intercooler piping but I haven't heard back from him on the dimensions of his intercooler. So I may end up having to go the custom tubing route after all. For someone that doesn't have the ability or tools to weld, thats going to be annoying lol. I've seen picks of some set ups that go straight up over the radiator which looks cool. But being its a Mazdaspeed, my car already has a cutout behind the headlight so hopefully can get some full 2.5" piping through there!

The list of what I have left to purchase is getting smaller but its big money items now :ohnoes:

STILL NEED TO BUY:
EFR 6758 Turbo
Kraken manifold and exhaust
intercooler piping
AN fittings and lines for oil and water drain/feed
wastegate
BOV
Mishi oil feed sandwich plate
oil pressure sensor
oil temp sensor
Flex fuel sensor
sadfab ignition kit

Thanks to a raise at work, things are a little ahead of schedule but still shooting to have this motor built and in the car by summer 2023!

Hey Jake, that's a good idea! I ended up getting my idle pretty dialed in thanks to the good folks over on the MSextra forums.

Looking great! What size wheels are those? 15x8s?

Also, i just built and destroyed my engine because I didn't check oil passages after machine work. Just putting that there. I had no idea.

Yup, 15x8! I like the meaty tire look and the ride is really nice.

Oh damn I'm sorry to hear that! How did you determine that?

I need to review what my shop did, I see the galley plugs are in there (one is a press fit and one is like an allen key or something). I bought two brand new OEM plugs from Mazda but I think they must've tapped one of them and the press fit won't work on that one anymore. So I can pop them off to clean and check but not sure how I'll get new ones back in :(




In other news....spoke with Jeremy at Flyin Miata and he told me not to worry about the 2gram weight difference in my rod/piston combos. My neighbor who has built a few motors agreed as well so I'm just gonna send it.
I've had two badly warped heads that the machine shop said weren't worth it and I'm waiting on my 3rd. Hopefully I'll have the head built and back to me in the next month. Still waiting on Kraken kit and turbo. I have yet to start assembly, still waiting on my oil pan to come back from hot tanking). Lots of waiting on stuff, no fun lol.

I pull one plug by drilling and tapping it to 5/16-18, then use a slide hammer to remove it. Then I use a long rod to tap out the other side. I also remove the oil restrictor in the deck surface that feeds the head. I make replacements for all of these, so I have no idea if they are readily available. The head has galley plugs that need to be pulled and cleaned out as well.

I imagine thats exactly what my shop did too. Looks like One side is the press fit plug and one was tapped (first pic). I'll call to confirm they cleaned the galley or if I'll pull them back out and clean and replace. I imagine the tapped one will just unscrew now, which would make it easy to get out.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9c824789c8.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5aeb513c20.jpg

The press in plugs are available from Mazda, all the “freeze” plugs are too, but doorman or other replacements are available.

Yeah Curly, I had purchased two Mazda press plugs but looks like I won't need them. I just spoke with the shop, they cleaned the galleys and replaced the oil plugs (pictured above). I'm not going to bother to replace the freeze plugs, seems excessive for a car that rarely sees single-digit temps and isn't run with water only.

The pressure on the expansion plugs is determined by the radiator cap and most of us are running higher pressure 20lb caps. They might be fine, but I have seen some in older cores that needed to be replaced. The aftermarket plugs are hit or miss. The made in china plugs were not a good fit and don't use the brass plugs. The oil galley plugs look like they were reused and sealed with RTV. I have done this before without any issues, but its less than ideal. New units sealed with red loctite is preferred. The block was not decked so it might not be necessary to remove the restrictor. I don't believe these are readily available and that is why most shops don't remove them.

Any way to tell if the expansion plugs need replaced visually? My brain is saying I'd rather have the radiator cap blow than the block plugs since the rad cap would be far easier to repair/replace.

The rad caps are spring loaded and can release any excessive pressure without any damage to the cap. It functions this way after most warmups. I would remove one plug for inspection. If it's not excessively rusty, then the rest are most likely ok.

Haven't looked back so may be there - what is the history of this engine - has it been running plain water, or anti-freeze or.other additives that contain corrosion inhibitors? If no/don't know, I'd pull them all, it only takes one to spoil your day.

I am assuming that when opened up or pulled, there was no flood of rusty water ... that would be enough for me to do them all.

Hey Gee, no idea on the history but when I pulled everything off it looked like the inside was in very good condition. The overheating ruined the head and the block was fine, didn't even need decked. After some headaches on the head (crappy ones ordered and refunded) I just got my good one back from being built! I may just do those freeze plugs after all for peace of mind while its out and easy.

Updates:
-Spoke with my machine shop and finally got all the specs and clearances, I'll post those in a couple days when I can get back into the garage.
-They replaced both oil galley plugs after cleaning the galley so we're good there and I'm gonna send it.
-Head is built with spec sheet (can also post that later)
-Turbo arrived
-Fuel Rail and AN fittings for that arrived

To Do this weekend:
-Build a sketchy DIY heat tank to clean the valve cover and then modify it by drilling out the PCV and breather for AN10 fittings to a catch can. Just following what Carpassionchannel did after reading the catch can thread on here.
-Help fix a buddies Tacoma

Random Stuff:
-Sadfab no longer is making their ignition kits. I was looking at the fab9 and FlowForce kits but it seems users here have good write-ups and have had not great experiences with those. So I think I will be going with the kit from DIYAutoTune. I'm not saavy enough to troubleshoot spark issues so I'll just suck it up and get a knwon good kit out the gate. https://www.diyautotune.com/product/...-miata-tuning/
-I still need to look up how to wire up a fuel pump
-Also need to learn how to wire the oil temp and sensors, Mishimoto oil filter sandwich plate is enroute
-Learn about and order flex fuel sensor

I changed out the trans and diff fluid. I'm not sure if the diff had ever been serviced before and its at 140k miles. Yikes.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2f6b42ce0e.jpg

The EFR6758 snail is here!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9492008f74.jpg

The BP6D head is also here! Finished being build with the new I/E valves and springs
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1dfd5ef3b2.jpg

So, a couple weeks ago I couldn't get into 1st or 2nd driving home. I made it home on 3rd (thanks short ratios) from stop lights but it was sketchy. I pulled open the turret since the gears sounded fine when they did randomly engage. I found that bolt in the selector was almost falling out it had backed out so far. So I tightened it with red loctite, cleaned up the turret, reesaled it with some Right Stuff rtv and then changed the fluid. And now it feels amazing, absolutely night and day difference from what it was before. Should've done this so much earlier.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2a5b1a1c4a.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...389c35973d.jpg


a little bonus pic from a cool sunset the other weekend on the test drive with new fluids!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f5f5a4c7bf.jpg

Its been a while since I updated and I have updates, woo!
I started assembling the engine. Progress is slow but I'm taking my time and making sure I don't make mistakes. Rotating assembly, then the rods and pistons.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...18ba99f5c4.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...98aed67010.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b1b3dc5ae7.jpg

I made my first mistake by sealing the oil pan without putting the MBSP bolts onto the main caps. So I had to pull it off and clean off all the rtv, that was fun...:facepalm:. I also broke an oil pan bolt, hence the wood clamp. So while I cleaned everything, I ordered a new set of oil pan bolts and kept the torque a little lower the second time around.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7565dbb3a7.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d94ddd070.jpg


Got the head on and then mocked up the turbo. I had to take it off to clock it differently. Plus my stage 8 iconel studs and locking nuts are on the car's current engine right now so I won't mount it until later. Modified the mixing manifold by pulling out the barb in the front that went to the old thermostat neck (also removed) and put an AN4 fitting in for the water drain. I decided to remove that coolant line and the one going to the throttle body since I won't be driving in icing conditions anyways. Also no pics in this post but I did get the reroute installed on the back, which looks pretty cool.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e7f6cffca8.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7d02a5e22b.jpg


I had my co-mechanic, Ascari, helping me figure out some things in the engine bay. Going to remove the charcoal filter, EGR stuff and try to figure out what some of these wires and harnesses are for to move them and make room for my intercooler piping.



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7a92ffa998.jpg



In the meantime I got a new CX-50! Its pretty cool but has a little too much tech in it for my taste haha.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ec2d6e4ed5.jpg


Next is re-mocking the turbo and getting all of the AN lines fitted for the turbo and the fuel rail. Then its time to pull the motor out of the car so I can steal lots of parts off that motor. I need the crank balancer, intake manifold, injectors, turbo studs/nuts and of course that sick Mazdaspeed oil fill cap.

Feeling pretty accomplished, this was my first ever motor pull and I did it all by myself. It went very smooth, only issue was stripped bolt on the downpipe and then figuring out what height to have the car at to give the crane enough room to pull it. I ended up clearing it by 2" after measurements and adjustments to the crane and chains. you can see in the pics I got everything as close together as possible.

All of these inprogress pics of it coming out are overkill, but I am a visual learner and hopefully someone can notice something that helps them in their project if its their first time too.

I also did my first real electrical project, I installed a 240v heater (7500W) so that I don't have an excuse to not get out there even when its cold out :cool:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cfafb26605.jpg




https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9290fd8a05.jpg
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Most of the Air Conditioning stuff is removed, just gotta undo the firewall lines and then remove the guts of the box under the glovebox. Seems doable without removing the dash again.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8a9578d8bf.jpg


Other topics of discussion:
1. I caved and bought some ID 1050x injectors, so I have some FlowForce 725ccs that were hardly used for sale!
2. I need to figure out where to relocate the relays to make room for the bigger intercooler piping. Open to suggestions/ideas!
3. I'm a bit confused on my EFR6758 and if I need to hook up the internal diverter valve to anything. My understanding was connecting my 3port MAC, 1 to the IWG, and 1 to the compressor housing, and just leave the diverter venting to atmo, I guess.
4. This being a Mazdaspeed...I think the trans will hold more than the other 6 speeds but I'm not sure how much. Probably gonna grab a getrag 260 locally and prepare for a future trans swap if I blow this one. And use the Kmiata swap kit. Not trilled on losing my speedometer tho :(

Now that the motor is out, its time to clean the trans and start swapping over parts! Being winter here in CO, I spend lots of my days off snowboarding, which is why progress on this is so slow. But I do hope to be on the Dyno with most issues ironed out come early summer.

Thanks for reading!
-Matt

More info on the heater, and do you like it? Most of the ones I fine are under 6000w

Hey Curly, here's the link:


It is of course a hard wired one, super difficult to find this wattage with 240v plugs. But honestly it was super easy, hardest part was figuring out how to route the conduit through the outside to the inside.

I've had it a couple weeks and turned it on twice so far. Seems like it does a good job. My garage is about 500 sq ft and it got it up from about 35F to 55ish F in 2 hours. Jury is still out on how much its going to cost to run lol, gotta wait for the next electricity bill.

https://www.full-race.com/articles/e...all-guidelines

THE PORT ON THE CRV (RECIRCULATION) VALVE COVER MUST BE CONNECTED TO A PRESSURE SOURCE. THIS HOSE NIPPLE MUST SEE BOOST PRESSURE WHEN THE ENGINE IS UNDER BOOST, AND MUST SEE VACUUM (OR LACK OF BOOST) IN ORDER FOR THE VALVE TO OPEN. IN OTHER WORDS, CONNECT THE CRV PORT TO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD.

Wow thank you!!! I read through all of Borg Warner's documentation and didn't find any definitive answer like that.

1. I did something similar, already had ID1000cc injectors but bought ID1050x injectors since I have to re-tune anyway and "all the cool kids are doing it" so looking at other people's tunes that use them is helpful in determining if mine is screwed up.
2. Mount the relays outside/inside your Cold Air Box, there's enough wire length to do so without cutting them (see pictures below).
4. "This being a Mazdaspeed...", DON'T assume that the gearbox is any better than other NB8B/C 6-speed gearboxes, Mazda did as LITTLE as possible to make a turbo-charged car (they didn't even fit a boost gauge) and with the small amount of additional power it provided, there was NO need to upgrade the gearbox.

DIY Cold Air Box:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e985dcdc29.jpg

I tried to keep my Cold Air Box small. There's enough room in mine to mount 2x relays inside the box but NOT 3.
Not a problem for me since I now only have one BIG-ASS fan on my TSE radiator so the 3rd relay isn't needed.
If you still need both fans, make a bigger air box.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d9eeb3fceb.jpg



https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...01ef42cdf5.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8dfe2e93d5.jpg
FYI:
* Roof bolts on top using 6mm bolts to rivnuts mounted on cold air box side wall
* Hot-side foglight vent used to duct cold air into airbox from underneath, using MSM's shelf OEM intercooler hole
* Turbo intercooler ducting now goes underneath shelf, not across and down through it

2. That a very nice looking box! You're much more skilled than I with fabricating. Thank you for sharing, its a great idea. I'm not sure I can emulate but I'll see what I can come up with.
4. I'm having a hard time finding it now but on the 'speed forums someone did find there was a part difference in the transmissions and that the MS 6-speeds had shot-peened gears. So maybe a tad bit stronger but I'm not going to expect it. Stage 1 is getting this thing running around 250-300whp (babying those 3-4 shifts) and then swapping the trans and maybe even diff/axles down the road.

Been pretty bad about updates on here, but here's whats been going on!

I chopped up the OEM sub-harness for the injectors/CLT and made a new harness for my 1050x's and added the oil temp, pressure and VVT wires. I was pretty nervous to just cut up the factory harness but it worked out quite well. The silver plug is a generic Deustch style connector with the power, ground and signal for the oil pressure sender, the signal wire for the oil temp sensor and the VVT signal wire. I combined the VVT power wire into the same power wire for the injectors since its the same voltage. It was pretty interesting learning experience calibrating the oil sensors. I used an Apple USB block and a crappy old USB charging cable that I cut open and used that to power the pressure sensor. The sensors are generic off Amazon with no voltage or ohms curves so I had to do that myself with my multimeter.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...64c3d85a14.jpg
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Next on the list was repairing some peeling paint in the engine bay right under the brake booster. I think some brake fluid leaked down there and just ate up the paint since it was basically flaking off. 600 grit sandpaper, a quick soapy wipe down then I sprayed some color matched paint and followed it up with the only clear I found in my garage. It was a high heat ceramic clear, which is why its so shiny. But that should help with the heat repellant and hopefully keeping any spilled fluids off the paint back there. First pic is one I took after cleaning up the grime off the sub frame and steering rack (threw a little black paint on it to cover some bare metal spots), second is after I sanded down the paint then third is how it looks now. Not perfect of course, but so much better in my opinion.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1594d0beda.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a4804edb11.jpg
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Then was the last big project before I put the new engine in....I think haha. I decided I wanted a return style fuel system given I was going to use an e85 sensor and a fuel pressure regulator so it just made sense. The "return" hard line for the US NB's is slightly smaller, maybe 4/16" than the feed line of 5/16" and I wasn't sure if that diameter would restrict the entire system or not and I wasn't going to do all the fluid dynamics math to figure it out! So I used a 5/16" hardline to AN6 adapter and put them on the two hardlines straight out of the fuel pump. Then I had to find a new spot for the fuel filter, since the stock bracket wasn't seating the aftermarket filter properly. I decided to use aluminum since its easy to manipulate and went to the local hardware store. Found a 3ft long box shaped "tube" and used an angle grinder, a Dremel and some random black paint to get something that I could affix the fuel filter bracket to. Then it was just a matter of running the lines and making the AN fittings for the PTFE hose from Vibrant Performance. Great quality lines, btw. You can see the return line is hooked up to the flex sensor and I purposefully left the feed line long so I can run it directly to the fuel rail, once the engine is back in. Wasn't sure how far it would need to go. Needless to say, I still need to blow out the lines from all the little shavings after I make the last cut.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...797074aff8.jpg
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I tired to do my best to show the filter placement. Note, I am removing ALL of the emissions equipment in the back passenger wheel well area. The fat rubber line is the gas tank vent, I'll just throw some sort of filter on it and call it a day.

Next up is small things like throttle body onto intake manifold, final checks, transmission seals, bolt up the clutch and stuff then its time to drop the engine into the bay!!!

Big update coming in hot, fresh off the press!

A couple weeks ago, I got the engine in!! Being my first build and swap, I am very excited. My 16 year old self would so proud and happy that I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do since I knew what a car was!

Flyin Miata Happy Meal Kit with the 350hp rated clutch, lightened flywheel. Not pictured is the throw-out bearing or all the work I did to clean out the bell housing from old clutch dust. Had to get creative with some long wrenches to hold the flywheel while I torqued it, sure would be nice to have 3 or even 4 hands sometimes, ha!
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ffd7e8770d.jpg
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With the 6 speed bolted on and a bunch of random miscellaneous things tightened that would've been hard to reach, it was time to throw it in the car. No pics since I was under the car with the trans while my neighbor manned the hoist and guided the top half. Took about an hour with fiddling with the mounts and PPF stuff but we got it!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...89632ae103.jpg

I also got to work on my DW400 fuel pump. I made lots of mistakes here but I'm not going to hide them since this is all a learning process. For one, you can see some RTV, that is because I initially had the posts too close to the edge and the pump assembly wouldn't seat back on the tank. After much cursing and a break, I moved them but then ran into the issue of not being able to get the bolt through to create the bulkhead connector. I tried both ways but it was contacting the brace/holder for the fuel level assembly. So I got out the dremel and made some room and then threw an extra shrink wrap on there to make sure there was no metal to metal contact. You can also see I cut off the fuel pressure regulator that is in the NB's and then made the return hose just a tad longer to keep the frothing and bubbles down. I still need to do the wiring relay as well.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...919fe395c9.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b6310173c8.jpg


Now it was time for all of the little custom things to do in the engine bay to get this beast closer to being ready! I'll try to remember them all but if you see anything weird in a picture and have a question, please feel free!

I got some quotes for custom intercooler piping but it was far more expensive than I realized. So I'm gonna do the kit route, I went to silicone intake systems and have the pieces to put this together. Everything is still in progress. but I got the T right before the throttle body to put my BOV at. Initially this was a recirc BOV before i went to a standalone. I threw a filter on there to vent to atmo since its now just running on MAP instead of MAF. From what I read, if you're running MAF, you need to recirc since the ecu is expecting that much air and doesn't expect it to just disappear. Whereas on MAP, the engine doesn't care how much air, just the pressure of it. Plus I love a good blow off noise, sue me :).

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fce6afaae8.jpg

You can also see on this next pic, I pulled the studs out of the flat top IM and used Skunks bolts since they looked so much nicer and I don't think a nut would've been able to get on the top studs with the shape of the inlet.

I also wasn't keen on the radiator reroute tube contacting my silicone for the TB so I looked around and came up with this solution, I'm very happy with how it turned out and this should help with any theoretical heat soak from the coolant on the air temp. Its a 90 silicone, that I trimmed down to get as close to the rad as possible then a 90 degree aluminum piece from Jegs then just trim the reroute hose to fit.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bdb97df646.jpg

This part I'm pretty proud of, my first real custom bracket. 3mm aluminum that I heated and bent into a 90 degree and mounted with one bolt that held something else in before. I put a few aluminum washers so it would be flat with the slight raise on the frame rail and then drilled two screws into the frame rail to hold it firmly in place. You can read the gauge easily and this should allow for very easy access and to check/diagnose anything regarding fuel pressure. The fuel return line is coming off the back of the radium rail parallel to the coolant reroute hose and the dropping down the bottom with a 90 degree fitting to the flex sensor mounted on the side of the passenger frame rail as previously shown.

The catch can isn't mounted yet but I'm trying to devise a way to put it there since I'm kind of out of any other option at this point, its just too tall to mount straight up and down. I can't put it in the back on the firewall like most people since I have so much back there already.

You may also notice I got some aluminum rad mounts, the fit is perfect and any weight saving sis good in my book.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...21d75dc260.jpg

Now those eagle eyed viewers might have already noticed I have a LOT of room on the passenger side of the radiator. I decided to cut out one of the rad fans. I know its probably not the best idea but I have lots of cooling mods planned for the future and I don't plan on hardcore tracking. I also needed the room where the OEM coolant resevoir sat for my catch can. So I found this syle of resevoir and made a little bracket and bolted it to my radiator. It was off amazon, if you want the link let me know. I will need to run a rubber hose to the bottom where it fills up. Technically its below the radiator so I am a bit concerned this will even work from a physics standpoint but I'm just gonna have to send er bud.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a932b51dfd.jpg


Next up was getting the wiring sorted. Since I removed AC, I have the two holes on the passenger side firewall and chose to run all my wires through there after a failed attempt on the driver side firewall. The wire include my oil pressure, oil temp, VVT, flex fuel sensor, additional sequential spark wires from the diyautotune max spark kit and then power/grounds. I also wrapped a ton of random wires in the heat protectant looming since my wires are getting pretty beat up.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d20b66071.jpg


So this is how she is sitting today, literally lol. Lots of stuff in progress or unfinished. I still need to crimp on the connectors and route my wiring under the dash and pin into megasquirt. I need to do the intercooler piping, spark kit, the exhaust, the turbo blanket, heat wrap, heat shield, fuel pump relay and catch can. Theres probably more but thats just what I can remember right now. Been making a ton of progress and cannot wait!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d1eb2c17c3.jpg


If anyone has questions, suggestions, comments, I would love them! If you read all of this post, you must really enjoy Miatas or watching noobs make mistakes haha, happy Sunday!!!

Oh, I also just realized two things, number 1 the radiator coolant hose is bent weird in the last pic since I was tightening the fuel lines and needed it out of the way, it won't sit like that normally.

And two, my power steering line is literally touching the compressor housing and I never noticed. Any ideas on that? I'll try to bend it but it would be nice to just change out or turn it around if possible.

You NEED to get rid of that 90* Alu bend on your coolant re-route (it impedes flow and may stress your water pump) and in the last picture it looks like the 90* silicone hose is actually kinked.
- try and find a single hose that snakes around the TB hose to the rear of the car and use a hose connector to connect it to your coolant re-route hose.

I just watched a video about fluid flow through a 90 degree bend and it does speed up some areas to create pressure differences and definitely messes with the flow. But how bad is it really for the water pump? I looked all over for a snaking S shaped hose and couldn't find anything at all for 1.25". I suppose I could do two 90 degree silicones with straight barb fittings between them, I'll have to see if it will fit with my FPR location.

Also, yeah didn't realize I had the hose pulled up in that pic to get at my fuel lines, It actually sits below the FPR gauge and isn't kinked at all.

Jeez I can't believe its been so long since I've done an update, my apologies to anyone reading this! Life has been crazy, we had a very bad hail storm so there been lots of house repairs, new roof and my poor brand new CX-50 with 4k miles on it got absolutely smashed up :(. The miata is running and ripping now but let me get back to the process and story telling!

Per last post, I did get two curved bends so no more 90* fitting.

I made another little bracket for the boost controller similar to the FPR, it didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to so I had to use zip ties in lieu of the screws, but it works.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2303db5fae.jpg


I don't have any good pics of the IC piping but if anyone is interested I can get some. It goes behind the headlight in the mazdaspeed stock location. 2" hot side and 2.5" cold side. Wrapped it in some reflective tape since I have to let my inner ricer out once in a while lol. Here's a sneak peak of how its almost sitting today. You can see the catch can is finished and I did the MaxSpark kit with full sequential wiring.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e0242b2236.jpg


You can also see my little custom heat shield made out of an old license plate and then another formed a bracket that I JB welded together. I am not a fabricator and I do not know how to weld so this is about as good as it gets haha.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...696bdf1ebe.jpg


I had to rearrange the heater core hard line and the power steering line. The heater line I cut and took to a shop to get welded at an angle and then wrapped it in the reflective tape and a heat protective sock. I did the same to the PS pump nozzle but just used JB weld since I couldn't be bothered to spend another $100 on a quick weld. The PS move was to make room for my intake.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ad9761510.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...59b31941a.jpeg

Then it was time to get everything wired up. My sensors, the ignition and a few other things. I decided to go through the firewall on the passenger side since it was easiest. Its the 3 wire bundles in heat wrap coming through, I left a good extra loop in there in case I need to make any changes in the future without having to run all new wires. While I was in there I also pulled out the radiator from the AC box since all of that has been deleted. Saved a few lbs woo!


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d731c0bbcd.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...31b4bd6c3c.jpg


So then it was time for the first start! It did not go perfectly smoothly. It sounded like it was misfiring like crazy. Felt like the firing order was off so I made a post over at the MS forums and they assured me my original firing order was correct even though I tried changing it up. Turned out I had my ignition wires backwards. I went into Tuner Studio and the test modes and fired each one to find that out. I think it was something like cyl 1 was firing off the 3 spark so obviously that was wrong. Once I swapped two quick wires it fired up immediately! It was one of the best feelings I've ever felt. To know I took a bare block, put it in this car and it was now running, having never done this before, absolute bliss.

I then started doing some very rough tuning and needed to get some miles on the engine. Lots and lots of oil changes and diagnosing leaks. On my first few drives I noticed some smoking coming from the turbo blanket. I figured it was new and would do that so didn't think much of it. Turned out that it was actually leaking at the turbo oil feed and saturating the blanket. I have since removed the blanket for potential fire reasons. Extremely bummed to spend so much money on a nice blanket that is now garbage. For anyone reading this, don't put your turbo blanket on until you know for a fact that you have ZERO oil leaks.

So this is where I started not having fun. I was leaking oil at the turbo due to a bad fitting and I was also leaking at my sandwich plate. I figured I would remove the AN6 line and drop down to an AN4 as my feed line wasn't quite as long as I originally thought it would be. Borg Warner mentions to use -6 for over 18" and I'm about 22" but considering I won't drive it when its cold out I figured its not a big issue. Fitting comes off turbo easy, I go to remove the AN/NPOT fitting in the sandwich plate and it freaking snaps in half. I don't know if I had torqued it down too much but it was coming out just fine and POP. My advice, don't buy Evil Energy fittings. I never will again based upon the amount of time and pain this cost me. Then I had to figure out how to get the threaded half out of the sandwich plate. I tried everything but in the end I just had to drill it out. I drilled it too big and when I tried to rethread it, it was not good enough, would have leaked for sure. So I had to order a new sandwich plate. I got one from Track dog racing which turned out to just be a Glowshift one. If you're looking for one of those just get them off Amazon, it would've gotten there several days quicker when I needed it.

I got the new sandwich plate in and used RTV on the AN4 fitting to keep the leaks away for good. And its held up very well.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3943dd7d1.jpeg
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https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ee5f5bf59.jpeg


Something I also did with no pics is the Skunk2 Throttle Boyd fix. I thought I could get away without it. Just do it. Its super easy and saves you the time of having to remove some things just to fix it after you install it once. Made a big difference and the throttle would actually snap back wheres without the fix the throttle would stick open at 3-8% just driving around town once it warmed up.


Anyways once it was all put together with no leaks, I drove it around for a couple of weeks and got about 250 miles on it before I needed it to go get dyno tuned. This is where I stopped having fun again. Obviously I was without the car but I was without the car for 3 weeks. There was a lot of drama with the tuner that I won't go into. He's supposed to come down to me in a bit and get it all sorted so I'll hold off on my feedback for now. If anyone is in the CO area and interested then you can DM me. But long story short it still doesn't have e85 tuned, no VVT, no oil temp sensor set up and the car died every single time I pushed the clutch in.

I decided I knew what I was doing a tiny bit with tuning so I took his spark map and a few other maps then loaded them into my tune. I somehow lost the VE table from his tune so the first time I hit 20psi of boost I saw 17AFR and freaked the F out. I since took lots of logs and let VE analyze give me a VE table that looks pretty dang solid and then I just tweaked the idle cells. Now the car only dies occasionally on clutch in. I think it has to do with the ECU thinking its in overrun and not triggering idle. Bumping up my dashpot adder to 2% quelled the issue a small amount.

Some small issues I had was the wastegate pushrod unscrewing itself constantly. I ended up putting some blue loctite on it and its held for a couple of weeks now. I also had a coolant leak off the cracking rubber nipple I hastily added when I first started the car. I bought the HPS one which was pricey but its soooo much thicker and capable of withstanding much higher temps. Solid little piece should be good, fingers crossed.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...db68990c4.jpeg

I also put in the FM hood struts and holy crap they're soooo nice. Can't believe I didn't do these sooner with how often I'm under the hood.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6ccf7d61a6.jpg


She's running pretty warm around 200F with high 70F intake temps. It will hit close to 210 after a pull if I get caught at a red light. I've had to turn on the heater just to shed some of that heat even though its hot as crap out haha. I think this is due to me not having an undertray on there and the air is pressurizing the engine bay from underneath. I tried burping the system and just got coolant everywhere with hardly any bubbles coming out. I've been reading some aero posts on FB and the forums and ended up getting a LRB undertray which is on the way and I plan on doing hood vents in the near future to help with temps. I also plan on doing some ducting to help air get through the IC and rad easier. For now all I've done is a simple tape job up top with some high temp HVAC tape. I am also only running one rad fan. I'm thinking of getting a 13" spal one and finding a small like 6-8" one to sneak behind the other side that is quite space limited to help cool it down. Right now the fan kicks on at 195F and don't really do anything lol.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...910bd2529.jpeg


So if anyone has any cooling temps or feedback I would love to hear it. I know these engines run hot so I'm not sure if I should be worried with 215F coolant temps in the summer? I'd rather not have to get a xflow rad since I need the money for other things but I also don't want this thing to get too hot!



Thats pretty much whats been going on with the build since my last post. Here is a corrected dyno graph for where it sits at 91 octane running (I think) 22lbs of boost. Need to doublecheck the logs. But she freaking rips and I can't believe I get to drive such an absolutely fun car whenever I want, that I built! If anyone wants to see a few short vids, I'll get them up on my instagram @meowmotor. I also got my Montana plates, so its basically a super car now haha.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...25d46765f5.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...19cc94231.jpeg



'Til next time <3
Matt

Lack of undertray has a massive negative impact on cooling ability.

Just fit the factory undertray, nothing wrong with that. Except, whatever undertray you use, make sure you seal the gap between the undertray and the bottom of the radiator. And all the other gaps where air can bypass the radiator. Air going through the radiator encounters resistance so it will divert to a path of less resistance, you need to think like a molecule of air, and ask where it can go that is not through the radiator, and keep working through the multitude of paths available.

Then realise you have forgotten about the path forward into the bumper skin and out through the wheel wells (iirc).

There are any number of threads here on sealing the radiator, I haven't felt the need to look elsewhere.

Appreciate the validation! I ordered the LRB speed one a week or so ago so I'll wait on it to get here. In the meantime, I'll test out my hacked up stock undertray and see if it helps at all.

There is a lot of sealing to do for the MSM bumper. I'm worried since my IC and rad are several inches apart and I can't realistically move either so I'll have to fill lots of gaps. I've been reading a few threads here about sealing the rad and will absolutely be doing that once I find some time.

Awesome build! I was having some heat issues with mine as well, and I wasn't building coolant pressure due to my aftermarket overflow. Good job 👍

Thanks!

I did put the stock under panel tray on temporarily and did a quick 5min duct tape job for some gaps and it is much better. Still not great and I will definitely need hood vents but it is much improved cooling while moving.

Welp, good things never last! Minny is broken. I'm not 100% sure on what happened but here's the symptoms:

-Heavy Oil leak out of head gasket at the back, exhaust side
-Valve cover slight leakage
-Rear main seal seems to be leaking heavily
-Oil smells like gas

Here's a few pics, you can see the oil coating the block (color difference) and the oil on the undertray and there was a small pool after it sat overnight. Leak doesn't seem continuous, meaning its since stopped. I had just installed the LRB Speed full undertray and noticed fresh oil on it in several places. Side note, it helped cooling tremendously! Ignore that coolant on the trans, unrelated spill.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b7b978dae5.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6208faa5c1.jpg


I ran a compression test and it was 118-123 in all cylinders. However, cyl 4 had oil all over the spark plug. I'm thinking head stud failure or head gasket failure. I will have some time this weekend to hopefully pull the head and check. I plan on "tightening" the head studs before I loosen them just to see if they are still torqued down. Some other theories were crank case pressure but my catch can only had about a tablespoon of oil and I drilled out all the passages following what Greg Peters did for his. So it should have enough "volume" to vent. Especially since I only hit 24 psi and theres others running far higher boost on these motors. If any one has any other ideas I'm open to them. Kinda annoyed I'll have to replace that rear main seal already, what a pain lol.

nvr mind.

My theories of head gasket and studs was incorrect. All studs were at 85ft lbs and the HG looks fine, see the pics:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...682f7f242b.jpg
block side is up
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ab6fa97f1c.jpg
how it would sit on the engine, head side up

If nothing else, here's what a HG looks like after only 500 miles. At least the block was easy to clean and the pistons look ok.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e7df5996c3.jpg


I did test the piston rings by spraying a bunch of break clean on cyl 4, where the oil was on the spark plug. The brake clean pooled up and didn't drain or bubble. I don't think this is an official test but its all I could think of. Side note, if you do this, make sure you change the oil. The cylinder walls also were super smooth and no ring pieces were found. Its impossible to see the rings themselves but I didn't notice any signs of them not seating correctly.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...26ebbe1537.jpg

So that leaves the most likely cause of crank case pressure wasn't venting well enough. I pulled the baffles off and took a ton more material off the passage from the middle baffle zone and added an additional hole. I'd much rather deal with more oil in the catch can since its not a DD or track car, than deal with pressurized oil.

I also previously did not RTV the baffle plates and this time I did. Logically I don't understand how this will help but since Mazda did it from factory, I will give it a shot.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...44c18be9a7.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c79c49d4ac.jpg


Next up is plugging everything back in. Then next weekend I'll pull the trans and replace the rear main seal and seal up the flywheel bolts better with some high temp thread sealant as opposed to blue loctite. I'm guessing I didn't put enough loctite on initially either. Then turning the boost down to wastegate spring (I think 14psi) and I'll just give it a couple thousand miles to really break in.

I also switched to a cometic headgasket and ARP studs instead of putting the Ultra Duty's back in. Even though they were not the obvious failure, maybe they stretched or lifted or something, I have no idea. But I trust the ARP's since people run those with higher hp than I have. I also only used 65 ft lbs this time per their instructions. UD studs said to go to 85 and thankfully I didn't see any head cracking but I'd just rather go with the trusted brand.

'til next time!

Turns out the Rear Main Seal was perfectly fine, no oil out of that or the half moon seal. Put everything back together and it wouldn't start. My shortcut with the head gasket meant the timing belt slipped a tooth so I redid the timing belt and she fired up. Still leaking. Found the source was the rear cam cap and circular seal. I put grey RTV on it and took it out last night, still leaking pretty bad.

I'm getting a new valve cover gasket, gonna check the flatness of the VC and top of the head. Assuming both flat, I'll reinstall with a crap load of grey RTV, torque to 60in/lbs and pray to every deity in the world.

If its still leaking I'm going to have to rebuild the engine. I'm thinking my piston ring gaps weren't done correctly by the shop. I think the root cause is excessive blow-by and crankcase pressure. I didn't double check the ring gaps and I'm kicking myself for it. Allegedly the top is .017 and the 2nd ring was done to .023. I think the second ring is far too big for the Supertech rings and pistons, but I need to find the instruction sheet.

Pretty disheartened so don't expect any updates for a while, probably taking a break from this project for my own sanity.

I decided not to install the new valve cover gasket and instead had someone come over with a boroscope and do a leakdown test. I had already done compression but I wanted to test with the valves closed and isolate the rings as the variable. Cyl 4 had almost 40% leakdown, not good. I then rotated the engine and did cyl3. It didn't even register and the amount of air you could hear rushing past the rings into the oil pan was actually comical. DIdn't even bother doing the other two cylinders at that point since fate had been determined.

Boroscope confirmed what I saw with the head off only 150 miles ago. The issue was getting worse and the vertical marks on the cylinder walls had completely taken away the cross hatching. So its rebuild time again. The mobile mechanic's theory was that the rings were not de-burred. As the machine shop had assembled the pistons/rod and rings, I had assumed (bad move) this was already done. I'm not going to completely fault the shop, I should've double-checked. Regardless, it means a second rebuild and I will not be returning to that machine shop. I will also be doing the rings myself this time.

Probably won't be updating this thread as much the second go around unless I think theres worthwhile info to post and this thread is mostly just me rambling anyways :) . See y'all in a few months!

R.I.P Griff

Don't fret, I'm still here and she's still alive haha.

Had minor surgery and a cold so I was down for 3 weeks but I basically have the short block done. I'd continue but I am currently awaiting a call back from Flyin Miata. Turns out you should NOT clean your brand new head gasket with brake cleaner :facepalm:

My other mistake (I make a LOT of these lol) I sealed the oil pan with ultra grey, which I am now having second thoughts about. So I threw an extra bead on the half moon seals to hopefully help.

Things I did right this time:
1. Balanced the rod and piston combos. Biggest delta previously was about 3 grams, now down to <1gram between the 1&4 and 2&3 strokes.
2. Cleaned the crap out of the block. Last time I did not clean the block at all. There was some dirty stuff that came out of my oil galley behind the oil pump and I used ATF to wipe the cylinders super well per a Real Street Performance video.
3. Gapped the rings myself this time. .0017" top ring .0021" second ring, (it came out the box at this gap). I would prefer being down to about .0019 but I can't add material so I'm stuck. Still better than the .0025" they were the first build. I also gapped the oil control rings to match the 2nd ring. This was a tip on Total Seal Piston Ring's channel, those guys have tons of great info regarding rings.
4. Assembled short block with garage door closed. I realized last time, I had the door open and probably a load of dust in my cylinders.
5. Bought some actual break in oil this time. (BR30)

Some are reading this asking what went wrong with the first build. The theories are... a little bit of dirty assembly, I didn't clean the cylinders when I got the block back and I was fighting to get it started. Thats problematic because I had two ignition wires crossed, causing misfire and because of that, lots of fuel washing the oil off the bore walls. This time, the tune is already good to get it started, I'll even lean it out a teensy bit more. And I will be running the break in oil with no oil change for about 200 miles. And I will drive it harder this time to seat the rings better. Thinking unplug wastegate so I'm 0 boost but I'll get it up to 4-5k revs around 50% throttle and do longer vacuum pulls in gear.

Take all this with a grain of salt, I clearly have no clue what I'm doing and just hoping I'm a blind squirrel that will finally find a nut lol.

And a couple quick pics...
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...801f2e0372.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...591778af4a.jpg


A little bonus of the daily out doing daily things.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e77ec1e3b3.jpg

Hey man, I'm proud of you for sticking with it. I hope this engine build works out for you! May the miataturbo cats grace you by showing you their anus (why do cats do this?!?)

Were you not running break in oil last time? What oil did you use?

Thank you, I appreciate that very much! I don't have any friends or family that are into cars so this and the local FB group are my only outlets and that means a lot. Hahaha who knows, but both of ours do it. Must be an affection or trust thing!

Nope, I was using Valvoline VR1 per some bad advice not to use break in oil. Its a conventional oil high in zinc but not meant for actual break in.

My new machinist gave the BR30 recommendation this time and said not to worry about changing it out after a couple minutes or the first 10mile drive or so. Per his rec, I'm going to run it for about 200 miles then switch to the VR1 again. That is, unless you have a different recommendation, I'm all ears!