cueball1

iTrader: (13)

I will definetely look into what coatings or treatments available that might be helpful for the various parts. Pistons, valves, etc. There is a good coatings shop I've used before on other projects and a cryo treatment place locally.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

OPGs, worth doing. Even if it's just overrev protection, It's nice to miss a gear, spin the motor to 8400rpm, clutch in, shrug, find the right gear, and get back to WOT right away without hurting the motor. Rods, springs, and OPGs and you're there.

Forged pistons are something I did in my budget build. By the time you price a good set of rings, the forged pistons end up being a couple hundred bucks more since they come with rings. If you're going to have a block down to bare for honing, a .040 bore isn't a bunch more, and the extra displacement never hurt anyone. I'd definitely hone it either way.

Clean up the valves that are in the head, stick a set of Supertech springs underneath them.

OEM gaskets aren't as pricey as you think, if you can get them through Mazdacomp. Some have had success with the eBay sets, but it's a lot of work to fix a seal if one goes wrong - especially a front or (god forbid) rear main.

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Sav,

Great advice from a guy who's been there. I know you've done the budget build route, granted not LOW budget, and you push way beyond the limits I'll see. Hadn't really considered a spring set. The stockers out of the 94 head I'll be replacing, are supposedly stiffer than what is used in the 99. Definetely haven't heard many here complain of stock springs failing.

I'll be hunting for a hot deal on pistons/rods before this gets completely underway. Hopefully someone will have a second hand new or newish set for sale soon. I'm working over a $50 junkyard head for practice right now. Don't want to screw up the good 99 head learning what to do.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

When I say to get oil pump gears, I'm wrong. When Savington suggests it, he's right. Everyone can eat my **** on toast. I've only put 14-track hours and 11,000 miles on my motor, I'm a moron. I ran the car at 300whp for 6 of those hours too, its not like my demands are so much lower than Savington's. I also used a machinist who's built several dozen Miata FI track engines and has a phenomenal reputation for reliability.

Supposedly you can run the early springs to 9000rpm but springs are cheap enough that it doesn't matter...I have stockers still. Although teh Fuji car's bottom end died, that car was revved to 9000rpm for two years before it puked a rod. Paying someone to shim the lifters alone is worth the price of the valve-job. I've also heard that you can't remove much from the 99-head, which has totally different geometry from the early head you're working on. Larry from Endyne likes the early head when ported more than a ported 99-head. Clean up the castings and leave it as is.

More importantly, I don't know what I'm talking about.

ZX-Tex

iTrader: (15)

If you get the billet OPGs, DO NOT just drop them into the old housing. At a minimum, check all of the clearances, and make sure the pressure relief piston is 100% OK. Better yet, get a new oil pump housing, or just get the setup from, damn, I forget if it is 949 or someone else that sells the billet OPGs in the pump housing ready to go.

I had to pull a motor and have a cam polished due to a worn oil pump pressure relief piston getting stuck in the bore. The first time I ran it to redline, the piston jammed open and I had no oil pressure. The engine had to come back out. I still feel stupid for not replacing the whole pump when I should have. It got a new pump after that, with the billet gears swapped for the sintered ones.

Everything else looks good. I am not sure you need the OEM gasket set. The aftermarket ones are fine if it is a good brand. Just make sure the set has the tri-layer metal head gasket.

Rennkafer

iTrader: (3)

Sandy vagina???



lol sorry Trey, had to.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Paul broke a set in his '99 motor a while ago. Matt Andrews broke a set earlier this year at Buttonwillow. The failure is rare, but it's documented, there's a fix and it's pretty cheap, and it's a pain the *** to fix later (and if it DOES fail, you risk taking a $2000 shortblock with it).

I just dropped my gears into the old housing, but I did it in a clean area and I mic'd the old gears and the new gears to make sure I wasn't going to have a clearance problem. If I did it again, I'd get the full assembly from BE or 949 or whoever does it. (I'm jacking the oil pump with billet OPGs from my '99 motor for the 2002 build.)