Florida Man in need of help after hot lapping day leads to knock knock jokes.
 

First full track day at PIR with Rotrex on VVT was going great until sitting in paddock, heading out for 3rd session.
"!!!!, what's that sound, you hear that??"

Sounds like rod knock, maybe bearing.
1.8 VVT, Rotrex 234hp/184tq. No oil cooler, no reroute. I have a feeling, I'll get dirty looks for these missing upgrades. Car use is street, autox, occasional track day and motor rebuild was essentially OEM WITH ACL race bearings.
Highest coolant temp was a brief 212, mostly around 207.

So if i wasn't moving to Tampa at the end month I'd probably have Curly tackle the project, and sadly CSTG doesn't travel.
So what to do next? Recommendations for shops down in the Tampa/Florida areas? https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fc2e2990f5.jpg
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TSE ships nationwide. :party:

For performance stuff, V8 Roadsters is in Plant City, which is about 18 miles east of Downtown Tampa. John Lambert, in Clearwater is another great guy for performance or every day stuff. For everyday repairs, Jeff @ Maztech by Tampa International is the man. Welcome to my hometown!

Just drop it at v8roadsters for the whole package.

Jeff at Maztech is the fellow to diagnose your problem. And he can pull the engine if it is bad. He's knowledgeable, reasonable, and honest.
(813) 874-0937

I'm going to guess you over revved at some point and the weakened rod stretched. But you may have been running too much advance in boost, too.

Thank you, I'll defintiely look him up.

Rev limiter is still at 7200rpms, i don't think i ever over revved on a downshift. Possible though.

Awesome, thanks!

Excited to get down there, we have a contract on a house in Odessa. I hope to find a car guy and Miata network in the area.

The easy button?

Just one? You'll have your choice of several. A few of us are regulars here. And we are track rats when our cars aren't broken.

You wouldn't happen to be a home brewer, would you?

Odessa is in my sales territory. Where are you going to work?

HAHAHA, I grew up in Odessa, pretty much the intersection of Gunn Hwy, and SR 54! :)

My wife is currently living down there now in an apt, she found this baller house in Keystone Shores. Me and my kids were last down there over spring break but have yet to actually see the house in person.

She's a plastic surgeon who joined Tom Su with Artistic Liposuction.in Town and Country and she'll be operating at Tampa surgical center.

What tracks do you guys hit typically, i already know about FAST for autox, how is that club?

Damn. Plastics = goals...

No but I definitely like microbrews and I wouldn't rule it out in the future. I hear that Tampa/St. Pete beer culture is really hot right now. Coming from Portland that's great to hear.

Thebrewerybay.com

:sadwavey:

related:
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I'm glad there are some good recommendations for you.

I am NOT happy I won't be able to perform or even assist in the removal and repair of the engine. As a mechanic myself, I know aftermarket builds are always highly judged, and I don't want to know what they'll think of my wiring and tune :/

Another person from Florida, my guy?

Who cares what others think? You should be concerned with what the owner thinks.

For what is worth, Jeff @ Maztech is more of a "factory guy", than a modded or aftermarket guy.

For modified Miatas, try John Lambert, he rally crosses Miatas, and does his own fabrication. He also does Megasquirt tuning. He did minor fabing on my NA (adjusted the hood latch, so that the hood wouldn't shake and the hood lined up better, installed the CAI https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...-miatas-76193/, and did a bunch of other stuff, all for VERY reasonable prices.

John Lambert @ Goumba Fab, 727.808.6980 or goumbajohn@gmail.com

ok, that's the feeling I got.

Thanks for the recommendation.

What about engine swaps, or engine rebuilds?

John can do anything, so long as it isn't body work. He builds cages, rebuilt engines, head work, and maintenance.

Yep, Jeff doesn't tune Megasquirts. But he can diagnose a bad engine component and fix it, no problem. Or put dual valve springs on your engine without removing the head.

He's sharp, honest, and reasonable...and a credentialed master beer judge

I recommended Jeff, before you did. I've known Jeff since 2001, when I bought my first NA Miata, and for as long as I've known him, he has never being a fan of aftermarket parts, components or deviations from factory settings.

If he wasn't honest, I would have not recommended him.

I'd try AR auto service or CSTG...

Update, moved in, boxes unloaded, car is washed and in garage now.



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As of now I've made contact with Miata's and More and have been exchanging messages with Jace Micklos. Any thoughts on him as a trust worthy mechanic?
I've also made contact with Goumba fab as well.

I also found Sunshine State JDM has a imported VVT motor with 60k miles and compression tests for sale. Is it correct that these motors have 10.5:1 compression, is this not a good match for Rotrex? Too high of compression? They also have some NB1 engines for sale.

Would you guys recommend running a stock motor for rotrex? Again, with current pulley setup, the motor made 234/184. It's probably the cheaper route over rebuilding my current engine, although we don't know the status of the internals.

Isn't there e85 everywhere down there?

I think a stock JDM VVT motor with e85 and that rotrex would be an epic setup. Probably could get some more torque out of it down low.

That garage tho...

When does the lift get installed?

E85 is very uncommon here.

What town are you in, again? Odessa?

Humid enough for you, yet?

Yeah Odessa.

I see there's a couple 15-18 minutes from my house. Just not sure I want to commit that lifestyle. What happens if you put pump gas in, in an emergency?

You find someone that knows how to tune flex fuel.

I've been researching the local Tampa and central Florida Miata scene a bit, got some recommendations from miataturbo guys and talked to a handful of shops. So far all the shops I've talked with have been really chill and helpful, and offered plenty of advice. Good vibes.

After speaking with a few shops who do plenty of turbo builds with way more power than I make, I think I've narrowed it down to buying a 99,00 non VVT 1.8 from a local JDM engine importer. 50-60k mile, compression tested, 90 warranty for well below a grand. No reason to go big built motor for my power levels, and most likely the reason why my motor failed wasn't because I was supercharged.
I made a deposit on the motor today.



I'm not completely decided on who's going to do the swap but John Lambert from GoumbaFab is hopefully coming by maybe next week to discuss plans and look over the car, he even offered to trailer it to his shop. He does fab work, cages, engine builds, tuning, and owns a stage rally Miata.

So that's where we stand now.

Even though it's pretty hot during the days here right now, the mornings and evenings would still be great for driving, so I'm missing this right now.

Attachment 230172

Curly, wondering if I should make this into build thread, I used to have one on here, but I don't see it.

^Definitely.

AAAANNNNDDDD, the NB motor I found is a NB 1.6, lol. Back to the drawing board.

I would also probably shy away from the Importer that tried to sell you that motor as a 1.8

This. Nearly 15 years ago, Jeff did a rebuild for me that lasted > 10 years at 18 psi. I do my own rebuilds now, but I still take the wife's car in. He's great and reasonably priced.

Well after receiving a shit motor from the JDM importer, which they took back fairly easily, I'm having John at Goumba Fab take apart my current engine's bottom and and hopefully just rebuild it.

Here's what he found so far and his thoughts. The number two rod bearing was bad. Since it wasn't number four, that most likely means that oil starvation wasn't an issue. There was much more bearing material in the oil than just one cylinder worth I think. I'm going to look into that tomorrow. I think the cause of death may have been not enough bearing clearance. The number two bearing was definitely spun. The other bearings have excessive scoring on them.
More to follow.

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Video of crankshaft.
https://youtu.be/Gn8V_t6g-pc