So yeah, it's all wobbly. Had some friends take a video for me. Looks like I'll be pulling apart the front of my engine.

Reverant, which trigger wheel should I go with then? I was about to order a supermiata pulley. 12?

My bad. Didn't know that. Sorry.

Holy shit! I hope your crank keyway isn't too trashed :noes:

That pulley movement doesn't look good, ouch.

Only the FM 36-2 trigger wheel will allow full sequential and VVT to work properly with an MS3.

Ah, so it looks like I'll be ordering an ATI damper then. Had no idea 12 tooth wheels wouldn't do VVT/sequential.

Couldn't you just install FM's trigger wheel behind the Supermiata dampener?

Edit: Nope. Special trigger wheel.

Yeah, can't do that. And 949 can't grind off a tooth for me. Not sure which way to go now.

Wait, how does the number of teeth on the crank angle determine if you can do sequential and VVT on a MS3?

e:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1395846547

It has mostly to do with software configuration and the unusual pattern produced by the camshaft in the NB.

In theory, any crankwheel can be made to work with any engine configuration. In reality, there are certain practical limitations to how freely the software can be configured to deal with unusual or irregular OEM patterns.

Because the NB cam puts out a really odd pattern, the software config to run an NB engine has to be hard-coded. That hard-coding assumes an OEM crankwheel. (I believe that there's also now an option to deal with one of the common aftermarket wheels- can't recall if it's the 36-1, the 36-2 or the 12. Been a while since I looked.)

Okay, so update. Went to break the crank pulley bolt... and it just loosened immediately. Like, 10 ft/lbs.

Should I tear into things, inspect for damage, or just tighten it up and try to go?

EDIT: Tried tightening it. Only about a quarter turn before I run into one thing or another, but it snaps back. It's like tightening rubber. Turn it 90 degrees, and it just ends back at the original location.

What are you using to hold the crankshaft in place while tightening the bolt? Your description sounds a bit like what happens when you try to tighten the bolt against the transmission with the parking brake set. There's a fair bit of play in the overall driveline.

It's been a while since I did this, but I seem to recall that it's easier to do it that way from underneath, with the sway bar removed. More freedom to turn the wrench.

That's what I figured, yeah. It's ebrake, on ground, in sixth. Taking up slack. I'll see about turning it further.

Also, putting the transmission in 5th gear with decrease the amount of slack just a bit, since 5th gear isn't literally a gear, it's just the position where the input shaft is locked to the output shaft.

(On a 5 speed, 4th is the not-a-gear.)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you compressing the springs in the clutch disk?

If you have time, it might be worth ordering up a crankshaft holding/fixture tool:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406395574
Rennenmetal.com

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406395574
Flyin' Miata : Miscellaneous : Tools : Flyin` Miata crank bolt tool/crank holder

Or you could do something somewhat controversial like use the "rope trick" to lock the crank in place.