how much power does this car have? what wheels/tires are you planning on running?

 

About 300 RWHP. I will be using Nitto NT-01 225/45/15 on 15x8 6ULs; I already have the wheels and tires. I am also adding aero for some downforce, or at least a net reduction in lift: front splitter, rear wing, and diffuser.

Mu oil cooler fitting FINALLY came in, backordered from Mocal. I'll be installing the oil cooler soon, right after I get rid of the hood latch (to make room) and add hood pins.

 

Which oil cooler? I had the Lingenfelter adapter on mine but though it was dropping my oil pressure so I took it off. Mine's a street car though so no biggie.

Seems my OP gauge is screwed up or my new oil pump is jacked.

Frank

 

I have a CXRacing oil cooler, and am using the Mocal adapter. It works the same way as the Ligenfelter unit but has the thermostat built into the adapter housing.

 

Haha nice seats in that thing.

Nice purchase, I've always wanted an LS1 powered Miata, the best of both worlds eh?

 

Update:
I decided to take a break from the boring, tedious, and messy suspension work to carry forth with some other modifications on the list...

1. Installed the hood pins. This allowed me to remove the stock hood latch, which was essential for #2

2. Installed the oil cooler. I used a CXRacing unit, a big one. This was not too hard with the hood latch removed, even with a pusher fan on the front of the radiator.

3. Installed a Prosport coolant gauge in the stock dash cluster in place of the stock coolant temp gauge. This required disassembly of the gauge (no housing, no lens) and some modification of the stock cluster of course. The hardest part was installing the sender unit in the passenger side head since it is pretty cramped in that area. It takes an adapter to go from the 1/8" NPT sender to the 12mm hole in the block. I had to drill out the i.d. of the adapter so that the sending unit would fit in the adapter.

4. Some irony... I ordered one of these Mocal LS1 oil cooler adapters from Racer Parts Wholesale:
Remote Oil Thermostat - Mocal Thermostat for GM LS Engines
It is a nice unit since the thermostat is integrated into the adapter. It was on backorder due to a change from Mocal to add some provisions to accommodate some unexpected variation in the LSx motors. So I waited a month for this thing, and it finally got here this week.
The problem is, the exit point for the bottom -AN fitting interferes badly with the exhaust pipe. No way it will work with either a straight or a 90 deg -AN fitting. I even looked at installing it 'upside down' which would work on the block, but then the transmission bell housing is in the way.

It looks like I should have just ordered the Lingenfelter oil cooler adapter, and a remote thermostat
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering: Lingenfelter GM LS1, LS6 & LS2, LS3 Oil Cooler Adapter Kit
That is what I will be doing next. The oil lines should clear the exhaust nicely with some 90 deg fittings.

5. Moved the AFR gauge to one of the eyeball vents. It is really amazing how easy this is to do and how well the gauges fit in the frame that holds the 'eyeball'. It is as if the Mazda Engineers designed the eyeball vents to accommodate gauges for those who wanted to convert the cars for track use.

6. Removed the a/c core and the blower motor. This was also easy.

 

The Lingenfelter oil adapter worked very well. There is plenty of clearance for the lines to come straight out (sideways) from the block with some 90 deg fittings. I do not think the exhaust will be a problem though I will wrap the oil lines with some exhaust pipe wrap to be safe.

One minor nitpick about the Lingenfelter adapter... It comes with a NPT port, if one wants to add an oil pressure gauge for example. I did not need the port, so I plugged it with their aluminum NPT plug. Aluminum is the wrooooong material for the plug; the socket head stripped right out. Hopefully it is tight enough.

Aeroquip socketless lines and fittings are really easy to install. We used Parker push-loc (some name like that) on the FSAE car back in the day for the oil cooler. It is a very similar system; just cut the hose to length, push in the fitting, done. The Aeroquip socketless AN fittings are really light.

I installed the wing today, and made a custom end plate for it. It looks HUGE on the car. even though it is just a normal APR GT-II. It is firmly mounted so there is no way it is coming off unless it takes the trunk lid with it.

 

Where's the pics?

 

I knew that pic request was coming
I have not snapped any shots yet since the car is dirty and sitting on jack stands. Kind of sad really. But I suppose I should start posting some soon.

 

pics!!!!!!!!!

 

Still waiting patiently....take some pics of the hardtop while your at it!

 

I unwrapped the hard top today and put it on the car briefly to check the fit. It looks great and is very light.

Oil cooler is in and working leak-free. Oil temp gauge is in and working. Picts tomorrow, though it is still on jack stands.

 

So hows that cxracing oil cooler working for you? I've been interested in one but just haven't had to guts to take a risk on it...

 

Awsome....glad to here there is no damage. If it can make it from NJ to TX in one piece, NJ to CT should be no problem ....

Still though,

 

OK so far. It seems solid enough. I had a very small leak on one of the AN fittings on the cooler despite tightening it firmly. I am using brand new -10AN Aeroquip fittings so I suspected the problem was the cooler itself. So I removed the fitting, cleaned off the oil, gave it a very light coat of permatex on the seal face, retightened the fitting, let it sit, and now it seems fine. I'll keep an eye on it.

Other than that it is hard to say since I have not driven the car yet since installing it. I still have to reassemble the suspension. The Mocal oil cooler thermostat is working; the oil cooler stays cool until the oil temp gets above 180F or so, then it heats up when the oil starts flowing though the cooler.

 

Well my Sunday fabrication session was just interrupted by some thunderstorms. So I grabbed a camera and snapped some pictures.

So boys and... boys... pull up a chair it is picture time. Yaaaayyyy!!!

The oil cooler looking in from the front. You can just see the oil thermostat at the right side of the radiator inlet.




The oil thermostat. Lines running up go to the cooler. Lines running down go to the engine.




The Lingenfelter oil adapter. Notice how close it is to the header/downpipe and the thermotec wrap I added to the oil lines. There is also thermotec wrap over the wire for the oil temp sending unit.




Looking down at the top of the oil cooler.




APR wing and custom end plates, side view.




APR wing and custom end plates, back view.





That is all for today

 

Thank you good sir, wheres the cf ht! That wing is huge...

 

It is in the garage... Like I said, it is raining!

The wing is a big old bitch. APR GT-II. It is slightly narrower than the distance between the inside edges of the side view mirrors.

I remembered one more picture. Here is the dash showing the gauges. From left to right: gas (stock), tach (stock) oil pressure (fast-acting, either modded or aftermarket), speedometer (aftermarket), coolant temp (aftermarket). In the eyeball vent holes: oil temperature, AFR.


The radio, AC controls, and other useless crap will be coming out soon. If anyone is interested in a Clarion head unit w/remote and a 6-disk trunk mount CD changer let me know.

I am also looking for an aftermarket wheel with a quick release but I am not in a big hurry for that.

 

Dude, the cluster is ******* ****! I need to do something like that...

 

If I were you I'd be in a huge hurry to get ride of that wheel. Tan wheels are ok, black wheels are sexy, black with tan cover is hideous. I don't blame you for waiting though, with the LTB quick release, momo hub, and momo champion wheel, I've got $377 invested in my steering wheel alone. Thankfully I believe the wheel was a gift. Can't wait to see this car in it's full race mode, so much potential weight savings with it.