close up the vents on that belly pan and it lessen pressure behind the radiator.

You need a carbontrix vent, pm me.

^+1

I took some higher resolution pictures tonight of the current setup without the metal shroud covering everything to show how it all connects. I'm either going to have to go back to the stock radiator and shroud everything or get a different intercooler and push everything forward.

Hustler, do you have any good photos of ducting work? I've searched here and on Miata.net and I see build threads but little ducting work.

http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/o...bay_clearance/

http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...install051.jpg

Radiator, AC Condenser, Intercooler all fairly close to each other...
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...install048.jpg

http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...install035.jpg

That radiator definitely is pushed forward with that intercooler. Talk to BEGi, maybe they can fabricate you IC pipes that won't go over the top.

http://www.cxracing.com/product/cxra...1/images/1.jpg http://www.cxracing.com/product/cxra...1/images/1.jpg

I don't have pics on me ATM...but you need to PM johnwag and ask him for advice. He works at TDR and does this shit all the time. Others on this forum have done better jobs on ducting than me.

Stephanie from BEGi suggested I do a compression test. Here are the results (two tests per cylinder)

Cylinder 1: 180, 180
Cylinder 2: 155, 154
Cylinder 3: 150, 150
Cylinder 4: 183, 182

Possibly a head gasket leak between cylinders 2 & 3? I'll be bringing the Miata to their shop later this week. I have the gear to do a leakdown test except the compressor is at my parent's place. Maybe soon...

If its worse than a headgasket I can put you in touch with a good machinist or TDR for a replacement engine.

It's been a while, however, I believe the issue was there on the highway as well, it just took longer. However, temps recently have been a little lower the last week or so.... and unfortunately I think the AC compressor is not working as it should. (So I haven't been able to test).

That said, I do recall on the way to the gap last year, the AC was definately rough on the cooling system. But I had some other issues shortly later... damn heater core hose split.....

Dave,

Small update. It's still at BEGi at the moment. They were able to fit my existing fans on there; I'm surprised they fit considering the space between the radiator and engine. They did a bit of shrouding around the radiator and will be test driving it later. They also ran a leakdown test pressurized at 80psi and got the following (Cyl 1-4) 56, 26, 24, 56. Leaks heard through the intake and exhaust.

Long time since last update. It's been at BEGi for a month now. They were able to cut the fans and install them on the Koyo. They've tried taping the fans to the radiator, installing an air scoop and cutting the intercooler height by 2-3 inches or so to get air underneath it like that photo of the black NA a page or two back; all have not worked so the air scoop was removed. I told them I was going to take it out of the shop because I wanted to try ducting it and removing the intercooler temporarily just to see if it's really an airflow issue but Corky is determined on solving this issue. I mentioned the ducting and possible hood scoop and he said those wouldn't work because it has more than enough airflow needed past the intercooler; I even told him about the several proven track cars here in Texas with ducting that hustler mentioned. :confused:

Had this car for 2 months now and it's still hasn't made a track day. Arg... :facepalm: :vash:

maybe you should just get a new headgasket/seals and stop fooling around with duct tape...

They only taped one thing and didn't spend much time on it. Is it difficult to tear down to the head gasket? I've never done it before but would be willing to at home. More importantly, could it even cause the overheating issue I'm seeing? Corky said there weren't any bubbles in the coolant system.

I would be pretty worried with compression and leakdown results like that and would be focusing my efforts on the remedy for that, and probably would solve any overheating issues especially if the coolant system has been compromised.

A headgasket gets more airlow through the radiator? :dunno:

So have they pulled that bad head yet? That leak down tells the whole story if it was just a head gasket then you would not have had leakage past intake and exhaust valves! Sounds like you should be ready play on the track again as soon as you get that head replaced or rebuilt.

You may also want to look at that tune once you see the valves :-)

Hope to you at H2R as soon as I get the new track car.

Well they didn't want to charge me an arm & leg ripping it apart so they haven't replaced it. Seems like Corky and others have said to just drive it until it grenades. If replacing the head gasket will help in the compression issues (not sure if it's the root cause but the numbers due highly suggest it) then I'll consider replacing it at home but if it's not the cause of the overheating then I won't worry about it at the moment.

So everyone is telling you to blow up the whole engine instead of just replacing the bad head? Turning the fix into a whole day job instead of an afternoon job. I am not sure I understand any of the logic here because the cost go way up if you wait verses doing it now.

One last question did BEGi do the leak down before or after then spend time and your money working on the cooling system?

The first thing they did was do a compression test and then a leak down test. Since they weren't seeing any bubbling in the coolant they figured exhaust gases were not being pushed into the coolant system via a blown head gasket. They couldn't be 100% certain since you have to take everything apart to know for sure but they said they didn't notice a loss of power enough to investigate (I thought that's what they said at least, it's been so long now).