Prepping The Miata For Battle

[lddavis91]

My 14 psi supercharged Miata was making about 220 ft-lbs at the crank and I ran one of these: https://www.specclutches.com/693750/ Beyond being a bit "chattery" at low speeds, it worked pretty excellently and I daily drove and autocrossed it for years. I liked it enough that I put the same thing in my C4, though I didn't like it in the C4 as much, it did still work okay for years before it started slipping.

Wow, didn't know a miata clutch would fit in a C4 Corvette

Andrew, somehow I knew you would go there.. Obviously I put the Spec stage 2+ clutch kit meant for the C4 in the C4 not a Miata clutch, didn't think that needed explaining.

[CaptainSquirts]

My evo had an act 6 puck for 65k miles before it was replaced. I didn't know it was a 6 puck..... Has a full face organic disc now and def is a little easier for DD but the 6 puck wasnt that bad by any means.

Yeah, but you're weird.

[SlowMiataDrew]

Went playing around with the megasquirt some more last night after fiddling with it on Monday with Loren and again on Wednesdaay for about an hour. Got the car to start! This means the wiring and the hardware are working as they should and I didn't fry anything in the process haha. Got it to idle enough to dial in the timing and get a "steady" idle before I decided to call it quits for the night. I did have to bump the required fuel up a lot more than expected, so I'll have to do some more tinkering with the base fuel and ignition settings to get it a little closer to the AFR's I want. Likes to run really lean on stock injector size. I actually make the injector size smaller and it more or less evens things out. Also verified the fans work so I don't cook the motor trying to get it to idle haha. I'm going to look at some more maps from other similar base tunes and compare them. I realized there is a lot to learn with this tuning stuff but I need to be patient and take my time to understand the changes i'm making and how they affect other areas of the tune. Many more hours of tinkering to come!

[Loren]

[Native]

[SlowMiataDrew]

Calling all wrenchers! I am in need of some assistance for my motor swap. I am looking for anyone willing to help swap my motor during the weekend of October 12th-14th. I have most of the basic tools needed to dismantle the miata but I know I'm missing some.

Location: my un-air conditioned garage in New Tampa.

I will be providing some food, most likely pizza, and some dranks.

Also if anyone has a cherry picker I could borrow for the weekend, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Loren]

You should start a new thread for that. Give it the attention it deserves, make it easy for folks to find the info.

I don't get back from vacation until 10/14.

I'd suggest a good starting point would be to at least a week before have someone who knows Miatas go over your NEW engine and be sure you've got everything ready there. If you've not already done a bunch of work (TB/WP, seals, etc), you could easily spend an entire day just getting that engine ready to go in. You want to have that all done well before "the day".

[SlowMiataDrew]

You should start a new thread for that. Give it the attention it deserves, make it easy for folks to find the info.

I don't get back from vacation until 10/14.

I'd suggest a good starting point would be to at least a week before have someone who knows Miatas go over your NEW engine and be sure you've got everything ready there. If you've not already done a bunch of work (TB/WP, seals, etc), you could easily spend an entire day just getting that engine ready to go in. You want to have that all done well before "the day".

Yes of course, I'll start a new thread. As for the motor, I've got a box full of parts that need to go on the engine. I'll be starting on that this week. Pretty much every gasket I can see or think of will be getting changed, but of course a second set of eyes is always helpful.

[SlowMiataDrew]

Ok so I've had the car running on the Megasquirt now for the past week or so and I still have a lot to learn, but it is drivable. Very little throttle response, probably because of the no TPS right now but I think I'll be swapping the ECU over permanently after the event this weekend. Gotta try and dial in my cold start and my idle is not exactly where I want it to be so I need to play around with it more. I do however expect a lot of my problems to become easier to deal with once the ECU is permanently in the car, mainly because I'll have the variable TPS, which will allow better control over the idle valve, which will make idling and cold starts easier to dial in! Baby steps!

In other news, I spent a couple of nights after work this week to tear into the motor to do pretty much every gasket I could think of besides the head. The motor has been sitting since Jan 2017 so I expected the seals to be kinda poop, especially looking at the buildup on the block. When I got the motor, I drained all of the oil and any remaining coolant out of it, sealed up the openings with tape and let it collect dust. When I cracked the valve cover open I noticed it was completely dry. I figured there would be at least a small film of oil left over but there wasn't. I turned the engine over a couple of times to get it close to TDC and noticed a clicking sound near the intake lifters of cylinder 1. Maybe is from no oil? Hopefully this is ok....

Anyways, decided to make my way down the front of the motor taking bolts out and bagging and labeling them as I went. Got to the water pump and crank pulleys and had to get creative. I had no belts to stop the water pump pulley from rotating and no driveline to stop the crank. I tried locking the cams together and getting the crank bolt loose but it just caused it to skip a tooth. I called it a night after that. Came back 2 days later with some scrap stainless from work and make a jig that was just big enough to catch on the water pump. Got the bolt out and cleaned up as much as I could. All that's left now is to replace the gaskets and water pump and button it up. I plan on doing the oil pan and rear main while it's out too so I'll get to those when I'm done with the front.

Since it's been sitting empty for a while, anyone have any suggestions on the fluid I should fill this thing with on its first start? Also, anyone know what those bulby-type things are for on the intake manifold? I'm getting new hoses and wondering if that needs to go back in-line when I reinstall. And since I'm doing this on my phone, here are some photos.

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[Loren]

Remember, no TPS means no idle control. Your idle is just a "natural" uncontrolled idle at this point. Once you get a TPS, then we can take full control of the idle with the MS and it will be awesome.

I wouldn't mess with the oil pan. They are very well sealed from the factory. Unless it's obviously leaking or you need to get inside, I wouldn't touch it. Just recheck the torque on all of the oil pan bolts and call it good.

Since you drained the engine completely and it's sat for a long time, I'd make it a point to drizzle oil all over the cams and down into the lifters before buttoning up the top end. And then when you go to give it that first start, unplug the coils and fuel pump and just crank it a bit. Get some oil moving through the engine before you actually start it. Main bearings should still have some oil on them, but as you noted, a lot of the head and VVT mechanism will be dry. Good idea to prime the system before starting.

There's some slack in the VVT mechanism that's probably going to be "free" and potentially clunky with no oil in it. That's likely what you're hearing up around the #1 intake valves.

[SlowMiataDrew]

Remember, no TPS means no idle control. Your idle is just a "natural" uncontrolled idle at this point. Once you get a TPS, then we can take full control of the idle with the MS and it will be awesome.

I wouldn't mess with the oil pan. They are very well sealed from the factory. Unless it's obviously leaking or you need to get inside, I wouldn't touch it. Just recheck the torque on all of the oil pan bolts and call it good.

Since you drained the engine completely and it's sat for a long time, I'd make it a point to drizzle oil all over the cams and down into the lifters before buttoning up the top end. And then when you go to give it that first start, unplug the coils and fuel pump and just crank it a bit. Get some oil moving through the engine before you actually start it. Main bearings should still have some oil on them, but as you noted, a lot of the head and VVT mechanism will be dry. Good idea to prime the system before starting.

There's some slack in the VVT mechanism that's probably going to be "free" and potentially clunky with no oil in it. That's likely what you're hearing up around the #1 intake valves.

Yea when I switch the MS over for good I can really get down to business. As far as the oil pan goes, I did plan on drilling it for the turbo drain so I was going to do it then for safe measure. Plenty of people have done it with success with the motor still in the car, I just have an extra level of comfort with the pan off. I will consider not pulling it though... Also good idea with priming the oil before start. It's easy enough and doesn't really take much time.

[twistedwankel]

So is the block actually stamped Exhaust and Intake with the E and I? Guess it's Miata for Dummies on the assembly line? Yet cool in a way for the DIY owners.

[Loren]

The I and E are, indeed, stamped on that plate (not on the block or head... but, close). Weird is that they're not marked on the correct side! I is on Exhaust Cam side, E is on the Intake Cam side. It's got something to do with the fact that they use the same pulley for both intake and exhaust cams. Line up those marks with the appropriate pulley marks, and you get proper cam alignment.

[twistedwankel]

I is on Exhaust Cam side, E is on the Intake Cam side.

Thank you for clearing that up as I was scratching my head looking at the intake

[AScoda]

Also, anyone know what those bulby-type things are for on the intake manifold? I'm getting new hoses and wondering if that needs to go back in-line when I reinstall.

Those are check valves on vacuum lines. Keeps vacuum only in one direction. What ever each line is connected to won't ever see positive pressure. You need them as long as the thing they are connected to has not been removed.

[SlowMiataDrew]

Also, anyone know what those bulby-type things are for on the intake manifold? I'm getting new hoses and wondering if that needs to go back in-line when I reinstall.

Those are check valves on vacuum lines. Keeps vacuum only in one direction. What ever each line is connected to won't ever see positive pressure. You need them as long as the thing they are connected to has not been removed.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.

[SlowMiataDrew]

Well a LOT has happened in the last week! Long story short, the motor is in, headers' fitment is questionable, lightweight flywheel and 4 puck clutch is MUCH louder than stock, and the car sounds and feels much different now. Ran into a slew of issues ranging from snapped bolts, missing bolts and sensors, broken sensors, various leaks, and ECU problems. I can say now that they have all been corrected and all in about a week's time. This past weekend was my birthday and it was EXHAUSTING. Started on Friday after work at about 6:00 PM and after many cans of brake clean, busted knuckles, late nights, and lots of swearing the car started up Monday night around 9:00 PM. Got the bugs worked out with the ECU last night at about 7:00 PM and drove the car to work this morning without a hiccup.

HUGE shout out to Aaron, Philip, and Ryan for turning some wrenches, lending some equipment, and burning the midnight oil with me to get this thing done! Unfortunately I won't be bringing the car out this weekend as I have pretty much neglected my fiance this past week or so and honestly I'm still playing catch up on sleep haha. Big things to come, this is only the beginning!

[CaptainSquirts]

Good stuff, glad it all worked out for you. Looks like you got a dank birthday present .

Btw what's the difference between this motor and the previous?(I dont know much about miatas)

[SlowMiataDrew]

This motor is .2 liters bigger, more compression, VVT, and most importantly more power and torque!

[twistedwankel]

Unfortunately I won't be bringing the car out this weekend...

So what was the rush? Do like Steve and keep it a hobby, borrow cars and keep a smiling lady friend. Let your lack of sleep be for a better reason than an autocross car