Expert Advice
I spent the weekend at Packwood WA competing in our 9th and 10th events of the season. It was 103 degrees Saturday by the time I made my 5th and final run. My tires were not happy by that point. As for my build, I got the opportunity to spend some time with an experienced local competitor and discuss DP Miatas. He was kind enough to go over his car with me pretty much from top to bottom and answer all my question. I though going over a well prepared car would leave me feeling intimidated, but it actually had quite the opposite effect. I owe him a huge thanks for his time and sharing. I can do this. It will take time. There will be mistakes.....
More Planning
One thing I decided to do straight away is to start planning my cage install. I came to the realization that I can't get a full height enclosed trailer around the back of my house my eaves stick out to far. That issue and budget are going to force me onto an open trailer for now. That left me thinking, do I want to chop the windshield right away? It is the one thing on the build that is 100% non reversible. Keeping the windshield will allow me to transport the car with the hard top in place when needed. The roll hoop will be lower meaning when I do decide to cut the windshield off, it will have to be modified which will cost me later down the road.
I can't start stripping the car for a couple of weeks. We're getting new windows in the house and I need to leave them access in the room where I plan to stage parts. I've been working on some external cosmetic issues because I definitely want to keep the Starlight Mica paint on the car.
Compression Test
I wanted to check the plugs so I decided to run a quick dry only compression test. The results were surprisingly good for a 170k mile engine.
1 - 200 psi
2 - 182 psi
3 - 198 psi
4 - 169 psi
The 31 psi delta exceeds the maximum desirable, but the numbers are better than I expected overall. Next time the plugs are out I'll re-run the test dry and wet.
My plugs show signs of a rich condition across the board. I hear older Miatas typically run rich, but why. Shouldn't the ECU be setting the mixture. I doubt it's injector related since all four plugs look the same. O2 sensor maybe? Anyway, we're going to an aftermarket ECU. I may throw the scanner on and do some logging with the Torque app.
I ordered my scales. These are going to be a must for corner balancing. Might as well get them now and track the weight reduction and redistribution of weight to the middle and low.
Initial weigh in before the stripping starts 3/4 tank of gas. Mazda did an amazing job balancing these cars from the factory.
Cleanup
I really want to keep the starlight mica paint. I went over the car with the clay bar, Ultimate Compound, and waxed it. Most of the swirls and scuffed areas came right out. The nose looked horrible before and the front end was all flecked up with white paint over spray. I can't believe the difference afterward. I need to touch up some deep scratches. A short time later my neighbor decided to mow his dry dead grass and blew brown dust all over my work.....arghhhhh.Weigh In
This came on the FedEx truck today!
Getting Moving
April and I pulled the convertible top last night. Unfortunately it was already ruined, so no resale there. The passenger seat is also out along with the seatbelt tower brace. We're already down almost 100 pounds.
My seat may be coming sooner than expected in about a week. New RoadsterSport shifter and a Momo steering wheel are also on the way.
Interior Tear Down
today I had the A/C evacuated at a near by radiator shop this morning in preparation for the A/C removal. I removed the dash and carpet. We're through that with no accidental air bag deployments, thank god. That shit always makes me nervous. The steel dash frame is extracted from the dash and the carpet is out. I labeled every connector except for the big main loom connectors so I'll know what wires can come out of the harness. I'll put the steel dash frame back in temporarily so I can drive and tune a bit when the new ECU is in in a couple of months. The cage front bar will eventually replace it. Next to come out will be the heat and A/C stuff still in the dash to make room for access to the wiring harness.
Interior Tear Down Complete
I finished up all the interior tear down and completed the full A/C system delete. I haven't done anything with wiring yet. I'm kinda dreading that part. I reinstalled the dash frame and re-fired the car. No codes on the OBD II Scanner and running in closed loop. I have a crap load of stuff unplugged and marked for deletion from the harness. Guess that stuff can go :/ I think.
I did a lot of under hood clean up. All the emissions system stuff is still in tact. Deleted all the AC relays and the cruise control system. Eliminated the hood latch. I also installed a temporary heater core bypass loop made with 3/4" barbs and elbows. I need to insulate that before I drive anywhere. It got hotter than hellfire in like 5 minutes of idling. I made a ghetto stopper for the speedo port on the transmission using the old speedo cable, a stainless screw, and some Three Bond gasket sealer. I'll pull the speedo gear and cap it properly this winter.
Pretty weak ehh. It was free.
Engine Swap is Happening!
I bought a 2001 VVT engine with 96K miles. Practically new for a Miata. I know, I know, I wasn't going to do a swap at first, but the price was pretty good and those compression numbers bothered me. Hopefully I will now have a drop in replacement. It will get the usual water pump, timing belt, seal treatment before install. Its shipping and should be here in a week or so. I obtained the stock engine to ECU harness as well. I just couldn't see limping along on a 175k 96 1.8, Now I can get the appropriate aftermarket ECU right out of the gate. Even with the loom changes for the 01, I'm still shooting for MS2 PNP engine management with wide band O2 for tuning.
I've got some other parts incoming this week. My steering wheel hub finally arrived from Italy, it should be here in a couple days. My seat is arriving tomorrow. Hood pins today. I need to buy a radiator. Mine has some whitening on the plastic end tanks. Failure is imminent. Goodwin Racing has their "better than OEM" replacement radiator on sale for $135. I'm sticking with a stock radiator for weight savings outside the axles.
I'm seriously considering selling my fishing boat. I hardly ever take it out and i can probably get about 12K for it. That would buy one hell of a nice aluminum race trailer and a ton of parts.
Taking a Short Break.....Parts Parts Parts!
The car drove out of the garage under it's own power and will be in the driveway for a week or two while I clean the garage and make more room for parts and a place to work on the engine prep. I've got a dumpster coming next week for junk that's been piling up in the back and in my garage attic. I'll toss the ruined carpet and the soft top in there, no other car parts. The Momo wheel is sweet. I put it on temporarily to move the car out. I still need to figure out how to keep crud out of my steering column bearing. I'm thinking a shock boot would work well.
This came today! The fit is pretty good. It could be maybe a tiny bit more snug, but I need co-driver butt space and this should cover it. 17" Ultra-Shield Rally Sport 10 degree layback. Nice and upright.
The engine is supposed to arrive later today, fingers crossed. I already have the engine wiring harness in hand.
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