Lokiel's "Gina" (2004 Titanium SE)

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:18 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:01 pm[

I finally got a start on my cold air box today.

I'd previously gotten some checkerplate from Bunnings for the job since it was the only aluminium thick enough they had. I wasn't really happy with it when I got home and didn't want to use it.

Yesterday, on the way home from the MX5 Plus Open Day (always a good show and catch-up), I drove past Tong Metal who specialise in aluminium boxes and canopies (see http://www.tongmetal.com.au/wabout.php) and dropped in to see if they would sell me some non-checkerplate aluminium plate.
The owner was a short Chinese bloke who was probably the happiest guy I've ever met and showed me his off-cuts that may be suitable. I couldn't fit the one I selected in the boot so he cut it for me.
So what did he charge me for the 2.5mm aluminium plate AND the cut?
[b]$10![/b]
I paid $60 for the Bunnings checkerplate!
So if you're in Brisbane and want any aluminium plate, I thoroughly recommend Tong Metal.

As with all metalwork projects, it really pays to make cardboard templates first to save time and material so I spent much of the morning fabricating different templates.

Here's the un-bent cold air box - the green lines indicate where the bends need to be made:



I still need to do some fine tuning/trimming and drill the bolt holes but here's what it looks like so far. I plan to mount the 3 relays on the rear wall of the cold air box:







I plan to add an aluminium ledge, using 90* aluminium rods, and add an aluminium roof that will be held to the ledge by rivnuts.
I also plan to expand the now-vacant OEM intercooler pipe hose to duct in fresh air from the passenger-side foglight:


Edit: May be simpler to include 90* tabs to the lid and attach them to the frame via rivnuts?

Hopefully I'll finish this tomorrow and give it a coat of Wrinkle Black to complete it.


Originally posted by NitroDann, Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:15 pm[

Neat as, attention to detail like always.

props.

TBI pipe?

Dann


Originally posted by Apu, Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:25 pm[

For that price, would you consider doing a couple and shipping them out for a small profit?

I'd be interested in it for when I turbo my car!


Originally posted by Okibi, Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:10 pm[

Could do something like this so you have some tabs to rivnut the roof to.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:45 pm[

I think I'll do that on the lid Okibi, the tabs will be on the outside of the box, hopefully will make the roof look "clean" (sides not-so-much).

Apu, these need to be custom-made since they're very dependent on your plumbing and wiring.


Originally posted by davekmoore, Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:04 pm[

Neat. Why resite the relays?


Originally posted by Okibi, Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:52 pm[

I ended up doing something similar on my red NB, might also make a lid for the begi intake on the SE.

Original that sealed against the bonnet
Attachment: airbox_01.jpg

Modified with lid.
Attachment: airbox_05.jpg

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:19 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:16 am[

Neat. Why resite the relays?

Previously I'd made a custom-bracket to hold the relays (see top right corner):



The new cold air box "cuts-through" the bracket (also mounts to the same bolt-point) - also hides them out of site.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:45 pm[

I mounted the relays today, tweaked the box a little and slit a silicon hose to "edge" the hole cut for the intake:








This thing is pretty damn solid, it has 4 bolt-points and there's a LOT of space inside the box.

I had my second disappointment of the project though.

The first disappointment was yesterday when I set out to cut the box using my brand spanking new "The Professional Nibbler":



The nibbler can handle up to 2mm aluminium - my aluminium plate is 2.5 mm BUMMER: I was looking forward to using it instead of the jigsaw.

Today's disappointment was when I made the template for the lid and found that with the tabs needed to overlap the box edges, my aluminium plate wasn't wide enough

I think I'll just buy some thinner aluminium sheet to make the lid since it'll be much easier to fold the 90* bends and it doesn't need to be a supporting structure since the sides provide the sttrength.


Originally posted by Okibi, Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:21 pm[

I'd have chosen a jig saw over a nibbler anyway, looking good!


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:44 pm[

I started on the Air Box lid today.

Unfortunately Tong Metal didn't have any aluminium thinner than 2.5mm, Bunnings only had 0.6mm which was way too thin but Masters had 1.6mm - a 600x600mm sheet for $50. I can't really complain since all up the raw materials for this project now cost $60.

Once again I started with a cardboard template, cut it and made all the bends using my state of the art bending system:


1.6mm aluminium is a LOT easier to bend than 2.5mm aluminium.

Rivnuts were used to mount the lid:



Lid mounted - getting those curves on the right side took a lot of fine tuning with a file:





I added some rubber beading to the curved edge - not really needed but neatens it up:



Tomorrow's job is to paint and bake it using Wrinkle Black.


Originally posted by Okibi, Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:50 pm[

Looks great!


Originally posted by Suspense, Sun Oct 13, 2013 12:02 am[

Looks very similar to the box on the DDM Works stage 2 intake. Nice work.


Originally posted by Crapweasel, Sun Oct 13, 2013 12:27 am[

Very nice work, looks much better than the Begi box which I thought was the ducks nuts a couple of years back...


Originally posted by Okibi, Sun Oct 13, 2013 12:37 am[

Looks like my BEGI intake, but a lot cheaper and on time.

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:19 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:26 pm[

Started the day fitting NitroDann's Throttle Body (TB) elbow. Originally I had the FM TB elbow which has a barb on the left side for the BOV. The EFR6258 has an integrated BOV so this is no longer necessary and was temporarily blocked off with an aluminium plug but it looked crap since it's bulky and nothing's attached to it (might raise some suspicion from querying eyes):




I asked Dann to build me one without the barb (see http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=59875&start=19 for details).

Of course a colour change was required so I hit it with 5 coats of VHT Red Anodised Colour Coat:





Here's what it looks like installed, MUCH tidier:




Next up was finishing off the Cold Air Box with 3 coats of Wrinkle Black. It was too big to fit in the oven so I used my hot air gun at 500C.


- I plan on painting that intake pipe Red too once the engine has been re-built.

I have a bunch of "Gina" stickers of various sizes that I used on my decklid so I figured why not add some "pizazz" to the all-black air box:



I didn't show this earlier so I'll show it now; the 3 relays mounted to the rear of the Cold Air Box required me to allow for clearance of the bolt heads. Rather than cut a notch out of the rear tab for this I drilled 3 large holes that clear the bolt heads:



Here's the sum of this weekend's work:


- this shot shows the angle of the "Gina" sticker I was aiming for, parallel to the headlight brace.


Originally posted by orx626, Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:43 pm[

Superb work Simon!

Cheers,
Danny


Originally posted by NitroDann, Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:49 pm[



Props, this is coming up REALLY nicely.

Honestly I didn't think the intake pipe would come up that nice in red, but.. yeh ok.

You win

Dann


Originally posted by Okibi, Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:06 am[

Looks great!

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:20 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:26 pm[

This weekend I decided to finish the cold air box by installing ducting from the the vacant passenger foglight up into the box via the "now vacant" OEM intercooler chassis shelf hole.




The foglight opening is 3" so I bought the widest ducting kit I could find at Autobarn a while ago for the job. First thing to do was widen the above hole to accommodate the kit's 3" ducting flange. For this I used a hand nibbler and files since I couldn't fit my drill-nibbler into the space.



I wanted to mount it as far forward as possible to minimse contact with the wheel well's splash guard.

The rectangular air duct flange had to be re-shaped to fit and was secured using 2x6mm bolts and rivnuts:






Next up was the foglight mount. The kit's air duct flange is rectangular and needed to be square to allow me to mount it to the existing foglight's screw points so I had to make a flange that sat overtop of it to mount it:




Unfortunately when mounted, you can see that it doesn't take advantage of the entire foglight opening which means that I'd be missing out on all that good cold/fresh air:




"Yonks ago" I bought a K&N Apollo CAI kit from the forum and remembered that it had a funnel which turned out to be a perfect fit for my foglight opening. The hose is a bit smaller than my Autobarn kit so it fits within the kit's flange. I made another thicker flange and added some aluminium plinths for the mount points so that my DIY flange wont bend when tightened:














Everything was going well until I fitted the "accordion hose" and wiggled it about:




The top left foglight moulded mount point broke at the base where it joins the spoiler

At this point there may have been a few swear words screamed at the universe.



I was always a little concerned about how strong these moulded points were so it's not really a huge surprise.

Now I'm going to have to find some metal round flanges/rings that fit into the foglight recess (one in front and one behind the bumper) and drill through them and the bumper so that I can mount the foglight air duct.

Any ideas where I can find them?

I'd rather not make these myself, at least not the front ones since I want them perfectly round.


Originally posted by Okibi, Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:10 am[

....Any ideas where I can find them? ...

I have some I bought hoping they'd fit, if I can get my ass into gear and do a test fit i'll take some photos and let you know where they're from.


Originally posted by Okibi, Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:01 am[

Had a quick look at it, decided to put the pics in my garage thread instead of clogging yours up.

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=55906&p=761163#p761163


Originally posted by Lokiel, Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:41 pm[

Thanks Okibi, will investigate the downlights idea.

How sturdy were the foglight vents you bought? I need them to be strong enough to sandwich the bumper between them and provide a solid mount.


Originally posted by Okibi, Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:30 pm[

They're thick aluminum so pretty solid.


Originally posted by james_p93, Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:21 pm[

will u be there monday simon ??


Originally posted by Ceptor, Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:51 pm[

Nice work with the intake box, looks the goods

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:21 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Nov 09, 2013 10:34 pm[

Okibi suggested using DemonTweaks Air Ducts so I ordered them along with matching mesh and hose clamps and they arrived during the week:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/ducts-ducting-hose/revotec-anodised-aluminium-air-inlets-2
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/ducts-ducting-hose/revotec-air-inlet-gauze-2
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/hose-clips/revotec-ducting-clip

The ducting clip is much lighter than the clamp I was planning to use which is another plus.

The first thing that needed doing was to trim the Air Duct down from 124mm down to 104mm to fit inside the foglight molding. I did this using a hand nibbler which took 6 "circuits" to get it down to size - was a bit like trimming my toenails except that it took forever:




You can see in the side view that most of the flat flange gets removed
My flexi-air duct hose is a bit too wide for the DemonTweaks Duct so I had to pad it out a bit with some rubber padding - the ID of the DemonTweaks Duct is 76mm, as was my original plastic mounting flange but since the DemonTweaks Duct is aluminium, it's much thinner, hence the need for the padding.

I had to remake the backplate too since the hole needs to be bigger than my original one since it now mounts flush to the inside of the bumper - this would have made the backplate too thin in the middle of each edge. I decided to use only 3 pop rivets to mount each duct:





To allow the backplate to mount flush against the rear of the foglight molding, I trimmed the original foglight mounts and tabs:


Since I can no longer mount them, I now have a spare set of foglights and mounts if anyone's interested?

I now realised that I had a problem, from the font the pop rivets were extremely close to the bumper molding, I may not be able to get the gun on the rivet properly. At this point I think I may be able to thread a few small nuts over the rivet to give me a bit more clearance for the gun. 4 nuts seems to give me enough purchase on the rivet so hopefully this will work:



The filed and drilled edges were now exposed aluminium which stuck out like dogs balls against the black ducts so I needed to paint them (using Flat Black). The rest of the day was spent giving the ducts a few coats of paint:



Hopefully I can finish this tomorrow, the car's been up on ramps since I started this project since I didn't want to put it all back together again, only to need to pull it apart again.


Originally posted by Okibi, Sat Nov 09, 2013 11:49 pm[

The one i've made so far I just used a dremel to reduce the size. I like your backing plates, thanks for doing the R&D for me!


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:30 pm[

No worries Okibi

I decided to trim the corners off the backplates, it'll minimise the vibrations hopefully which would be amplified by the extra material of the square corners, putting less strain on the rivets.




Ideally I should have rounded them off but by now I was over creating perfectly round edges.

The idea of using small nuts over top of the rivet worked well for the first one but the 2nd and 3rd attempts weren't so good since the nuts weren't small enough and I ended up pulling the rivet shaft a lot of the way out of the front of the rivet. I drilled them out and found some REALLY small nuts in my "miscellaneous nuts/bolts/screws" that I've saved over the years - whenever I throw out any electrical devices I usually strip them out of anything that may prove useful.

I only used one of these small nuts at the base of the rivet and the original nuts I was using, this worked well.






To paint the rivets I fashioned a "cardboard funnel" to focus the spray paint over top of them and not require me to mask the crap out of the ducts while I painted the rivets:




Now I need to insert the grilles into the ducts. Revotec, manufacturers of these ducts and grilles, recommend using a "suitable adhesive or hot melt glue" since the grilles are simple cut to fit the ducts. I'm planning on visiting Repco to see what they've got as a "suitable adhesive" since I'm not keen on using my "kraft glue gun".

Does anyone have any suggestions/preferences?


Originally posted by Okibi, Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:36 pm[

I was going to use some black silicon.

BTW they look fantastic!


Originally posted by james_p93, Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:47 am[

yea waw looks awsome!

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:22 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:30 pm[

I originally bought a Forge wastegate actuator and the 3-spring kit to replace the stock EFR6258's:

- see http://www.full-race.com/store/efr-turbo-accessories/efr-billet-wastegate-actuator.html

While the engine was still stock, I wanted to run the car with low boost, 3-5psi, and needed a bit more control over the boost than the Forge BOV could provide (lowest the Forge springs supported was around 10psi) so I bought the Turbosmart EFR6258 wastegate and several spring combinations. With these I can run anywhere from 3psi to 20psi based on spring combinations:

- see http://www.turbosmart.com.au/product/iwg-universal

I actually prefer this wastegate actuator, it's smaller, more controllable and it's Australian!



The EFR6258's stock internal BOV came with a plastic faceplate and when you unscrew it, the assembly literally explodes apart. The bottom of the spring is held captive by a plastic retainer which doesn't seem very robust and the entire BOV seems quite "dinky" compared to the rest of the turbo. Full-Race, the store I bought my turbo from, ship the turbo with a billet aluminium BOV faceplate to use instead which contains their branding and it's certainly more rugged than the stock EFR6258's plastic version.

Recently TurboSmart have released a BOV for the EFR6258 which comes in a nice compact unit - and matches my TurboSmart wastegate actuator nicely It arrived this week and also comes with two barb alternatives, a straight one and a 90* one on a swivelling banjo which makes routing the hose a lot easier:












Engine re-build is getting close, can't wait...


Originally posted by Lokiel, Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:34 pm[

<LITTLE_GIRLY_EXCITED_SCREAM>



Car goes in to MX5 Plus tomorrow for an engine rebuild tomorrow (and power steering delete)!

</LITTLE_GIRLY_EXCITED_SCREAM>

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:23 pm

Originally posted by NitroDann, Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:47 pm[



FKN FINALLY !



Dann


Originally posted by Okibi, Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:02 am[

Woo hoo !


Originally posted by Magpie, Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:38 am[

When do you get it back?


Originally posted by ASE05, Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:21 am[

I'll be watching the results closely.

Could be enough inspiration to swap my FMII kit out for this new turbz


Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:40 am[

When do you get it back?

Ideally before the Xmas break if nothing goes wrong, otherwise next year.

I'm hoping it's the former since I should be able to do the 1,000km wear-in over the break.

PS: Was surprised to see your car there too.


Originally posted by Magpie, Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:30 am[

I'm hoping it's the former since I should be able to do the 1,000km wear-in over the break.

PS: Was surprised to see your car there too.

Mine still has a bit of work to be done as well as another dyno session (or two). I plan to get it back on 20/12 then put some k's on it (like yourself) and it will probably be back at Plus for another tune early in 2014. My car has taken over Charlie's car park at Plus.

I hope nothing goes wrong for you I also hope that the build gives you what you want and you can make use of Dann's work.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:42 pm[

:
My car has taken over Charlie's car park at Plus.
:

LOL - like I joked about Charlie's car, for insurance purposes you can claim it's securely garaged at MX5 Plus to reduce your premium since it's always there.


Originally posted by sailaholic, Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:29 pm[

Are you keeping your air conditioning when you do the ps delete?


Originally posted by Lokiel, Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:39 pm[

Yes, this is NOT a "Because Racecar!" (can't live without the A/C some days and long trips)

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:25 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Dec 14, 2013 7:21 pm[

I popped into MX5 Plus today to drop off some bits and pieces and to check out the progress so far.

The ultimate "adding lightness" mod:



Hmmm, where does that bit go?


There's also lots of stuff on the trolley's bottom shelf.

I was surprised how clean and "new-looking" a lot of the internals were, especially the rods and pistons (apart from the expected scorching on the cylinder heads, especially since I've been running it rich ever since getting the car back from Dann - I was "too cheap" to get a proper interim tune before the engine rebuild). My car has been to a few track days running at 13psi and ~150rwkw and the rods were fine. Not sure I'd want to push them much more than that but the pistons I'd be OK pushing much harder.

And here's the new "turbo-goodness", NitroDann's manifold and the Borg-Warner EFR6258 with TurboSmart wastegate and BOV:



Hopefully this will be complete before the Xmas breakup so that I can run in the engine over the holiday but it'll be tight


I also spotted this MX5 Plus regular too:


Magpie's car.
Love seeing other people's cars in the flesh while they're being modified.


Originally posted by Magpie, Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:26 pm[

Good to see yours is progressing Mine will be picked up on 19/12 and probably back early January. Thanks for the photo, it looks clean!

If you get it back for over the holidays we should arrange a drive to nowhere special for a few hours to run the engines in.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:59 pm[

:
If you get it back for over the holidays we should arrange a drive to nowhere special for a few hours to run the engines in.

Sounds like a plan - not that MX5 owners really ever need a legitimate reason for "a drive to nowhere special".


Originally posted by A.Chen89, Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:03 am[

cool, can't wait to see this borg scream on a dyno. should be able to get great numbers after the rebuild

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:26 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:22 pm[

Apparently I've been naughty this year so my car wont be finished before Xmas:





- it wasn't unexpected given this time of the year.


Originally posted by Magpie, Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:31 pm[

Apparently I've been naughty this year so my car wont be finished before Xmas:

2014? However it is better to wait for a quality job than a rushed job especially with what you are having done!

Mine has been delayed as well, now Friday at 0900! The CAT needs to be installed and this may effect the tune.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:55 pm[

Yeah, I told Jason not to bother rushing if there was little chance of finishing it because it also needs a tune and I'd rather not try run-in the engine on a dodgy tune.

It's taken a while to get this far so a few more weeks doesn't really matter that much - in the meantime, a workmate has offered me the use of his NA that never gets used over Xmas so that's some pretty good Xmas spirit there. I'm going to return it with an oil+coolant change, greased slider pins, bled brakes and give it a spruce-up (I'm suffering mod-fever-withdrawl).


Originally posted by tomli123001, Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:58 pm[

Yeah, I told Jason not to bother rushing if there was little chance of finishing it because it also needs a tune and I'd rather not try run-in the engine on a dodgy tune.

It's taken a while to get this far so a few more weeks doesn't really matter that much - in the meantime, a workmate has offered me the use of his NA that never gets used over Xmas so that's some pretty good Xmas spirit there. I'm going to return it with an oil+coolant change, greased slider pins, bled brakes and give it a spruce-up (I'm suffering mod-fever-withdrawl).

Should consider loaning my car to you also when I need your brain to help work on things.


Originally posted by MattR, Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:21 pm[

Sorry for the hijack, HMMM 9:00 you say..... I might see you there Magpie, i want to see how the dirty datsun is progressing, and will be an excuse to see your beast running.


Originally posted by Okibi, Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:01 pm[

It's only fair to let Danny finish his MX-5 before they start work on yours.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:31 am[

It's only fair to let Danny finish his MX-5 before they start work on yours.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! - how long has that build been running? It makes my year-long build seem insignificant.


Originally posted by ASE05, Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:31 am[

stoopid xmas! Can't wait for the final results. Break it in on the dyno, bugger doing it on the road.


Originally posted by Okibi, Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:20 am[

stoopid xmas! Can't wait for the final results....

Same but it's Christmas, happy to see anyone get time off work to spend with their family and/or friends.


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:20 pm[

Apparently I've been naughty this year so my car wont be finished before Xmas:

So, it's now after Xmas....... MX5-plus are open again...... I know, I spoke to them on the phone today..... Any word on when they'll release Gina from detention?

I'm surprised you haven't set up camp on their doorstep!

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:28 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:18 pm[

Jason expects the car to be back in the workshop in the next few days when the engine's finished.

The motor mounts have started deforming so it's convenient to replace them with Mazdaspeed mounts now while the engine's out. My car's only done around 50,000km so that surprised me - I guess the additional "killer-wasps" aggravated this issue. The Mazdaspeed mounts are stiffer than the SE ones and will increase NVH but should improve shifting Jason informed me. My car's pretty stiff as it is so I'm hoping that the additional NVH won't be noticeable.


Originally posted by Crapweasel, Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm[

Watching this with interest - I've been advised on good authority that I'm "wasting my engine"!!

I would like to book a passenger's seat ride when you get her back please


Originally posted by Lokiel, Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:08 pm[

Watching this with interest - I've been advised on good authority that I'm "wasting my engine"!!

I would like to book a passenger's seat ride when you get her back please

No worries.

You'll have to wait for the 1,000km engine run-in though and then "join the end of the queue"

With your modz and especially your aftermarket engine internals, you're definitely "wasting your engine"!
You should, as a minimum cost/headache solution, consider the FM Mazdaspeed Garrett turbo conversion kit (see http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4536&parentid=0&stocknumber=22-10050) since you have everything else.


Originally posted by Crapweasel, Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:14 pm[

Can understand the end of the queue conundrum!!

Thanks for the link, the 2560R has been on my radar for the entire time I've owned this car, a couple of niggles to sort out first, then I'll be into it, competing for 2nd place on guys who went completely overboard with their SE!!


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:32 am[

........competing for 2nd place on guys who went completely overboard with their SE!!

Not sure if it counts when a lot of the work was already done to the car when you bought it!


Originally posted by Magpie, Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:42 pm[

Lokiel I'll hold off sending my car back (for some non-critical work) so Jason can focus on yours! You just need to hope that somebody dosen't drop in with a urgent problem and Jason gets distracted

Next club track day is not till 17/02 so there will not be a rush for track servicing just yet.


Originally posted by timk, Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:54 pm[

My car is also in there getting some TLC!


Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:21 pm[

I think I'm going to have to start a rumour that MX5 Plus is still closed for Xmas so they can focus on my car

Danny probably wouldn't mind, he could do more work on his car too!

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:29 pm

Originally posted by Okibi, Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:56 pm[

You can't rush perfection


Originally posted by MattR, Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:11 pm[

I got mine back fine over the Christmas break, but then being a Datsun it was banished to out the back where it couldn't be seen......

Just put Silvia badges on yours and they'll rush it out the door so as not to be contaminated with Mazda germs


Originally posted by ASE05, Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:48 pm[

Crapweasel, depending on how this turns out, you may have a lil' pressie for cheap! You can organise shipping biatch! Or take home with you for your trip to Vegas??


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:10 am[

Just put Silvia badges on yours and they'll rush it out the door so as not to be contaminated with Mazda germs

If he put Nissan badges on Gina, would he then have to call her 'Madzilla'?


Originally posted by timk, Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:24 am[

I was more worried about him putting Valiant badges on it and calling it Va....

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:29 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:45 am[

Crapweasel, depending on how this turns out, you may have a lil' pressie for cheap! You can organise shipping biatch! Or take home with you for your trip to Vegas??

Getting bored of your GT2560 already?

I was more worried about him putting Valiant badges on it and calling it Va....

- "Ba doom tish"


Originally posted by Magpie, Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:00 am[

I may call into Plus on Saturday and see if I can get your build delayed


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:14 am[

I may call into Plus on Saturday and see if I can get your build delayed

Drop in on Saturday and tell Danny that Loki sent you around to pick up his car and 'run it in' for him.....


Originally posted by Magpie, Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:19 am[

Drop in on Saturday and tell Danny that Loki sent you around to pick up his car and 'run it in' for him.....

Even better I could take my trailer up and tell Danny that Loki wants to do some interior work on the weekend and has asked me to pick it up and drop it off to him and it should be back on Monday/Tuesday. When it would be left on the trailer and parked in my shed until Jason finishes mine (and anybody else s work).

I hope Loki appeciates the humour in this post


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:32 am[

I hope Loki appeciates the humour in this post

Well I'm relatively safe being ~1000km away, does he know where you live?.......


Originally posted by Lokiel, Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:44 am[




Originally posted by Magpie, Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:10 am[

It would appear the the humour is appreciated


Originally posted by Okibi, Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:39 pm[

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:30 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:00 am[

I popped into MX5 Plus today to check out my engine build and collect the photos Jason has been taking for me. At first I thought I must have been in the wrong place because magpie's car was nowhere to be seen?

Turbosmart wastegate and BOV "assimilated" by The Borg:



Single plate OS Giken clutch, crankshaft, K1 rods and 83.5mm CP pistons all balanced and ready for installation:


Jason said that charlie_91 had sourced a second hand OS Giken clutch on his car and that it had proved to be bulletproof so that was good enough for me. It was heavier than I expected but MUCH lighter than the OEM one. There's less weight on the outer diameter so it will spin up MUCH faster than the OEM clutch

The block, bored to 83.5mm:



Assembly:












The EFR6258 allows the wastegate bracket to be rotated anywhere around the intake housing so it may be rotated counterclockwise (to the brackets next screw mount point) if it protrudes too far but it's current location is probably optimal.


I'm getting the power steering removed too to make more room in the engine bay since it's very cramped in there at the moment and the silicon hose on the turbo intake to the CAI had to be trimmed to fit with the power steering in place. I've done a lot of searches on the forums for opinions by guys who've done the power steering delete and the feedback has been very positive with regard to "improved track feel" but the downside is that parking is harder, requiring a lot more effort to turn the wheel when stationary or at slow speeds. Jason has been very concerned about this because it's pretty much a one-way journey and is not easy/cheap to undo so I keep having to assure him when I speak to him that I really DO want to do the P/S delete. timk's MIA7A was in the shop too and Jason suggested I drive it forwards and backwards a few times to appreciate just how much harder it is. Yes it IS a lot harder but it's not unbearable and as a bloke, developing strong forearms is a good thing!

When I get the car back without P/S, I'm half-tempted to tell him:

- but I think he'd probably beat me senseless with the removed P/S rack (or at least leave me walking funny because he "stuck it where the sun don't shine").


Originally posted by Magpie, Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:08 am[

Actually my car was there in the morning, I popped after having coffee with Roger at the BP.

On the depowered rack it is a bit hard at very low speeds but above 20 k you would never know plus it does give more feedback. Shame we did not cross paths as you could have tried mine to get a feel for the steering.

So how long before you have it back? Getting excited?


Originally posted by Apu, Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:58 am[

The removed P/S isn't that big a deal. You'll relearn how to park - we develop some bad habits with power steering, turning whilst the car is stationary. Once you get used to it, just move the car THEN start turning...it becomes much easier. Just like how you used to drive the non power assisted vans and utes from "the old days" as my kids call it.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:24 am[

In "the old days", my first car was a Holden UC Sunbird which didn't have P/S so I'm pretty sure I can live with it.


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:39 am[

In "the old days", my first car was a Holden UC Sunbird which didn't have P/S so I'm pretty sure I can live with it.

Cars that I've had in the past without power steering usually had much larger steering wheels too..... Probably not a mod you're after there though.....


Originally posted by A.Chen89, Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:08 am[

Looking shmick.

Can't say the same about the power steer though - it was quite manageable parking and low speed but my girly arms always protested.

You get better on low speed corners at the track I reckon since the steering angle is limited.

But day to day driving is sooo much IMO. better with PS.


Originally posted by zero00, Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:00 pm[

Actually my car was there in the morning, I popped after having coffee with Roger at the BP.

On the depowered rack it is a bit hard at very low speeds but above 20 k you would never know plus it does give more feedback. Shame we did not cross paths as you could have tried mine to get a feel for the steering.

So how long before you have it back? Getting excited?

And slightly delayed due to 2 x Police Officers checking cars as they left after coffee!! All good Magpie, I did the same this morning , they were there again and neither wanted to check me!!

Later same day and opposite 25 x 86/BRZ blocking the caravans in!! Stuff 'em, then we headed for 'Car Mad Club' show


Originally posted by timk, Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:19 pm[

The non assisted steering was harder at first, but now I don't even notice it. Maybe I've turned into a buff dude and I didn't know it!

So the skids you were doing in my car, were they in 3rd or 4th gear?


Originally posted by MattR, Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:10 pm[

Power steer delete question on whether the steering will be too heavy or not........

My NA6 has about the lightest steering of any car I have owned with the engine off and lighter than some of the cars I have owned or dr ven for work on a regular basis with the engine on.

You're all a bunch of girls.....

Try 18x8 wheels with 240 wide slicks, so much castor the guards were cut by about and inch for tyre clearance and a 340mm diameter steering wheel.

Or, 14x8 front wheels with 245 wide tyres on a XB falcon with a 300mm diameter SAAS sports wheel as was the fasion in the late '80's.

The first car I ever had with power steering was my 74 ZG Fairlane in the mid '90's, so I put 245 wide tyres on it with an open wheeler flat bottom steering wheel.

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:31 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Jan 18, 2014 3:24 pm[

Popped in to MX5 Plus again this morning to check out the progress.

Several months ago I decided that the thermostat housing looked ugly in its aluminium finish and would look better painted Wrinkle-Black so I bought a new one and painted it, intending to fit it once I got it home after the engine rebuild. Jason suggested that I might as well fit it now so that I wouldn't need to replace the gaskets so I sent it to them during the week for fitting.

BEFORE:



AFTER:


- in reality, it's a much richer black, the flash washed the colour out quite a bit.

Originally I wanted to use inconel studs with Stage 8 fasteners on the turbo side since standard studs tend to stretch and back out on high powered turbos - the inconel studs and Stage 8 fasteners have been track-proven to eliminate this issue by TrackSpeed Engineering in the US.
I had the inconel studs but the Stage 8 fasteners are too wide for the EFR6258 and one side needs to be ground down to fit but, by the time enough material has been removed, it's strength is significantly reduced.
The inconel studs on the manifold side have been tack-welded in place to ensure that they aren't going anywhere.
Jason suggested using Nissan 14495-40P10 OEM T25 T28 Turbo Turbine Locking Tabs instead of the Stage 8 fasteners (see http://www.frsport.com/Nissan-14495-40P10-Genuine-OEM-T25-T28-Turbo-Turbine-Locking-Tab_p_8123.html). These are used on standard Nissan T25/T28 turbos so SHOULD "do the job":


If anyone is wondering why some engine/turbo builds can take so long, it's little issues like these that really extend the time it takes to complete them.
Fitting a pre-made turbo kit like the Flyin' Miata GT2560 kit is relatively straight forward since it comes with everything required to fit onto a standard NA/NB, someone's already done the hard work to figure out eveything that's needed to "hook it all up".
Jason has been giving me constant feedback and providing alternatives all the way which has been great - I know "most" of what's going on with the build.

With the low-mount turbo, you can see how tight the clearances between the A/C, turbo and water outlet are:




The water outlet barb in these photos was mildly modified to give a bit more clearance between the hose and turbo intake housing.
With the P/S removed, it seems that there's heaps of room in there now.

When the engine was initially re-fitted, the wastegate was obstructed by the shelf as I suspected it might so the turbo was re-clocked (the EFR6258 was designed to allow this to be done relatively easily) and the originally straight wastegate shaft bent to optimise its efficiency as you can see in this photo:


The TurboSmart wastegate I have is the generic version which comes with a straight shaft - most model-specific versions have shaft bends to those made above.

Jason hopes the car can be fired up on Tuesday so with a bit of luck, I can pick it up next weekend and start running it in.


Originally posted by A.Chen89, Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:09 pm[

No coolant reroute?

I used the TSE studs, yep one of them needs a bit of clearance but they fit!


Originally posted by NMX516, Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:12 pm[

Should be nicely run in for Lakeside on the 17th!!


Originally posted by Magpie, Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:35 pm[

Should be nicely run in for Lakeside on the 17th!!

Hopefully MX5 Plus will have their track car there and that way Lokiel and myself will have support. It is a shame Charlie's car could not be there to showcase what MX5 Plus can do!

Lokiel progress is looking good, I see you have the Maruha thermostat. Are you containing your excitement?


Originally posted by Lokiel, Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:31 pm[

No coolant reroute?

I used the TSE studs, yep one of them needs a bit of clearance but they fit!

Mazda modified the head gasket on Mk2.5s to restrict flow to the front cylinders from the block to the head so the coolant re-route isn't required.

I do use 8mm inconel studs, it's just the Stage 8 hardware that doesn't fit.
MT.net generally recommend 10mm inconel studs + Stage 8 locking hardware + Resbond to prevent the studs stretching and backing out.
I used 8mm inconel studs since that's what the EFR6258 was bored with and TrackSpeed Engineering were planning on sticking with the 8mm inconel studs on their EFR6258 kit (which never eventuated).

Should be nicely run in for Lakeside on the 17th!!

I'd rather my first track run be at QR, Lakeside's not a good track to discover the limitations of the driver with an over-powered MX5 - if anyone wants to call me a "Fraidy-Cat" I'm OK with that, I'd rather get the car+driver sorted out before putting it into a wall on its first track run.

:
Hopefully MX5 Plus will have their track car there and that way Lokiel and myself will have support. It is a shame Charlie's car could not be there to showcase what MX5 Plus can do!

Lokiel progress is looking good, I see you have the Maruha thermostat. Are you containing your excitement?

I'd like to come along to the track day though to see/hear your car in action. Watching Charlie's car at the track was impressive and was why I only considered MX5 plus to build the engine. They learned a lot from Charlie's build(s) in terms of what does and doesn't work (what's "supposed to work" according to others didn't always prove true) so I'm confident I'll have a rock-solid build.

I've had the Maruha 78 thermostat installed for several years now but only installed the temperature adapter when I installed my PLX sensors. For anyone wondering about it, the Maruha 78 thermostat opens at 78*C (lower than stock) and has a higher lift + larger diameter valve than stock.


Originally posted by ManiacLachy, Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:18 am[

Just finished re-reading this thread again, what a build! Can't wait to hear the results from the engine rebuild and the new turbo. Your obsession to detail in your engine bay is something else, man!

A great source of inspiration to others, not to mention a great guide on how to do things.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:02 am[

Thanks for the compliment.

I get a lot of inspiration from other people's builds so hope to contribute to this pool of information - without the internet I never would have been game enough to do much of my own work; seeing what others have done and how they've done it gives me the courage to try things out for myself. I especially like to read about "gotchas", failures or tips to make a job easier since many people omit this information which can save a lot of time/$$$/grief.

The best thing about DIY modz though is that if you don't like them, you're not afraid to redo them and will do a better job the next time around. You also end up with LOTS of tools which make subsequent modz much easier.

eg. If I didn't already have a jigsaw I never would have tried to make my own cold air box.

[Lokiel]

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:32 pm

Originally posted by Lokiel, Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:02 pm[

Picked up my car from MX5 Plus on Saturday - WooHoo! Now I just have to run the engine in

I had the power steering deleted, despite Jason's constant "Do you really want to do that?" and "You know that it's not easily reversible?" comments. There's definitely no way I can say I wasn't warned.
The main reason I wanted to do it was to free up space in the engine bay since it was very tight in there with the new turbo and most guys who get it done prefer the feedback on the track.
It's definitely not as hard to manoeuvre at low speeds as I feared, it does take more effort to turn, even at speed, and you really can feel the tyre grip on the turns. There's a large (+fast in an MX5) roundabout on my way home to get onto the airport freeway and I could really feel how sticky the tyres were - power steering numbs this sensation massively.

The OS Giken clutch is taking some getting used to, it's heavier than the OEM clutch but definitely not "heavy duty clutch" heavy, and is not as forgiving as the OEM clutch - I stalled it twice on the way home.

These two modz alone make the car feel completely different.


My plan was always to move the oil catch can inside the Cold Air Box and with the Power Steering reservoir removed, there is now room.

Before (sited behind the Cold Air Box using a bracket made from checker-plate aluminium):



Unfortunately there is a gap in the Cold Air Box where the Power Steering lines used to be:



I'll probably re-make the Cold Air Box at some time but for now I had an offcut from the original aluminium that I could use to block the gap so I made a block-off plate to cover the gap, using the same two bottom bolt-mount holes as the Cold Air Box.

My catch can is too tall for the Cold Air Box with the filter on top so I replaced the filter with the blocking bolt from the original kit and just ran a hose from the outlet barb to the rear of the Cold Air Box.
The cut-out for the air conditioning line was also enlarged to accomodate the rocker cover hose.




Next job is to find a permanent home for the EFR6258's boost control solenoid.
Normally this is mounted to the turbo intake housing but there's not enough room so I asked Jason to simply Jerry-rig it somewhere using zip-ties.
At this stage I'm thinking of mounting it where my previous EBC solenoid is mounted:




Originally posted by Okibi, Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:39 pm[

Glad you've got her back, looking forward to seeing how it goes once run in.


Originally posted by Magpie, Mon Feb 03, 2014 5:09 am[

Good to finally catch up at MX5 Plus on a Saturday. Car is looking great.


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:39 am[

Yeah! Great to see you've finally got the car back!

I'll be very interested to see what the final dyno results are like given all the changes from stock. Will you be sticking with the piggyback ECU or going for a full standalone unit?

It will also be very interesting to hear what you think of the non-track drivability with all that power...
Have you considered a switch on the dash like MINX to give you a 'detuned' power setting for road duties?


Originally posted by NitroDann, Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:48 am[

You don't want a switch you want proper ecu controlled boost control.

A 3d RPM/TPS vs duty cycle map.

If you need a switch in 2014 you are doing it wrong.

Dann


Originally posted by corners, Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:54 am[

You don't want a switch you want proper ecu controlled boost control.

A 3d RPM/TPS vs duty cycle map.

If you need a switch in 2014 you are doing it wrong.

Dann

Yep or a stand alone boost controller that has 4 selectable thresholds


Originally posted by NitroDann, Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:12 am[

You still have the same issue.

If the controller is targeting 20psi, and you use 1/3rd throttle exiting a corner the controller will just have the turbo make 35psi in the intercooler pipes in order to get its target 20 in the manifold.

Now 1/3rd throttle is full throttle and you have no control or modulation. This is what guys who don't like the feel of turbo cars are complaining about.

If you don't have throttle position in the mix you will always have this issue.

Dann


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:08 pm[

You don't want a switch you want proper ecu controlled boost control.

A 3d RPM/TPS vs duty cycle map.

If you need a switch in 2014 you are doing it wrong.

Dann

I think you might have misunderstood me there Dann.....

What I was suggesting, and what I believe MINX has with his Haltech, are two alternative maps on the ECU, one of which is a lower power/boost configuration.
You would then switch between these two maps by the use of a switch on the dash.


Originally posted by NitroDann, Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:08 pm[

..

3d mapped boost control uses your throttle position and rpm to determine boost and therefore torque (and therefore power) levels.

Using this system allows a completely progressive system, where your foot controls the torque without any humps or dips in delivery at all unless your foot asks for them.

This system means that at 1/4 throttle you can have the car at 4psi from cruise rpm to redline, and at half you could have 5, or 11, or 25psi or whatever you tell it you want.

This means that you simply select boost level with the throttle in a completely controllable silky smooth fashion.

Dann


Originally posted by timk, Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:17 pm[

He can do it with his Adaptronic, it is a check box that says "multiply factor by TPS" or something along those lines. I use it in my car and it is awesome sauce.

It also has Boost 1 and Boost 2 inputs (when both active sets Boost 3) so you can have 4 settings if you still feel the need.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Mon Feb 03, 2014 5:32 pm[

I'll be sticking with the Adaptronic Nevyn, it's one of the best ECUs available for our car and Andy's support is great (Bob Romano, a Haltech dealer that tuned my car before the engine rebuild, suggested that Haltechs have more tunable boost control though).

The Adaptronic Select ECUs also have a Push-To-Pass option which I'd like to try down the track, this allows temporary boost increase when the connected switch is pushed - sounds like fun. Learning to tweak the Adaptronic is something I need to spend more time on.


Originally posted by Nevyn72, Mon Feb 03, 2014 6:20 pm[

Just for my own info there Lokiel, do you have the piggy-back Adaptronic or the standalone unit? (Is there a difference, not sure)

When I was looking into the full ECU package for my car they quoted for the standalone unit.....


Originally posted by Magpie, Mon Feb 03, 2014 6:21 pm[

Push to pass, isn't that the loud pedal?


Originally posted by NitroDann, Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:20 pm[

Thats what I keep saying.

Just 5psi for now Simon?

Dann


Originally posted by sailaholic, Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:53 pm[

The standalone is actually cheaper. The main function of running the "piggyback" unit was alternator control. This is now included in the standalone with the circuit costing less then the extra plugs and wiring harness.

Don't confuse the "piggyback" version to be similar to the likes of a basic greddy emanage. The adaptronic still have full control of the engine not just the ability to add fuel and ignition. Low level piggybacks can't pull fuel from a map only increase.


Originally posted by Lokiel, Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:53 pm[

Nevyn, my Adaptronic Select ECU is a piggy-back unit. As sailaholic mentioned, it's only a piggyback unit because the factory ECU was needed to control the alternator but Andy seems to have addressed that now.

Dann, I currently have the Turbosmart wastegate actuator with the 10psi spring it came with - after the build "sticker shock" I'm not game enough to push it any harder than the 4,000rpm limit advised by Jason during run-in. The difference between having a wired-open wastegate and a functional wastegate are MASSIVE though - even at low boost. With the wired open wastegate, my car felt like a 1978 1200cc Toyota Corolla, no guts whatsoever and it took an eternity to accelerate to 60km/h. Now it's got much more punch and I'm looking forward to finally getting some real boost.


Originally posted by james_p93, Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:51 pm[

so how many kms are u going to do before starting to push it past 4k revs?


Originally posted by Lokiel, Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:19 pm[

so how many kms are u going to do before starting to push it past 4k revs?

1,000 "kays" is the recommended run-in distance so I'd better finish installing the Boost control solenoid ASAP so I can drive the car again - still got about 950kms to go


Originally posted by Magpie, Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:28 pm[

still got about 950kms to go

BP Burpengary on Saturday is good for a few hundred k's for me


Originally posted by NMX516, Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:55 pm[

Just go for a drive for a few hours each night, and a couple of extra runs on the weekend and you'll have it nicely run in just in time to hit Lakeside on the 17th!