Wazman's NB8a

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:32 am

Seems i have some time on my hands atm.......Update time

Though i havn't had much luck with the mx5 lately.
After overheating my motor at the start of the year (drift in 37 deg heat will do that). I was in need of a new head as the heat had caused mine to go soft and i had lost all but 20psi comp left in number 4 :roll:

I bought a motor of the for sale section in the this forum. The owner said they started the car and it was knocking loudly so they turned it off and changed the motor out straight away. So i was hoping not too much damage was done inside....even though i only wanted the head....a spare crank is always handy! But the head is what i was after..... im always keen to spend as little time turning spanners and as much time in the drivers seat as possible.

I know your saying that one leads to the other! :roll:

So i took the head off the motor and took it to the engine machinist/builder and asked him to check out and if its hard enough to go ahead and deck, seat the valves, fit new valve stem seals and clean it.
After i got it back i was stoked to have 190 psi across all four!

But because i used a cheap china oil cooler kit...... The braided lines have steel fittings swagged on and not alloy ones. The steal fittings chew into the soft brass fittings on the oil cooler core and if you ever undo them and try and do them back up again they leak because they dont seat properly! Anyway long story short.... I had to take off the cooler at the track and join the lines together with a male to male fitting that i carry with me to events just for such occasions. This ment i had to ziptie the oil cooler lines to something since they were no longer attached to the oil cooler core. So i ziptied it to the bracket on the bottom of the intercooler being careful not to have any kinks in it! After some amazing laps and the car was running stronger than ever! the intercooler brackets broke!! the oil cooler line was now dragging on the track and soon all my oil was on track too! i didnt realize until half a lap on limiter :roll:

Boom bottom end was toast!

out comes the engine....lucky i now had that spare bottom end......that was knocking :roll:

Not a great pic but u can see bearing shavings in the block near the rod end

Turbo still attached....whip it out and flip it over to see if its even salvagable.....

I called upon the skills of a friend of mine that is actually a mechanic....... I told him i dont have any cash to spend on it but i have a set of ebay bearings and a crank that "should" be ok...

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:47 am

So he is like "this is a s%#t plan" and im like "man we gotta make a Frankenstein motor and slap it in".....So he meticulously cleans as best he can with what i had...

All clean and the crank from the noisy motor in place.....installing $76 ebay bearings :wink:

Torque it all up nice and tight!

Re install all the auxiliary bits n pieces! Sweet! didnt have to buy a head gasket or even remove pistons from their bores

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:42 am

Anyone recognize these characters ? They seem to concur the bearings were definitely not happy in the noisy motor i bought for the head..... but thankfully they caught it early and the crank was saved!

\

It came time to make new brackets for the intercooler. I got Greg at Fabraications to tig weld some on for me. (i dont own a tig...yet)

I added some of my favorite Anime characters from One piece, Gundam and Evangelion (Japanese cult cartoons)to my dash :beer:

These are not cheap and there are shops in Akiubara in Tokyo that sell just these wall to wall.....there are even waiting lists to order the newest model of your favorite comic/anime
characters.

I managed to get some very cheap from the japanese equivalent of a "Salvation army" store. Paying only $9- $12 each instead on the new retail of $40.

Well here are some pics from Calder park last month.

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:52 am

I mounted the new oil cooler and lines myself......i went for a bigger core to try and get oil temps down. its a 19 row and it worked great in the new position.

And this is how my poor little roadster currently sits ! a split water line blocker let all my coolant out on track and i didnt realize until it was too late! Another SOFT head ! So im trying to find a cheap replacment.....

Sadly im jobless atm and can no longer afford to put money into the mx5.......hopefully ill have an income again soon and can get back to burning rubber

lightyear · Postby **lightyear** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:54 am

Jobless, and headless. Your not doing so well. It pays to make sure these small problems are right. I did a similar thing. Had a water line come off my turbo 1.6, the motor was not happy at all.
And the oil cooler needs to be larger. I spoke to my engine builder, and he wants me to buy a bigger one. That size is good for NA motors only.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:22 am

Your recent events make me happy that I have chosen to install a coolant level alarm and a high oil temp alarm. The coolant alarm is hooked up to a warning light on the A pillar and has a very loud piezo alarm (that can be heard with a helmet on). The high oil temp is being incorporated into the new engine build and will be hooked up in the same manner. Whist I do have gauges for oil/water temp they are down low and not in your direct line of sight hence the simple warning lights.

I have already wrecked one engine due to high oil temp and do not want to repeat it again. Plus I have seen way to many work vehicles written off because of no coolant.

Sean · Postby **Sean** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:17 pm

wazman wrote:So he is like "this is a s%#t plan" and im like "man we gotta make a Frankenstein motor and slap it in".....

Haha - I've had that conversation before!

Postby **NitroDann** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:34 pm

I had a similar convo about a sierra lately right sean !

Dann

Sean · Postby **Sean** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:04 pm

NitroDann wrote:I had a similar convo about a sierra lately right sean !

Dann

Haha, the sierra has a fair chunk of coin invested believe it or not - engineered too :shock:

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:00 pm

So for those that dont check every thread on this forum, Here is a link ti the Interchangeable Head thread that i did basically just to share my experience with it all with other mx5 drivers rocking the $9 budget that i usually do

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=58786

Me and my Twin Drift team mate Catherine May at Calder park during practice on the weekend, Her nissan Sil80 (180sx with silvia front panels/headlights ) makes 252rwkw and runs 235 45 17's....we are very evenly paced.

The yellow R31 skyline behind me has an Holden LS1 v8 fitted.

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:00 am

Great to see it back together and going sideways again.

Postby **NitroDann** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:06 am

Is that the same Catherine known as Drift Cat?

Used to have an RB26 powered silvia?

Dann

Postby **Okibi** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 1:01 am

Great photos :mrgreen:

Postby **beavis** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:15 pm

NitroDann wrote:Is that the same Catherine known as Drift Cat?

Used to have an RB26 powered silvia?

Dann

No, she (or her husband) is building a massive power VK at the moment.

wazman · Postby **wazman** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:20 pm

Thats correct Beavis.... My team mate is Catherine May. The other Cat is Catherine coleiro or "Drift Cat" as she is known.
The VK was there testing on the weekend actually :wink:

But it dosnt have enough lock at the moment.