February Update

Well the last few months hasn't seen nearly as much work as I had hoped on the car.  But good news is that in the last few weeks I have made some good progress on it.

As of today everything is out of the car that needs to be other then the rear end.  I am ready to start putting things back together this weekend and hope to make some good progress on it.

So the current plan is to install the new clutch/flywheel and transmission on Saturday.  Once those are all in I can reinstall the headers and super charger.  With all of that being out I am working on removing the power steering pump and extra pulleys from the belt system for the super charger.  Doing this will help simplify the system and remove some parasitic drag on things, freeing up some power.  Probably won't make much of a difference but its worth it just to remove unneeded parts.  Once the headers are back in I can reconnect the steering column and then install the shocks.  Then the front end is done. 

The rear end is coming out this weekend to head into a shop to have the 3.636 ring and pinion installed.  I should have it back in just a day or two after dropping it off.  The following weekend I should be able to get the rear end installed and hopefully fire up the car.

Things are starting to progress finally!

Long time no update...

Well, its been a while since I have updated the blog.  All in all it was an ok season for autocross.  Did alright but could have been better.  usually in the top 5 at events for raw time and about the same for PAX.   I did discover at the last event of the season, on October 11th, that the Hoosiers are shot.  What I have mounted right now is a set of 275-35/R15 that were used before I got them.  If you can get them hot they aren't bad, but the 11th saw sustained winds of 19mph all day long and gusts of 40mph.  To say the least, the tires never got warm.  At the end of the day I had switched to the R1R tires and was packing up to leave when a friend showed up that wanted a ride.  We did a buck run with out the Hoosiers and, holy crap, what a difference. the car felt planted and could accelerate out of turns much better then with the Hoosiers.  To say the least... I'll be getting a new set of Hoosier A7 next year.

Current plans for the car is to have the shocks serviced and put on some stiffer springs, 800 front, 550 rear.  As of today the shocks are on their way back to me and should be back in the car soon with the new springs installed.  After its a matter of the drive train.  I have a 6 speed transmission to replace the 5 speed.  The catch is that it makes the gear ratios awful.

5 - Speed + 4.3 rear end and 7200 rpm rev limit:
1st gear tops out at  35.87 mph
2nd gear tops out at 59.57 mph
3rd gear tops out at 84.57 mph

6 speed + 4.3 rear end and 7200 rpm
1st gear tops out at 29.91 mph
2nd gear tops out at 49.57 mph
3rd gear tops out at 68.37 mph

I purchased a 3.636 ring and pinion to put in the differential which will take care of it.
6 speed + 3.636 rear end and 7200 rpm
1st gear tops out at 35.38 mph
2nd gear tops out at 58.62 mph
3rd gear tops out at 80.86 mph

Much better and very close to the original ratios. All in all I'm sure I'll have to learn to drive the car again with this many differences.

I also purchased a dead 1992 Miata.  This will eventually become the base for everything that's in the 99.  the car has about a softball sized hole in the block where a rod went through it.   in the end this one will end up about 200-300 lbs lighter then the 99.  this probably won't be in service until 2017.  Going to take my time and do it right as I build it.

The first Event of 2015!

Been a while since an update. This past weekend was the first event my club hosted this year.  Had a lot of fun over the weekend, much trash talk was had.  Saturday I spent the day helping out with the Evo School running timing. I have done 5 of them in the past and learned a lot.  As usual with these classes watching the drivers go through out the day, its awesome seeing how much everyone improves. 

Sunday was the event in Helena.  Such a blast to get out with a car that really keeps up with me.  between my last update and this one I have managed to get almost everything I wanted done on the car.  Hitch is installed, Seat is in and adjusted.  I also added a mount to hold my tablet for data logging.  Sadly I only managed to log my last 3 runs as I was still trying to figure out how to get it working correctly.  All in all, I am super happy with how SoloStorm works.  Totally worth the money now that I understand it.  next step is to get my gopro connected to it so I can have sync'd video with the logging.

The event went well, Managed to take 2nd for raw time and 6th for pax.  threw one supercharger belt on my last run of the morning and replaced it over lunch.  While replacing it I had some help and I think we may have spotted the main issue with why they keep getting shredded.  it appears the super charger is not sitting quite right. the back is lower then the front causing the belt to climb the pulley and shred itself.  current plan is to try and lift the back to align things better and see how it goes.

This is a video of the second run of the day.  Not my fastest but in the ball park.

Here is the results: Results for Helena 5-3-2015

First update of 2015!

Its been a while since I have posted anything. Weather hasn't been very good for getting anything done. 

This last weekend it was 60f so I got off my butt and finished putting in the replacement drivers seat that fits me better.  It is another Ultra Shield seat like the old one that I purchased from a fellow club member a few years ago now.

Other projects on the list include installing the Flyin'Miata tow hitch so I can pull my trailer to events. This hitch is nice and light weight adding only 8 lbs to the car.  I am also considering the Flyin'Miata butterfly brace to stiffen up the whole car.


For now, I just keep eyeballing the calendar wishing it was time to drive!

Update?

Well, not a whole lot has been done too the car in the last month.  I still have some simple things planned before next Autocross season but they can wait till close to spring to get done.

In the mean time, I manged to get the car on a dyno to figure out what kind of HP I am getting from the motor.

The dyno wasn't able to track my RPM well so that isn't showing correctly. For the run he based the graphs on speed instead.   As you can see it managed a nice 233.5 HP and 208.7 ft/lbs of torque.

We ran it 3 runs and it was extremely consistent.  the graphs where almost identical between every run.

I was also using my tablet to do some data logging just to see what was going on during the runs.  I noticed that at 4300 rpm or so I am hitting 8.5ish PSI of boos, from there it drops by about 1 psi until it hits 5500 rpm at which point it starts to climb again. 

I am not sure why it is doing this.  will have to do some research so I can understand this one.

Also, I managed to use the left over from the original soft top that came with the car to make a version of a Bikini G-String top for the car.  (much needed for the drive to Bozeman and back today.)

the straps hooked on the Frankenstein bolts.

PVC pipe to keep the front of the top in place between the roll bar and top of the windshield.

All in all it turned out good and it saved me a few hundred bucks over a real one.  It's not a pretty... but it works good.

Time for an update

Well, a lot has happened since the last post I made here.  Nathan and I made a deal and I traded my car and parts + some cash for his supercharged 1999 Miata.  So far I am really enjoying the car.

I managed to get the car just in time for the last race of the year for the Bozeman club. I just showed up with it to surprise everyone and boy where they.  All in all it was a great end of the season for me.

On Saturday October 4th I managed to set FTD with the car. Not bad for my first day ever driving it at an event.  Sunday I took second for FTD by .286 seconds.  also not bad for only the second day every running it at an event.

I have a few plans for the car over the winter, nothing major.  I have a different Ultrashield seat that I am going to put in it that fits me slightly better then the one that came in the car.  I'd like to do a bikini soft top for it if I can manage it.

Other then that, it's just a matter of tweaking things to my liking and probably an oil change just for because.

Looking forward to next years events >:-)


Here's the results for the weekend
Saturday Oct 4th
Sunday Oct 5th

The plan for the winter...

So, with everything that went wrong with the car in the last month or so I have been working on deciding what to do about it.

At I am in the process of purchasing a custom built head from Flyin' Miata.  It is going to take a few months before it will be here and ready to install but I will have plenty of time to get it ready for next season.

on top of the new head I have a few other more minor plans in the works.  I am going to build a custom intake setup and get rid of the current "cold" air intake that I have on the car now.  What I have planned should give the car cold air at all times and even possibly a slight positive pressure at high enough speeds.

I am also removing the power steering system to cut a but more weight. I am going to quick/dirty route because I don't want to deal with the 'good' method.  The good method is a bit tedious and a pain in the ass.

With getting rid of the current intake I will be able to add a proper shock tower brace which should stiffen the car up when going over rough sections of road.


The last is a fairly minor change but it will add more comfort when driving the car on longer distance.  I am going to pull up the carpet and lay down some insulation to keep the heat out of the interior as much as I can.  The heat is one of the biggest issues I have with driving the car in the summer with no A/C in it.



There are a few other things that I would love to do for next year as well such as getting a set of Hoosiers but I don't see that happening now with what I have spent so far on the head.  We'll see what happens in the next 6 months though.

Selling my Megasquirt ECU

For those that check out my blog, I am selling the Megasquirt ECU I installed earlier this year.  I don't have any issues with it, just going to move to something else for next year.

Here is what you get:
Megasquirt PNP 2 for 96-97 Miata
Innovate Wideband O2 and Controler/gauge
programming cables
Little hose that attaches to the Intake for the MAP sensor.

I am looking to get $800 for everything.

Reply here if you are interested or know of someone who might be.

Thanks!

Well shit...

So, good news and bad news...

good news first:
I managed to get the engine installed and wired up.  It went in fairly smoothly though dropping in an engine and transmission by yourself in a driveway isn't all that much fun...

I had everything to the point of attempting the first start when the bad news happens...

The intake cam seized to the journal. this gouged it bad enough that the head itself is basically a total loss.  Back to square one I guess. (I will add another post with some pictures of the damage)

I am working on getting something together before next spring... but obviously that means I am out of commission as far as my car goes for the rest of the season...  I have a friend that might let me co-drive with him some times.  Maybe I can convince some others to let me co-drive with them as well.

What broke on the engine?

Well after getting the engine out of the car.  The next day I pulled the head off and found out exactly what the problem was.  Our guess of a broken valve was correct.  One of the exhaust valves in cylinder 3 has a nice chunk missing from it.

There is quite a lot of carbon build up in all 4 cylinders, which is no surprise if you have ever seen my car run at an Autocross event.  The engine burned quite a lot of oil. 

Judging by how the cylinders and pistons look.  The rings are leaking a bit, but not severely.  I would bet that if I threw a new valve in the head and cleaned it up it would run fine. though it wouldn't solve the oil burning issue. 

As you can see from the above picture there is a lot of carbon on the pistons as well.  Amazingly the piece of the valve doesn't seem to have caused any real damage. I haven't located any scratches at this point from it.

Hoping to have the new engine very soon!

Engine is out

It's a little weird seeing the giant empty spot under the hood.  Transmission is separated from the block and now I am just waiting for the new Clutch and Flywheel that should be here on Friday.

As with any project like this on an older car... I found that the engine mounts are basically shot and should probably be replaced....  so that's another part that will have to be ordered and waited on.  but I can get it mostly ready to go back together while I wait for those.

Small update

As you can see from the image above, I have attached the head and installed the water pump and timing belt.  Right now I am on a bit of a hold as I wait for some goodies that I was actually hoping to put off for a while but since I am putting the engine in I decided to go for it.  those include a 10lb fly wheel and a new clutch.  The clutch that is in there should still be in good shape because it really isn't all that old. but again... while I am in there I should probably just do it.


Other that that I have put the car up on ramps and will begin pulling things off to get it ready to be pulled. That should start this weekend assuming the weather isn't quite as bad as they are saying its going to be.

Until next time...

Engine Progress Update

I have spent the last few evenings working on getting the spare engine completed.  At this point, the head is together other then a few peripheral items like water lines, the cams are in.  Tonight I finished installing the oil pump and pan.


Tomorrow I will be putting the block back on the stand so that I can get to work on the front of the motor some more.  Namely installing the water pump and then the head.  Once the head it on, it's just a matter of putting on the new timing belt and making sure its all in line. after that, button it all up.

She's Dead, Jim

Well after a day of running at The Commons in Bozeman on the 9th of August.   We made it about 40 miles back from Bozeman and its looking like an exhaust valve has cracked on me.

Just spent the last hour running compression tests on all of the cylinders and pulling the valve cover.  Cylinders 1,2 and 4 are sitting about 160psi and cylinder 3 is sitting at a big fat 0.  after pulling the valve cover I have verified that there is nothing visibly broken there.

At this point it could be a cracked valve like we are thinking or it could be a broken valve seat.

Looks like I am done for the year with my car unless I can get the engine finished.



Below is a shot of the plugs in order.  Cylinder one is on the left.  Number three has a nice crusty build up on it.

Corner Balancing

I spent some time to day with the help of Dave Kirk getting the corner balance of my car just right. 

Here is what we had at the beginning:

Total: 2382

LF: 642

RF: 596

LR: 572

RR: 573

Left: 1216  - 51.0 %

Rear: 1145 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1214  - 51.0 %

Right: 1169  - 49.1%

Below is what we ended up with.

Total: 2378

LF: 627

RF: 609

LR: 579

RR: 567

Left: 1206  - 50.7 %

Rear: 1142 - 48 %

LF/RR: 1198  - 50.0 %

Right: 1171  - 49.3%

All it took was raising the RR spring perch 1.5 turns.

It isn't a huge change but I am pretty happy we where able to get the LF/RR to right at 50%.  The LF and RF are also much closer which will help with making sure I am not locking up one tire or the other while braking hard.

At the next event we are going to take temperature measurements across the face of the tire to see if the camber is set at the optimal angle.

Next event is August 9th in Bozeman at The Commons.  ( Map)  This is our "index" event.  We try to setup the course exactly the same as last years and we can compare our times between the two to see how our modifications and driving skills have changes our times. I have not run a Bozeman event since last year. It will be interesting to see how I fair with all of the work that I have done to the car.

Here is a spreadsheet with the first two years times on it. (link) As you can see, almost everyone who ran in 2012 and 2013 improved their times. Some by a pretty significant amount.

Last event recap.

Here are the results from both the 19th and 20th of July:
July 19th Event Results
July 20th Event Results

I was unable to beat out the other CSP driver this weekend.  It's down to my tires being a major limiting factor at this point.  I am stuck with them until at least the beginning of next year.


The 19th was an interesting day relearning the car with all of the changes I made to it.  started out with tire pressure way to high.  once I got those dialed in I was able to be much more consistent in my times. As for Sunday, The car felt great, I spent most of the morning trying to find the sweet spot for the suspension. My first run in the afternoon was my FTD, I tried to push it a bit more but I should have sprayed my tires as they over heated on the last run and I was all over the place, lesson learned...

This weekend I am going to spend some time corner balancing the car and trying to shift some weight to the rear of the car as it is a bit more tail happy then I would like.  I'm not sure how much I will manage to get but if I can get it just a bit more planted in the rear I think I will be able to take CSP and keep it.

Update!

The issues I was having with the ECU earlier this season have mostly been solved.  There is still a bit of hesitation but it is manageable.

Today I had the limited slip differential installed.  Have had a chance to drive the car a little bit and it is a different experience just around town.  I notice the car seems to hook up far better and accelerate better.  through corners I get a bit of under steer while accelerating hard.  Something I am going to have to adjust out a bit and get used to.

Tonight I am going to lower the car about 3/4" give or take a bit. If I can find the brackets I am going to finally put the rear sway-bar back on. I am hoping they are in my storage unit otherwise I will have to buy new ones from a Mazda dealer or a used parts place.

There is an Autocross event here in Helena this weekend, If I can manage to beat one other guy both days I will take the CSP trophy for the Montana Challenge series. Everything I have done to the car in the last week has been to ensure this goal is met.

First autocross and an Evo school coming up

Well its finally that time of year again. On the 3rd of may there is an evolution driving school and Sunday the 4 th is an autocross.

As the car goes, I have the shocks in, the ecu installed,  a rear spoiler that is 80% complete at this point. the spoiler will be complete tomorrow and a front lip will be installed tomorrow as well. 

Sadly I have not been able to get the limited slip installed yet. It might have to wait till I can afford to take it to a shop.

I have the new tires mounted and ready to go as well. 

If anyone has experience with a measure ecu and would be willing to help me out with some issues I am having. Please leave a comment here and let me know.

I'm seeing lots of hesitation when you first tap the gas pedal.  It also barely keeps running when you first start it up but if you give it gas for 10 seconds or so it runs ok. 

Tires and progress!

I finally ordered a new set of tires for this season. It is another set of Toyo Proxes R1R. I did end up going with slightly wider tires, 205 instead of 195.

The ECU is installed and working correctly. I just need to do some final tuning to get it just right.

I started working on getting the Afco suspension installed finally. the fronts should be in by tomorrow and the rear the day after. While I am doing the rear i am also going to get the limited slip differential installed.

Megasquirt ECU

I spent this afternoon and evening installing and trying to get the new ECU setup and working properly.  The install itself was super simple to complete.  probably took 30min or so and knowing what I know now... I could probably install another one in about 10min.

After getting it installed I fired up the car. IT RUNS!  but... it idles around 2000 RPM and I have not been able to track down the cause of this. We went through the calibration and setting of the base timing that made no real difference.

I have a few things to try once the sun comes back up tomorrow that I hope will answer some questions. if not... I'll be looking to the forums for some assistance.