Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016)
Lol! I have never seen a diff catch fire like that. I think Andrew was helping me move it out of the way when the oil inside caught fire and shot out the axle holes. I think you can call it 'heat tempered' or 'field tested'.
Not too much excitement here. Lots of painting and painting prep. Installed the Frog Arms.
Painted the inside of the trunk.
Said frog arms.
Put plates over all the holes in the firewall that are no longer being used.
And put 8lb structural foam inside the frame rails. The foam is nasty stuff when it is active and expanding. It is so sticky that you can't really get it off of any thing it touches. Once it is hard, it takes a hammer and chisel to remove it, so I took care to not get it anywhere I didn't want it. I put bolts in all the holes that are threaded in case I want to use them in the future. You can see the blue tape over all the other holes. In retrospect, I would have used better tape on the bigger holes. The foam was able to push the blue tape off. So even with all the prep it still was a mess.
I would tilt the car to control the flow. It flows well for about 45 seconds after mixing starts and then it just gets messy. I would mix for 20 seconds, leaving me about 25 seconds to pour.
I marked a line on the inside of the cups to measure the 2 part liquids. You mix it 1:1. I used a third disposable cup to mix in. It would ruin anything else, so you might as well just throw it away. A supply of cheap funnels is also handy. These are the cone shaped paper cups with the tip cut off. Cheapest solution I could find. Cover the floor if you care about it. It will take force to remove the foam from the floor.
Here you can see the foam in the rails. I forgot to take some pictures, but my hands were covered in foam stuff and I did not want to touch my phone. I had already used a drill with wire wheel to remove some foam and then painted some. I had to add some holes to the rails to get better distribution.
I topped off the holes with a paintable caulk to prevent water getting in the rails since it now has no way out. Next time I will foam before paint. I was not sure I was going to do it. Thinking about doing the windshield frame in 4lb spray in foam. Still 2 part foam, but pressurized in 2 cans with a mixing nozzle.
Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016)
Jees I'd love to do a project like this!
Goood stuff!
I am curious to know if the frog arms are noticable much in conjunction with the doorbars. I LOVED what the doorbars did to my NA.
What is the expansion ratio on the foam? I would be interested to do this. I wonder if a DIY syringe made from PVC pipe and fittings would be effective to get the 1:1 mix into some of the larger, blind areas? Maybe something like this:
I love the progress and experimentation!
You may get a couple of shots with that, but this stuff is completely solvent resistant. Probably would gum up the works pretty quickly. They put it into spray cans complete with fancy mixing nozzle (replaceable) to get into the hard to reach areas.
http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html
I only did from the firewall forward, since that is what I had enough material left over from the other car to do. Figured it would be the best bang for it. They say nothing will dissolve it in the FAQ. And I doubt it will be legal for racing.
The Frog Arms really help with cowl shake. Had them on my NB and felt that they did more for the car than the frame rails. Did not have door bars on that car.
Maybe I missed it, but what is the point of the foam?
Trying to increase the stiffness and reduce chassis flex and twist. The car I started and abandoned had the foam and seam welding. I dream of S2000 levels of stiffness in a Miata, but will settle for better than an NB in an NA.
More painting today. Got the package shelf area done. Trying to decide if I want a soft top or not, and what trim pieces to put back into the car. Getting tired of painting already.
Not great, but most of it will never be seen.
Installed the ABS pump.
Included sexy leg in shot. Guessing that is Chris's leg since he and Sonny were there getting Miller running again.
Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016)
Got this at the 949 Racing swap meet. Going to give it a try and see if I like the ratio better.
Ran the interior brake lines.
Messed up and used a 45° flare tool for the AN fittings instead of a 37° tool. I guess I am going to have to pull the lines and reflare them. Not happy about it. Not real happy with how it looks but I don't think I will bother to redo the lines for that. Ran out of fittings, too. Reload and continue after getting ready for the next race.
Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016),MX595 (08-31-2014),WASABI (04-03-2014)
Whoa! ABS pump in the rear? interesting...
Looking sweet.
The Green Weenie Build- http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....en-Weenie-quot
Been knocking out electrical for the last couple of weeks. No reason to post pictures of the mess. I am not real happy with the outcome, but so far everything works. I figure I am about 95% done inside the car, 80% in the trunk and 20% under the hood. Need to install the engine and get busy on that harness.
This picture shows part of my interior lights. I took a NB windshield header trim piece, drilled a line of holes, installed a LED light strip, and wired it to the stock NB interior light switch. Not a great picture, but I think you can see what I was shooting for.
The rest of this series just shows the electrical in it's current state. I have had the dash in the car for trouble shooting, but removed it to work on finishing out the interior.
I have a zip tie fetish going on here.
Agent☣Orange (01-11-2014),Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016),kung fu jesus (11-24-2013),WASABI (11-30-2013)
Love this build!
Been too busy attempting to make money and not spending any on stupid projects.
Finally finished with the sound deadening on the tub:
Installed the rear deck carpeting and speakers:
Not planning on having a soft top at this time. I will go back and touch up the bolts and screw heads to make them less noticeable.
I installed some of the emission / engine controls:
And I have installed the seats:
Still need to add back braces for those.
Today I am going to install some Schroth 5 point ASM belts, tidy up some interior wiring, install the floorpan carpet, install the heater core, install the dash, and hook up the steering. Hopefully all of that will be for the last time...
Agent☣Orange (01-11-2014),Greasemonkey2000 (03-20-2016)