Anyone wanna help?...Ft. Myers Jan 17-19

[3MiataFamily]

Well...my friend in Ft. Myers has a Miata problem...and an idiot son....so it is time for me to head down to Ft. Myers..again..to fix it. Motor swap next weekend

He is picking up a used motor today...I am arriving thursday evening...and it will be a working weekend...if anyone is in the area and wants to stop by...more than welcome. Extra hands..conversation..point and laugh at the old guy...whatever your pleasure...the more the merrier...

[3MiataFamily]

Minor correction...I am flying into Ft. Myers...my friend is actually located in CAPE CORAL...in case that makes a difference to anyone...there is one local fellow coming by on Saturday late morning to lend a hand for a few hours...but the more the merrier!

drop me a PM for exact address

[HarryB]

Would love to attend/help, but we literally are half a globe apart. Hope you have fun!

[3MiataFamily]

Thank you for the moral support...

[tsingson]

I wish I could lend a hand. Good luck though! I read somewhere that you have extra motivation now.

[3MiataFamily]

Thank you for the support...and yes, there is a big carrot that got dangled late yesterday...If I can have this thing up and running my sunday noon we get to go fishing with a friend of my buddy...that is huge motivation...gotta have my wheaties on Friday and saturday!!

[3MiataFamily]

Left CT about 5:30...I have never been on a plane that had to stop at the de-ising station before takeoff....in Cape Coral , FL now in shorts and t-shirt

[3MiataFamily]

Well..it's alive!!!

First...thank you Wade and Mark for stopping in to lend a hand..moral support..point and laugh at the old guy...whatever....it's always nice when there are more hands and voices in the garage....I know that Mark took some pics today...

Long story short...nobody is perfect..suffered a delay early on with the front main seal on the replacement motor..I brought the seal install tool for a big nose because I was told the replacement was a 92...oops..it was a 90...parts arrived and I struggled with the seal without the proper install tool...got another seal and we were off and running.

Big shout out Driver-WT for diving in and getting his hands dirty under the car with driveshaft and exhaust...those guys left about 4...and I finally got it fired up at 5...and BTW..it fired right up...used motor, 130k, fresh TB/WP and all that jazz..clutch issue addressed and fixed..all the usual stuff....then shut off immediately due to bent dash pot and bracket...swapped over a different one from the old motor and tried again...and we were in business...lifters quieted down after a while...temp came up normally..fan cycled normal..NO LEAKS...then checked the trans..all 5 forward gears worked normally and reverse..still on the jack stands...

then off to a very nice dinner and drinks

Tomorrow morning is drain the plain water and add coolant...check timing and adjust idle..install hood and get it off the stands for a test drive...then going fishing at 1pm

[tsingson]

Awesome! Enjoy the fishing!

[3MiataFamily]

Initial test drive went fine...a little smoking off exhaust and such from spilled gear oil and hand prints...a couple miles and a few trips thru the gears...

[3MiataFamily]

Ok folks...here's a heads up...as much as I want the following parts back up north with me, it just ain't happening...so these are FREE...in Cape Coral and must be picked up right away

1.6 crankshaft...this is a SNC but in perfect condition at the keyway
Complete set of pistons and rods
Oil pump
Oil pan

These parts are all still in the block..but the block itself is broken...one of the trans mount tabs was broken off...this was a fully functioning and driving motor before that corner was broken off...long and interesting story not for here

Drop me a PM for location ...and contact info

[3MiataFamily]

Well...good news/bad news

The good news...car runs and drives really nice

Bad news...trans tail shaft seal is leaking....got in the car to move it and there was a good sized spot on the very clean floor...gear oil...jacked it up and I could plainly see the oil coming from the tail shaft seal area...not something that s on the shelf locally and definitely no time to attempt even if one was available. Relatively simple fix...just not by me today..leaving for the airport in a little over an hour