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Thread: MAINEly MX-5's

  1. #31
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    More rambling...

    I wanted to keep this car as "stock" in outward appearance as possible. While I plan to eventually add "R" replica lower valances, and have a set of Runabout mirrors that I absolutely adore (there's a story for another day) I didn't want to run fenders, add downforce with a wing, or otherwise drastically change the appearance of the car. I like minimalist aesthetics.

    Which leads me to one of my all-time favorite V8-Miata builds:https://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/Newton/index.php?UID=62

    Laguna Blue.jpg

    So clean. So simple. So OEM. Excuse me, I need a minute.

    This car, ironically, came up for sale in New England (I think Rhode Island) last year. Had I known that were going to happen, I may have never commissioned the work on mine. The major difference between when Flyin' Miata built it and now... is that the 2nd owner installed a Corvette intake snorkel and hood pins. I struggled with this, for a long time. In many ways, I still wish I had a smooth hood and stock catch.

    The bottom line is: there's not a lot of real-estate under the hood for an intake, and there is an awful lot of heat. The heat causes the engine to retard timing when it can't source cool air, which hurts performance and can degrade engine life. Combined with the fact that I was able to buy the appropriate C6 intake for considerably less than Al wanted to fabricate a box under the hood, and I came to the conclusion that I was going to give up my smooth hood in favor of function and efficiency.

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  3. #32
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    Flyin' Miata used to offer the intake setup as a kit, which included the front end bracing, hood pins, air diffuser, etc. I don't believe they still do, but for anyone looking to build one of these cars, these are the GM parts you need:

    15839508 $422.18 and yes 15776160 is included.
    15839490 $78.54 and yes the clamps are included.
    15776146 $22.84 this is the filter bottom/retainer.

    I scored the whole setup for something like $140 on eBay. I would have preferred new, but not at the prices listed above. There is a different C6 intake that has (for lack of a better term) an "appendage" protruding from the side. Probably some emissions thing. Don't buy that one, as it's near-impossible to remove the piece and keep things clean and tidy.

    Used Intake.jpg

    The "bellows" or accordion segment that attaches it is an expensive piece. You may want to skip it, if it's not included when you buy the intake. I'm probably swapping mine out for a silicone coupler to keep it from rubbing my hood.

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  5. #33
    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    That “appendage” is a Helmholtz chamber. Lots of Vette folks don’t know what it is either.


    No todo que es oro brilla.

  6. #34
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent☣Orange View Post
    That “appendage” is a Helmholtz chamber. Lots of Vette folks don’t know what it is either.
    Thanks! So, is it there for acoustics only, or does it somehow improve the airflow?

  7. #35
    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    The Helmholtz chamber is there to negate or reduce intake pulses from the filter to the throttle body so that the air flows over the MAF sensor in more uniform way. GM felt that ls3 needed it, therefore it has it and not the ls7.

    (From another source): The Helmholtz chamber dampens intake pulses ( air, vacuum, not sound) such as on and off throttle and the smoothens the transition between the two for a smoother running engine. It is a shock absorber for air pulses that happen between the filter and the throttle body.


    Stock LS3 with Helmholtz chamber in foreground
    3FEB04C7-4432-4F8B-BADF-9552EE51E29C.jpg


    LS7 (Z06) intake on left, LS3 on right
    B2B07185-FDFE-45F3-8490-3F05375C912E.jpg


    An example of a Helmholtz chamber on exhaust to tune out drone
    84BCFC4B-AFA6-4830-9C0B-A0E0DA2ED9D6.jpg


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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  9. #36
    Supporting Member John J's Avatar
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    Your air intake appears identical to the one I made when I built my car. If you look at my avatar now you will notice that the air intake is off the Corvette. There is major reason for having the air intake getting the air from outside the engine bay. When I had my car tuned at Fasterproms I was shown that air intake was at 140 degrees and told for every 10 degrees above ambient temperature the computer retards timing which reduces horsepower. Once I learned that fact my designed intake was scrapped and the LS7 intake installed. A subsequent tune of the engine showed air intake at ambient temperature with the LS7 intake.

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  11. #37
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    So, having made the tough decision to have my hood and radiator support cut up... I had to figure out a hood pin solution. Aerocatch Latches are popular, and with good reason. They are a truly innovative design, and quite a bit more streamlined than the old school chrome pin setup. My only problem is that I didn't really want hood pins to begin with. So, in an effort to mitigate the appearance of something that didn't originally belong on my hood, I set out to find a set in white.

    Aerocatch.jpg

    Easier said than done. Aerocatch hasn't produced latches in white for years. I could probably have looked into buying black and getting them painted, but I figured they'd chip and look even worse than black. After scouring ebay and google for weeks, a new white set finally appeared on eBay, in Australia. Unfortunately, the seller was unwilling to ship to the U.S.

    Thankfully, Daniel at JDMParts.Rupewrecht was willing to facilitate the purchase and ship them here. Ironically, I paid less than I had offered the seller originally. If you're looking for JDM parts, oddball wheels, or need a part in Australia, I can't say enough good things about Daniel's service.

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  13. #38
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    I think some BMWs had a "dual latch" from factory. Similar to the stock one in NAs, but with two latches on both sides of the hood, connected via cable so that the one pulls the other open too. Guess it would be somewhat complex to adapt something like this and I am not sure it is worth the effort.

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  15. #39
    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    It would be cool if you could hinge the hood to open forward like a Corvette. Then you could use the LS7 intake and not need those hood pins.


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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  17. #40
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HarryB View Post
    I think some BMWs had a "dual latch" from factory. Similar to the stock one in NAs, but with two latches on both sides of the hood, connected via cable so that the one pulls the other open too. Guess it would be somewhat complex to adapt something like this and I am not sure it is worth the effort.
    You're 100% correct. Someone's done it! I'll see if I can find it. I forget where I saw it (maybe the V8 Miata FB page). I looked into it (would have been great to retain the stock hood release as functional, and the smooth hood. Cost was the big concern. My lack of welding and fabrication ability and the fact that everyone charges $80+ an hour now made too much of an unknown.

    Quote Originally Posted by Agent☣Orange View Post
    It would be cool if you could hinge the hood to open forward like a Corvette. Then you could use the LS7 intake and not need those hood pins.
    That would also be neat. Would need to re-route the washer squirters, but that's not a huge deal. The hinge mounts and fabrication would be the tough part... again.

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  19. #41
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    So, having convinced myself that cutting my hood was the way to go, Al proceeded to do so. These next few pictures might make you squeemish - they did for me.

    Aerocatch Install.jpg

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  21. #42
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    Quite a bit of hood material gets removed... as shown here.

    Aerocatch Install 2.jpg

    After trimming, some paint was applied. I was grateful they just blended it in, leaving all the OEM stickers intact.

    Aerocatch Install 3.jpg

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  23. #43
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    My FM Turbo car had a Blackbird Fabworx Single-Diagonal roll bar. Hindsight being 20:20 as it is, I really wish I'd kept it when I sold the car. The increase in price, coupled with the increase in shipping, made replacing it a high-cost proposition. There's a thread https://mazdaroadster.net/showthread...987#post225987 discussing some of the various options, and as you may have already guessed, I went with a Hard Dog bar this time around.

    Rollbar Install.jpg

    During installation.

    Rollbar & Interior.jpg

    All done. That sticker was removed soon after arriving home. No offense, Hard Dog, but flames?!

    I'm very happy with the welds, the fitment, and the SFI padding and leather cover. I'm also happy with the price point. Somewhat less than thrilled with rearward visibility, though. I had a Sheriff behind me yesterday, and realized that I couldn't see his upper light bar at all, so rearward visibility is obstructed, as I feared.

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  25. #44
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power MLambert19's Avatar
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    I hope everyone's summer is going well, despite CV19 and such... now, what was I talking about on here?

    In a further effort to keep the car looking stock, and to retain the original mileage (it came to me with 11,700 miles, remember?) I had to find a way to drive the mechanical speedometer/odometer. I believe that Flyin' Miata used to utilize a ECD box from Dakota Digitalhttps://www.dakotadigital.com/index....rod/prd886.htm. In essence, you get a VSS signal input, and it gets transferred to a small electric motor, which drives the speedometer/odometer. The 90-97 cars had a mechanical (cable) drive from the transmission originally.

    After a rather frustrating experience trying to order a box from Dakota Digital (missed communication, no returned calls, failure to inform me that I needed to send my stock speedo cable to another shop), I cancelled my order and went with a vendor I've had great experience with in the past: SpeedHut. I had a custom boost gauge in my FM2 Turbo car from them, and it was a great looking, great working, customized gauge for reasonable money. Well, they also sell a converter box. I really like that it has nice integrated mounting "feet" and that you can also feed it a GPS signal.https://www.speedhut.com/ecommerce/p...able-Included)



    I still had to send my cable out, to the same shop that FM and Dakota use: Speedometer Cables USA, in Denver, Colorado. https://speedometercablesusa.com/

    The SpeedBox also has the ability to use a GPS to establish your speed. I may mount the antenna and see if I can get it dialed in a bit closer, because for now, the speedometer reads about 4-5mph faster than I'm actually moving. Not a huge deal, but like everything, I'd prefer it to be 100%.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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  27. #45
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    That is a great product idea for a need/market I was not even aware it existed!

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