This was a great read, so inspirational! Keep up the great work.
This was a great read, so inspirational! Keep up the great work.
Work has been getting in the way of working on the car, but I thought I would update you on a few things I have been working on.
First of all, after spending some time painting parts, I finally see what I am doing wrong in my paint work. I made some adjustments to the equipment, and my paint work has improved dramatically. I worked on refining some of the problems in the body work, and things are looking pretty good.
The worst problem I had was the fitment of the Treasure Coast hardtop I purchased a while back. I built a bracket and glassed it into the rear of the top to keep it from flopping. This was a mod that Treasure Coast recommended, and it seemed to stiffen things nicely. There was also a problem in fitment where the top met the windshield header. After massaging the mounting holes, and adding some filler around the edge, it is lining up almost perfect.
Looks like I will spend the weekend doing some paint work to the hardtop and interior, that is if the weather hold up.
I sent my hood off to a welder to weld up some holes and add some reinforcement to a few areas. I completely gutted the bottom of the hood to reduce as much weight as possible, but am adding some reinforcement in a few locations to maintain strength. Hopefully I get my hood back this week so I can start on the body work on the hood. It is pretty much the last piece of the bodywork puzzle.
Last edited by miata2fast; 02-21-2014 at 07:34 AM.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
Since I did not get my hood and it was raining on Saturday, I decided to work on another project. First, I removed the emergency brake years ago, and when I recently removed the carpet and center console, the hole it left was not to my liking. A piece of sheet metal and a little body work later; problem solved.
Still needs some sanding and another coat of primer.
I removed the factory seat belts, and it left a gaping hole on the rear shelf. I fabricated a piece of sheet metal and welded it at the same angle as the large panel that covers the fuel tank.
All for now.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
great choice, I also removed parking brake in my ride, next project is to seal the hole and gap left there.
It took me about two days to fab, fill, and primer both seatbelt holes and emergency brake hole. The body work is the most time consuming.
Cutting the emergency brake indention and filling it with a piece of thin sheet metal shaves a few ounces of weight too. An added bonus.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
Awesome! I want to see this car on the road already.
I got my hood back yesterday. Not exactly thrilled on how it turned out. The welding warped the sheet metal so bad that it is going to need a lot of metal messaging and body filler to make it straight. I am facing the reality that the hood project may end up a flop.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
Last night, I spent a little time hammering on the hood, and was pretty discouraged about whether or not I could make it work. I took the hood to the shop this morning and worked on it a little more, and had a glimmer of hope after beating on it for an hour and grinding the excess weld from the butcher job fabricator I sent it to.
I only worked on it for about an hour, and headed out to Bradenton to watch the Spring Break Shoot Out, which is an all Ford drag race event they have there every year. I forgotten how much it sucks to be a spectator. After one of my friends broke a transmission in one of the classes he was racing in, I headed back to the shop to see if I could make this hood work.
After installing the hood, fenders, nose cone, and lights I spent a few hours swinging a hammer to shape the hood back in place. You know, I think it is going to work out after all. Still tons of work to do. I will see how far I get tomorrow. Pics will come after it is not so hideous.
Last edited by miata2fast; 03-09-2014 at 07:52 AM.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
Phatmiata (03-08-2014)
I know it has been an awfully long time since I posted in this thread, but I have gotten quite a bit done. Some of the things I have been working on are installing both race seats, fabricating seat harness mounts, and installing harnesses. I also laid out the wiring to see how I am going to do the wire tuck. However the best news is I partially assembled the short block today. The only thing I have left on the short block is install the crank scraper, oil pump, MBSP, rear main, and oil pan.
I helped a friend assemble his motor last week, and ran into a problem with his MBSP clearing his main studs. I am sure I am going to run into the same problem, but at least I know how to fix it. We drilled holes in the MBSP to clear the studs.
Another headache is when I originally ordered parts for this motor, I did not have a MBSP at the time. I decided later to acquire the MBSP, and discovered today that my crank scraper will not work. I am hoping that since Ishihara Johnson is in Land O Lakes, FL, it will be an easy exchange.
That is all for now.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
Phatmiata (07-21-2014)
I would not put the crank scraper simply because those things are designed for cars doing race road where the hit a curve so hard the engine practically starves for oil. Besides with the crank scraper it will also be very difficult to align the lower transmission bolts. Do you want to go through all this to then face the possibility to unbolt everything to restart again?? I will forget it about it and simply install the 01 oil pan with corresponding MBSP. You will need to drill holes for the ARP hardware and get the corresponding motor mounts for that particular oil pan.
Last edited by Hyper; 07-20-2014 at 07:56 PM.
I think you have a scraper confused with a baffle.
The BP crank scrapper does not sandwich between the oil pan and block. It is attached to the main bearing cap bolts, or in my case studs. No problems with transmission bolt alignment.
I am not following on a motor mount issue. The external dimensions of either oil pan are identical for what I understand.
I am installing the scrapper to squeeze a little more power out of the motor. Crank scrappers have been used in drag race applications for many years.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
The 01 motor mounts are different as they also bolt to the oil pan. So what is the issue with crank scraper and the 01 MBSP?? can you post a pic? I would to see what you have in mind.Originally Posted by miata2fast
Last night, I looked at my oil pan, and can now see there is an additional hole for what are obviously the later motor mounts. Thank you for pointing that out to me.
I did a little researching, and 949 says if you have an MBSP you simply use later version motor mounts. I don't think it is absolutely required if you don't have them, but in my case since I am upgrading to better motor mounts anyway, I will go ahead and order the later mounts. I want to maintain as much strength as I can.
As far as the scrapper goes, the earlier windage tray is shaped differently than the later MBSP. The scrapper sandwich plates are contoured to fit whichever tray you have and are not interchangeable. The heavy gussets in the MBSP interfere with the scraper to a point that I am better off either exchanging them and paying the difference in price (if they will let me) or selling my scrapper and buying a new one for the MBSP.
95 in pieces, but good pieces.
The 01+ MBSP is super strong compared to earlier MBSP designs. It is also great insurance and way better for a stronger shortblock.
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