NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

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NitroDann
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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:22 am

There will likely be 3 versions.

A street version-
Metal reroute pipe, 4 good hose clamps, 2 short lengths of straight radiator hose, a thermostat block off plate with a drilled and tapped hole for the thermofan switch, along with a thermostat cover that has had its coolant temp sendor bung relocated and a heater hose barb added.

Modified version-
As above but with either no heater provision or no block off plate option.

Full Race version-
Metal reroute pipe, 4 T-bolt hose clamps, 2 short lengths of straight radiator hose, a blocking bung for the temp sendor location, and a welsh plug to completely eliminate the factory thermostat location sticking out the front of the block. This version will also disable the throttle body heater, for even more power ! :P

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby sailaholic » Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:30 am

Hey Dan,

How are things going with the COPS? What kind of prices is it likely to be?
I think you were deciding between OEM coils and aftermarket ones last i saw.

Nick

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:38 am

I am organising access to a cnc laser cutter to make the hold down straps to keep the coils in place. And it will be a further week or so before Ive confirmed that the aftermarket coils are performing well enough.

Looks like under 250 with all the coils, loom, cam cover hardware and a carbon fibre hold down plate, with some nice anodised nuts to contrast the carbon.

A few PMs here and there confirmed that the vast, vast majority were happy to pay 15-20 more for a nice carbon/anodised aluminium hardware solution, rather than none, or a crude aluminium one.

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:31 pm

So an update, this morning, an empty shell of a dash went back in, engine seals all finished last night except the rear manin, as getting the flywheels on and then torquing it back up is really a 2 person job.

Photos of dash, and lack of dash :D

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The as requested seat pic.. sparco
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Dash in place
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See how empty it is
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This is inside the dash, you can see that its not just an empty plastic panel.
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All finished and back together, this is exactly how it will be raced, with the passenger seat back in it and the stock seat for rego.
Image


Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby Dweezle » Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:24 pm

Looking good.

One question.
Wouldn't the chrome Mazda badge your've stuck on the tombstone and vent rings weigh almost as much as the Perspex in the hardtop??
And you wouldn't get rained on.
ALL MUSCLE CARS ARE CRAP
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except of course, the Almighty VIPER!!!! 8)

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:25 pm

Hahahaha. Ok ill go take it off.
it doesnt have side windows either though. Also its a curved window so perspex wouldnt suit, im going to buy some lexan and use wingnuts to hold it on so it can be removed easily. Still need an easily removable side window solution.

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby Guran » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:38 pm

Perspex can be easily heat moulded. Finding a way to heat your window and mould would be the tricky bit!
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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby bootz » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:40 pm

Dweezle wrote:Looking good.

One question.
Wouldn't the chrome Mazda badge your've stuck on the tombstone and vent rings weigh almost as much as the Perspex in the hardtop??
And you wouldn't get rained on.


Leave it on! Every mx5 needs a little bling to show our 'hairdresser' origins. :beer:
Bootz and Boof - On the road to somewhere.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:49 pm

Thanks guys !

A little update, there were a few of us around today, now there are 2 other cars with these cops.
Ive done all the engine and diff seals now. Just need to drop the diff and all arms to redo all the bushes with the energy suspension master kit.

Im still thinking on this reroute, ive realised a small snag, and ive decided to test it without 'fixing' the issue to see how bad it really is. Its to do with water temp sensors showing the correct temp. it will either be right or not.

Any possible cops are still at least a couple weeks away and months for any reroutes I thought Id add.

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby deviant » Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:42 am

Thanks for the picture of the seat...alas it is different to mine :lol: I dont think I am ever going to find out what mine is! looks like yours is covered in vinyl or leather so I assume spent a former life in an off roader of some sort.

Regarding the empty dash; Do you not need some way of demisting the windscreen as a rego requirement?

Maybe dont bother with side windows? My race car has a hard top on it, no drivers window and the passenger window is a perspex window with a naca duct in it, that window fell out of a V8 supercar and the last owner of my car managed to grab it and cut it down to roughly fit the window hole. It doesnt seal up or anything...its bolted in to the door and just flaps open a bit at the top. Even without the driver window and the loose fitting passenger window / naca duct not much air makes its way through the cabin and even if it is raining not much water gets in. Future plan is for either a rearward facing vent of some sort on the roof to let air escape or the prefered option is a lexan rear window with some holes drilled in it.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:49 am

Thanks deviant.

I still drive it though so id like some way of getting windows back in it easily on the street (parking in the rain...).

It may be an adr to have the demiister. I find a tea towel works fine. I wont get pulled up for it. Especially not if I do the pink slip!

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:37 pm

So I've decided that because I can I will do a write up on all the work I manage this afternoon, its 1:49 now...

Currently the car still needs...

All of the timing gear and belts back on the front, including timing belt crank pulley covers etc etc

Gearbox needs some spade connectors soldered onto it because I cut 2 wires that I decided were too hard to remove and replace the 'proper way'. Its damned awkward to fit the right sized spanner in there for the bolt style sensor they go to.

I need to reattach the water fittings. Ive been toying with reroute ideas for a few days and all sorts of stuff is bolted everywhere.

Then of course the engine and box need to go back in the car, followed by removing the diff and all suspension arms to fit new bushes.

Ive decided to keep myself motivated this arvo Id photograph and document it all and that way Ill feel proud if I get heaps done :D

But first thing is first, Im finishing off the engine mounts. Many have asked me how I made the first one. They are adjustable from factory softness all the way to welded in dragster stiff. Ill take photos and show you all what I have done.

Here's a pic of the mount I've yet to modify, its the drivers side engine mount.

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First we have to remove it, with this modification the whole mount has to be removed, not just the rubber bit. Like so.

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Next we separate the two parts that make up an engine mount.

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Now we have to cut the two halves of the rubber mount apart. If your doing this because you have a broken mount, congratulations. Skip this step.

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We can see that those studs do not go all the way through, so if you break both mounts, nothing is holding the engine in at all.

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Now remove the rubber from both sides of the mount, easiest to cut it off.
And in the next step you smack out those studs with a hammer like so.

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It should look like this, once the stud is bashed out and the rubber has been cut away from the plate.

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Next mark and cut three pieces of regular conveyor belt like this. Notice how the rubber is bent where I'm cutting, this makes it SUPER easy to cut. If you dont do this, well good luck cutting this at all.

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Drill holes matching the ones in the original mount, where the studs came out, and now all your pieces should look something like this.

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Next we must take the piece above with the bolt in it, and assemble that bolt, the half of the mount that we removed in the first step, and the part that the bolt is through in the above picture, and tack weld the bolt, this way it wont turn when we go to tighten it later.

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Next assemble all of the parts, Ive chosen to use Sikaflex-227 (just the regular stuff) to bond it together, this step really isnt necessary but I reckon just do it.On the other side I used araldite, it is still fine. When your done put a nut on to tighten it and let the glue dry.

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You can clearly see that when installed the nut is able to be tightened compressing the rubber blocks, this is like preload adjustment on coilovers. Because we now have a bolt that goes all of the way through, this mount can never break, and no matter what the bolt will secure the engine in the frame.

When fitted, it goes
Engine->Mount->Frame->ANOTHER RUBBER BLOCK->washer->locknut

The extra rubber block stops any harshness.

Now Ill have a 5 minute drink break, and then get to bolting the box back on the engine and fixing its water plumbing, ready for installation.

Dann

PS in 10 minutes ill have posted a HUGE timing belt and crank nose etc writeup.
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:19 pm

This next post will be LONG.

It will be basically a writeup on everything timing belt and crank pulley assembly etc related.

So onto the engine:
Here it is ready to start going back together.

Image

As you can see I already put the thermostat housing and cover etc back on the block. At the rear I've also reattached the sensor housings and blocked off the heater feed.

This is a short nose crank (omg oh no, dont rev it to 9K bro)...
You can see the crank nose here at about 7 o clock on both the pulley and the crank nose you can see the key (in the pulley) and the keyway(on the crank). You can also see some residue on the crank nose. This was cleaned off before installation of the pulley with some fine sandpaper.

Image

I thought Id go into the details about the SNC (short nose crank) thing here.
What happens is the water pump is directly above the crank, in the above picture you can see the three pointed star, this is where the water pump pulley bolts on, and that whole silver section behind it is the water pump. When you dont change it at 100k with the timing belt, it starts to leak (next opportunity to see this is usually at 200k).
It drips down into the whole crank area and causes some corrosion in between the pulley and crank nose. As this assembly transfers power, this corrosion wears away, leaving the tight fit between them, no longer tight. This small amount of play increases over time allowing the crank bolt to loosen and when the pulley is a couple millimetres from falling off the torque of the motor on the accessories is too much and the front edge of the keyway is chipped (more like torn) away from the crank, damaging it.

Image

Above you can see me tapping the pulley into place with the 2 keyways lined up with the key, the blue you can see is a low strength locktite. Consider this insurance.

Next we have the two timing belt bearing pulleys. The one I'm holding is just a static pulley, where the other one is a tensioner. You need to spin these whenever you have this apart so see if they spin free and smooth. If they are notchy or sound dry (no lube inside anymore) they need to be replaced. As these are both 17000km old they are fine.

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The next image shows the pulleys installed. The one on the right needs to be fully tightened now. The one on the left needs to be left a turn or 2 loose to allow it to swing across to adjust tension soon. You can see the left hand tensioner has a pivot point at about 5 O'clock, and the other black part at 2 O'clock is where the tensioning spring goes.

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Next is the black rear cover. This serves a double purpose. It has the bolt holes to secure the top timing cover (if you run one) and it also has the timing marks on it (the V in between the cam gears).

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Next come the cam gears being careful to put the intake and exhaust in the right spots.

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Next we throw the belt on. It doesnt matter that its not timed right yet, its just so we can tighten the cam gear bolts. If we dont throw a belt on the cam gears will just spin.
And even with the belt on if we just try to tighten them by hand the whole engine will turn so we must do it this way. Obviously be sensible here.

Image

The next few images are grouped together, they show where the timing marks line up.
You need to line them all up and then fit the belt. But for now just study all of the marks. You can see the crank pulley mark easily. Then there are 2 lines on each cam pulley. One goes up and the other matches the V stamped onto the black cover we just fitted a couple of steps ago.

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This top tooth lines up with this mark. Unless you have cut the front of your cover off ignore this, just make sure the second mark points up not down.

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Now fit the belt, being careful not to move anything. In the next image you can see that the left hand belt pulley (the tensioner) has been moved across to the right compared to the photograph where I zoom in on the tensioner and spring. This is the tight position. This is either set by rotating the engine around a few times with the bolt loose enough for the spring to set the tension or you push the pulley tighter by hand, tighten the bolt, turn the engine and then feel the tension between the cam pulleys, it should deflect 10mm with 10kg of force on it.

YOU MUST TURN THE ENGINE OVER AT LEAST 2 FULL REVOLUTIONS -CLOCKWISE- THEN CHECK TO SEE THE TIMING MARKS STILL LINE UP. IF NOT REDO THE LAST STEP. When you tighten the belt it pulls it a little towards the tensioner, this may move the cam marks a tooth to the left, this has to be double checked by spinning the engine clockwise at least 2 full revolutions. Once again if its not right redo it by moving the belt a tooth or 2 and try again.

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Next we bolt on the bottom cover and slide on the thin round plate that keep the timing belt from rubbing on the harmonic balancer pulley.

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Then bolt the harmonic balancer on, its held on by 4x10mm bolts, not that big 19mm crank bolt. If you havent moved anything it will line up with the 0degrees mark that one would use to set timing. Static timing should be at the 10 (degrees) mark stock, or closer to 14 if youve done the 14 degrees modification. Right now as everything is lined up for top dead centre this mark will also point at 0 degrees.

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Next bolt on the middle cover.

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Next we remove the crank bolt (the big one that we have been using to turn the engine over with) and liberally apply locktite. Next the bolt is torqued to specs. I do not use this method, but some people here will cry negligence if I show people my method which comes from some experience so I wont show it here.

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Finally, bolt on the water pump pulley and fit the belts. Sorry about the blurry picture.

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At this point in time Im ready to bolt on the gearbox and fit the engine back in. But im typing and its getting dark so ill head to a place with the net and upload this post.

I hope you all enjoyed that.

Any questions? :D:D

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby NitroDann » Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:22 pm

Still to do...
Remove all suspension arms. Replace bushes.
replace sway links with adjustable rose jointed ones (home made, youll see)
Remove diff, replace mounts with poly.
....Try and get this reroute happening.

Its so close.

So stripped.

So light :D:D

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

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Re: NitroDann's Long Awaited Garage Thread

Postby Okibi » Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:56 pm

Thanks for taking the time to share your photos and document the process Dann.
If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away? Neither would I.


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