Andrew's '93 NA6 - KL V6 swap

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:54 pm

Crikey - there is a stinkload of work in that sump... nice work.

mitch_f1 · Postby **mitch_f1** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:51 pm

Are you looking for any new best friends by any chance?

Seriously though, that i awesome work!!

RedMX · Postby **RedMX** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:23 am

mitch_f1 wrote:Are you looking for any new best friends by any chance?

Seriously though, that i awesome work!!

& on another note......
Well done on the build Andrew, ur making good progress.

RawSouth · Postby **RawSouth** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:34 am

Any updates mate?

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:57 am

Cheers everyone, sorry for taking so long between updates. I've been a bit disappointed by recent progress. The sump has a pinhole leak in the absolute worst spot. I can't get a welder into the space, not sure what to do. I was thinking 2 part epoxy putty but I'd like to find a better solution.

Hjt wrote:Nice welds mate, did you have many hiccups?

Thanks Hayden, the only part which was an issue was those two half tubes at the back, I couldn't really get the welder to the back of them. I should have put them in first.

mitch_f1 wrote:Are you looking for any new best friends by any chance?

Seriously though, that i awesome work!!

Thanks

I've been working on the oil filter relocation setup. It's nearly finished (and before anyone says they're not square :evil:

, they're not meant to be. I needed a bit more room for the pipes so I angled them slightly)

I've also nearly finished the low profile oil pickup. The piping is larger than stock so the lobster bends shouldn't impede flow too much. I reused the stock filter on the end, all that's left to do is make some supports for it so it's not all held by the two bolts at the front end.

I made a 25mm spacer for the flywheel. Unfortunately I have to remake this as it has about 0.5mm play on the crankshaft end. I haven't had to make anything this precise in quite a while.

Today I've been working on making an 83mm spacer for the starter motor. On the MX-6 it's mounted to the bellhousing whereas I have it mounted to the adapter plate, so I need the spacer.

I made a list of everything that's left to do on the car at the very the start. Here's what's left:

Flywheel spacer
Starter spacer (nearly finished)
Intake manifold
Wiring
Tuning
Exhaust
Coolant hoses
Coolant re-route
Fuel hoses
Vacuum hoses
Throttle cable
Intake piping
Belt tensioner

Half the stuff on the list looks pretty simple i.e the hoses and throttle cable. The only really difficult thing left is the intake manifold.

Not long now!

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:43 pm

Epic.

mitch_f1 · Postby **mitch_f1** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:13 am

zossy1 wrote:Epic.

I second this notion!!

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:50 pm

Today I didn't get much done, just finished the starter motor spacer. Tick it off the list!

As soon as I've remade the flywheel spacer and cut out a section of the bellhousing I can put the engine in for the second last time! It has to come out again because my clutch hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully it won't be long until the first start, just wiring and the intake manifold once the engine goes in.

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:15 pm

I mentioned earlier that I had a leak in the sump in a spot which was difficult to reach. I decided to grind out the whole area and weld it up again. No more leaks! Unfortunately the only pic I have is from after grinding but before welding.

I painted the sump then remembered I had to put a new dipstick fitting on the back of it :mad: So I had to sand it back and re-paint that section of it after welding.

I also got the starter mounted to the adapter plate

Then I had to cut out part of the bellhousing to fit the starter

Finally, this morning I've been working on a new flywheel spacer. All that's left to do is drill the 8 holes in it and it's finished! The fit on this one is much better on the crankshaft and the flywheel. 0.02mm play, I think I can live with that

Getting closer...

I should be able to finish that today, weld on the supports for the oil pickup and trim a bit off the adapter plate.

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:38 pm

Well, I finished off the flywheel spacer this afternoon

I also welded on the supports for the oil pickup

And trimmed a bit off the adapter plate. The bit which really needed attention was around the slave cylinder.

I also painted the sump. It's white because I didn't have any black paint and this will show up any oil leaks

Here's the dipstick tube

Tomorrows job is to make a new 36-1 trigger wheel. Once that's made I can move on to the intake manifold and wiring, which is all that's left to do before the first start :mrgreen:

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:47 pm

Today I remade the 36-1 trigger wheel. The first one I made slipped in the chuck when I was cutting the grooves, this time I cut them while it was mounted to the pulley. No slipping

It's TIG welded to the original 6 tooth wheel as I don't have any experience metal spinning and to hog that from solid would take FOREVER.

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:42 am

In case anyone out there was wondering, THIS thread is evidence of why there aren't a bunch of KL-powered MX5s driving around...

jerrah · Postby **jerrah** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:03 am

Beelzeboss wrote:Would anyone be interested in a swap kit of an adapter plate, a set of engine mounts, wiring diagram (for aftermarket ECU), list of part numbers for hoses, etc?

I sure would! I really miss my last V6 and I think they would really suit the MX5!

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:53 pm

That's a big hole in the belhousing, will that affect its rigidity?

Great thread, great build!

:mrgreen:

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:05 pm

In case anyone out there was wondering, THIS thread is evidence of why there aren't a bunch of KL-powered MX5s driving around...

Lol, it is quite a bit more work than I anticipated but it's not too bad.

Would anyone be interested in a swap kit of an adapter plate, a set of engine mounts, wiring diagram (for aftermarket ECU), list of part numbers for hoses, etc?

I sure would! I really miss my last V6 and I think they would really suit the MX5!

Hehe, I think it will be fantastic when it's done. I'm still up in the air as to whether to make a few swap kits. There are a LOT of custom parts required for the swap and the intake manifold and sump are modified stock items, so they'd have to be done on an exchange basis.

That's a big hole in the belhousing, will that affect its rigidity?

Great thread, great build!

Thanks greenMachine! I don't think the hole in the bellhousing will affect things very much. It's bolted to the adapter plate on either side of the cutout.

I had a bit of a delay because the sump hit the subframe :evil:

I'm not going to modify the subframe or chassis at all because it will be much easier to engineer if they're left as-is, so I've had to cut and weld the sump a bit more to fit. That's all done and painted so the engine should go into the car tomorrow morning.
At the moment the intake manifold flange is pre-heating in the oven :lol:

in preparation for welding. This is my first time welding cast aluminium, fingers crossed it goes OK.