GSlender's Track Beeotch!

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:01 pm

Dropped all my parts off with the great guys at The Torque Team. Glenn showed me through his workshop and discussed the work they'll be doing. Looked like a tidy operation and really interested in motor sports and their trade.

G

Postby **mrpham** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:13 pm

gslender wrote:Dropped all my parts off with the great guys at The Torque Team. Glenn showed me through his workshop and discussed the work they'll be doing. Looked like a tidy operation and really interested in motor sports and their trade.

G

Awesome!

I talked to Glenn last week, he's real keen to slap my engine back together too.

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:43 am

Great thread Gslender. I am taking notes

She is in great nick, body work looks perfect!

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:36 am

Update...

http://rednels.com/2013/02/09/big-rear-end/

Big rear end

As the rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot says… “I like big butts and I can not lie“

All-righty. This is her rear end, and it needs to be bigger.

12.5% bigger in fact!

I’m upgrading the 1.6 open diff and putting in a 1.8 torsen diff. I’ve also changed the diff ratio from 4.3 to 4.1, which will suit an engine with more power, making the gear changes longer and raising the top speed.

The first step is to loosen the diff shaft bolts with the hand-brake on, otherwise you’ll need to figure out how to stop the shafts from turning when you are wrenching on them! Then you can remove the rear brake calliper and disc rotor.

Next step is to remove the top and bottom arms from the hub knuckle. I also took the chance to remove the coilover by disconnecting the shock at the bottom and the top hat from inside the car boot – not an easy place to reach into but lucky for me I had my new air wrench that easily undid them for me

With the shaft bolts loose and the knuckle disconnected from the suspension arms, you should be able to finish removing the shafts and knuckle as a single assembly. My rear sway bar bushes looked a little spongy and worn, so I’m also going to be replacing them now whilst there is easy access to unbolt them from the lower arms.

Now I’m aware some folks take to the hub nut with the shafts still on the car, this means all that force and strain is being born by the diff and drivetrain. I’ve got an impact rattle air gun, which easy removed them without much effort – and when they were off the car and lying on the ground. I’d recommend you just take them down to a mechanic to have them removed – just easier and less chance of breaking something (and saves you from busting a hernia)!

I was able to get one of the splined shafts out of the hub and knuckle, but unfortunately, the other one just did not budge at all. I took it down to the diff specialist (who is fitting the torsen centre and 4.1 crown/pinion) and hopefully he will be able to press it out with a hydraulic machine and some heat.

Final photo here is the new bigger 1.8 shafts that will be used on the car. The prop shaft is also replaced as it is stronger and shorter (to accomodate the larger 1.8 diff).

timk · Postby **timk** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:55 pm

Pair that 4.1 diff with a 6 speed and it's pretty damn sweet! Very close ratios...

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:57 pm

Update... been slack and only updating the blog, but will post a few here...

Head’s on Tight!
http://rednels.com/2013/02/24/heads-on-tight/

Cylinder head bolts play a very important role in keeping the head and block together, and so I decided to use replacement head bolts. The ARP range of fasteners come highly recommended by many motoring enthusiasts. These bolts are specially made to withstand much greater pressures and clamping forces often required for racing engines. As an example of the extra clamping force they can withstand, they provide a special set of torque settings for the engine and I was surprised at the increase – now 80 ft-lbf up from the standard 60 ft-lbf.

The kit comes with bolts, washers, fasteners and special lube along with instructions explaining what is required. You are encouraged to clean the existing bolt holes in the block, and I used an M10x1.5 tap to trace the threads and used compressed air to clean them out.

The kit is well thought out – each bolt had a hex-key on the top so you can hand tighten into the block, which just shows they thought about the process and ensured it all works together. Certainly high quality stuff.

The final stage has me placing the head onto the OEM head gasket and the three-stages of clamping down of the head begins. Each time I sequence the tightening by starting in the middle and spiral outward.

In the final photo, you can see the special head bolts, fasteners and the hex-key bolt top. The camshafts and followers are placed in their respective locations and now it’s time to add the camshaft caps and torque them down.

Coolant Reroute
http://rednels.com/2013/02/27/coolant-reroute/
When Mazda designers selected the engine for the MX5 they selected the B6 engine from the then current 323 GTX. This engine was designed for use in an east-west configuration and engine cooling was achieved by having the radiator fed hot water at one side of the engine, and cooled water flowed into the water pump at the other end – this created good flow through.

But when the MX5 required the engine to be north-south, the engineers decided they could just remove a head plug, tap some bolt holes and add the thermostat and neck onto the same side as the water pump at the front of the engine. This resulted in a cooling flow in the diagram below on the left.

The problem with this approach is that it left cylinders 3 and 4 with reduced flow, and under extreme conditions they can be left running much hotter than cylinders 1 and 2. For an engine that would see track work (and potentially force inducted) this isn’t a good thing.

The solution is to re-route the cooling flow back to the original design as intended by the engine builders – to allow cool water to enter via the water pump, flow through the block and head, exiting the other side and controlled by a thermostat before entering the radiator and being cooled again etc.

So, I purchased one of the many Coolant Re-route kits (this one is from MX5 Plus) and set about installing it.

The spacer includes fittings for the existing heater and temp sensor.

It also includes a bung for the thermo-switch (which controls the fans on the radiator). The thermostat is now located here too, which means future attempts to change it are going to be tough, as it is now located at the rear of the engine against the firewall!

As there is no longer any reason to retain the existing stock thermostat neck, I took the opportunity to seal and install a 30mm welch plug.

I will still need to source a radiator coolant pipe that can reach from the rear of the engine and flow water to the front radiator, but apparently someone has found a Chev 6.0L GMC truck has a stock pipe of the correct diameter and length that looks as though it was made for the job! We’ll see… about that.

timk · Postby **timk** » Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:07 pm

Nice progress mate!

You can still change the thermostat after but you have to remove the thermostat housing and spacer as one, the bolts are too long to do it any other way.

Also check the sensors are grounding properly with that spacer, I found that the gaskets were insulating it from both the head and thermostat housing and the bolts mustn't have been touching! It could potentially throw the readings off.

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:18 am

timk wrote:Also check the sensors are grounding properly with that spacer, I found that the gaskets were insulating it from both the head and thermostat housing and the bolts mustn't have been touching! It could potentially throw the readings off.

Ahh, good catch! I will double check that before I put the engine in.
Thanks
G

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 6:01 pm

Been a long time since updating... but have been working on a 1.8 engine and ITBs.... will aim to update with some pics and progress soon.

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:53 am

Finally got the car out after installing the exhaust, and must say, I've still got a very drive-able car with heaps and heaps of torque - not sure what all the fuss is with ITBs?

It sounds awesome, goes like a fat kid on cake, and is lots and lots of fun!

G

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:27 pm

Congrats on getting it going. What ITB's did you use?

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:04 pm

Jenvey TB45s on a 1.8 BP4W head that's been ported and re-valved and MazdaSpeed CAMs - it goes strong and hard.

I'm also using the stock brake booster and so far haven't found any issues with not having enough vacuum - so again I don't think it is an ITB issue, but one of having a reasonable enough CAMs so as to not make it unusable/drivable .... that's my thinking anyway.

G

toppertee · Postby **toppertee** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:13 pm

Something like these

I'm glad you got the job done!

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:24 pm

Been playing around with the tune (road tuned) before I venture to the dyno (ITBs installed on the BP 1.8 with a BP4W head).

As I'm tuning I'm noticing I have to pull lots and lots of advance out of the tune I used fine on the 1.6 - obviously the fuel etc would be different, but was thinking the spark curves would be similar but perhaps not!?

I'm using the CAS from the 1.6 on the exhaust and I've check and rechecked the timing and all the other bits, but for some reason I can't run anywhere near as much spark as I did with the other engine.

Things I'm thinking of are...

1) ITBs mean you can't run as much spark !? not sure why
2) different head shape and therefore can't cope with det as well !? seems odd
3) high compression !? but unsure if that's true or significant
4) I've still got the timing wrong !? but have confirmed with TDC and all looks good
5) I have some bad fuel in the tank !? unlikely as I've filled it recently, but could have 2-4L of old stuff maybe

Keen to hear any thoughts as to what might be the reasons... or not

G

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:48 pm

The engines did get higher compression as the went through each model. Unsure how much was in the head and how much in the pistons.

My tuner said he found that power dropped if along way with out any getting det from advanced ignition. But my head has been cleaned up a bit.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk