Roadrunners SE

[Roadrunner]

Haha I made sure I put it in the right way, but I still slipt it off the hose before tightening the clamps to double check after it was all connected

[Roadrunner]

Attended our second track day on the weekend at the Marulan Driver Training Centre. Already signed on for the next one and are stepping up to the big track at Wakefield next year. I think this is getting serious
The wife is really getting into it too and wants to do more.

Here she is at turn 1. She came in annoyed that she kept turning in too early on the first corner and that my gear selections for certain corners were wrong and wanted to go straight back out to do better!!



The temperature was filthy hot on Sunday, somewhere in the mid/high 30s but the intercooler seemed to run perfectly, no signs of heat soaking at all (and no leaks ). Temps stayed around the 50ish deg mark post intercooler (75degs at the filter )



What I did realise is that I need to re-prioritise my next mods.
I think the standalone ECU and intake can wait, and a new/better radiator is now top of the list.
Followed by dedicated track tyres, our own helmets, roll bar,race seat (having your bum sliding halfway up the doorcards mid corner is not fun ) harness etc etc you know how it goes

Coolant temps at one stage got up to 108degrees so I backing off for a bit, this is the highest iv ever seen in the car.

Iv been recommended the Koyo 37mm radiator, but if I'm looking at doing quite a few more track days, would a 42mm give better cooling despite having to go to slim line fans and being really tight to fit?

[Okibi]

Glad to see you've been bitten by the track bug.

When you get your helmet make sure you get a helmet bag and a balaclava, both will keep your helmet much fresher especially after 30"+ days.

[track_addict]

I recently did a track day in my SE where it was mid 30's and also had some high temps (108degC was the highest I let it go). I had the end tanks taken off the core and had the whole lot cleaned right out by a local radiator specialist and they found the core to be roughly 20% blocked and the tubes were quite muddy as well. So, I chucked it back in on the weekend with fresh coolant etc and I have to say im amazed at how much cooler the temps are. Instead of being above 90deg when cruising and being able to watch the temps climb at 80km, the car now sits pretty on 86deg and being able to even cool itself when sitting at lights, instead of having the fans come on. The fans also come on way less on my drive home now (40mins through town).

I'd highly recommend having your radiator checked out before upgrading. It wont cost much at all (only cost me $120 plus the coolant I bought). It's worth noting the stock SE rad is larger (27mm) than the non turbo radiators (16mm i believe). Also make sure you have the stock undertray fitted.

[Roadrunner]

I did wonder about the stock radiator being partially blocked etc (especially after looking inside the factory IC )
That's good advice about getting it serviced. I didn't know you could remove the end tanks and have it cleaned like that, however mine is juuust starting to show tiny signs on crazing on the top so I think i'll just replace it with a new unit (and to add some bling )
I thought the factory radiator was bigger than 27mm, if its not then I'll just go with the 37mm Koyo (v2277)
Easy to fit

[Roadrunner]

So my speed sensor died. Again
I pulled it out and the soldered contacts appeared to be fine.
After a bit of testing (or random poking with a multimeter) I determined something inside the casing had come loose or failed. If it ran over the cats eyes in the road it would come back on momentarily but progressively got worse.
With rego coming up fast I was starting to panic trying to find a replacement. Thankfully Lou came to the rescue with a spare.
Just had to remove the circlip and swap the gear over.
Been working perfect ever since


Also received this as an early birthday present


Very easy to install. Stick a thin long handled screw driver into the hole if the mirror mount and push up, it'll push the mirror over the clip and off the mount.
Bit of double sided tape and slide the mirror back into the mount and there you go.
Love the look




Lately I purchased a set of carbon miata seatbelt extenders


Brilliant build quality.
Was a bit if trial and error with the collars on the bolt to make sure you clear the plastic tower covers, but still enough length to mount the bolt securely.



As you can see this holds the belt up on your shoulder. It feels much more secure while driving and it doesn't rub on the side of the seat any more (my seat is quite worn from the seat belt there)



Highly recommend getting a set of these. Makes the seatbelt soo much more comfortable and secure on your shoulder. Plus you don't have to go fishing for the belt behind the seat anymore!
Iv also found that I need to get my seatbelt retractor refurbished.
The strength of the spring when retracting gets really weak towards the end and you need to hand feed it back in. Iv gotten quotes off a mob in Perth that specialise in this and is quite reasonably proved.
Maybe I'll also change seatbelt colours when I get it done

This weekends project if I get there: install new Koyo radiator

[Roadrunner]

Got around to installing the Koyo radiator this week.

Here it is next to the factory unit.


I had to remove all the engine intake hoses to get enough clearance to remove the radiator with the fans attached. Easy enough.
I struggled trying to remove the bottom hose for faar too long. There was just no room to get multigrips in their to clamp down.
Not going to say how long I struggled with this before I realised theres a flappy door right underneither the bottom radiator hose clamp
Plenty of access now!

Swapped the rubber mounts over:



Picked up some rubber foam from Bunnings to mount around the edge of the radiator like the factory setup.



The factory fans bolted straight up. But this is were I ran into my first issue.
After mounted the radiator in place I fitted the bottom and top hose, only to find theres not enough clearance for the rubber hose between the neck and the fan shroud at the top, so had to remove the radiator again and file a bit back.



I'm pretty sure it was at this point were I managed to do this:



After putting it all back in again and filling it up, I noticed a nice slow leak, so emptied and pull it all back out, again

Whats happened is when iv pulled the unit in and out, being such a tight fit, iv managed to scrape it along the screws that hold the AC condenser in place


Thankfully a radiator repair guy said that this was an easy fix and the repair should outlast the radiator itself:



When i re-installed for the 3 or 4th time I was super careful with the screws. There was clearance but not much.
When everything was lined up, I also noticed the fan shroud was rubbing hard against the inlet tube, so had to file down the surround a bit to so it wouldnt rub:



Burped the system, and went for a drive today in scorching heat, the temp rose slowly, dropped slowly, was definitely running slightly cooler in general than the factory radiator which did surprised me considering how dense the fins are on the factory radiator. Clearly the factory unit had pretty gunked up fins which would have been effecting it a bit.



The one thing I have learnt from this little upgrade (and potential major f*^kup) is from now on anything to do with engine/fluid or cooling systems it can just be left to the experts.
I like the sense of accomplishment but when it comes to something that is detrimental to the running of the car its just better for my piece of mind and my wifes sanity to let the pros do it.

[Lokiel]

:
The one thing I have learnt from this little upgrade (and potential major f*^kup) is from now on anything to do with engine/fluid or cooling systems it can just be left to the experts.
I like the sense of accomplishment but when it comes to something that is detrimental to the running of the car its just better for my piece of mind and my wifes sanity to let the pros do it.

That's QUITTER talk!

Seriously though, it pays to learn/do much of this yourself, even if you need help from the pros occasionally, since you'll get to know your car better and be able to recognise issues before it's too late.

I'm still on the original radiator so plan to run the Dyson over the front and back of it before I re-install the undertray after reading about your radiator issues.

[bruce]

U can retention ur belts yourself. Google it, and utube have a few videos. I tried it and it sort of worked.

[Roadrunner]

Haha yes it is quitter talk

Was just soo frustrating and deflating!! Plus telling the wife you've stuffed a rather expensive radiator that's required for the vehicle to run is never a pleasant experience!
I'll get back on it though!

One way to get over a deflating experience though is car mod retail therapy, this turned up the other day:



Reading the installation instructions looks straight forward but time consuming. And will need to arrange some help from friends with this one though.

[Nevyn72]

Oohh goody, same as mine, just less shiny, did you have a look at my notes from my install?
Here it is -> viewtopic.php?f=28&t=61936

The supplied instructions are perfect for a NA, my write-up adds a lot more information specific for the NB SE, which you have, as there are some differences!

[Roadrunner]

Yeah I had a flick through your write up on the weekend
Even printed the page off for reference ;)

[track_addict]

Good work on the radiator install. Did you change the thermostat as well? What thickness is the Koyo? I'm planning my cooling mods at the moment and need to pick a radiator, which is hard as there are so many!

I found some very good threads on cooling which you may want to flick through.

http://www.miataforumz.com/build-thread ... 31/page14/
http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index ... 402.0.html
http://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep-75/ ... ead-79930/

[Roadrunner]

Didn't change the thermostat. Haven't had any dramas in that area so decided to leave as is for the moment.
The koyo iv got is the k2277 which is 37mm thick. It's about 10mm thicker than the factory unit I think, so slightly more capacity but less dense fins so I guess it's cooling abilities are about same same, but looks better in the engine bay

If you went for a thicker unit you'd have to go for some pretty thin fans and even then I think you'd struggle.
My sister in law has a 42mm? rad in her nb and it looks huge by comparison.

[Roadrunner]

So it didn't take me long to get over the whole "i'm never doing anything myself again" stance

Installed the MX5 Plus Twin Hoop roll bar over the last few nights.
Won't go through the whole install, it looks daunting but is actually quite simple, it just takes a while as you need to test fit about 3 or 4 times before it all goes in.

I also highly recommend reading through Nevyn72's post here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=61936 as the instructions are for an NA model and quite a few things are different or just plain don't make sense.
This was a massive help, thanks Nevyn72!

Heres a few pics:

All the bits and pieces:


After pulling out the carpet I found the same rusted cover plate issues that others have:


First test fit:


Its mentioned that the spacers might need to be modified so the bar lines up with the lower hole. I had the same issue as Nevyn72 where it sat a mm or two too high. But I noticed with the two spacers one had a nook out of its base. I sized them both up and what would you know, one is shorter than the other. Swapped sides and it lined up with the holes perfectly.



A bit of an idea on how tight it is working on the bar install with the roof up. There was moments were I seriously considered removing the roof all together!



accidental shot using the phone as a torch


As the SE doesn't have a threaded bolt hole, you have to use a captive nut. The issue with this is access to where it needs to go is from behind the seatbelt retractor. The instructions say to sikaflex it into place but even then during trial fitting etc it kept falling out. When you tighten and loosen the bolt, theres enough movement in the captive nut to crack the bond.
If this falls out during final fitting, you have to remove the whole bar, the plastic covers and the seatbelt retractor. Something I wasnt prepared to go through. again.
So using the bolt supplied I clamped it all into position and then drilled a small hole and used a self tapper to lock the two sides together.
Its not moving at all now.


Tightening the rear bolts after drilling out the rear shelf (Note: Instructions say to use a 9.5mm drill. Definitely use something 10.5mm or bigger. The biggest I had was 10mm and the bolts had to be threaded down through the metal before threading into the plate. 1mm bigger hole would have made this so much easier.
Almost done, arms cramping badly from being in contorted angles


Put the carpet back in and done!