lolmx5's NA8

speed · Postby **speed** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:11 am

lolmx5 wrote:
speed wrote:It's looking good.

Would be a good time to fit a coolant reroute and a freeze plug in the front of the motor where the thermostat neck is.

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It defiantly would but I don't see the need as this is only gonna be a street car and not gonna be racing it. Maybe one day in the future ahha

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Fair enough. I consider it a design flaw and reassurance that the motor is being cooled as it should, regardless of conditions that the car is being used in.
My circumstance is different though and I need more reassurance due to my mods. A later 1.8 head gasket would also allow better cooling, provided it fits a na8.
I do really like the effort you go to and I find that it inspires me to do a better job

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lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:15 pm

speed wrote:
lolmx5 wrote:
speed wrote:It's looking good.

Would be a good time to fit a coolant reroute and a freeze plug in the front of the motor where the thermostat neck is.

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It defiantly would but I don't see the need as this is only gonna be a street car and not gonna be racing it. Maybe one day in the future ahha

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Fair enough. I consider it a design flaw and reassurance that the motor is being cooled as it should, regardless of conditions that the car is being used in.
My circumstance is different though and I need more reassurance due to my mods. A later 1.8 head gasket would also allow better cooling, provided it fits a na8.
I do really like the effort you go to and I find that it inspires me to do a better job

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Yea fair enough, ATM I just gonna upgrade the rad and if I run into problems in the future the. I'll look into a reroute. But for now it's just gonna stay in the factory position.

Thanks man I try to do my best because I plan on keeping this car for a long time

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lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Ive decided to disable the ac system for now and remove the aftermarket pipes until i find a good system used with factory lines to make the engine bay cleaner. not so keen on the diy job done on the car atm. Just need someone to come up and discharge my ac system. After that dash is gonna come out, heater housing (replacing with nb unit) and evap unit (cleaning) are both getting removed to service. Hopefully get on that by tomorrow.

heres a pic of the timing marks for the people that were concerned and for me to make sure it was done right ahah

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:56 pm

Those marks looks bang on now!

As for the A/C, the pipes were an after thought and the routing looked garbage from factory. Some Australian delivered cars even had A/C fitted here before delivery as it was cheaper for the dealers than ordering a car built with it. I remember one of the older mechanics (I was at Ford, same story with Lasers) saying it had something to do with taxes on refrigerant around the changeover from R12 to R134a and it also beefed up their profit margins.
If it's working I'd leave it, I couldn't bring myself to pay to dis-charge a system that works. Also you could risk the system being contaminated or compressor seals drying out if you leave it too long.

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:04 pm

Rolley wrote:Those marks looks bang on now!

As for the A/C, the pipes were an after thought and the routing looked garbage from factory. Some Australian delivered cars even had A/C fitted here before delivery as it was cheaper for the dealers than ordering a car built with it. I remember one of the older mechanics (I was at Ford, same story with Lasers) saying it had something to do with taxes on refrigerant around the changeover from R12 to R134a and it also beefed up their profit margins.
If it's working I'd leave it, I couldn't bring myself to pay to dis-charge a system that works. Also you could risk the system being contaminated or compressor seals drying out if you leave it too long.

thats the thing it doesnt work and looks sh*t, has aftermarket lines that just done look nice. I want something a bit cleaner and since lines are hard to come but without a kit looks like im gonna change over the compressor. but before i do all that and since the lines get in the way of the rad, i decided its best for now to remove and find a better way to do it.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:55 pm

Fair call.
If you're game to check yourself before parting with the cash to decommission you can try this...

Remove the Red cap (High side) on the compressor and use a screwdriver or golf tee to depress the valve very quickly and away from your face.
If the gas coming out is visible (like a vapour or steam) and under good pressure then you still have a good charge in the system and a responsible person would get it professionally evacuated.
If there is little to no pressure and the gas is not visible then you can pretty safely say the system has lost all charge and just contains air. Crack a couple of easily accessible connections (firewall) and let the rest of the air out before fully separating the connectors.

Seal the outlets on the Condenser, evaporator and Compressor with electrical tape so not too much moisture gets in to the components before storing them.

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:52 pm

Rolley wrote:Fair call.
If you're game to check yourself before parting with the cash to decommission you can try this...

Remove the Red cap (High side) on the compressor and use a screwdriver or golf tee to depress the valve very quickly and away from your face.
If the gas coming out is visible (like a vapour or steam) and under good pressure then you still have a good charge in the system and a responsible person would get it professionally evacuated.
If there is little to no pressure and the gas is not visible then you can pretty safely say the system has lost all charge and just contains air. Crack a couple of easily accessible connections (firewall) and let the rest of the air out before fully separating the connectors.

Seal the outlets on the Condenser, evaporator and Compressor with electrical tape so not too much moisture gets in to the components before storing them.

thanks for the advice, still has a charge so looks like i need a ac guy to come out, once its out should be a breeze to get everything about back together and running

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:13 pm

Small update, got my timing cover back on, having trouble remembering where the little clips got on he top timing cover if someone can tell me if I got it right that would be great. Also got the water pump pulley and crank pulley back on.

Also put the new spark plugs in and replaced the oil filter with a genuine one, old filter still looked good and new so did the oil but was not genuine. I used to work for Peugeot and we used to get cars in with engine light. Tunes out that non Genuine filter give lower oil pressure then factory ones so I've only used genuine filters in all my cars when I can.

Also since I now have a rear demister and fog lights I needed to have a space to put both bottoms.

I've decided and sourced myself a rear fog and demister switch from a UK mx5. Made a little harness and plugged it in. Here's how it looked

With lights on

Also got my keys cut with the help of my mate Stephen (owner of 96BRG). They look mint and are way better then he aftermarket keys I had before

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Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 4:36 pm

When you remove the aircon, you'll need to replace the bolt that holds the A/C pump bracket with a shorter one (it goes through the oil pump housing i think). I can't comment for NA8, But this was the case when I removed the aircon from my NA6. At first I just left it out and had a small oil leak.

LiteIsRite · Postby **LiteIsRite** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:41 pm

Gladiator wrote:When you remove the aircon, you'll need to replace the bolt that holds the A/C pump bracket with a shorter one (it goes through the oil pump housing i think). I can't comment for NA8, But this was the case when I removed the aircon from my NA6. At first I just left it out and had a small oil leak.

Hey Gladiator, if you get a spare moment, would you mind posting a photo of the bolt you're referring to? I've also removed the aircon on my NA6 but wasn't aware of this issue.

speed · Postby **speed** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:54 pm

LiteIsRite wrote:
Gladiator wrote:When you remove the aircon, you'll need to replace the bolt that holds the A/C pump bracket with a shorter one (it goes through the oil pump housing i think). I can't comment for NA8, But this was the case when I removed the aircon from my NA6. At first I just left it out and had a small oil leak.

Hey Gladiator, if you get a spare moment, would you mind posting a photo of the bolt you're referring to? I've also removed the aircon on my NA6 but wasn't aware of this issue.

I'd also like to see which bolt. Think there is 3 and I'm not sure which one you mean. I've not had an oil leak yet but sounds like I'm lucky so far.

Thank you very much.

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lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 7:54 pm

Gladiator wrote:When you remove the aircon, you'll need to replace the bolt that holds the A/C pump bracket with a shorter one (it goes through the oil pump housing i think). I can't comment for NA8, But this was the case when I removed the aircon from my NA6. At first I just left it out and had a small oil leak.

Thanks for he heads up I'll make sure I get that sorted if it apples to na8s as well, if I can't find a shorter bolt I'll just leave the bracket on

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