I quit trying to keep my car street legal. It is becoming a pain in the tookus to get my car to pass inspection. Every year I had to spend more and more time and effort changing stuff out to go get it inspected and then changing it all back. I have been trying to walk the tight rope of a track car that is streetable and realized that it doesn’t do either of them all that well (Trey seems to manage it but I’m a lot older than him and willing to put up with less inconvenience. Now get off my lawn.). So as of a week or so ago I made the bold decision that this car is no longer a street car and will be a dedicated track car. This thread will track the re-build (more on that in a second) and, as we’ve seen with Trey’s thread, the inevitable adding to and taking away parts of my car.

Do we really need another build thread? No, no we don’t. Do we have one? Yes, yes we do. Sorry. Not really. Maybe a little.

Back story:

A few months ago one of my spark plugs decided to commit Harakiri and drop it’s igniter thingy, technical term, you’ll get a lot of those in this thread, down into my No. 2 cylinder to spite me. And spite me it did. So now the motor is out and at the shop being rebuilt.

Back back story:

I have a pariah car where Miataturbo.net is concerned in that it is supercharged. It’s a Silver 1999 with an MP62, TDR intercooler (217 whp, 187 ftlbs) with a PowerCard. Car has, I guess I should say had, plenty of power for my mad Rainman-like driving skillz, and I wasn’t planning on doing many power mods. I was concentrating on the turning and stopping bits until the “Incident”. Suspension is, in no particular order: 949 tubular control arms, Tein Monoflex coilovers (700 lb F, 450 lb R IIRC), RB front anti-roll bar with brace, stock rear anti-roll bar, 949 endlinks all the way around. Wheels are Gen 2 15x9 bronze 6UL with 225x45 NT01’s. It also has the Goodwin 4 wheel BBK (soon to be replaced with the TSE kit on the front (I do not like you stupid expensive 11” DBA rotors)), TDR brake ducts connected to the fog light holes in the front bumper. It has a 6 speed (killed the 5 speed at Eagles Canyon Raceway) with 3.63 rearend gears and Energy Suspension diff bushings. Spec clutch and aluminum fly wheel. Safety wise it has a HDDD roll bar and door bars, 6 pt G-Force harnesses. Comfort wise it has TDR Ultrashield seats (ok so I’m using the term comfort loosely) bolted to the floor and a homemade coolsuit thingamajig.

Future story:

As I said before the motor is being rebuilt and I, hopefully, will have it back next week so I can get it back in between Christmas and New Year’s (hopefully with a little help from Wags and Trey) while I’m off work. I have pestered Wags, Trey and Jeff_Man with endless questions and requests for part numbers and then largely ignored all their advice. Well I ignored some of it anyway. And yes, I already have regrets that I didn’t put 8.5:1 pistons in (this is the advice ignoring I was talking about). Hakuna matata, right? I’m going back with forged rods and 9.0:1 pistons. Cylinders are being bored as the seppuku performing sparkplug did a nice score job on the cylinder. Nothing major, but enough to warrant a bore. The head is being resurfaced, a mild port job, and 1mm larger valves and new springs and whatnot. I’m also on the list for the Reverant MS group buy. So I’ll be replacing the PowerCard. Hallelujah. Going with Five O Motorsports 550 injectors, Coolant re-route (still figuring out what to do here), and a catless midpipe. I’m hoping for 240-250 whp (or somewhere in that neighborhood) at 10 lbs-ish boost. I want to keep it at a non-drivetrain destroying power level because while it’s kinda fun working on my car, I don’t want it to become my full-time job away from my full-time job. Also, I’ll be selling my DD and purchasing a truck that can pull a trailer. I have a friend that has an “extra” 28’ enclosed trailer (don’t ask) that I can use any time I want so I’ll not have to buy my own trailer until some point in the future when we have the inevitable falling out and he says I can’t use his trailer anymore because we are no longer BFF’s. Until then, it saves me the hassle of purchasing a trailer and finding a place to store it.

Future future story:

Full cage, removable steering wheel kit for my Momo, fire system, aero (gonna need a lot of help here as I haven’t a clue).

That is all.

For now.

And some pic for you viewing pleasure. Or not.


Just another crowded day at ECR


Mmmm, suspension


Silver and Bronze Baby


On the way to the track the day my 5 spd grenaded


This can't be good


Nope it wasn't good


Not as bad as it could have been

 

I'm going to be the last guy on Earth without a tow rig.

 

I know a couple of guys that live here on earth that aren't into track cars, or cars at all for that matter. So cheer up! You'll have a tow rig WAY before they do.

 

Getting in some "Track" time while the car is down.

 

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/2715253639.html

I went and looked at it, It is a nice truck.

Oh... yeah, MINI. Good luck with your car, I really dig that wheel set up too. Your car looks nice, and I hope everything gets worked out.

 

What is the game and cpu setup?

 

That shot is of the Williams F1 car in iRacing. I usually run the MX5 in the Touring Car series or the Skip Barber Formula 2000 car in the Skip Barber series. I also run with a group in rFactor. I find that iRacing is more realistic and a better learning tool. There are a lot of people that will argue that. rFactor is cool because a guy has programmed all the "local" tracks for us to race on.

Computer is a PC, with a EVGA P55V Intel P55 SLI/Crossfire ready motherboard, i7-870 2.93 GHz Quad-Core, overclocked, ATI Radeon graphics card, liquid cooled. 3 Acer 23" monitors. I had to look up all the specs. I'm not really a computer guy. I bought it from a gaming company that a buddy of mine that's really into Sim racing recommended.

Last year I wasn't able to go to the track for 6 months. In that time I set up this rig. When I did go, I equaled my PB at ECR in the first session and by the end of the day I was almost 2 second faster than my previous best time. Admittedly I'm not the best driver and I have a TON of room for improvement. I really think that iRacing 3-4 times a week helps me improve even when I can't make it to the "real" track. That being said, it's definitely better to go to the real track. Just stating the obvious.

 

Yo OP, GL with getting your car running again.

That Banks turbo kit is nearly worth the asking price.

 

I should pick up the motor today or tomorrow. I'm pretty excited.

I sold the xB and got a truck so now I can tow. I'm pretty excited.

Christmas is Sunday. My 6 year old is pretty excited.

 

Brought the motor home today. Good first use of the truck.

 

Chronologically incorrect post: Engine and head pics before re-assembly. Can still see where the damage on cylinder #2 was. Otherwise purtty.

 

I'm starting another build. May not be done with this one for awhile, but it should be fun.

 

Intake.

 

After much angst and indecision, I've decided to bypass the heater core and do the reroute without it. Thanks Hustler and JohnWag for the advice. I also went the freeze plug route for the front. I sure do want to get this thing running this week.

 

Looking good! Need anything let me know!

-Sam

 

the holidays have not proved to be the bastions of free time that I thought they would. I have made small progress over several days, with some help from Wags and some phone calls to various other MTers. Mostly with coolant reroute questions. I've finally settled on BEGI spacer, BEGI waterneck (mainly cause Wags had them to sell to me), delete the heater core, block off the mixing manifold so just the lower radiator hose goes in, freeze plug in the front. I need to find a M8x1.25 that's 80mm long for the lower bolt on the waterneck then the motor goes in. Hopefully that happens tomorrow morning. I went to 4 places today and could only get 70mm bolt. It went in but only turns about 1/2 a turn before starting to get tight. So, here's to tomorrow!


Mixing manifold welded shut by Abe. Thx dude. Looks good.


Thermostat with the plunger thingy taken out and hole enlarged a bit.


Spacer and waterneck are on but still need a longer bolt for the bottom.


Trans is bolted up and I'm one bolt away from putting it back in the car.

 

Motor is IN!

 

Put a bracket in front of that freeze plug. I've seen more than one of them pop out under normal coolant pressure.

 

Feel free to flip the mixing manifold too, you can simplify the lower radiator hose a bit and leave a little extra room for the turbo/intake. Not sure if your manifold design requires it though.

Ah, supercharged. Teaches me to read before typing...

Edit: you can kind of see what I'm talking about:


You just need a 90* followed by a few inches of straight hose.

 

That's a good point on the bracket for the freeze plug. I'd sure hate for that to come out. Seems like simple insurance.