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Old 03-30-2020, 09:28 AM
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Is there something at the front of your radiator not letting you use the center-piece of the ducting?
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Old 03-30-2020, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by flier129
Is there something at the front of your radiator not letting you use the center-piece of the ducting?
No, it fits. There's a picture earlier in the thread with it installed. It's not on because I am planning on fully ducting the radiator to the air dam. I know I shouldn't need it with the K, but the better my cooling, the smaller air dam opening I can run.

Hopefully I find out this opening is overkill and air dam 2.0 can have a smaller one. I've been dealing with keeping a turbo BP cool too long to do anything less than all the ducting.
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Old 04-06-2020, 11:53 PM
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So you may have noticed I haven't started the car yet. With all the Covid-crap, Chris and I have been trying to remote troubleshoot and get it started. Well we couldn't figure anything out, so pulled the valve cover to recheck timing.


well that's not remotely close...

Got an extension out and checked for TDC. Turns out that paint mark isn't quite right.


Much better.

From my measurements, this is about 64 degrees off. Not sure what happened, but hopefully this gets her. New mark to check timing again.

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Old 04-07-2020, 09:22 AM
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Originally Posted by AutoFreak57
Someone would have to confirm this for Z3, but timing my A2 the dots are supposed to be between the colored links... worth a double check to see if yours should be the same.. my timing below..



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Old 04-07-2020, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Padlock
Someone would have to confirm this for Z3, but timing my A2 the dots are supposed to be between the colored links... worth a double check to see if yours should be the same.. my timing below..

So long as he is consistent in aligning the crank the same way it doesn't matter.

I just hope you didn't bend any valves being that far off, Craig.
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Old 04-08-2020, 08:55 AM
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I agree... just wanted to forewarn is all so he doesn't have issues
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Old 04-08-2020, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Padlock
I agree... just wanted to forewarn is all so he doesn't have issues

Yes, when you first align the cams, the dots will be between the gold links. As soon as you turn the crank once, it won't line up again. The engine is not TDC once the chain goes through one rotation.

I was really shocked the gold links were that close honestly. I did not pull the chain off to realign.
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Old 04-08-2020, 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by boileralum
So long as he is consistent in aligning the crank the same way it doesn't matter.

I just hope you didn't bend any valves being that far off, Craig.
The mechanical timing was perfect. However, the line we were using for the timing light was actually ~64 degrees BTDC. So the plugs were firing on the up stroke.

In other words, no risk of valve to piston contact. Slight risk of rod damage due to ignition firing early, but I doubt the rods could bend at 150rpm.
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Old 05-21-2020, 12:36 PM
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Well I guess I got a little burnt out with all this COVID stuff going on. Pretty much ignored the car for a while. But back at it now!

Good news:
It runs!

Bad news:


Found some radiator leaks I'm addressing plus trying to clean up the heater hose routing. So parts back out of the bay.

Also got my brake ducting routed to the air dam.



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Old 05-27-2020, 06:44 AM
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Took some time to clean up my heater hoses from the twisted mess they were. Found a Gates hose (28466) that fit from head to heater core. And put in the TracTuff adapter and a straight hose to replace the pipe. Much better now. On the TracTuff adapter, there is a perfect hole between the intake runners that will let you get an angle to tap it in.





I also got a new cable stop for the throttle cable and cut 2 ft of the cable out. I cut a 1/2" more tube than cable to get my tension adjustment back in the middle.



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Old 06-04-2020, 07:29 AM
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Since I don't have a cage yet, fabbed some mounts for the huge mirror I bought.



Also got the car loaded up for the dyno Friday. Finally going to be able to drive it soon!

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Old 06-08-2020, 09:45 PM
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Had some issues at the dyno with the coolant temp sensor and the radiator is still leaking. Might swap in another radiator temporarily just to get the tune done.

Another picture of the tow rig at work before the dyno just because:

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Old 06-11-2020, 07:37 PM
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Chris has had the car all week. He got everything sorted and took it for a spin last night! Hopefully make it on the dyno this weekend!
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Old 06-12-2020, 07:59 AM
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Sick. In for results.
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Old 06-13-2020, 09:31 AM
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No update on the miata, but I did get some new wheels and tint on the truck! So glad to be rid of those chrome wheels.


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Old 06-15-2020, 09:42 AM
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1000% better on those wheels!
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Old 06-15-2020, 11:23 AM
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Well got it back. Could only get 198 on the dyno though. And it was real inconsistent between runs (+/-5-8hp randomly). So not really sure what's going on, but it drives well. Unfortunately, it's got a pretty bad oil leak on the back of the motor. So off comes the trans again.


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Old 06-19-2020, 11:04 AM
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Here's the dyno video. Looking through the logs, Chris found some potential issues with cam PID settings so going to try to get it back on soon.

Also, found my oil leak

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Old 06-22-2020, 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted by AutoFreak57
https://youtu.be/zdy7UhmKqpQ

Here's the dyno video. Looking through the logs, Chris found some potential issues with cam PID settings so going to try to get it back on soon.

Also, found my oil leak
I'm curious to see what your leak is from, I'm dealing with some leaks in the same area. Pulled the trans after my track shakedown and it appeared to be leaking trans fluid from the RTV'd release bearing interface. Resealed it but it seems to have started leaking again as soon as I got it on track this weekend, so time to drop the trans again.
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Old 09-04-2020, 11:20 AM
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Well, sorry for the long hiatus. It was the rear main seal that was leaking, got that replaced. While the trans was out, sent the slave cylinder in for a warranty check (it was fine).

Replaced rear hubs with some MiataHubs.



Started the ducting. Much simpler now.



Got it aligned. First time I've seen it together outside the garage.



Just sent the battery isolater out for a warranty swap. I was going to do SCCA TT Nats in a few weeks, but it sold out too fast. Still planning on doing NASA at NCM in October.
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