Around Easter of 2014 i bought a "new to me" 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata

2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 #3693
GT Package
Flyin' Miata - FM2 Kit
Hydra Nemesis
FM Level 2 Clutch and 10.3lb Flywheel
HardDog Sport M2 Roll Bar
and a whole bunch of other goodies that i dont feel like typing at this present moment haha

 

a week after buying the car, I spun a bearing on Easter (we are guessing due to low oil from an unknown at the time rear main seal).
It set in my garage for a several months while i figured out what to do, but in July i started the rebuild....
i decided to just replace the bearings and try to get it back on the road this summer so i can atleast hit one or two autocrosses and learn the dynamics of the car, a full blown rebuild with forged internals may happen down the road but for right now its just not in the budget.


















got the engine out and found the rear main was shot, the clutch and flywheel were about shot, so they got added to the list for replacement.
I have a FM level 2 Happy Meal Clutch kit with 10.3lb flywheel on its way, should be here Monday







once the motor was on the stand i started to tear it down











the damage....








Crank was still good, little dirty but no damage...



put the new bearings in, polished the crank and she was ready to start going back together (yes everthing was measured and checked, i just dont have pics of any of that stuff haha"

 

Well ****, welcome twin. Lots to learn here.

 

decided while im waiting on a few parts to come in, i would put the stock belts back in to give me the option of harnesses or oem seatbelts, mainly because harnesses arent technically legal in PA, but it also it allows easier use if i just want to go for a little stroll in the car, i kept the harnesses in for when autocrossing.
and while doing that i decided to do the foamectomy to the drivers side seat





I decided to cut straight across the bottom of the "seam" between the bolsters and the middle, took an 1-1.5" out and it seems much improved so far definitely lowered me in the car a little which being 6-1 ill take all i can get haha

the finished product, cant really tell too much from looking at it that i took much out but i could tell the difference when sitting in the seat

 

Well this past weekend started the "get the miata back up and running" part of the whole phase

The motor is as buttoned up as can be and ready to go in the car






Almost there!



Got the motor in finally Saturday evening, put the hood back on and figured id start fresh sunday with all the electrical stuff, and reinstalling everything else





Got almost everything hooked up, there are some electrical gremlins that wont allow the car to start right yet BUT its close! just hope i can figure out what it is soon cause ive been aching to drive this car since it broke over Easter...

 

SHES ALIVE!!!!!


this car is a bit of a rough start normally but that was only enhanced by this first start... ill get all that figured out in due time but for now, she runs!!!!!

 

Welcome.
Love the progress and all the pictures.
Beautiful msm you got there.

I'd be really nervous just replacing the bearings like that without inspecting the rest of the engine for damage due to oil starvation. But if it runs good, then congrats.

 

thanks man, i appreciate the compliment on the car. its got a bit of ways to go for me personally as its still how i bought it but im looking forward to the fun i can have with the car.

we checked alot of things in the motor and everything else seemed fine. cyl 2 rod bearing spun and cyl3 rod bearing was looking rough. both 2 and 3 were also slightly loose. Journals were all still good (still replaced them)
i feel like i caught it pretty early and saved alot of other potential issues by shutting it down quickly.
in a couple years i can see going full build at that point but a week after buying the car the money just wasnt there for a full build. plus with no idea in what direction i want to go with the car, i felt the best thing for now was to just get it running and learn the dynamics of the handling and the car itself

 

Makes sense.

What clutch did you yank out? looks like an extremely uncomfortable unsprung 6puck ceramic

 

i dont know what brand it was as the Previous owner did it, but it was a VERY uncomfortable and hard to drive unsprung 6 puck with oem flywheel, Its been replaced with the level 2 FM happy meal kit with 10lb flywheel.

 

Have you checked compression? Sounds very uneven in the video.

 

MSMs with open exhaust are REALLY burble-y, like a Subie.

That said... the video is making it sound a bit worse than normal, or maybe it IS that bad. Sounds like it's on 3 cylinders.

 

do you know Ryan? with a 14 mustang? he just asked me on another site about a freshly rebuilt spun-bearing msm that's mis-firing on startup.

is that you ? lol

if it is - 1st thing I'd check is the crank sensor gap

 

the car has a 3" exhaust with a high flow cat and nothing else so yea its going to sound very burble-y. The video does make it sound a little worse than it does in person but you are also correct, I think it does have a misfire and im going to try figuring out which one this evening hopefully


yeah i know Ryan, and yeah that would be me haha. small world!
i am currently trying to track down the misfire. im a bit of a noob with this platform still, so the last couple days were spent researching stuff.
what should the gap be? i believe i put it back in the right spot..
im also going to try to find time tonight to pull plugs and see if any of that makes a difference.

 

credit card thickness. 1mm?

 

Thank you, ill check it this evening!

 

spacing on the crank sensor is close, much closer and it would get hit haha

I checked plugs and they are filthy so im def having a spark issue given those plugs were brand new and have only seen a whopping 3 miles and about 30 mins of varied idle in the driveway.

im starting to lean towards the coil packs as i was talking to the Previous Owner and he said he never replaced them so they lived 97k, ill try tracking down a local and see if i can borrow theirs to test them and if that fixes the issue ill order new ones.

Sorry if this is a noob questiong but is there a way to test the two coils? in case i cant track down any locals with an 01-05 miata haha

 

nice MSM!!!

 

Do the MSM have the same coil packs (and coil pack troubles) as the 99/00 NB1's? I never had coil problems with mine, but switched to COP when doing the turbo installation. If you need good 50,000 mile coil packs and they are the same as the 99/00 cars shoot me a PM.

Keith

 

Nope. MSM has the VVT ignition setup. Two COP, wasted spark.