| MIATA BUILD |
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 | |  | April 21, 2011 - Ta-daaah!
The drivetrain is ready to install! This is the first T5 V8 car built at Flyin' Miata, and the new transmission caused a number of small problems that had to be resolved. Nothing major, just things like mismatched bolt lengths and different hydraulic plumbing, but it meant I spent most of the day dealing with them.
entry 810 - tags: conversion | | |  | April 21, 2011 - As with the original engine, I'm going to run both an oil pressure gauge and a warning light.
A 1990-94 Miata provided the sender for the former and a 1995-05 Miata provided the switch for the latter. Packing them both into the tight space at the back of the intake manifold was a bit of a challenge, but with the right collection of pieces they tuck in nicely!
entry 811 - tags: conversion, gauges | | |  | April 21, 2011 - Time to install the drivetrain!
Unfortunately, I hit a snag immediately. The shifter on the T5 transmission is about 3.5" further forward than stock. Easy enough to solve with a hole and a cover plate.
While speaking with Steve at V8Roadsters about this - just to make sure it's normal and not the result of having the incorrect transmission! - he strongly recommended going to a Pro5.0 shifter instead of the stock setup. Steve's been quite helpful answering questions related to this T5 setup.
entry 812 - tags: conversion, transmission, shifter | | |  | April 21, 2011 - A change in plans.
The plan was to get the car up and running and giving rides at the Mitty vintage races in a week and a half. We got started on assembly late because it took longer than it should have to collect all the parts. At this point, we could thrash on the car and get it running in time - but we'd have to take it all apart again to do it right. Remember, this car needs to be reliable like an anvil. Most toy Miatas only have to survive 20 minutes on the track, and if something goes wrong they'll miss a couple of sessions. A Targa car has to be able to take abuse for a solid week.
So we made the decision not to bring the car to the Mitty. I'd rather build the car once, and build it properly, instead of hacking it together just to meet a deadline. The new goal is to take it to High Plains Raceway for shakedown testing on June 4th. That should not be a problem.
entry 813 - tags: conversion, schedule, testing | | |  | April 22, 2011 - Here's one of the reasons I was having so much trouble getting any progress made on the car.
When I disassemble a car, I bag all the fasteners and label the bag. Driveshaft bolts go in a bag, front suspension bolts go in a bag, etc. I didn't take the car apart this time. The person who did simply dumped all the fasteners in various coffee cans and boxes. I spent a ridiculous amount of time sifting through them trying to find the one special bolt used to attach the main power feed to the cut-off switch, for example. I never did find the ones for the steering rack.
It takes just a little bit longer to do it right, but it saves so much time overall!
entry 814 - tags: conversion | | |  | May 12, 2011 - Tadahh!
Visible progress is being made. With a 3.5" hole drilled in the transmission tunnel, I was able to drop the engine into place. Actually, I put the engine under the car and lowered the car on top of it - while the original build of the car was done on jackstands in my garage, it's a real treat to have access to a lift for the rebuild.
There's a ratchet strap holding the transmission in place, looped over the roll cage and through the shifter hole.
entry 815 - tags: conversion | | |  | May 12, 2011 - With the transmission in place, I was able to locate the frame rails and bolt them in to place.
The mount for the T5 transmission has no adjustability built in, so I wasn't able to do this earlier as can be done with the T56 transmissions.
I did run into a small problem with the transmission crossmember - the bushings on the crossmember were too wide for the brackets. Some grinding ensued, resulting in hot pink urethane dust. Very entertaining.
As per Bill's suggestion, I tack-welded the bolts for the subframe to the floor. This means the rails can be easily removed without the need to pull the seats or to have someone hold the top of the bolts. That's a good thing, as one of the rails needs to be removed in order to pull the transmission.
entry 816 - tags: conversion, transmission | | |  | May 12, 2011 - Here's a problem.
The T5 has an angled rear mount. The red crossmember is correct - but the transmission itself is rotated about 5 degrees counter clockwise. The bellhousing isn't made quite right.
Since I'm aiming to have the car running, broken in and shaken down by a trackday on June 4th, I don't have time to mess around with this. So the T5 is coming out of the car and a T56 is going in place. That's a well proven and engineered solution and we have almost all the parts on hand at Flyin' Miata.
The required frame rails and transmission crossmember are being shipped out today from V8 Roadsters and should be here on Tuesday. I was planning to spend the weekend working on the car, but I think I have enough to keep me busy.
Frankly, I'm a bit relieved. While this transmission is used in the V8R Spec cars, the torque ratings for a T5 are lower than the torque output of this engine. Even a modified T5z is questionable, although the light weight of the Miata helps. The T56, on the other hand, has no question marks around it. I'll be happy to test the T5 later, but I don't think the months before the Targa are the right time.
Most of the delays in the build of this car have involved waiting for parts for the T5 conversion as well. It's been frustrating to put it mildly. But we're back on track, so it's time to get moving ahead!
entry 817 - tags: conversion, t5 | | |  | May 14, 2011 - The T56 is a monster compared to the T5.
Just enormous. It's also quite a bit heavier, although the steel bellhousing for the T5 makes up for some of that. It's a lot more difficult to wrestle that big boy around. But it'll be worth it.
entry 818 - tags: transmission | | |  | May 14, 2011 - The T56 is mated up to the engine and is ready to install.
But I have a few more things to do before it's permanently installed. Still, it makes my heart feel good to see these two joined up.
entry 819 - tags: transmission | | |  | May 14, 2011 - AFCO has come on board as a sponsor, and we'll be using the Targa Miata to test out some new designs.
Of course, the car was used to originally develop the AFCO suspension and I think it's the best setup available for Miatas regardless of use. My original thought that "a good Targa car is a great road car" was actually pretty accurate, and I was amazed at how well it worked on track. Plus, of course, there's that ability to hit speed bumps at 80 mph.
But between continuing development at AFCO and some lessons learned over the last 3-4 years of running this suspension, we're going to try some new things. They might work. They might not. But it's going to be fun finding out.
entry 820 - tags: suspension | | |  | May 14, 2011 - The Targa Newfoundland cars posing for a portrait.
One is a little closer to being ready than the other.
entry 821 | | |  | May 16, 2011 - Try to guess which clutch is from a four-cylinder Miata and which one is used for a healthy V8.
Try to guess which clutch is from a four-cylinder Miata and which one is used for a healthy V8.
entry 822 - tags: drivetrain | | |  | May 16, 2011 - Time to start with some of the plumbing.
First, an oil cooler. I'm setting this car up with both an oil cooler and a remote filter kit for two reasons. One, of course, is to keep oil temps under control. That's not liable to be an issue during the Targa, but it's pretty hot around here.
The remote filter is to move the filter up and out of harm's way. Otherwise it's mounted at the bottom of the engine and is just waiting for a Newfoundland rock to elope with it.
entry 823 - tags: cooling, oil | | |  | May 16, 2011 - The filter is mounted up beside the frame rail in the wheel well.
I took a remote filter mount from Flyin' Miata that's usually used on 4-cylinder Miatas and turned it sideways. It's fairly easily accessible but protected here.
entry 824 - tags: oil | | |  | May 16, 2011 - The previous picture of the oil cooler showed the bracket I built to install it in the nose.
It should get a fair bit of airflow here! If it wants to vibrate around, I'll look at installing some braces on the bottom but there's not much to brace to really.
You can also see the amount of damage - I mean "patina" to the nose of the car here. Also, I had some fun with the bolt colors again, copying the Martini colors with a Classic Red, Mariner Blue and a Crystal Blue bolt.
entry 825 - tags: cooling, oil | | |  | May 16, 2011 - Lots of fun with braided oil line!
Bill put a similar oil cooler on Elvis a while back so I knew what collection of pieces I'd need, but I had to make the lines up piece by piece. Somehow, I managed to do this without puncturing my hand too badly. The best tool for cutting the big -10 line was a chop saw.
entry 826 - tags: cooling, oil | | |  | May 16, 2011 - I forgot to take a picture of this earlier, but the fans are in place.
It's an off-the-shelf setup from Flyin' Miata for the V8 cars, and it's really effective at pulling air through the radiator. Cooling should not be a problem.
I'll have the engine out again, so I'll get a better picture then.
entry 827 - tags: cooling | | |  | May 16, 2011 - The front sway bar is a V8-specific part, again from Flyin' Miata.
The big engine needs a bit more room at the front, so the new bar has a kink in it to provide extra clearance.
This is the sort of build I'd expected. All the engineering has been done, I'm mostly just assembling at this point. Well, if "just assembling" means building my own oil cooler lines, brackets, etc...
entry 828 - tags: sway bar | | |  | May 16, 2011 - When I first built the car, I stripped out the wiring harness quite a bit.
And since the V8 uses its own standalone harness, I can strip it out even further. Here's what's left of the usual tangle that runs up the passenger's fender: just the wires for the lights. I'll tidy up the bundles when I'm done, but a clean harness is easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong!
entry 829 - tags: wiring | | |
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