NB MX-5 Hey, it's Minnie!

[chiefmg]

The MSM front sway I bought from eBay while I was overseas for training was waiting for me when I got home, as well as the Porter-Cable polisher. That is a very nice piece of equipment, I'm looking forward to using it. Just have to decide what sort of polish I want to use.

I ended up getting the stock rear sway (as well as the bulkhead sheet metal piece for the rear) from Midwest Miata. They are located just south of Columbus Ohio, I drove up and got what I needed. It was nice meeting the guy who operates the local Miata breaker, sucks for me that he is that far away. Bonus for the trip was finishing up my clutch break-in. Before I left home I loaded up the second save point I had for the MS to see if there was anything done after that which was causing the excess gas. Unfortunately that didn't change a thing. I pulled the plugs this morning and they all looked good, however I'm going to do some research and make sure I have the correct gap on them. Could be that the gap is off and the spark is getting interfered with under boost.

 

[chiefmg]

Checked the plug gap and they were all different. Not sure how that happened, but they were reset to 0.040 (per TSE COP instructions).

Was up early that morning, finally joined the MeqaSquirt forum. Updated my TunerStudio firmware. Dove into some wiring diagrams to figure out where I could change the ground connection for the wideband.

Swapped out the disconnected JR rear sway for the stocker. Cut down my extra thermostat housing and dropped it off at the welder to get it capped. I then drilled a hole for the tubing that the two small hoses go to (I know, most just get rid of that but I am not). That should take care of the minor occasional leakage from that damn block-off plate I keep having. I'll post a picture of how it looks once I get it all done.

 

[chiefmg]

Had some time to myself so swapped out the front JR sway for the MSM. It started raining before I could take her out for a spin to see how things felt.

 

[chiefmg]

Here's an initial view of the modified thermostat housing:

Guy who welded it knew I was going to be drilling a hole so put the centering spot in for me.

 

[chiefmg]

The change in sway bar sizes was a success. The car felt more supple over the road surface, and while I did't have the chance to really push things, it did feel better in the corners as well.

I finally ran a dedicated ground wire from the intake manifold ground point for the AFR and boost gauges. I didn't notice any change in the readings on the AFR but that's not saying it wasn't an improvement. Looked like rain shortly so I'd wait until tomorrow to take her out and do some tuning. I also regapped the plugs to 0.035, and relieved the base of the COPS where they were hitting on the valve cover. I did not see this before and were it not for buying another set which had this done, I would not have known of it (it was not mentioned in the instructions from TSE). If you don't do this then you will end up with some indents on either side of the plug valley on your valve cover.

 

[chiefmg]

Attended the AutoInterests track day at Mid-Ohio early May 2014. Got to meet up with a lot of folks from a local forum. Track day went well, car ran great the whole day. Handling wasn't where I thought it should be, but I don't know why. Only had one moment, the back came around a bit on me going through the Carousel. Had another Miata behind me, he said he got it on video.

On the drive home I started seeing occasional low (rich) AFR's while cruising. It got worse the closer I got to home, so now I had to look into that. Just glad it didn't happen at the track.

For what it's worth, mileage on a supercharged Miata running rich in boost at the track is about 10 mpg.

 

[chiefmg]

Ordered a set of generic 550cc injectors off eBay the next week. It took them four days (two business) to get them shipped so I have yet to receive them. Did receive the set of Atlantic Design interior bags I bought though, they are very nice and have a large volume. I didn't know they ever made anything other than the trunk mount bags until I saw these on eBay.

 

[chiefmg]

Finally got my injectors and installed them. Managed to screw up a couple of the O-rings at the top (in the rail), first I knew of it was when I stepped into the pool of gas on the garage floor. So those came out (initially I thought maybe they were too short despite checking them before installation) and the suspect EV14s went back in. However, a couple of the O-rings on the adapters failed so I washed the garage floor again. Remember the saying when it rains, it pours? That was my day. Luckily I still had the original injectors so after measuring the new ones (again) to ensure they were the right length, I used the original O-rings and made sure I got them in there correctly. Fired her up and she was running really well with no sign of the AFR wackiness I had. Now I just need to locate a good facility that can rework the EV14s.

I picked up a a ported/reworked head from a local who decided to go a different route with his car (V8 swap). I won't be installing it until I am sure I have all the other little niggling issues resolved.

 

[chiefmg]

Gave her a good bath. Back into the garage, up onto jack stands with the wheels off. Cleaned the inside of the wheels. Realigned/tightened the intercooler inlet tube, one of the clamps moved and I was getting a boost leak. Did some touch-up of paint chips, once those were dry gave her a coat of wax. Once my youngest got home from school, I employed his leg and flushed the brakes/clutch. He's getting pretty proficient at that! Wheels are back on, vacuumed the interior and trunk. Scrubbed the boot cover. Just getting ready for a run on Saturday.

Also adjusted the e-brake and pumped up the spare tire. I also finally got around to removing the yellow paint from the rear calipers. Fronts were done a while ago. I'll have to pull everything and likely use some sort of media blasting to get it all, but at least it isn't peeking out from the wheels.

 

[chiefmg]

Went on the local group drive on Saturday and had a blast. On one section of road that was rough, my AFR gauge kept going blank and then restarting (like when the car is started). At first I didn't know what was going on, then realized the ground bolt that was in the intake manifold was loose. I had noticed this when I was putting it in the last time but it seemed to be ok (I knew it was stripped). My local hardware store that carries Heli-coil kits was closed yesterday so I had to wait until the next morning to take care of this. Now the bolt is fitted into the stainless threaded insert so I shouldn't have that issue again.

 

[chiefmg]

Managed to score a BNIB Mazdaspeed intake cam. Saved about $60 over buying it from a vendor (I love when people change their minds). It will be going on the reworked head whenever I get around to installing it.

Fast forward a few months (was back at work), after I got home I pulled the injector harness, didn't realize it but the coils are also on that circuit. This meant I had to transfer the wiring for my COPs over. Had to do some other stuff so didn't get around to doing that right away.

 

[chiefmg]

Transferred the COPs wiring over, as well as extending the wires for the rear temperature sensor. Got it all buttoned back up and went to cars & coffee. Might have been my imagination, but I didn't notice the gas smell as before. I did notice the AFR was lower (richer) than before, so that tells me that something wasn't kosher. Now I just have to do some more tuning. Autocross the following day!

 

[chiefmg]

Here's one of my runs from that autocross in Wilmington:

 

[chiefmg]

Did some auto tuning of the MS. The gas smell under boost was nearly gone, so it must have been some issue with the wiring along with the tune I had done during the problem. I had to do some more tuning to get all the cells to turn green but it was on the right track.

I changed the air filter back to the original larger one I had, the gas smell under boost had increased and I was thinking maybe it wasn't getting enough air. Changed oil/filter, swapped out the wheels/tires for the Lightspeeds/Toyos, disconnected the breather line from the valve cover to the supercharger inlet and installed a K&N filter in its place. Also replaced the cruise control vacuum motor and connected it to the 'charger inlet spigot, I would try it out the next time I drove it.

 

[CTt3P5]

Wow...this is only up until 2014ish? You have one very good memory or make some darn good notes.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[chiefmg]

Nah, I'm copy/pasting from another forum. I am finally saving everything as a Word document so I can cut out a step if I do this again.

 

[chiefmg]

Pulled the wideband O2 sensor and calibrated it, then put it back in where I used to run it. I had previously moved it just downstream of the header outlet for ease of access, but I wasn't 100% sure that was a good location. Tested the cruise control but it still wasn't working, so I needed to dig into it to find out what the problem is.

After my last dive into the exhaust, I had some contact between the front flange on the Roadster Sport midpipe and the butterfly brace (evidenced by some vibration). Dropped the front of the brace down and did a little clearancing between the two. Nothing like an angle grinder! A short test drive showed all was well.

 

[chiefmg]

Back to work in October. Since I didn't want my wife to get lax while I was gone, I bought a set of the CarbonMiata seatbelt extenders. Right now if you remember to lay the seatbelt over the side bolster on the Recaro when you get out it's easy finding it when you get back in. If not, then occasionally you have to open the door back up to get the belt out. These should make her happy.

Finally got my hands on a complete gauge cluster for a reasonable price. Besides just having some spare gauges lying around, I can now get a proper oil pressure gauge and install it using the adapter I got. With the spare OPG I can send it along with the face off the aftermarket gauge to RevLimiter and have him make me a matching gauge face (for those of you who don't know, the 2000 SE gauge faces are a light beige color).

 

[chiefmg]

Finally got my hands on a Beatrush rear diff brace. Will see how it changes things if at all.

Got home in February 2015, took a look at the Beatrush brace (nice) and the seatbelt exenders (they are nice pieces as well). Things were a bit cold I didn't be do any installation. Still needed to find that instrument cluster and take a look at that.

 

[chiefmg]

Bought a Nakamichi double DIN unit. It's Bluetooth capable, I saw a BT radio on eBay a few weeks ago that came out of a Miata that got me to thinking about it. The wife agreed she would like having that function so off I went. I got the installation kit mainly for the Scosche wiring connection, from what I have read that makes it easy to connect to the stock Bose system. It looks stockish but does have a removable faceplate for extra security. Gonna be weird not having to chose CDs to put in.