#1289 - A story of rebirth

[hornsfan10609]

Where I live they always build all three parts stores on the same street corner, if one doesn't have it then one of the others will.

 

[OThree.5]

I have the seller sending me a new one for $0.00.. worst case, I should survive on 4 lugs for a couple days, that is if I start and get put back together before it shows up.. I probably won't have it all back together by the time it shows up anyways.

Got a big ass package with CX Racing down the side today.. (FMIC) I am super stoked about that.

Looks like I am getting EVERYTHING else tomorrow.. timing belt / water pump kit, BOV, adapter pipe for it, timing covers, and a full gasket set.

IF I can get it to start up and run (I really think it will) I have a shopping cart full of goodies I am waiting to pull the trigger on:

Full piller, 2 gauge pod (bought)
Autometer Phantom mechanical boost gauge (bought)
Autometer Phantom volt meter (changed my mind)
"Powered by FSDET" oil cap
Rev9 Vacuum distribution block (bought)
A regular Protege speedo cluster (just for the lense glass.. lol) (bought and done)
A Sparco 03747PTN Techno Series Shift Knob, Black (http://www.saferacer.com/sparco-tec...pgePIySCakZshsK8XfNZpIowAftk5vigRjxoCDPXw_wcB) (bought and done)

So ready for tomorrow to come. I am tired of driving the Tercel (again)

 

[hornsfan10609]

Just an FYI the ebay oil caps are bad quality and don't hold up well, and if there are junkyards nearby the cluster plastic is cheap and easy to remove.

 

[OThree.5]

The closest one is 40 minutes. They are closed Sat and Sunday, and every time I have tried to take a "part" of something.. like the distributer cap, for example.. they give me a hard time because "the rest of the distributer is gonna rot away now without the cover"

So that place is annoying. The only thing I think I might go back there for is another motor, hopefully not in the near future though.

The regular protege cluster I found was only $40. I am willing to bet the yard would make me buy the whole cluster and prolly charge just as much.. The place is good if you need factory parts for say... a Tercel... but for the Mazdaspeed.. IDK.

I realize that most ebay stuff sucks, but our oil cap is so PLAIN..

 

[Maxx Mazda]

I run the Mazdaspeed Miata oil cap and it's a high quality billet piece. Looks awesome. Steer clear of the eBay junk.

 

[hornsfan10609]

I have the Speed3/6 caps on my MSPs

 

[OThree.5]

All parts are in..

And it just started raining.. wtf.

I don't care.. I'm grabbing a tarp to throw over the open hood and I'm going out there. I've waited a while now and I've got work to do.. this is ridiculous

 

[OThree.5]

Well I am happy to announce that #1289 is back up and running. I believe the tensioner may have been only half working properly.. or the belt was loose.. or a combination of both. That mixed with a start up without a crankshaft position sensor CAN cause you to jump timing.

I had it all put back together last night.. but it was raining, again. I left all the electrical stuff alone. Tonight I just did a couple fuel-less cranks with a spark plug checker and once I confirmed spark, I plugged the fuel pump relay in and it started up immediately. What an amazing feeling to hear that grumble again.. I learned a ton about this car and I have a nearly full understanding of what everything is, and as Hornesfan said, I did get a greal deal of satisfaction in getting it sorted out on my own (ish). Not many people buy a car and then have it in pieces a week later.. A lot of people I know thought I was crazy.. that I "bought a lemon".. etc etc. I cannot wait to get these hardpipes and FMIC installed.. Headlight restore is basically done (I can always do another round of polish it seems)

Now I really want to just drive it over the weekend..MAYBE do the hardpipes and FMIC tomorrow.. It needs a legit car wash.. Its been sitting. The exhaust manifold bolt is gonna have to wait a little bit, unfortunately. I really don't want to drive the Tercel without air, so until it cools down a little, that is something I am gonna have to deal with. The turbo is covered in s***. I don't know if thats from an oil leak up at the valve cover, or from the oil lines on the turbo, but I expect its the turbo lines. This is a whole other project. I'll find out if the turbo is spewing oil when I do the hardpipes. I bet it is...

Anyways.. no pics. You guys know what it looks like in there. I'll post a pic when I do the FMIC

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

Good job. Remember to seal the headlights with wax or something so the restoration will last longer.

 

[OThree.5]

Ordered that shift knob I was talking about.. as well as a two pod piller, boost gauge, vacuum block, instrument cluster, as well as ball bearing t25 feed and drain lines for the turbo. Fitting the FMIC in the heat today. its fun and sucks at the same time. I think I killed my angle grinder.. lol

 

[hornsfan10609]

If you really want the headlights to last and you are happy with the way they look spray them with a good quality UV resistant Clear coat or take them to a body shop so they can spray them with good clear coat. They will last another 10 years without maintenance.

 

[OThree.5]

If you really want the headlights to last and you are happy with the way they look spray them with a good quality UV resistant Clear coat or take them to a body shop so they can spray them with good clear coat. They will last another 10 years without maintenance.

No.. actually I am not happy with it after all.. In the sun, it looks foggy still. I might give another go with a power buffer or something.

So I promised a picture dump a few days ago, but I realized it was nothing you guys hadn't seen, so I didn't do it. lol

Now, I have stuff to show again. I never really drove it after i fixed it, I just verified that it ran and cooled itself.. I have the FMIC from cxRacing to install. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wasn't going to be able to complete this install, because I didn't do my homework well enough to pre order a 2.0 - 2.5, a 2.25 - 2.5 coupler, a 2.0, and 2.25 clamps.. I also ordered an extra 45* 2.5-2.5 coupler, and two 2.75" - 2.5" reducers, w/ clamps.. (damn this s*** bleeds you, lol) There was plenty I could do now, so I figured I'd get as much done as possible. I formulated a plan to cut the crash bar.. I hadn't looked though the forums about FMIC pipe routing until after I finished up today.. turns out NOT looking on the forums can make you a little more creative.. (and I love fabricating) My plastic cold pipe was broken and duct taped together, and being as that its literally just a pipe, I figured I would knock that out.

I DO NOT like FMIC installs that show a bumper bar.. I think that looks terrible.. like it WASN'T meant to be there. To me, the ONLY option is to cut. I see that a lot of people do not want to cut them, because they are worried or whatever, but I have access to a MIG welder, and plan on reinforcing places where I cut (When I do the rest of the routing) I'll be doing THAT at the shop where I work, cause I am spoiled and s***. lol

I started by tracing the inside of the styrofoam bumper piece.. whatever you call it. I used that line as a template and did my first cut..


As many people already know, this metal is pretty thick. Cutting it reminded me of the first time I welded. It stinks. I did all the cutting with 3 cutting wheels (which is under par from what I understand), but I burnt out my angle grinder, so I finished +3 for the course. lmao.

Anyways, that bumper bar has another horizontal row inside, for extra support, I imagine. After you cut this bar, if you get under the car, you can see where the seam weld is.. I ended up trimming up to the point where the 1 layer of metal transitions into to (right at the seam) .. i figured that is the best of both worlds, clearance, and structural integrity wise..

Here you can see the "roof" of the middle (layer 2) of metal in that support. I also decided to cut the bottom part all the way back, and grind it smooth.. turning a square tube into an "L-bracket, essentially)

After gaining that clearance, I encountered these. They are those little plastic fasteners you find all over the place, but this is the side (normally unseen) where they "do their work". I kept bumping them and they pissed me off and I had to do something. I tried cutting the excess off the ends, which is what you see here, but it wasn't enough. I had to figure out something.




SO, I have had some experience with plastic welding, and I am not afraid to pull out the torch and soldering iron, if necessary. I decided to turn this into a plastic rivet, by hitting it with a blow torch and then using something to smoosh it flat.. I noticed, however, the "male" half of the connector is not the same type of material as the "female" part of the connector. I am not even sure if its plastic at all.. lol. It wouldn't burn / melt hardle at all.. and the plastics don't bond together, under heat. This was surprising. I keep various rulers hanging by thumbtacks, so it dawned on me that I have a really nice, flat, insulated(ish) tool witha hole in it, that was exactly the same size as the male part of the connector.

(this is on fire, but the camera doesn't really capture it)


And voila


I trimmed the middle part flush and gained another 1/2" (you have to fight for clearance, I've noticed)

Now that I had the clearance I wanted, I mocked up and came up with a cleaver way to mount the top bolts (I"ll show that next) I held the bumper as close as possible with painters tape. I trimmed the bottom center grill tabs and not the top ones, exactly like I found a lot of you guys doing.. after the fact.. lol I guess I am not reinventing the wheel here. But I thought that was funny. (will do the top ones too then next time the bumper is off.

I think it looks way better up higher.. the bottom is nearly flush, and you can see the couplers much more. I also like the slight angle it has, following the bumper contour..


SO here is how I mounted my top bolts.. basically, I held the intercooler with a 2x4 and a jack. I lined up where I wanted it to be and marked the middle of the bungs.. I looked at it from the side and marked that center point. Then I moved everything out of the way and made an X approximately where the holes go and drilled them out from underneath. I made a good enough guess where the top holes would go and drilled them out.. I used a christmas tree drill bit to open this hole up just enough to fit a 12mm socket down there, and made a couple tiny adjustments, and mounted it with short bolts, recessed into the bumper



I had scraps from that bumper bar.. and it being so thick.. and already in a long strip, I decided to "cannibalize" the car in a sense..

I clamped a strip of it to a 2x4 and shaped it into brackets... I do not recommend this type of work to anyone, ever. Its extremely dangerous. I've had pieces of s*** come flying off the angle grinder and hit me in the face.. to the point where you are bleeding and you have to go inside and find out "how bad it is"..wondering if you ****** yourself up "plastic surgery bad".. not cool. Be safe. Don't copy me. This time was fine.. but accidents happen when you are "shadetree fabricating"

That being said.. get a christmas tree drill bit. I have 4 or 5 in various sizes. They are the best thing, drill bit related.. ever.


This metal is springy. You need force multipliers to bend it permanently. I used two sets of vise grips and made the angles.. the intercooler isn't 90* up and down, so the bracket needs that angle.. I am kind of proud of these, they are mounted in the 2 main bumper mount holes, and will end up mounted under the bumper itself, so you can't see anything at all once its all back together. I am also kind of stoked on this because, with these brackets, the FMIC is installed so rigidly, you can rock the whole car, pushing on it. ****.. yes.



So I can't really do anything else at this point... but I had a broken plastic cold pipe.. This was a problem because, if I am unable to hook up to the turbo, I am unable to "fix" this, going to the FMIC. I didn't remove my SMIC, or any pipes yet, so after a bowl.. it hit me. to mock up a single cold pipe to the SMIC, just to get me rolling this week... (now we're cooking with fire)

Its duct taped. LMAO. maybe holds a pound or tow.. MAYBE (I doubt it)


If I am not mistaken, the SMIC hooks up to the cold pipe with a 2.25. This 2.25 and 2.0 are the whole reason I can't finish the FMIC! Son of a b****! (I don't have those couplers OR clamps)

However.. this is bulged.. and I suspected (and was right) that a 2.5 would fit over that nicely).. lol and it did.


I was hesitant to cut it, until I was sure I could make the other pipes fit.. I had to cut one of the pipes, there was no other way. Please keep in mind this is only a week long solution.. this is not long term.. That being said, I used a 2.5-2.5 90* coupler off the TB, to a 18" 45* 2.5 pipe. (I had to cut it), a 2.5-2.5 straight coupler, to a 18" (uncut) 90* pipe.. I believe this pipe is more important to leave whole than the 45* pipe.. (since this setup is for a week and I need to build the PROPER routing later) That is why I cut the 45*.. we'll see if I was right later.. The cut off 2.25", with a 2.5 over it actually works perfect. It is TIGHT. Not going anywhere.







I cut this little mounting tab out of the plastic cold pipe.


I needed to mount it somehow. I decided more melting plastic was the ticket.









Ran a torch over it really quick, to melt away all those white scratches.



LOL.. FACTORY FINISH. hahaha


SO to finish the story of tonight, I went and drove it for a while and was boosting all over the place and I am in like 3rd gear @ 6000ish.. and I hear "pop shhhh". Like.. WTF.. don't lose power, but the CEL and oil warnings come on, and rpms go to zero. I am doing like 80 down this stretch (thank god) I put the car in neutral and coasted about a half a mile to an intersection with parking lot and street lights.

I have NOTHING in this car.. except a bottle of water, my phone, and cigarettes. Gas station a half mile up the road.. I pop the hood and I don't "see" anything wrong.. I thought it was the "zoom zoom boom".

I looked and looked and then I see it. The hot pipe blew off the turbo. WHY?

Because I loosened the clamps like 2 weeks ago when I thought I was taking the radiator out. The turbo connection was being stubborn and I moved on and never retightened it.

I drove that b**** for like 20 miles boosting all over and it FINALLY popped at 6K. lol.. that "gunk" connection was pretty gnarly.

I walked a mile to walmart (instead of calling a wrecker or a friend.. call it shame, or persistence, or whatever.. lol)

I bought a $0.67 flat head screwdriver and another bottle of water. (I also bought a roll of gorilla tape "just in case", but lets pretend I didnt.)

I walked another mile, stopped at the gas station I passed on the way that didn't have a screwdriver and got some paper towels. I finally got back to the car, cleaned up a little oily grime.. and yes my turbo is probably toast, maybe just needs new oil line gaskets. I mean, it still boosts, obviously.. but it is probably almost dead.

Anyways, it started right back up and everything is good to go now. I washed it and vacuumed it and treated it like the money grubbing ***** that it is. LMAO.

I love it again though.

 

[OThree.5]

It was too dark to take an "after" pic.. I did just wash it, so tomorrow at work I'll take one in the sun..

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

Awesome man live the pase now that you got the timing out of the way it's coming along. I had duct tape holding the hot pipe together under boost for the longest time. It would pop of with a boost spike so I finally upgraded it.

 

[hornsfan10609]

You got a lot of work done, I'm glad it's running and you are starting to enjoy it. It won't be the fastest car in the world when you are done but my MSP never fails to put a smile on my face.

And just an FYI Dual BB Garrett turbos can last a LONG time, if it has some oil residue on the outside but the hot pipe is dry (the turbo is not leaking oil internally) there is no need to replace it. My first MSP has 169k miles on the original drivetrain and turbo and it boosts normally.

 

[OThree.5]

the inside of the hot pipe is not dry.. its not THAT bad, but it is blowing some oil.

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

the inside of the hot pipe is not dry.. its not THAT bad, but it is blowing some oil.

Switch to Rottela T6 on your next oil change it's a turbo diesel oil and its of a sufficient weight for our MSP it runs in my Suzuki Gixxer and my mazdaspeed.
Your turbo and engine internals will love you for it.

 

[Valk]

I can definitely vouch for the rotella... I have an esgt with 270km. P5 with 321km both running the t6. They look mint inside and I'm not super good with my oil change schedule. Msp running regular oilchanges of royalpurple and 138km is...worn out... I've always heard that synthetic lasta longer but dino just lubricates better.

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

I believe it's a blend but then again the study I read about most oil. They only have to be a certain percentage of synthetic oil to be labaled full synthetic, you have to read the fine print.

 

[OThree.5]

Switch to Rottela T6 on your next oil change it's a turbo diesel oil and its of a sufficient weight for our MSP it runs in my Suzuki Gixxer and my mazdaspeed.
Your turbo and engine internals will love you for it.

I can't even find Royal Purple locally, thats how I ended up with Mobile 1 5w30. I saw the Rotella in there though.

I can definitely vouch for the rotella... I have an esgt with 270km. P5 with 321km both running the t6. They look mint inside and I'm not super good with my oil change schedule. Msp running regular oilchanges of royalpurple and 138km is...worn out... I've always heard that synthetic lasta longer but dino just lubricates better.

10-4.. Anyone using lucas.. since Rotella is not synthetic?