I did it again!

[6speed]

The FM2 installation manual for the MSM leaves out a few fairly important items I'm finding. Some of them are available in the "All Cars" installation manual version, but not all.

The assembly is on the studs, need to hook up the oil/water lines and figure out how i'm going to fit the pipe to the intercooler between the turbo outlet and the lower radiator hose (which gets zero reference in the instruction manual, despite FM including a replacement because the stock hose is in the way of the turbo itself)

 

[Reitrof]

Man that looks tight???

 

[THE Phen]

Yeah... making the notch for the turbo to clear is a very therapeutic part of the build.

 

[6speed]

Yes, it's REALLY tight clearance as is, so notching the frame rail flange gives the needed clearance. I can see some stiffer motor mounts in my future though, just to make sure it doesn't flex closer

I didn't find the hammering bit therapeutic though, I was too worried about hammering the valve cover, so I was just lightly tapping the tab with a hand sledge.

The therapeutic part comes when i fire it up and don't get any leaks.

Turbo and all liquid lines are in and torqued, downpipe is in place, need to torque the last studs once everything lines up fine. Threading the intake pipe in, then comes the intercooler. Less than a day of work left. I deleted the EGR with a fabricated plate and have a properly pitched bolt on order for the manifold side. No idea how they expect me to get the EGR pipe to line up with the FM manifold.

 

[THE Phen]

I had a similar EGR issue with mine. Used the oil pan drain bolt from a Cummins turbo diesel Ram. Fits like a glove.

 

[6speed]

Yup, the local Advance store is getting me the bolt, listed as an oil drain bolt For the intake side, I just drilled a hole of the right size through the end of a length of steel plate that I've got (~1/8th" thick), bolted the EGR pipe to that to hold it steady, drilled the other hole through the other EGR pipe hole, then dremel'ed off the steel around the EGR pipe flange. Remove the bolts, sand up the edges, and done.


I was looking at this list this morning: http://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep-75/turbo-reliability-track-52179/page7/#post806314

I'm looking pretty good on those items. Probably the biggest one I'm missing is the turbo support brace, which has bothered me. Probably have to fabricate something for that.

Then the next biggest problem is the oil cooling. I've been pondering options there still. All of the oil cooler solutions out there aren't good enough for me in one way or another. One of the latest options I've been thinking about is just getting a transmission oil cooler kit that includes a pump and long thin cooler, and tapping the oil pan twice for the routing, putting the cooler either on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel, at the tail of the transmission, or putting it inside the pocket that is behind the fender to the rear of each door. This way it just circulates oil to and from the pan, and doesn't interfere with the rest of the oiling system. The goal is just to cool oil, it doesn't need to be cooled at a particular point in the circuit. So this idea doesn't add a failure point to the filter base, it doesn't add more stress on the engine's oil pump, I don't have to worry about time needed to fill it or not being able to empty it for changes, and i don't have to try to figure out a thermostat for track vs street driving since I could just have the pump turn on if the oil exceeds X temperature. In theory, if the pump supports it, I could even use a Hydra PWM map to control the speed of the pump based on oil temp to act as an electronic thermostat.

The downside is that the cost would be more from what I'm seeing, largely because finding the right pump is difficult. Pretty much every hot oil pump I'm finding is built for ~60psi pressures, a few for ~24psi. I don't need that kind of pressure, just something to circulate the oil through 4-5 feet of line.

Another brain fart I had last night was "what if I deleted the power steering...and just used the power steering pump to pump oil to the cooler?" Not thermostatically controlled though, and I'd have to give up PS again. So not going to pursue that.

 

[Reitrof]

How much extra oil would you have to put in?

 

[6speed]

Depends on the setup, hose length, etc... Most oil cooler systems add between 1/2 a quart and 3/4ths. More capacity helps the overall process too, larger total mass to absorb heat.

 

[6speed]

The engine front cover is all buttoned up, belts on, wiring harness and sensors all reconnected.

Intake sealed up from the turbo to the throttle body, new intercooler brackets made.

Radiator in and cooling system is sealed up. Sides and top of radiator sealed to frame rail/braces/whatever_is_there

Filled it with water, immediately found a leak at the block end of the lower radiator hose, the point i've been fighting with periodically for a few days. Pulled off the driver's side fan to get the power steering pump bolt out, then moved the power steering pump out of the way to get to the clamp on the hose. Loosened it, adjusted, and really tightened the hell out of it. Hopefully i got it this time. Stopped leaking at zero pressure. Not sure about when it gets pressurized.

Will see if any more leaks show themselves by morning.

Oil system is next, then I'm going to be priming everything, then firing it up and letting everything warm up and see what leaks then.

 

[Reitrof]

Mike, what are you using the cold oil tape for? Hard to tell what's covering.

 

[6speed]

It's just the anchor material for high density foam held to the sides of the radiator. The foam ensures that I can squeeze it down between the frame rails and braces, and it more-or-less conforms to the shapes along that path, and the aluminum tape makes sure that it stays put, and no gaps are formed between the foam and the radiator. You can see a bit of the tape in the middle pic, around the foam that runs down the side of the radiator. 3 of the 4 sides are sealed off. I later plan on sealing off the bottom, just doesn't have to be done now.

 

[6speed]

The car lives...ish.


I fired it up earlier today, immediately had disconcerting rattling and knocking sounds from the top front of the engine. Several more attempts to find the problem finally revealed that the cam gear bolts were backing out and the timing belt wasn't tensioned properly. So the cam gears were-a-rockin and the timing belt was-a-slappin.

All fixed, car idled warm, revealing a burping problem with the coolant system, but no more leaks yet. Several more issues i had to deal with, have a rather large email pending to FM about the problems. I frankly expected better, and was let down with the completeness of the kit. The last remaining issue with the kit is that there is no plug for the recirc fitting, and no recirc hose. My recirc hose from before isn't nearly long enough either. So I have to solve that.

Car is still in the air, braces, bumper, wheels, and brakes off. Brakes are next, then braces, then bumper then wheels. Everything looking good though.

 

[6speed]

Wheels are on, car's on the ground. Going to be giving it a shakedown in a few hours.

 

[THE Phen]

Woo!

 

[bazooka joe]

Wheels are on, car's on the ground. Going to be giving it a shakedown in a few hours.

How'd it go mike???

 

[Reitrof]

And the answer is??

Mike??

Did he come back?

 

[6speed]

Ha! sorry. I had a family thing, and couldn't take it out till nearly midnight.

I limited myself to 1-2psi of boost, since I'm still on the factory turbo map, the FM2 will make me quite a bit leaner as boost comes up. The initial burping had temps oscillating between 176 and 150 for a while, as the thermostat kept closing from the in-rush of cold water from the radiator, and that radiator holds a lot of water. Temps while driving also stayed down, never got above 179.8F. I think I'm over-cooled at the moment. Though when I can add boost, we will see.

No odd noises, shakes, rattles, etc... Everything seems normal. The intake noise is hugely different. The turbine whine that I used to be able to hear pre-boost is no longer audible, but the intake noise is quite a bit more prevalent as the turbine starts to spool. Like a huge vacuum cleaner. I'll probably get used to it in time.

I found a weak connection at the upper radiator hose to radiator, under pressure it was hissing faintly, i guess the tension clamp wasn't strong enough with the higher pressure that straight water runs (I have maybe 2% coolant in it). I replaced it with a constant torque clamp and sealed it better. Still need to check for leaks this morning in case the depressurization or heat cycling weakened anything else.

Later today I will be loading up the base map for the turbo from FM and crossing my fingers. It's rolling together 16 firmware and 3 software revisions, and the last time I tried to upgrade to the latest firmware the engine wouldn't fire. This should work just fine, but wanted to get it driving first to make sure I'm solid on the hardware before I try.

Still a lot of smaller stuff to clean up. Like I currently don't have a windshield washer system at all. There is no bottle or motor in the car. I want to mount FM's replacement bottle in the trunk, which will take some work. I need to re-run the Hydra vacuum line and try to get it through the firewall on the passenger side, it's too long right now. I need to seal up the gap between the undertray's front edge and the bumper, there is a big gap right now. Stuff like that.

 

[THE Phen]

If you had an older version of the Hydra and 750cc injectors, I could send you my map. Stupid rich, even at 10 psi, but safe.

 

[6speed]

I've got the FM base map. I just didn't want to load it and then have trouble starting and have to figure out if it's map related, firmware related, or hardware related

This way I confirmed that the hardware is all fine, and now I can load the map and firmware and figure that out. Trying to get my r68 firmware map running on any firmware higher than r76 was not successful before. But I'm starting with an r84 base map now, and Jeremy already tweaked it for my specific setup, so I don't expect any problems.

I am contemplating having my car tuned twice. Once on the dynapak by the same guy that tuned it before, and then again by Ken Hill. I'm sure that Ken Hill could get more power out of the engine, and it would be on a Dynojet, though I would feel safer on the track with a tune by the other guy, since he tunes specifically for track usage. Street tune vs track tune. I might be overthinking it though My tuner did get 274whp-ish from another FM2 MSM...

 

[THE Phen]

Daaaamn. Yeah. I know that Ken Hill's FM2 car is around 250 whp. My friend John wanted to try to work with my car... but didn't tell me until after I had already agreed to sell it. I'd probably feel better going to the guy tuning for the track. May not have as much power but probably better where you need it.