Tag Archives: miata

Dash and Rear Cover

December 28, 2016 jsevold

Mounting the Miata gauge cluster in the wood dashboard with a metal insert to improve the aesthetic of the stock gauges.

Lexan gauge cover.

Pattern making for trunk lid.

Hatch made from ABS plastic with metal hinge.

Wiring Harness

April 10, 2016 jsevold

Started connecting the wiring harness up to the car. Thanks to the guy i bought the motor from for labeling most of the important connection points. We were able to connect most stuff up including motor, instrument panel, transmission, fuel pump, ignition, battery, and other bits. My steering signal and lighting assembly seems to be different from the harness and will require some re-wiring to make use of the signal and lighting switches. Will have to locate and attach the thread the harness through the chassis in its final resting place later.

Next to get the fuel supply, cooling supply and exhaust sorted so that we can get the engine running.

Updated:

Cut circular holes in the firewall to mount the factory wiring harness seals and allow the harness to pass through. Detached and re-attached the necessary engine wiring to thread it through the hole. Factory seal/gasket fits well into holes.

April 10, 2016 – Update – Started thinning out the wiring harness to try to cut down on the bulk. Lighting and engine running so excess wires can be weeded out. Removed radio, hvac, headlight retractor and door wiring to start.

Exhaust

February 16, 2016 jsevold

Welded the exhaust together from sections/bends mostly from the exhaust section at Canadian Tire. Will be wrapping the exhaust with a fibre coating to insulate.

April 10, 2016 – Exhaust wrap installed.

Supercharger Service – Eaton M45

January 30, 2016 jsevold

When the engine was first started, I could hear a rattle coming from the supercharger. The supercharger on this engine is a Eaton M45, that is common to many vehicles throughout the years (mini cooper s, pontiac gran prix/am?, etc.) From my reading online, there are two general causes of the rattle. Those are failing bearings (which there are many in the supercharger) and worn coupler. For general diagnosis, with the supercharger belt off, turn the snout pully, if there is play when rotating back and forth, the coupler is likely worn, if it is rough and grindy, bearings are likely the problem. On mine there was play when rotating, but it rotated smoothly, implicating a worn coupler. Lucky for me, this is the easiest of fixes. Drain supercharger fluid, remove snout, replace coupler, reinstall snout, fill with new fluid, done. I purchased kit similar to those found on this site (http://www.superchargersonline.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=57). From what I’ve seen online, replacing bearings requires more care and expensive tools (presses, etc).

20160116_175136 — Eaton M45 – Supercharger had to be removed from the engine in order to remove the snout.

20160117_165439 — Snout off, smelly oil (muenster cheesy) removed, and coupler coming off. Take care not to pull the next section of supercharger off which supports the rotor/fan shafts as this will be loose too.

Brakes and Clutch

January 30, 2016 jsevold

Prior to performing the first drive, the brakes and clutch were made operational. For the brakes, the lines were installed, filled with fluid and bled. Started bleeding at the furthest brake caliper and made our way up to the closest to the master cylinder, then repeated until there were no more air bubbles. Luckily none of the bleeder screws/valves on the calipers were seized shut. A Wilwood brake proportioning valve was installed in the line that I purchased from Flyin’ Miata (https://www.flyinmiata.com/complete-adjustable-brake-proportioning-kit.html)

For the clutch, the existing slave cylinder was seized and had to be replaced with new one I picked up from a local auto parts store. Once replaced, the master was filled with fluid and line was bled.