Ok. I sold my 69 midget 4age 20v Blacktop build about 6 years ago in a fit of stupid. Fast forward, a dude in the hood has a 62 midget sitting in his front yard, among other really cool cars- 500 Abarth, Cortina, two corvairs, one mini, a jag mkII, and a hombuild based on jag suspension with a jeep 4.2. I chat him up one day. He doesn't seem to be in love with the MG.... we come up with a deal wherein i take the body and give him back the running gear. Done.
That leaves me with the best Midget body, some rust repair in the rear lower fenders and probably the sills. No engine. Wheels are under it until I do my thing.
So:
-I've got an '06 MZR miata 2.0 attached to the 6 speed I somehow got for $1k. Long story there, but I didn't even bargain, and the shop was moving and just wanted to make it easy, and cash spoke.
-I've got an '06 RX-8 diff and axles coming. THe diff is 4.44 LSD- and any miata LSD is 600+. So I'll figure that out.
-Trying to figure out rear and front suspension spindles and hubs to make this as easy and lightweight as possible.
-Biggest challengest mentally right now are:
1. Spindles front and rear- I'd like lightweight, and 4x100 and 14 inch wheels. Also mating the rx-8 axles to whatever I choose.
2. Induction/management for the mzr/duratec. I just don't know yet.
3. Height. Height height. I need to find 3 inches to keep the hood and valve cover separated and the sump above the crossmember. I know the raceline stuff is pretty good- I think I can find 2.5" if I spend all the money on their sump and valve cover.
4. Man is this transmission snickety. That is all. I can't wait.
5. To be continued.
I've got a 1.6 miata vlsd sitting in my garage doing nothing. Cheap if you want it.
Also, can't wait to watch this one!
Inre: hood/valve cover interference, I think Dodge has some good options as shown here;
Either Six-Pack or Hemi should be viable.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Good call.
I fully support the idea of him dropping a 440 Six Pack or Hemi into this car.
No, just the scoop, the Miata drivetrain sounds great for a Midget.
What about a WIDE cowl induction scooo?
Watching with great interest.
Uprights and hubs? Well, you already figured out miata parts on the last build. Bonus, works with 14" wheels. Unless you want to fabricate uprights, the answer is the answer.
Is the MZR direct injection?
I have a 4:10 torsen here. Trade you for 8.8 swap miata axles....
Its port injection. So that's good.
Oddly- taking off all the bullE36 M3 from the engine- belt routing to keep the water pump spinning the correct direction (backward) is going to be a challenge.
the lower left idler is the tensioner. The power steering and air conditioner pumps will hit the bin, obviously. Which leaves a weird situation where I have to turn that water pump backward with no support for a pulley on the upper right. Also-that little cluster of bolts in the top center- those interfere with any belt routing. Maybe I'll look at an electric water pump unless a focus or ranger pump runs the other direction.
As far as the uprights- I'd really like something for the rear that has upper and lower ball joints so I can add an arm to adjust toe. Doing home built suspension it gives you a little wiggle to adjust out any minor imperfections in the jigging and welding.
you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find something like this- looking at fwd pieces right now. I may yet end up fabricating the rear.
What about miata hubs? For rear "uprights". Or are you not doing double a arm?
Reverse direction water pump impeller is an available item if this is the same pump as a Formula 2000 car. I don't know the engine codes well enough , but I know a machine shop who makes the reversed impeller for Quicksilver Race Engines.
OOHHH I like this.
Miata uprights are a pretty good choice. The only issue is the rear lowers are a M12 bolt which is not 1/2" so rod end choices are limited. I can post some pictures of my solution for that problem on mine.
I wouldn't worry about whatever uprights you choose for axle compatibility. Your going to have to do custom half-shafts if you are running largely within the stock body so you can just have halfshafts made that do the adapting. Unfortunately those aren't the cheapest but it is what it is. The other option is insanely wide flares (I support the other option completely).
Lotus Elise uprights might be an option if you can find them cheap. Custom uprights to hold ND Miata bolt on hubs might work also but will require custom uprights. Toyota MR2 stuff would work pretty ok, with a custom fabbed adapter for the strut type upright.
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:
What about miata hubs? For rear "uprights". Or are you not doing double a arm?
I'm doing double a arm, and the Miata rear uprights aren't ball joint so if you try to adjust toe you bring some bind into the mix as you are adjusting against the top bushing. I'd like to have upper and lower ball joints so I can have a separate toe link to make that part of the process easier.
TurnerX19 said:
Reverse direction water pump impeller is an available item if this is the same pump as a Formula 2000 car. I don't know the engine codes well enough , but I know a machine shop who makes the reversed impeller for Quicksilver Race Engines.
Thanks for the heads up on that- I'll check them out. Would make this thing a lot easier than futzing about with a bunch of idler pulleys.
nocones said:
OOHHH I like this.
Miata uprights are a pretty good choice. The only issue is the rear lowers are a M12 bolt which is not 1/2" so rod end choices are limited. I can post some pictures of my solution for that problem on mine.
I wouldn't worry about whatever uprights you choose for axle compatibility. Your going to have to do custom half-shafts if you are running largely within the stock body so you can just have halfshafts made that do the adapting. Unfortunately those aren't the cheapest but it is what it is. The other option is insanely wide flares (I support the other option completely).
Lotus Elise uprights might be an option if you can find them cheap. Custom uprights to hold ND Miata bolt on hubs might work also but will require custom uprights. Toyota MR2 stuff would work pretty ok, with a custom fabbed adapter for the strut type upright.
I've been following your build over the years and love it! I'd like to keep a stock looking body so I'm working with custom halfshafts. Found a company in Idaho - https://dutchmanaxles.com/services.html - that will cut you a new one or respline and cut your old one for a very fair price ($135/pair!!!). Im going to have to do that regardless of the hubs I choose.
On my previous build I used Miata rear uprights, drilled the lower mount holes out to 3/4 and punched a 3/4-.065 tube through, then get a long 1/2 moly bolt to go completely through. I supported one end with a spherical bearing and had a toe link at the other side. It worked, but from an engineering perspective I felt like there was too much load on that spherical bearing. I'll find a picture to show what I'm talking about. I'd rather have a ball joint and go with that.
edit:
new mini front uprights might do the trick- I'll post a picture of what I was thinking about with those. Basically cutting the strut mount hole section off- leaving a wide riser with perhaps enough meat to ream a tapered hole for an upper ball joint.
edit:
Does that motor really spin backwards (CCW)?
If all else fails on water pump direction, you can just switch to an electric pump or even just electric drive.
The motor spins clockwise but the belt setup has the water pump turning the other direction.
I was thinking about electric water pump but I think either making my own or buying that idler kit is the best option and significantly cheaper.
Here are a couple of pictures of AW11 MR2 uprights. It would be relatively easy to fabricate a ball joint carrier from that top strut mount. I'd think nearly ant 4X100 FWD car could be made to work.
Rear:
Front. This is mostly worthless for you, but wheel is a 15X7 for scale.
I wonder if using that mr2 rear- boring a larger hole in the lower strut mount hole and using a spherical bearing to give at least a bit twist for toe might work.
I like. I'll see if that's feasible.
by the way- your artwork is fantastic! How do you edit photos like that?
