Ok, getting back to it. Only a few things left to tie together before test fire. Maybe this weekend.
Engine compartment pretty much done. Not as clean as I wanted it but I'm so tired of great being the enemy of this thing driving.
Have to add coolant, tidy up the rear section of exhaust and muffler, which should be done tomorrow. Then verify all the bits and see if I can fire it up this weekend. List of ten things is pretty small potatoes. Then The real work begins getting it tuned both suspension and engine wise, and fixing the billion rattles etc.
Exhaust buttoned up. Hopefully no major rubs/vibrations. The right appears a little low and I'll address that.
Tried to fill with coolant after doing the vacuum thing with my airlift tool. It showed 18 inches of vacuum. It wants 26, and to stay there. It didn't, and I couldn't find any leaks, so it must be the tool, right? Well, no. Filled it and it immediately leaked out the fitting at the rear of the head. Its a weird fitting- female casting with smooth bore. Male tube with O-ring slides in and is supposed to seal, but mine isn't.
Sooooo, any ideas? It's going to be a pain in the ass to get back in there, but first try is going to be replacing the o-ring, even though it seemed fine. I'd assumed that it would tighten up with heat....obviously I haven't started the motor yet. So I'll figure that out but would love any input. I'm so damn close.
In reply to Teh E36 M3 :
I assume there is no room for an npt tap?
If the female bore is smooth and doesn't have any scratches/seams, you could try a thicker O-ring.
Dab of rtv around the oring?
I would call Erik at Quicksilver Race Engines in Frederick MD. He knows MZRs, might have an easy solution. You can you my name or not.
301 698 9009
In reply to Shavarsh :
It's a 1.25"/30mm tube.... I don't have an not tap that big.
Dusterbd13-michael said:
Dab of rtv around the oring?
That's my current thought, even with a new o-ring
since I'm whoring, have it off jack stand for the first time in a year and a half. Man is this thing low. I'll increase height an inch.
Great job! Love the header job! Crazy how you built it heading forward then back. Read your whole posting. What happened with this setup?
In reply to MyMiatas :
Yeah, the cable arrangement for the tilton pedal didn't work out. And the pedal was too low. So I had to make something up, which I'm pretty happy with in the end. May need one more return spring.
The exhaust going forward before rear was a space issue- I didn't have room next to the engine to bring it down the side. So it comes forward before looping under itself along side the motor. Hopefully it works!
I love your build so much. The ITB's, the attention to detail, it's all top notch. And nothing has ever looked cool on daisies until now.
You are far too kind. I'm in the debate as to clean up the dash wiring (everything works as is) or just get it started. Just the coolant leak and she's ready for a test fire.
Man, aligning this is beastly.
Actual numbers #1
Placeholder until I get actual numbers for frame height and a arm lengths.
Progress slowly- still working toward firing it up, but won't risk f'ing it up first.
Tires: not many options in 14" sizes- pretty much set on falken azenis 660 or 615. TR has 660's on sale for $85/ea but they are 2020 date stamped. Is this going to be a problem? $130 normally
If it is, I'd probably want 615's for predominantly street use eh?
I wouldn't hesitate on those tires.
Can't wait to hear/see it come to life!
Thanks- a billion loose ends slowly coming together.
I wouldn't think twice about 20-20 Dayton Falcons. Run them and never think twice. I'm excited to see this one pop up again. Love this little car and you're incredible attention to detail
On order. Haha- voice to text threw me for a minute. Just read your post phonetically and it made total sense.
Man. Chasing that elusive coolant leak. Using a vacuum tool- should get to and hold 26". Every time I think it's not the tool, the tool is right and not me. It gets to 17", and when I take vacuum off it immediately drifts back to zero in about 5 seconds. so it can't be a huge leak, it's just there.
I have many, many joints, and will have to find a way to pressurize I think and test each one. Boo. Everything is packed in tight. Blood will be shed.
Also, got the correct master cylinder sizes- they should all three be 5/8". Don't know what math I was using to get clutch at 3/4 and rear brakes at 3/4. When I get those in (which will be a very messy job), brakes and clutch should have correct feel.
Summit sent a harness, but it's not the one I wanted/needed, so I called to ask about it. The woman was not only knowledgeable about harnesses (knew what a sub harness was, the difference between 5 and 6 pt etc--- at least as much knowledge as I have). She called schroth to see what was up with what I got, arranged a swap, etc.. We had a conference call with a schroth tech rep and arranged a factory shipment. I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of service.
Still trying to figure out coolant leaks- it's definitely the rear coolant pipe- 20 unfixable pinholes. Seriously losing it. Finally wrapped it in 10mil tape after sanding smooth, reinstalled, and it will get to 25" vacuum, but it won't hold it when you take the air off. So now I'm either buying a new factory tube to modify or just re route the whole thing.
$57 for a new pipe.
$153 for this dude, which removes the o-ring tube fiasco, but now routes the water on the exhaust side of the engine, where there really isn't much room due to the crazy header.
Mountune adaptor
MEGSQUIRT HELP NEEDED!!
Man, I got one and only one "pop" out of the thing. Wasn't getting spark, but everything else was fine. Plenty of fuel. Turns out I'd miswired the sensor ground for the coils. Popped that into the right spot and got one "pop" before stuff started going haywire.
1. First thing that happened was that, although it had worked fine for all cranking events prior, Tuner Studio gave me a warning that the toothed wheel and cylinder count didn't match up. This doesn't make sense. The MZR uses a 36-2-2-2, and is a four cylinder and was fine before. Tried many times to fix, but it just wouldn't accept it every time it connected- same warning.
Re-started laptop, updated system software. Same result. So... lets update software on microsquirt. Apparently not a good idea. Now the laptop won't even communicate with the Microsquirt. Everything is getting power properly, grounds remain good. I think the firmware on Microsquirt might be jacked from trying to load it.
Fine- since Tuner STudio doesn't recognize it, I'll do a full base re-load. The ancient loader program won't see MS either.
Pulling my hair out, because I thought today might be the day. Any suggestions? Got an email in to DIYAutotune, may do one to Tunerstudio. I'm not super software literate, so I fear the worst.
Update: reloaded the FTDI drivers for the usb/serial cable and did any number of other things which may have mattered. Long story short, firmware is reloaded and the kicrosquirt is talking to the laptop.
Back to the original problem- the tunerstudio software (I think) doesn't like that the 36-2-2-2 wheel is paired with a four cylinder motor and not the RX-8 where it is also used. I'll email tunerstudio, as there is somewhere in the far recesses of my mind that this is some special setting that needs to be enabled.
Suggestions still welcomed. This could fall off the rails at any moment.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/megasquirt-help-mzr-36-2-2-2-wheel-support/260642/page2/#post3837247
Update: it started after a series of stupid errors on my part. But then it started making a screeching noise, oil pressure was off the scale high, and I instantly realized that I'd plumbed the berkeleying filter head backward. Pump was pushing against the check valve in the filter. So. I think the motor is berkeleyed. I am going to sit in a corner and cry a little bit then pick myself up and finish the job.
