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Icetiva 3 race car build

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  • #46
    Nice work! Tidy race car for sure!
    Driving for me is neither a right nor a privilege. Driving is my passion, as it was for the people who invented the automobile, the people who paved the first roads and the people who continue to improve the automobile. Please respect this passion.

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    • #47
      ^ Thanks. This car is going together from scratch obviously, , but it is built out of lots of past race cars, so the tidy bits come from a long past and legacy of race cars.
      Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
      Icetiva-3-race-car-build
      http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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      • #48
        Drive Train

        Weekend 9, its finally time to start work on the drive train.
        It was a B6T build in the red race car, but that engine overheated, lost the head gasket, and maybe warped the head, when the rad was cracked after a roll-and-go out on the track. So a Miata engine from a JDM importer will replace the block and head. Then all the B6T parts and controls will go on, oil pan, oil pump, intake and exhaust manifolds, and all the adaptations that will be needed.
        The transmission is a G25mr, cable actuated, in which third gear was recently replaced, as well as the synchros.
        The engines: both are short nose cranks, the B6T a 1989 from a 323 GT, the Miata from a 1990.

        The transmission, a G25mr

        The driver's door was taken from the blue race car, to avoid painting it, but when I peeled the old vinyl numbers off it took a lot of the blue paint with it, so it was back to rattle can painting again. The door fits in the chassis though, good news again after the roof was re-installed.
        Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
        Icetiva-3-race-car-build
        http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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        • #49
          Engine work

          Sunday on Weekend 9 I started stripping down to the engine blocks to start the parts swap. First, everything came off the Miata engine.

          There was notable corrosion down in the spark plug wells, so a lot of PB Blaster is sitting in the wells now, waiting a day or so before I attempt to remove the plugs.
          Inside the valve cover the engine head looks really clean, with almost no coloration at all, so it looks like a well maintained block. The crank rotates by hand and makes puffing sounds out the exhaust ports. The oil pan when removed had a thin sludgy coating and some golden brown oil in it. The coating easily wiped away.

          The front engine-radiator connection in the front of the head has to be blocked off, and to get at it the cam gears have to come off too, as does the valve cover on a Miata, unlike on the B6T.

          With the connector removed a 30 mm hole is revealed. I am going to try a freeze plug to block it, although I hear it is possible to buy a block off plate.

          The tranny, and the exhaust manifold/turbo came off of the B6T, but nothing new there, so no pic. But good news, the exhaust manifold gasket from both heads is an exact match, just like has been reported here before. Always good to see it for yourself though!
          And the port on the Miata water pump matches with the pump connector cover plate for the B6T, so swapping the coolant lines is going to be straight forward.
          Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
          Icetiva-3-race-car-build
          http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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          • #50
            glad its all working out Jed, the blockoff plate in the front can just be a piece of 1/4 inch thick aluminum with some gasket maker and a gasket. Just whatever scrap bits you have laying around.

            I hate frost plugs, they always come out.

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            • #51
              Putting the engine back together

              Weekend 10, yikes.
              Took the oil pan and oil pump off to swap on the B6T pan, and oil pump. The pump was seriously cleaned up, and the gear drives measured to be well in spec. The pan swap is needed to mate to the G25mr tranny, and fit the exhaust & downpipe. The oil pump is swapped to get a dip stick, since the Miata puts the stick through the pan, not the pump, unlike the B6T.

              While the pan was off I checked some of the bearings, which came in at the top end of spec for new bearings at about 1.5 to 1.8 thou. (1 to 1.7 for new with 3 as absolute max for used)

              A lot of scrubbing and cleaning went into this pan, to get rid of the steel bearing bits from when the previous engine using this pan seized.

              And on the block

              I found my almost new water pump, so decided to swap out the Miata pump that is almost 25 years old.

              New pump in place

              And a 30 mm freeze plug pounded into place and sealed with Permatex Aviation form-a-gasket, as recommended by at least 3 youtube install videos
              Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
              Icetiva-3-race-car-build
              http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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              • #52
                Engine coming together

                The Miata does not use all of the same threaded holes on the block as the B6T for mounting brackets, and the ones that weren't in use were really crudded up. So thread chasing them all was required.

                The Miata exhaust has two fewer studs than the B6T exhaust manifold, but the threaded holes are still in the Miata head, covered over by the exhaust mani, ready for inserting fresh studs - now I just have to find a source for them. M10 x 1.25 about 1 7/8 inches long

                And a great result! That's the Miata intake manifold gasket sitting over top the intake gasket on the B6T head, and it's a perfect match, just like I was told it would be! Great stuff.

                I wanted to use the Miata valve cover, 'cause I like the tubular look it has, but it is too tall to fit the B6T intake and throttle body assembly, it does not have holes to mount the B6T throttle cable assembly, and the PCV valve outlet and the other crankcase head outlet are in the wrong spots. The outlets might have been adapted, but the size makes it all a no go for the Miata valve cover. So on went the B6T valve cover and cam gear engine front cover.

                That Miata block is really starting to look like a B6T now!
                Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
                Icetiva-3-race-car-build
                http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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                • #53
                  I'd be tempted to use some 1"x1/8" strap steel bolted to those old thermostat holes to hold that freeze plug in.

                  Looks good though.
                  1963 Fairlane - future NSS drag car
                  1965 Mustang Coupe - A-code car, restoring for/with my son
                  1973 F100 longbed - only 22k original miles, 360/auto, disk, PS/PB dealer in dash A/C
                  1996 Sonoma X-cab - son's DD
                  2002 Grand Prix - daughter's DD
                  2003 Sport Trac - 180k, 130k on replaced motor with new timing chains - F/S soon.
                  2005 Accord - wife's DD
                  2008 Mountaineer - step daughter's DD
                  2015 F150 SCrew - DD

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                  • #54
                    Originally posted by Larry Hampton View Post
                    I'd be tempted to use some 1"x1/8" strap steel bolted to those old thermostat holes to hold that freeze plug in.
                    Actually I got a block off plate and gasket made to block the port off, but it was too thick to fit behind the engine mount bracket, so to keep going on the project I decided to just go with what is supposed to be a tried and true technology. After all, the rest of the block is full of holes plugged with freeze plugs. Hopefully it will work out. In principle it should.
                    Last edited by Icedawg; 02-06-2014, 11:32 PM.
                    Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
                    Icetiva-3-race-car-build
                    http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Flywheel

                      Weekend 11, Finishing off the engine with a new rear main seal from Mazda,

                      Then the flywheel. The Miata fly on the right is a bit lighter, but I have a nice upgraded clutch on the left for the B6T flywheel, and a fresh grind on that flywheel. The clutch is an ebay F1 company high performance kit.

                      Turbo is a VJ14/11 hybrid

                      There are so many B6T pieces now on the Miata block that are from the B6T it is clear I could not have made this fit into the Festiva easily without a full long block B6T as a donor. Or a whole lot of real fab work, not the simple swap and minor fab that has taken me long enough to do.
                      Oil pump, oil pan, intake and exhaust manifolds, turbo of course, distributor, water pump to rad outlet fitting, metal coolant return tubing, coolant return fitting for turbo, engine to rad outlet fitting, turbo bracket mount, front engine mount bracket, interface plate between engine and tranny, knock sensor, crank belt pulley, top of front engine cover and cam backing plate, and valve cover. Probably other stuff too.
                      Here is what is left of the B6T donor
                      Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
                      Icetiva-3-race-car-build
                      http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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                      • #56
                        Tranny mounts

                        Weekend 11 still, its time to go back to work on the chassis to clearance the engine bay for the G25mr transmission, and prepare the mounts.
                        Here is what we will cut out, with a template from a mockup on another chassis.

                        Here is the cross member, with strength added across the open whole in the middle, and along the curved portion with extra plating, plus a few spots carved or clearanced a bit. And then the whole cross member is dropped a bit more than an inch, with standoff cubes made out of square tubing.

                        Here are the engine and tranny supports. There is a fourth support from tranny to driver side frame rail, the front tranny support is a small mount to allow room for the Aspire sway bar. And the rear tranny mount is a solid mount with no rubber in it, because these rear mounts tend to come apart from all the force and stress of ice racing and pounding across the rough surfaces.

                        And things like this are why it takes so long to build a 20 year old car. Two of the nuts that are tacked on for the bolts that mount the cross member broke free when trying to remove the cross member. So the front rad bar had to be cut open to access the nut, and a whole had to be cut in the floor in the cabin to access the other one, PB blaster used to soak, plus a torch to get it unscrewed. Now it will have to be fixed.
                        Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
                        Icetiva-3-race-car-build
                        http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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                        • #57
                          Awesome pics and writeup IceDawg! That car is looking way too clean to be an ice-racer - it should be in a showcar somewhere!
                          - Form should follow function...

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                          • #58
                            'Stand-off cubes with a lower cradle' - why? Not calling you an idiot. Seriously curious.

                            Oh wait. Stand-off cubes do the lowering? Not taking up the space and keeping the engine in stock location? Yeah, that's probably it. Sorry. Been awake too long again.
                            Last edited by sketchman; 02-11-2014, 03:31 PM.
                            Any difference that makes no difference is no difference.

                            Old Blue- New Tricks
                            91 Festiva FSM PDF - Dropbox

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                            • #59
                              That clutch will be your weak point. I used a eBay f1 on my b6t and it slipped the first time I went 12lbs on the stock turbo. I got another pressure plate and now I'm blowing the clutch on 16 lbs. it hard to run fast went you can't mash the clutch while on the gas.
                              1988 Ford Festiva "Sonic" BPT g25mr MS2 standalone ecu, FOTY '11, Best Beater FMV, Fan Favorite FMVI

                              1989 Ford Mustang GT 5.slow

                              1996 Ford F-150

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                              • #60
                                Originally posted by Flyin4stroke View Post
                                That clutch will be your weak point. I used a eBay f1 on my b6t and it slipped the first time I went 12lbs on the stock turbo. I got another pressure plate and now I'm blowing the clutch on 16 lbs. it hard to run fast went you can't mash the clutch while on the gas.
                                Yeah I did wonder if the ebay company was going to be good enough. It worked fine when first installed. It did slip a bit when I ran over really rough "corduroy road" ruts in a sequence coming out of a slow corner that rutted up really badly, so I had to feather the throttle a bit. It seemed to come from the grip/slip/grip repeat caused by the ruts. Taking it apart it still looks really clean. I run 10 to 12 pounds of boost, and on ice with bolted tires there is never as much grip as on pavement, so hopefully that will keep it working.
                                I had a stock B6T clutch on it, new, from a reputable company, and it started slipping pretty quickly, so this one has lasted longer. But I am sorry to hear my worry about this clutch is valid.
                                Thricetiva replaced Icetiva as the new ride
                                Icetiva-3-race-car-build
                                http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2533299

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