Rich's 5.0 NA, boring stuff
 

I bought my wife a mini cooper which she loved but an oil pump failure killed it so I sold it and bought her an NA, when she got pregnant it became mine since my truck got awful gas milage and we were breaking $4 a gallon. I started changing things until i flipped it in the summer. By that time my friend gave me a full mustang drivetrain, harness and ecu. The day after i crashed i picked up a clean NA with some minor mods. Luckily it was the same color as my hardtop. I have been driving it for a few months now and all i really did was port and polish the head and some minor stuff. Im almost ready to tear it apart, I get the rear tomorrow and headers by the end of the week.

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Not using a kit. I have plenty of time and I would rather have the experience

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Coil bracket where the ps pump would go

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Subframe i picked up when i had the white car
Modded both sides
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Manual rack rebuilt, urethane bushings
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Nice...but don't say "flip" and post a pic of the carnage without some how, why, and hopefully came out unsaved.... (?)

Lookin' good. Now hurry up & finish so you can bring it to The Mitty. Glad to see that you apparently weren't injured in the flip.

Not knowing the circumstances, but, based on the recent driving incident; "You sure you wanna add big power to it?"

I was only doing 20-30 mph. Pick up hit me head on by my d-side front fender, put me off the road on the right, hit a rock, did a slow roll. Scraped my elbow trying to protect my head but the roll bar was good enough. The windshield frame folded like nothing.

What axles is everyone using on the 7.5"? Im starting the subframe today and want to get them ordered. I read a few threads but no real info in them

Martin from Monster Miata provided mine. Give him a call, prices are reasonable and he knows exactly what you would need- you'll likely need the modified hubs.
Good guy to deal with.

Diff mounting
 

I just made 2 capture nuts inside the ends of 2x2 to act as stanchions for the front. Used delrin for bushings.

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Bought the axles and broched hubs from martin, $734. That puts me over $1000 for this project now. Not including the car of course. $1120 total, motor, trans, ecu, frame, gaskets etc, new alt, water pump, starter.

Started the swap, had the drive train and suspension out in about 3 hours, got both new subframes in with suspension in roughly 2 hours. Tackled the engine bay mods after that. Going to reattach the brakes and bleed the system so the rear end is complete when i get home. Also have to pull the passenger side seat for the ecu and start getting the harness in place. The motor and trans should be in by monday so I can order a drive shaft, havent found a shop by me yet. (Manhattan, bronx, westchester, putnam or dutchess county) if any one has any suggestions, danbury ct isnt far either. Ill post some pics when i upload them

3 days in. Rear subframe is all squared away. Still need to bleed the brakes because the rear passenger side needs to be disconnected to drop the old subframe, the new subframe I made the brake tab bolt on so if I ever need to drop it I dont have to re-bleed the brakes.

Last fun ride with the 1.8L
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Nice progress!

What is this plug? Its on the passenger side fender under the headlight
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http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...F583FA699E.jpg

The ecu will live under the airbag panel. The megasquirt will replace it once the swap is done, for simplicity im just using the stock eeciv sd ecu (speed density)

Headers seem to clear fine, good firewall clearance. Tomorrow I'll bolt it in for good and wire the starter, alt and plug in the harness. Still need to bleed the brakes and put cotter pins in all the castle nuts on the front end

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1439253143

Oh that connector i asked about is for the a/c relays

Sorry I missed this great build thread! Yes there are a couple plugs right there both having to do with AC. One for the clutch and the other for the AC fan.

Love the DIY work and super cheap build. Would like to see the cost build sheet when you are done. You give us all much hope! Really well done thank you for posting it.

I'll be around 2 grand by the end. The rear end set up was the most (axles, diff, hubs, bushings) and Im still searching for an lsd so that will add another $100. This is what we can call phase 1. Next will be megasquirt with an ethanol sensor so I can run e85.

Also if anyone has any specific questions or needs measurements feel free to ask.

Here are the specs
96 ecu, 1.8 with a 1.8 torsen and brakes on a 90

88 fox mustangs speed density
89-90 t5 from a 2.3 turbo using timkin ss202 pilot bearing and a useless 1st gear
Cougar 7.5 open for now
Martins axles and hubs
Crown vic water pump (std rotation)
Pm starter
Protane bushings
Dodge pickup motor mounts that martin uses $5. Each
Mismatched hedman headers. 88400Left and 89500 right. Like other members here. Its tight and did require more subframe modification. I also cut the cable guide for the clutch to have extra room. A lokar flexible dipstick was needed and so was a few light whacks where it passes the header.

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No pics today. Got the trans mount all set up and finished so I can order a driveshaft. Alternator and starter wiring is done so it cranks. Fuel pump jumper is in and it quickly told me one of the o-rings is bad by pissing fuel. Had a little issue when i put a keyed hot to it and melted a wire so i have to find that short. I did what martins book said so it leads me to believe that its in the 5.0 harness, i bench tested the main harness and it doesn't short so I'm thinking it could be the fuel injection harness. I'll have to pull it tomorrow night.

Haven't worked on the brake booster, clutch line, cooling or exhaust yet.

Turns out an a/c plug fits in an evap plug and i was shorting it out. Then i realized i had the dizzy 180 out, then i found out the tfi is shot. But it starts now, only for a minute though because its currently air cooled. Tomorrow I'll drop some coin on a radiator and driveshaft. Havent decided on a fan setup yet, but i did pickup a temp switch 170-185f, and a universal pipe thread. I was going to use one like martin suggests but its to hot 92-97c and if i want a cooler switch I would have a hard time finding the temp range and thread. Im definetly running parralel relays and seperate fuses with a manual bypass for the misserable manhatan/brooklyn/queens traffic I find myself in a few times a month.

Waiting on an aluminum driveshaft from shaftmasters and a dual pass 3" aluminum radiator from saldanas. Figured if i bought a cheap radiator and steel driveshaft I would never upgrade, so it should be money well spent. Added a vdo oil pressure gauge and fuel pressure gauge, still waiting on the water temp. Finished the exhaust minus o2 bungs because I didnt have the tap. The exhaust is 2.5" steel, I used 2 j bends and about 14' of straight. All tig welded just because I had a full tank of argon and its soothing to do. The cans were free from a friend who only used them a week before changing his mind. I welded them together for a center exit, not for ascetics, just because its a super simple setup. I still need to add hangers to the center but im going to wait till I get the driveshaft.
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This is a video, cant figure out how to make it work

http://s216.photobucket.com/user/richharr21/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-08/DC11FE42-C46A-4972-8791-E62AE9E15CB8.mp4.html

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I modified the passenger header so I would be easier to mount the mid section and to create more clearance. Did lobster welds because the bend radius was taking too much space.

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Wow your fab skills continue to blow me away! Going to put this thread in the hall of fame 5 star threads for sure when you are done. Thanks for posting!

Thanks. Its all planning and prep, anyone can do it. I started the track bar stanchions but Im leaving for work so I wont be home for a few days and it looks like next week is gonna be a good family boat week so progress will slow down a bit. As of now, the radiator and driveshaft are the only things keeping it from the road. Then I get to tune and iron out the bugs

Sway bar mounts done
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1441590806

Cleaned up the o2 harness and welded bungs in, thats done. Made a clutch brace because I didnt like the flex, I dont know why anyone wouldn't do it. Also added a 3 wire water proof plug to the harness for ground, 12v constant and keyed so I can pull the harness out without cutting my splices

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Nice welds, what machine are you using? I'm looking into getting a tig eventually.

I have a few welders, the one I used for that is a hot rodded simadre. I made it with duel controls so I can run a pedal and switch. I was going to strictly use my portable scratch start but decided Against it. Thats probably the best way to get started with a tig since theres a low entry fee

Any pics of clutch brace? I'd like to see what you did.

Thanks,

Jason

Heres the brace, made it out of 22g sheet metal first to make sure everything was going to clear and line up, cardboard is usually my "go to" but i wanted to try it out first. Then I used angle for the final version, its painted and mounted but I don't have pics.

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Also had to make this, I was sick of shuffling a stack of boxes. It stole an hour from the miata. Everything in this post was made from old bed frames btw
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This is the ecu power ground plug I mentioned before
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Thanks. Would definitely like to see an installed pic if you get a chance. Trying to get ideas on how to do mine.

Jason

Got the driveshaft from shaftmasters, $370 to my door, balanced with my yoke and flange plate, and new u-joints. I did have to pay $12 to ship my stuff to them but its worth it.
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A little diy
Made a clutch rod for better adjustment, not dissengaging, but I didnt have time to mess with it had to get in some family time. I'll remake it out of stainless if it works so It wont rust

Found a grade 5 bolt, drilled a nut to slide over the shoulder, cut the head off, rounded it off
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If anyone has pics or links about clutch adjustment post them up

Just about road worthy, Im a week away from 2 months so Id like to have it finished this week. It runs great and my neighbors like out newly decorated road. Gonna take it for an allignment thursday or friday. I have to adjust the coilovers For a little more ride height. Also on the list is mounting my fan.

Been driving the car.

A few things I noticed that people may want to take into consideration on there builds

1. The extra money on the radiator was well spent, I stay between 180-200. I used my old cheap ebay 15" fan ($30) ad a puller. No shrouding. The temps here have been going down 70-85f most days. I tapped the stock miata fan relay, when that fails I'll use a standard bosch style.

2. Being slammed my exhause scrapes a little so I need to tuck it in more. Should have spent more time getting it tighter.

3. The speed density computer was a good move, theyre cheaper than the maf setup and the megasquirt gets rid of the stock 5.0 maf anyway

4. My battery crapped out, it was old and not up to the task of turning 8 cylinders

5. Definitly attach the trans crossmember to the floor by the tunnel. Even with the thick steel I used theres a little bounce, not and issue now but It needs to be sorted

6. Hood pins were a smart choice to get the radiator far foward. Im glad I didnt waste time trying to save it

7. Be preppared for attention and stupid questions

Congrats on the successful shake down! What a great build and excellent thread for guys to follow. So any chance we can get more than 7 seconds of video?

Got your ticket for Mitty yet? :)

Nice work, sir. Hope we'll see some more complete pics as well. I like it!

Building my 1.8 for my friends 1.6 miata


Balanced and blueprinted, block was almost perfect. .0015 taper in one cylinder, .0005 egging in another
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Head is just sitting there, I ported and polished it 6 months ago, i have an extra exhaust cam to use for the intake. Just going to re-blueprint it and re-lap the valves. It was alreadeay de-burred
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Blueprinted the oilpump too
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Building my 1.8 for my friends 1.6 miata


Balanced and blueprinted, block was almost perfect. .0015 taper in one cylinder, .0005 egging in another
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1447098444


Head is just sitting there, I ported and polished it 6 months ago, i have an extra exhaust cam to use for the intake. Just going to re-blueprint it and re-lap the valves. It was alreadeay de-burred
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Blueprinted the oilpump too
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Well i deburred the head and smotthed out some oil retutns


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And enough of the 4 cylinder stuff, we're here for v8s


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Finished my Intake, ss304 3" tubing
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Beautiful car. Don't hesitate posting more pics of the car. I think mine now sits too high when compared to yours. I'll need to go back thru your thread and see what suspension you have underneath that pretty body. Intake looks A-1 as well ! Love it.

Decided to keep in the tradition of this build thread and do it cheap when it came to the egr spacer.

As for the suspension
Unfortunately its raceland coil overs
Prothane poly bushings
949 huge sway bars
-2.7 camber front and rear. 1/8" out front, 1/8th in back. As much caster as i could get. Also added grease zerks to everything suspension related. i just raised it 3/4" inch and shimmed the front crossmember so it will sit a little higher.

I used a fly cutter for most of the work although the pictures have an endmill.
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After about an hour of work and some polishing

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Gotta finish the 1.8 for my friend so we can get it swapped it. One of my other friends shaved the valve cover while I built the head. I port matched and polished the intake, we also took down all of the casting marks to make it look cooler. The motor will probably get a turbo while he collects v8 parts

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Videos at the bottom are just me putting miles on it to see if anything needs to be done


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Sounds great!

Yes it does. And it looks good as well. I guess where you're at, you may have to put it away for the winter?