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I have had my car running since about January of 2016. This thread will document some upgrades I'm doing over the winter. Stuff I always knew was going to get changed eventually.
Today the car got it's new twin disc Mantic clutch installed. The motivation for this was to reduce weight ... theres' no way a Miata needs a 57# flywheel, which is what my C7 flywheel and clutch supposedly weighed. The Mantic setup was supposed to be 27#. It's also twin disc, so the rotational inertia is less (plus the flywheel has a lot of mass removed around the outside, for more of the same effect). When I actually removed the stock clutch, it didn't weigh 57#, but 48.5#. And the new clutch didn't weigh 27#, but 37#. So I'm not losing as much mass as I wanted, but due to the design, the rotational inertia should still be much better.
I see the oil lines. is this for a remote filter and oil cooler? I have one of each pans and it is time to make a choice between the two. Thanks.
Yes, it's theV8R pan that had provision for a remote filter/cooler. I mounted the cooler in front of the radiator on the right. The filter and thermostat that lets oil into the cooler is at the right front corner of the engine (no A/C on this car). The lines run from where you see them, around the front of the pan to the top/rear of the rack, to the oil filter mounting block. The lines from the block run around the bottom rear of the radiator to the cooler.
I weighed my clutch setup. Ls7 clutch and pressure plate I believe and a ls2 flywheel. 59lbs. If (when LOL)I ever have the trans out I’ll likely swap it for something lighter.
I swapped cams (to an ASA cam from a Hotcam), and today i got the front of the engine buttoned back up. This involves torquing the crank pulley to 235 ft-lbs with my giant torque wrench. :-)
The powertrain is just about ready to go back in the car. I want to fab a nice low cart to roll it around on ... which may be a waste of time, because hopefully the engine will never come out again.
The funny looking foam square around the shifter in the previous photo seals up against the new insulation inside the trans tunnel ...
The insulation is closed cell foam with reflective aluminum glued on top with contact cement. It's held to the inside of the tunnel with these screws. Push the foam over the screw, and fasten with a fender washer and a nyloc.
Here's the aluminum being wrapped arount the back side of the foam.
This piece will cover the section of tunnel shown in the first photo.
Here you can see the fender washers holding the insulation on. There were 3 sections total to cover the whole of the tunnel interior. The bellhousing will be done with reflective tape only, no foam.
Tunnel insulation complete ... I am going to put reflective tape (no foam) inside the tunnel around the bellhousing. The clearances are probably too tight in there for foam.
I like what you did with the hose clamp to hold the clutch lines in place, Maybe that was just for installation or permanent. I don't like how mine are loose and flop around. I did cover them in some rubber hose for rubbing and heat protection.
I like what you did with the hose clamp to hold the clutch lines in place, Maybe that was just for installation or permanent. I don't like how mine are loose and flop around. I did cover them in some rubber hose for rubbing and heat protection.
When I was first driving it, the clutch lines wound up resting against the header and burned the plastic sheathing around the braided hose a little bit. I added a clamp as soon as I saw that (it was VERY hard to get installed with the engine in the car, but I managed). Part of this winter's project was replacing that hose, and I moved the clamp to a more inboard hole on the back of the head. The clamp was previously by the 'D821' at the back corner of the casting. The location I'm using now is also the ground for the PCM harness.
I used the same type of clamp to mount my clutch hoses but mounted mine to the firewall just below the steering column.
My engine seems to be mounted closer to the firewall than some and I just don't have room to mount the clamp to the engine as you did.
When I tried to do it that way the clamp crushed against the firewall and gave me trouble getting the subframe bolting installed because it simply did not want to move far enough to the rear to let the back four bolts line up.
Just wanted to make sure everybody is aware that it will not always work the way yours does.
Top job on the heat protection. Most forget this very important aspect of the build.
In my car i laid down dynomat extreme first all the way from the firewall all the way down the tunnel to the back where the fuel tank is. I then laid on top of that sticky fiberglass backed heat shield that stuck over the top. I then sprayed the noise insulation bitumen spray in the areas of the chassis that did not get the insulation treatment.
The difference in heat and noise was amazing. Before the conversion even with the 1.8L engine the area where the seat bottom touches the tunnel (near the seat buckle) was burning hot, even on a cold day AND the car sounded like an empty tin can on the road, like a huge resonance chamber. After the insulation I noticed that the temp was only mildly felt and the road noise was dramatically reduced.
Definitely a must do item...
I also used Dynomat extreme in the inside floor area, boot area fuel tank cover area and I even the heat shield where the rear muffler goes. To top it all off, I also stuffed the rear quarter cavities on the inside of the car (that are in between the rear quarter panel and the fuel tank area) with high density foam. That stopped a lot of road noise too.
Some people thought I was crazy (and they would not be far off)...but the car now has better than oem levels of NVH
I built a low-rider cart to put the engine on when it goes back under the car. The headers just barely clear the garage floor ... this this is about as low as possible, so I don't have to jack the front end as high to slide it back under.
The second photo shows one advantage of a steel bench top. You can do welding fitup and tacking on it.
Now that is just plain wicked.
Way better than the Harbor Freight moving dolly that I bought and stacked 2 x 4 lumber on.
I can see where it should be great for mounting the front four nuts but how do you get to the rear bolts and transmission cross member?
Once you get it back up and running I really want to know how well that clutch works cause it looks like a million bucks.
Too bad it is hidden underneath the bell housing.
First you roll the engine under the car ... then you lift it up with a cherry picker. Once it's off the cart, I can extract the cart and put a jack under the back of the trans. At that point, it's easy to get to the rear bolts and trans cross member. The car is fairly high ... you can see the wood cart I used before in this picture taken right before I pulled the engine.
So, after a little more than a year off the road, it's headed to the exhaust shop to get the new headers tied to the FM exhaust. I upgraded the clutch, headers, cam, suspension bushings, and brakes. I installed an early dash, improved the wiring, put carpet in the interior, insulated the trans tunnel, rebuilt a CV joint, and various other miscellaneous projects. Basically everything that was on my "I want to improve this later" list when it was first on the road in 2016. I think I can probably drive it for 10 years now without any serious mods, just maintenance.
02-03-2018, 06:54 PM
Winter Upgrades 2018
