irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
1. I have towed this car home from Ohio and I have spun this car out on course and I've raced against it for years, and I never knew it had a name.
2. IDK what you plan to do with the old engine? I'd be interested in purchasing the oil pan for a spare (and perhaps other things that might work as M50 spares), if you're not trying to sell it whole. LMK.
3. Likely up for a pick and pull trip next weekend.
I never really had settled on a name until this year, not one I felt like really putting out there anyway.
Old engine is TBD. I'm not sure about getting rid of the pan, but would sell it to you in a pinch. Or were you thinking to bring to stages? I was thinking about stripping the block to save, but maybe just letting it go for space is better.
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:
I really like this car. The paint job just works.
I'm looking forward to seeing more on your transplant, though I would have said go EcoBoost!
There's a picture of my then-8-mo-in-girlfriend, now wife and mother of my daughter, doing the paintjob at the decrepit tax-repo sale garage I was actually incredibly lucky to be able to store the car at and work in. She doesn't love how she looks in pics, so sadly I can't share. As much as I like the paint job for nostalgia reasons, it was pretty much beat when it went on, and is beyond hammered now. I'm currently testing blues. Probably try and get my daughter involved somehow, even if it's just hand/footprints or some finger painting.
bluej (Forum Supporter) said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
1. I have towed this car home from Ohio and I have spun this car out on course and I've raced against it for years, and I never knew it had a name.
2. IDK what you plan to do with the old engine? I'd be interested in purchasing the oil pan for a spare (and perhaps other things that might work as M50 spares), if you're not trying to sell it whole. LMK.
3. Likely up for a pick and pull trip next weekend.
I never really had settled on a name until this year, not one I felt like really putting out there anyway.
Old engine is TBD. I'm not sure about getting rid of the pan, but would sell it to you in a pinch. Or were you thinking to bring to stages? I was thinking about stripping the block to save, but maybe just letting it go for space is better.
Yeah, mostly to have a spare, since our only DNF was a busted oil pan lol....and I don't have a spare e34 pan.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
bluej (Forum Supporter) said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
1. I have towed this car home from Ohio and I have spun this car out on course and I've raced against it for years, and I never knew it had a name.
2. IDK what you plan to do with the old engine? I'd be interested in purchasing the oil pan for a spare (and perhaps other things that might work as M50 spares), if you're not trying to sell it whole. LMK.
3. Likely up for a pick and pull trip next weekend.
I never really had settled on a name until this year, not one I felt like really putting out there anyway.
Old engine is TBD. I'm not sure about getting rid of the pan, but would sell it to you in a pinch. Or were you thinking to bring to stages? I was thinking about stripping the block to save, but maybe just letting it go for space is better.
Yeah, mostly to have a spare, since our only DNF was a busted oil pan lol....and I don't have a spare e34 pan.
Makes sense. How about after I pull the motor and strip it down however far I feel like, you come pick up and deal with disposing of whatever's still attached to the block. You keep the pan.
Few more purchases happened last night/this morning:
- 60cf full C25 gas cylinder is enroute from NJ for $220. How much did I overpay? Didn't seem much more expensive to buy the cylinder, and a 60 is as big as fits on my cart, and still under my bench/desk. Work needs kinda crushed my time available to go get one locally anyway. I have a cylinder of what I know now to be trimix, but not sure how much (1800psi). it came from Josh H's uncle estate sale for a whopping $40!
- Ordered an NC inner/outer manifold, just to make absolutely sure I have them here for next week.
- $20 balance shaft delete. Sure, I could tap the oil port to plug instead, but fast and easy wins.
One of the you pull it yards down by the place where I purchased the trans from (and have to pick up) has a '10 in the free range area of the yard. I'm hoping to grab as much as I can in an hour or so, starting with accessories, Mani if intact, valve cover, front cover, and whatever is easy to snag of the wiring harness. Then grab the trans, followed by motor pickup enroute, and Betsy will arrive home with a d25 rwd swap kit in the bed. Not sure if next Monday or Tuesday yet.
Starting to look ahead to gauge/sensor setup, ignition, and idle, I had started this thread looking for other coil options than the default gm truck coils. Paul_vr6 reminded me that the microsquirt manual had some other suggested options. $60 later, and a new bosch 4 lead, logic triggered coil is enroute. This guy specifically:
The NC outer IM arrived today. that was quick! If I can find a 2-wire IAC to plug this hole in the NC IM, it would save me having to make a block plate, too.
ASPX has wideband controller/guage combos that I decided to give a try to, so a pair of these in black w/ orange is also on the way (already have 4.2 sensors). I'm not sold on their durabilty, but am willing to give it a try at $65/per.
next up is probably throttle body. The ranger duratec is the only (I think) of this family of motors that came with a cable throttle, but there may be some other generic option that's easier to adapt. This will be a lot easier now that the NC outer manifold is here.
If you're wondering about exhaust, I'm probably going to recycle the current cheap ebay headers on the m52 with one of the readily available exhaust manifold flanges. They might be smaller than necessary, we'll see, I need to check some sizes.
7:15
2:00pm, one rwd duratec 2.5 kit later (3 stops)..
Just got back a bit ago, and going to start cleaning up to assemble enough to start mocking up for test fitting. I've had this week off from work, and today and tomorrow I'm able to fully dedicate to working on " car stuff". That bin is full of NC Miata parts I raided this morning from the one NC at a you-pull-it w/in driving distance.
Also, wtformat?
Driving your rwd duratec swapped race vehicle to get a rwd duratec swap for your other race vehicle is how you know you are going to get very good at rwd duratecs.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
Driving your rwd duratec swapped race vehicle to get a rwd duratec swap for your other race vehicle is how you know you are going to get very good at rwd duratecs.
Hah! 
Stripped down as far as made sense to power wash all the things. Breaking for dinner now, then I'll be back out tonight.
In the meantime, think I'm finally happy with my junkyarding setup. I have had this backpack since highschool, and use it only for car stuff now that it's so beat. Each little bag is organized by type of tool (basic go-to's, more socket/extender selection, most wrenches, big wrenches, specialty stuff, etc..). The yellow bag is for smaller parts, and I can strap larger stuff (or in this case, longer coolant hardlines and harness sections) to the back of the backpack.
NC bits. Still need a power steering pump from somewhere. Oh, the throttle body is from a towncar 4.6. should be easy to mate to the NC intake, and very close in size.
I'm gonna be up in Silver Spring tomorrow morning or afternoon to get some tires on the tow rig (Radial Tire), so I may give you a call once I'm out of there and maybe swing by and see how progress looks
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
I'm gonna be up in Silver Spring tomorrow morning or afternoon to get some tires on the tow rig (Radial Tire), so I may give you a call once I'm out of there and maybe swing by and see how progress looks
Sweet! Bring your trailer, you can take the old e30 motor+pan (seriously). Also, I have a NIB spare water pump you can have.
In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :
lol....I mean, I'll have the Sequoia but seeing as I'm taking it to get new tires, not sure a trailer is gonna work :)
May be able to stuff the engine in the back though. Just make sure all the coolant is out of it.....lol.I'll bring an old tire to set it on and some ratchet straps.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :
lol....I mean, I'll have the Sequoia but seeing as I'm taking it to get new tires, not sure a trailer is gonna work :)
May be able to stuff the engine in the back though. Just make sure all the coolant is out of it.....lol.I'll bring an old tire to set it on and some ratchet straps.
Sounds good! Text me whenever you head up towards SS.
bluej (Forum Supporter) said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :
lol....I mean, I'll have the Sequoia but seeing as I'm taking it to get new tires, not sure a trailer is gonna work :)
May be able to stuff the engine in the back though. Just make sure all the coolant is out of it.....lol.I'll bring an old tire to set it on and some ratchet straps.
Sounds good! Text me whenever you head up towards SS.
will do, though who knows how long it will take since its first come first served over at Radial....
Today was a good day. More, and more pics later, but start, middle, and end:
HUGE thanks to irish44j for helping out today, and also getting this old mill out of my small urban garage! (And for taking good pics)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
1. I have towed this car home from Ohio and I have spun this car out on course and I've raced against it for years, and I never knew it had a name.
Lol, same! Glad to see it's finally getting the build thread it deserves. Your ambition never ceases to amaze me, I'm sure this is going to turn out awesome. If you can actually get this thing to the next event, I'm going to be seriously impressed. What's the estimated weight difference between the old/new setup? Probably substantial. This thing is going to scoot!
95maxrider said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
1. I have towed this car home from Ohio and I have spun this car out on course and I've raced against it for years, and I never knew it had a name.
Lol, same! Glad to see it's finally getting the build thread it deserves. Your ambition never ceases to amaze me, I'm sure this is going to turn out awesome. If you can actually get this thing to the next event, I'm going to be seriously impressed. What's the estimated weight difference between the old/new setup? Probably substantial. This thing is going to scoot!
Since the next event is less than two weeks away, I don't think having dirthammer back ready to run by then is realistic. Normally, I'd rush to try, cut a few corners, still miss the event, and be frustrated with the work. I'm so tired of that. Really, the items I don't already have a plan for isn't terribly long:
- Driveshaft. It'll be shorter for sure. The bell to shifter locations between the g260 e30 setup and NC Miata 5spd is very close (like within 3/4"), but the g260 is significantly shorter. Since the Miata unit is a slip joint, and the trans output is so close (where I expect it, anyway) to the CSB joint in an e30, could this be as easy as taking the e30 one to a shop, and asking them to add a u-joint and Miata slip to the front of the rear half of the e30 shaft? What am I missing (besides a safety loop)?
- Brake master. Pretty sure I'll need to go booster less, so I need to size this correctly. Bye-bye abs in the process.
- Clutch slaves. There's a fairly substantial difference in bore size. I need to compare travel and motion ratios of the TOB arms.
Engine weight difference will probably be in the 100-150lb range. I have a hanging scale, but forgot to measure the old engine setup.
In reply to bluej (Forum Supporter) :
having just moved it by myself on a cart to my back yard, let me tell you it is "heavy"
A VANOS M50 weighs around 430# fully dressed (including A/C stuff) - which is about 30# heavier than a fully dressed M20. This seems to be pretty consistent from various sources....430-436#. I would imagine the M52 is pretty similar.
I think 29x lbs. at full fighting weight is realistic. missing from this pic: power steering pump, accessory belt, fluids, egr valve thingy, wiring. subtract 11.2 lbs for the leveler. stand-ins: ms3 turbo exhaust manifold, and COP's instead of the vw coil tower I plan to use. Should be decent approximations for now.
this was longblock with crank pulley, starter, alternator, and water pump pulley, pcv valve, water pump-no wheel, cops, ranger pan and oil pickup (no clutch/flywheel yet, and minus the 11.2 leveler):
I snuck in a couple quick measurements this morning on my way back in from walking the dog, and think I have a driveshaft solution: RX-8. Length looks right, and may be easily adjusted with the rear mounting (adapter flange, or shop swapping on the e-30 + shorten. I believe the yokes are the same, but once I can confirm, they're $60 on ebay for steel ones from the auto trans.
Well then. I think this will work.
The bolt with the blue is at the depth it would be w/ the trans installed.
Are you planning to put a bump in the firewall to set it back that far, or is it going to sit slightly further forward in the engine bay? Looks like you have plenty of room!
Just wanted to check in and subscribe. I just got my Volvo 122 back to rallycross this year, nowhere near as intense a build as this but after having been ridden hard and put away wet and let to set for 6 years, I can sympathize with a lot of this.
Also, I've been thinking about a duratec swap on a Volvo 122 for years now. So this is relevant to my interests.
Nice work, hope to see you out on dirt again sometime. I ran the Susquehanna region SCCA rallycross up in Harrisburg beginning of August- it was only about an hour from my house. Would like to get out to Summit or Panthera later this year.
