More poor life choices #3(and possibly #4)

Long day...

I tore apart the LF suspension this morning & got the new lower ball joints installed. The left steering rack boot was also torn, and I discovered that even though both upper ball joints feel tight, their boots were cracked too, so I have a pair of rack boots & upper ball joint boots on order. Until they arrive later this week the only other pending suspension work is assembling the front shock/coilover assemblies. Hopefully I can find the time to finish those by the end of the week. 

The rear brake pads arrived this morning, so I got them installed, finishing up the rear suspension & brakes. 

Then I spent all afternoon on the engine - new timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, thermostat, coolant temp sensor, spark plugs, seals & gaskets installed. 

I need Ed to pick up a few feet of 3/8” coolant hose to replace everything on the engine, then pull it off the stand to replace the rear seal & reseal the oil pan. That won’t happen until after I install the new front seal & gasket in the trans though, which won’t happen for a while. 

Front shocks assembled...

...and bolted into place. 

That’s a little bigger than stock...

I have it bolted loosely into place, the new rack boots installed, and the left suspension back together except the lower shock bolt. I’ll finish the brakes on that side, then tackle the passenger side, before finishing up the swaybar. 

The suspension is done, other than the swaybar endlinks that’ll arrive this week. The brakes are together, but I’m going to need another set of eyes/feet - there seems to be a leak at/near the master cylinder under full pedal effort & I’m not why or exactly where. 

Great work Pete.

Will one of these be a challenge car?

In reply to a_florida_man :

Thanks! I’m not building this car for the Challenge, but when I made my initial budget it was still legal. Once I get it on the road I’ll add up my receipts & see where I’m at. 

I suppose there’s a chance I could build a Locost with the remaining parts & be within budget too, but I’ve not gone down that path yet. 

I bled the master cylinder - it definitely had air in it - then re-bled the brakes. That’s when I discovered I’d only attached the LF hose finger-tight... The brakes seem nice & firm now though. 

Then I drained the trans & installed the new input seal & gasket. I trashed the first seal trying to install it, but fortunately O’Riley’s had one, so it’s all together & refilled.

Next was resealing the oil pan. That’s a bit of a pita, especially with the engine dangling from the hoist, but it’s back together & the rear seal has been replaced. 

I still need to install the flywheel & clutch, then bolt it all together, before wiggling the engine & trans back into place. 

One day I want to be able to work like you do. I think that day was 20 years ago.

In reply to Stampie :

In what way?

In all truthfulness, my workflow typically looks more like a methed-up squirrel gathering nuts. Start one project, get up to grab a tool/part/drink/whatever, get distracted by different project - related/unrelated, new, or something I’d previously started - work on it until I get up to grab a tool/part/drink/whatever, get distracted by yet another project...

My endlinks arrived 2-days early, and I now have a keychain for the Miata too!

I’m also thinking about picking up 4 of these so I can corner weight it. They should more than handle the individual weight of each corner, plus the documentation shows they remain on as long as they’re in use.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

You do more in a day than I do in a week. 

Pete Gossett said:

In reply to Stampie :

In what way?

In all truthfulness, my workflow typically looks more like a methed-up squirrel gathering nuts. Start one project, get up to grab a tool/part/drink/whatever, get distracted by different project - related/unrelated, new, or something I’d previously started - work on it until I get up to grab a tool/part/drink/whatever, get distracted by yet another project...

That's kinda my sweet spot.

In reply to Stampie :

Ah, well I’ve done my best to follow Andrew Nelson’s advice and do a job that fits in whatever time I have available. It also helps that we don’t have any kids at home(though our zoo may actually take a larger time commitment), and my commute is measured in feet. 

Realistically I end up with 2-4 total hours per week after work, and most weekends another 4-8 hours. 

It took all of about 15-minutes to get the endlinks installed, and part of that was filing down a burr that prevented the collar from sliding in. 

I like the fact these links are moved forward compared to stock. Unfortunately they’re not adjustable without removing the top bolt, but I don’t see that being a big problem. 

berkeley this berkeleying seal...

I followed the instructions to install this seal - lightly tap it into place - yet it still managed to go in crooked & by the time I had it straight it was recessed about 4mm from the outer lip. Unsure if that might cause problems, I removed the seal housing, tapped the seal from behind until it was flush, cleaned all the RTV off it, reinstalled the oil pan seal into its groove, and attempted to reinstall the housing. Which was a pita because the oil pan seal needed to be compressed to fit, but just wanted to squeeze back out. My only other option would have been to remove the oil pan, then the windage tray, and then cleaning & resealing all of them. I have little confidence in myself doing engine work, especially after the Vette, so I figure the less times I touch something the better odds I have. I sure hope this doesn’t leak...

After that fiasco, the next hour went pretty smoothly. Which leaves me here:

I’ll be out of town this weekend, but hopefully I’ll have time over Memorial Day weekend to get it dropped into place. 

We got back last night & I took today off to get the trailer unloaded & recover a bit. I had time this afternoon though, so I swapped the slave cylinder and attempted to slide the engine/trans into place. This is as far as I could get it. 

The trans is hanging up on the PPF & the pan is hitting the subframe. I tried leveling out the engine/trans as much as I could so it would clear, but I’m going to need a 2nd set of hands so one person can keep the trans free, while the other shoves the engine backwards. Hopefully I can get some assistance this weekend. 

I finally got the engine wrestled into place & bolted in this morning. I was having trouble getting the engine both low enough, and far enough rearward. 

So so I ended up loosening the subframe bolts & the extra 1/4” clearance gave me just enough room to wrestle it into place. However, the engine isn’t level. I even loosened the passenger side mount, lifted the engine up(until I was lifting the chassis too) and tightened it back down. This is as level as I could get it though. 

Think that’ll cause any problems?

I still need to bolt up the PPF to the trans, then I can install the driveshaft, exhaust, and start connecting everything. 

I got the trans bolted up to the PPF & the connectors hooked up. I discovered the U-joints in both driveshafts weren’t really that good, so I ordered a new one. I still have to sort out all the engine bay wiring & plumbing, so it shouldn’t cause any delay.  

With it all bolted up, did the motor straighten out? 

Nice progress with the build. 

BTW, how's the Suburban doing?

In reply to Dirtydog :

I didn’t actually check, but the motor mounts are already tight, and are the Mazda Competition pair, so I doubt it. 

Im actually going to post an update on the Suburban in a bit. 

Got ya.  I think, east, west on the motor will be ok.  North, south, may have been  an issue with drive shaft angle.  Not sure though.   Facing it, clockwise, or something like that.

Looking forward to updates.

In reply to Dirtydog :

I’ve not read any special procedure for bolting up the PPF, so I presume it holds the driveline in alignment without needing to make adjustments?

In reply to Pete Gossett :

I know the PPF requires adjustment in the RX-8. I can't for the life of me remember if I had to adjust the one in my Miata when I had it out.

In reply to karplus2 :

Interesting, it seems there is a PPF adjustment procedure. Unfortunately it’s measured off the frame rails & mine are destroyed, especially the passenger side. 

I spent an hour yesterday working on engine bay connections, but as I shared here I ran into a bit of a snag. I still have plenty more I can work on until I figure that out though.