Side note if anyone is interested in a cheap radiator: it is unfortunately a tube and fin design as opposed to bar and plate. I didn't look closely at the pictures prior to ordering. It's getting proper inlet ducting and the biggest radiator fan(s) mounted to the back with shrouds. If it runs hot, I'll pony up for a bigger aftermarket Scirocco radiator.
Had a little time yesterday to work on the car. Sadly the radiator I picked up won't do the trick. I need to turn the upper radiator hose connection to come in from the side.
In front of the radiator, I'm using an air to water intercooler heat exchanger from a late model ZL1. It matches the Scirocco radiator core frontal area well and should be more than adequate for the blow dryier turbo setup.
Since I'm held up on the cooling system until the eBay radiator shows up, I turned my attention back to driver control. Turning the car around in the garage yields better access to the drivers side and a pleasant view of the car. This thing ain't half bad!
I ended up having to trim half an inch of width out of the pedal assembly mount to fit into the corner of the floor, but it looks to fit well. Tomorrow, I'll drill the necessary holes in the bulkhead and fabricate the connecting rods between the pedals and master cylinders.... if all goes well.
Fat feet need not apply.
Your pic of the pedal box area makes me happy I went with hanging pedals. The brake and loud pedal are still close, but the clutch pedal moved over something like 2 inches. The downsides to the hanging pedal arrangement are having to reinforce the front luggage area/heater plenum, and losing space in the same area. But, the plus side is more pedal room, and easier to access master cylinders and balance bar.
And that sucks about the rad, I had some issues with the alloy Civic rad, but as it was alloy I could cut and re-weld the inlet and outlets to where ever I wanted.
RoddyMac17 said:Your pic of the pedal box area makes me happy I went with hanging pedals. The brake and loud pedal are still close, but the clutch pedal moved over something like 2 inches. The downsides to the hanging pedal arrangement are having to reinforce the front luggage area/heater plenum, and losing space in the same area. But, the plus side is more pedal room, and easier to access master cylinders and balance bar.
Honestly, I'm questioning the sanity of my choice. I've been going down the path of putting the fuel cell in the luggage compartment so it's somewhat protected if I get bumped, which precludes me doing much else with that compartment. Need to figure out how to duct in fresh air to the cabin too.
Maybe consider making the clutch pedal out of some thicker stock and bending/running it further to the left for more room? The brake pedal looks beefier and the same material might work without twisting.
It's been a quiet couple of months while the weather was nice... Gotta cram a whole bunch of living into spring and summer up here.
Finally got to work on the radiator duct and mount.
Need a tool? Make a tool.
Today was the first time I've used rivnuts, without success at first. You're telling me it is t as easy as just drilling a hole, insert the nut, tighten down with a bolt? Yea, that worked, but they didn't compress evenly, causing the bolt to skew.
The picture doesn't show how bad it was. So, the fix? Time to fire up the mill and make a quick bolt guide with a countersink for the river head.
Works perfectly!
It's hard to tell, but the left rivet was compressed using the guide and you can see the threaded hole is centered, while the other is offset.
Now, with the mounts done, it was time to actually get to work and mount the radiator. The plan is to use Sikaflex 221 to mount the tabs to the fiberglass, with the radiator shroud bolting to the tabs. We'll see how well it all cured up this weekend.
Hey guys, check out my knob!
No, seriously.. I have a wooden knob.
I also finally got around to writing up a list of tasks the need doing on the car, in an attempt to get me to actually make a plan, rather than just stare at it and wonder what I should do next.
With the shifter done (for real, it's completely done, I think that's the first system on the car I can actually call compete), I think it's time to finish the downpipe this afternoon.
Downpipe is 99% done, I ran out of patience with the worn out sanding belt.
I already flipped the sander upright before taking the last picture for reference. I surfaced the flange by setting the sander horizontal, the just apply steady pressure and patience. The part of the flange that didn't sand is about .002-.003" off, so it might seal, but a new belt is on order and will make quick work.
Brotus7 said:Need a tool? Make a tool.
Today was the first time I've used rivnuts, without success at first. You're telling me it is t as easy as just drilling a hole, insert the nut, tighten down with a bolt? Yea, that worked, but they didn't compress evenly, causing the bolt to skew.
The picture doesn't show how bad it was. So, the fix? Time to fire up the mill and make a quick bolt guide with a countersink for the river head.
Works perfectly!
It's hard to tell, but the left rivet was compressed using the guide and you can see the threaded hole is centered, while the other is offset.
Now, with the mounts done, it was time to actually get to work and mount the radiator. The plan is to use Sikaflex 221 to mount the tabs to the fiberglass, with the radiator shroud bolting to the tabs. We'll see how well it all cured up this weekend.
I'm making one of those, good idea.
I'm productive today. Even got a run to the scrap metal place done. Now, to spend some time staring...
MR2 Spyder wheels:
Vs some random 13" steel wheels I bought a decade ago from Craigslist.
They sure look good, but I know nothing about the steelies. Probably just fine for autox though.
Mocked up a rear wheel today, stared at the rear suspension, decided a redesign is in order, pressed a mk2 VK hub into the Miata upright. Not entirely unproductive.
Sadly, no pics.
Re: rear suspension redo. I designed the suspension to be 3" wider per side, but changed plans after dropping the body to reduce the bodywork required. I was never really happy with the resulting super short upper control arm, despite the geometry showing little roll center movement, but pretty high camber gain and scrub. In addition, it's a nightmare to align. It essentially has 2x toe links, which if not adjusted at the same rate will cause the upright to twist, and will change camber. Camber had 4 adjustments. Fix it now, or well, when the body comes off in a few weeks.
Picture or my shoddy engineering. Evidence of: because you can make it work doesn't mean it's a good idea.
I think those are Chevy Vega wheels.
Also, I love this car.
Woody said:I think those are Chevy Vega wheels.
Also, I love this car.
Thanks, and holy E36 M3, you're right! Those are Vega wheels !
30 seconds with a fresh 100 grit belt and the downpipe flange is surfaced.
I measured up the hybrid Miata-VW hub/knuckle. The offset between the hub and caliper mount is within .030" of the stocker, so I think the stock rotor will work once I open up the center hole. The end goal is to use shortened VW axle that may bolt right to a Boxster trans, or at least the 6 bolt axle to 6 bolt trans adapter will be less sketchy than my original plan of Miata 4 bolt to Passat 6 bolt with different BCDs.
Project for today: reinstall the rear knuckle and hook up my bitchin Barrina lights.
The new lights are nice, really nice. Excuse the mess.
I picked up the 8 light kit, so 4 over the car/welding table, 2 over the work benches and I stuck the last 2 over the mill.
I can't believe I built a lemons car in here by candlelight and most of a locost with a single LED fixture. Much improved.
Now, on the work front.. in the last episode, your bumbling antagonist was pressing a mk2 Golf wheel hub into an NA Miata knuckle. Well, it worked, mostly. Hub fits but is 3mm shorter than the Miata, so the hub doesn't pilot along the entire length of the bearing. The axle sandwiches the wheel bearing races, so I think it'll last long enough.. oh, and I can't fit either the Miata or VW wheel seal. The axle, however, does fit.
Brake rotor: the stock Miata rotor needed the ID opened up, but fit pretty well and the caliper mount works as is.
More pictures:
I'm very much not sold on this rear hub/axle arrangement. The way I see it, there are three options.
None of the options are appealing right now.
LIGHT makes a space so much more usable! Good job.
Sketched up the axle spacer. Passat is the big BCD (6x holes), Miata is the smaller 4x pattern.
It looks like the minimum wall between the countersunk 17mm hole to the threaded hole for the Miata CV is 3 mm (~.120 in), so that's pretty sporty. McMaster Carr has low profile allen bolts that would allow me to reduce the countersink depth to 7mm, and use shoulder bolts to allow the threads to be moved away from the countersink.
Today was mildly productive. The car is back on the ground, and most of the day was spent trying to figure out how to safely lift the body 3 feet off the ground without an actual lift, and preferably relatively easy to lift.
I went back and forth on building an gantry like setup,or taller sawhorses like I did before, but ultimately settled on sistering up some joists in the ceiling and using a block and tackle or something similar. Next episode: dragging home a buddies trailer, some 2x6s and building the lift setup.
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