TurboWood

I'm not an expert, but it seems a little brave to conclude that a 300rwhp Honda 2 or 2.2L NA engine will definitely be more reliable than a boosted 1.8L Mazda engine. The weak link on the Miata is not the engine (mostly the diff). I agree Honda makes a wicked engine, but more reliable at that power level is not obvious to me. The Miata engine has piston squirters and I believe has a more significant racing pedigree. Having said that I too looked into using the K20 engine in my Caterham, but was eventually turned off by the investment to get close to 300hp. It was also difficult to adapt to a trans that would fit, but that doesn't appear to be an issue in a Stalker. I agree the Miata engine is a little outdated technically and there are few better transmissions that the Honda unit, but I'm not sure I would overlook the Miata engine if it was so convenient to install. Daniel

Gents, Here is a bit of teaser pic. I was able to bribe a few friends into helping me make some bigger steps forward. We (they) were able to knock out: - Exhaust manifold (still need to punch a hole for the WG --> if you have an eagle eye you can catch the flange where the WG will attach on the down pipe. The WG will basically sit under the turbo (not ideal, but space is an issue) - Intake manifold (this was actually Bruce Beachman's work). - Intercooler and charge piping. I'm missing a v-band on the intake manifold side, but other than that it's good to go - Modified water pipe and thermostat housing. It's difficult to tell in this pic unless you know what you are looking at, but there is a 1.5" water pipe that runs under the exhaust manifold. This used to be much more straight, but prevented the turbo from being mounted where it is - Radiator hoses. You can see one of them attached near the intake manifold (radiator is not installed in this pic). the lower hose is blue and runs around the engine under the intake manifold (out of site) - Clutch. Long story here, but I had to pull the engine and replace the throw out bearing due to poor installation on yours truly. The GM part is a bit unique and required some adjustment on how I supported it. I'll have to explain later, but it should be fixed now (haven't found the balls to test it again) - Intercooler radiator. I bought a custom unit from Bell Intercoolers. It's going to fit (very snuggly) in front of the stock radiator. More pics in the future. - Overflow bottle, catch can, windshield washer bottle, and oil filter. You can see some of these, but the oil filter and windshield washer bottle are under the intake manifold so you can't see them from here....more pics later. I also moved the brake/clutch reservoir to the driver's side to shorter the lines (and make room for the overflow and catch can) The cooling system is now basically done other than running the lines from the oil cooler (not installed yet), heater, overflow, and turbo (like I said, almost done, haha). Fuel needs one more line from the chassis to the high pressure fuel pump. The next big tasks are the oil tank (yeah, I need to fit a 6.5" oil tank in there!), oil cooler (will go above the transmission), air intake (uhhh, ????), and finish the WG. It's all down hill from there! Daniel

Blasphemy! Have a good trip. Daniel

Very nice, thanks for sharing. Why the welded diff? Daniel

I'm confused by the air system. It appears to have an inlet for the supercharger and a separate inlet for the intake manifold. Is there a valve somewhere? Daniel

More good news, the CHP has now signed off on the car! Now I just need to finish the car so I can go to the BAR and get a brake and light check. Sweeet.

I wonder if the F40 will ever look old.

Blipshift is good stuff. The heavier T's are also longer which I wasn't a fan of though. At this point I think most of my casual shirts are from them. Daniel

Nicely done! Cutting holes in bodywork is one of my biggest fears. I've been putting off mounting the front fenders because it's related to the bodywork. Daniel

Well, I got the ball rolling on registration. I now have an SB100 number :hurray:. It took a few trips, a big check, and hours of patience, but it's done. Does anyone know if my car is far enough along to get an inspection from the CHP? My understanding is they are most interested in confirming the engine and trans aren't stolen which I believe they can verify as is. Clearly the BAR exam will take a little longer. Daniel

Beautiful E-type, I like the removal of the bumpers.

Wow, that is light. My 5spd is also all aluminum. My car is going to be a little plump...haha.:nopity:

What does the 6spd weigh? The SPC 5spd I have weighs 74lbs (no fluids or shifter). My ecotec is almost as heavy as the Zetec despite the aluminum block. GM knows how to pack on the metal. Daniel

That's quite strange. I would have swore the bell housing had through holes. Regardless, I would suggest modifying the bell housing, not the transmission. Daniel

Working on it! I have the turbo and oil tank (thanks!) placed. Now, I just need to mount them and start working on all the plumbing. Daniel

So, what are you going to do about the exhaust which exist the other side of the car? Looking great so far! Daniel

Thanks, I hope I can keep the silver side down on this one! I did manage to flip a rotax kart many years ago (turn 2 of the race....DOH!). The photos are a better representation of my affinity for technology. Maybe that's why I'm building a car with almost none (I do like fuel injection). Daniel

Ok, it's time for an update. First and foremost, I'm back in the U.S. baby!!! The other good news (which is undoubted going to challenge my free time available to finish this thing) is that my wife and I had our first child in February! I returned to to the US in April, but my family wasn't able to join me imidiately. They will join me in mid July assuming everything goes to plan. This has left me as a short term bachelor which has granted me some time to adapt to a new position at work and spend some time on the car. Unfortunately work was the priority, but I did just manage a two week binge before stuffing the 7 in the back of a moving truck and bringing it out to my house in CA where I will finish it. It had been in CO. So, on to the updates: - Installed Quaife ATB differential: This ended up being more difficult than anticipated, but fortunately the bulk of the effort was on Nathan (Thomas Vintage Motors). One of the bearing holders was on so tight that he had to make a special tool and use a 3' extension to get it lose. - installed all interior carpet: for this I went with Velcro to hold it in place. In the pictures below I have attempted to show you the evidence of the stitching that can be seen on the trunk and floor mats. Overall I'm quite happy with it and now I can remove anything I want without the headache of glue. - Had the clutch disk modified: Over the last few months I realized that I didn't have an accurate measurement for the engagement of the trans input shaft spline and the clutch disk. I knew there was more than zero and probably close to 20mm, but I had forgotten to check this on first assembly. I was too pre-occupied with not bottoming the input shaft on the crankshaft that I just assumed the splines would be ok. So, I took it all apart and discovers I had about 17mm of the 23mm available. This was borderline and a quick call to clutcasters didn't give me confidence it would be ok. Fortunately they told me they could just reverse the hub! In the pictures below you can see the before and after. The side with the snout was swapped to the trans side which worked out perfectly to give me full engagement - Sealed the shifter shaft that sticks out the front of the trans: This was another thing I overlooked the first time. Since I had everything apart I added some silicone to seal it. - Compleyed the interior: The driveshaft, shifter, and tunnel cover are now done - Finished the alternator mount: This was relatively simple. I just needed to drill and tap the final hole and clearance the foam that sits around the fuel injectors (for noise I think) in order to fit the alternator - Made good progress on the scavenge pump mount: You can see a few pictures below near the now painted engine mounts. I still need to figure out to exactly to support it on the front side of the engine, but at least it is located now so I can work on plumbing and the belt/pulley - Finished crank pulley and mandrel: The ATI crank pulley requires the ID to be honed for your specific crank. I also had to modify the mandrel that bolts to the front of it (for the scavenge pump pulley) to clearance the crank bolt. This was frankly a little annoying that ARE would sell me this part knowing the application, but offering no real advice on how to make it work. They are clearly used to working with race teams that fix everything themselves. So, that's what I did, buy no real thanks to them. I'll try to make it a little more clear when I'm not typing this on my phone! Daniel Picture 1: Baby Wood (Taylor) Picture 2: Can loaded in moving truck right before being removed Picture 3: Interior with baby seat....is this legal? Picture 4: Interior Picture 5: Left front area of the trunk showing the evidence of velcro which was sewn on (picture is rotated sideways) Picture 6: Floor mat showing evidence of velcro which was sewn on (picture is rotated sideways) Picture 7: Right side of engine showing painted engine mount and scavenge pump Picture 8: Engine with oil tank sitting in place (probably) Picture 9: Similar of picture 7, but better view of scavenge pump mount Picture 10: Upside down view of a Colorado sunset last week

Beautiful!

Sad news, I hope things turn around quickly. Daniel

I'm not sure what the torque of that bolt is, but for other cars I've always just put it in gear and pulled the hand brake. The drivetrain is usually more than capable of handling whatever torque the crank pulley needs. Mind you I've never done it on a 7 so maybe I'm way off here. Daniel

The Ford GT almost makes the 7 look normal sized.

I'm glad to see the dry sump system being put to use! Daniel

Cool. Did you hear it run? It must wake up everyone in a 10mi radius. Daniel

:grouphug:. Nothin' but love for this group. Daniel