DanM

Its been about 6 weeks since my last update. After a really productive end of summer, the kids went back to school and I started a new job. Since then I have not had much time to spare and my build has pretty much ground to a halt. What little work I have done has been nothing but frustration and headache. After successfully cutting the boot box I turned my attention to painting the roll bar, windscreen pillars and windscreen frame. For the roll bar and stays I just needed a touch up after the scratches they received during the mock up. For those I used the tried and tested Rustoleum all in one matt black. For the pillars and frame it wasn't so easy...I wanted to try and get a similar effect to the chrome kit look (that I had ordered, but not received), but finding 2 paints that would complement each other took a bit of trial and error. Eventually, I settled on Rustoleum metallic finish and Dupli-color perfect match Ultra Silver metallic. Masking up Garden spray jig - I used garden shears wrapped plastic bags to hold the frame upright First coat Finished product The spray paints Before each coat I gave the surface a bit of a key, and once finished I gave everything a few of coats of clear gloss. At the time it felt good but unfortunately the clear coat seemed to dull the finish and for some reason just doesn't feel right even after a week of curing. I feel like it will just scratch off. I guess we'll find out once I start assembling it to the car.

Hey @Anaximander, Extremely busy!!! My kids are now back at school and I just started a new a job, so the project has all but ground to a halt over the last couple of weeks. Hoping to get some garage time this weekend. 🤞

This update is very heavy on the photos. I wanted to visually capture the steps and techniques I used (right or wrong) to trim my bootbox for the RAC roll bar.. First I installed the main bar and offered up the front edge of the bootbox to get a sense of how much to trim just to get around the bar. With this measured I masked up the corners and drew a section to cut out. Then I inserted the bootbox to measure how much more needed to be trimmed. Slowly and carefully I removed small slivers of fiberglass until the box slide into position around the mounting brackets. In the picture you can also see where I marked out the approximate location of the stays as they pass through the bootbox. Next, the stays. With the approximate location of the stays marked I cut a slither through the bootbox edge (see dotted lines above, wide enough to pass a piece of string through. I then attached the string to each of the mounting bolts to form a straight(ish) line between mounts. As the bootbox was curved inside, I found it difficult to make a line with a ruler. So, I used a piece of painters tape to mark the general direction of the string. With this in place I drilled some very small pilot holes and then cut the first line with the dremmel cutter. This was then widened until it was wide enough to fit a piece of wood (in my case some 1in skirtingboard/baseboard trim) that I positioned between the mounting brackets. This made sure that I had something solid the measure from. With a good reference point in place I taped the front side and drew a straight line parallel to the white edge 0.25 inch away, then drilled and cut. I then used a compass to draw a parallel line on the other side. Then cut. Once it was wide enough to fit the stay, I started to work on the top curve. I roughly positioned the stay (slope angle only, it was no where near the bracket), marked around it and started to trim the curve. Remove stay, small trim top, install stay, mark bottom, remove stay, small trim bottom...repeat, repeat, repeat. Eventually, the stay would slot in to place. I plan to get some rubber trim so there is still some edge sanding and smoothing to do, but as a first try I think it is ok. Unfortunately there are some gel coat scratches so I welcome any tips on how to correct them. The powder coat on both the rollbar and stays is shockingly thin so once everything has been cut I will repair and spray all of it with a fresh coat of paint. Total time so far, probably 3-4 hours. Now for the other side.

Took the bar off again today, this time to drill the holes for the 3rd brake light. First I checked the location of the the screw holes that I measured last week, and the holes to thread the wiring. Then I drilled all the holes and tapped for the 2 screws. Next I threaded a line inside the bar for when I am ready to run the wires. Finally I made sure that the wire hole lined up with the one I had made in the chassis mount. All lines up nicely.

Thanks @Anaximander, fingers crossed.

I wasn't in the mood to do the oil pump seal today, so I continued working on the roll bar. My new heim joints (Rod ends) arrived on Friday and I was eager to get them on. First, I needed to re-tap the thread on the end of the bar as it would only receive about 1/2 inch of the rod end. Then, using the technique described here on an old Westfield website, I marked the position of the supports through the tub and trimmed them out with my dremel cutter. Fitting the bottom of the support bar was a real PITA. Access was tight and clearance from the fuel tank was minimal. To help me get in there better, I removed the detachable wheel arches which opened things right up for me. Now I know that it all fits, I can start thinking about how to tackle the boot.

Yes, they did. Boundary Engineering have suggested that I use some anaerobic sealant around the oil seal. I will give it a go shortly and report back...

I contacted "Fab9 tuning" where I bought the oil pump and they have reached out to the manufacturer on my behalf. I've always found their customer service to be great!! https://fab9tuning.com/ Flyin' Miata also sell the same Oil Pump, its a very popular aftermarket item for more sporty applications. https://fab9tuning.com/boundary-engineering-billet-oil-pumps/ Hopefully, I'll hear something back shortly...

No photos today, but I still wanted to update the thread. My oil pump crank seal arrived today to I spent some time stripping off the accessory drive, carefully removing the one I put in a couple of days ago and putting in the new one. I think the time taken to complete the task has now halved because of all the practice I’ve been getting. Anyway long story short, it still leaks and I need to figure out where to go next with it….more to come.

Not to be deterred, I decided that instead of messing with the chassis I would shave away some of the bodywork and make a little slot for the roll bar plate to fit and then try to widen the bar to fit the mounting points. First I marked the position of the plate and slowly shaved away the fiberglass. Then I positioned the RHS bar to make sure it lined up with the holes....it did! 😁 Then I went to work on the roll bar. I figured I wouldn't be able to pull it apart as I had no tools to use, instead I found some old 2x4s in the corner and decided I would try to push them apart. I braced the 2x4 between the uprights and slowly stood on it....thankfully my weight was enough to move the bars apart. Next, I positioned the bar back on the car to see how close I was. Pretty close!! In fact I had over cooked it by about 5mm, so I got a ratchet strap and pulled it into position! Fits perfectly now!

So while the engine work is on hold while I source a new crank seal, I decided to move forward with something else. The RAC roll bar. Reading the instructions in the ZK bodywork manual and the pictures here on a Westfield sports car website, I thought fitting the roll bar would be a fun mini project to boost my confidence again after a week of problem solving. Sadly it wasn't to be. I started off by positioning the boot lid which needed a little bit of trimming to get it fitting correctly. After a quick zip over with the dremel it fitted well. Next I drilled through the chassis mounting plate holes from underneath up into the fiberglass. This is where my problem started. Unfortunately, the chassis mounting holes for the roll bar do not line up with the holes in the roll bar base plate. If I correctly position the LHS base plate against the pre-drilled mounting holes, the RHS base plate does not line up. I assume that the from of the roll bar base plate is positioned flush with the front of the seat back chassis rail. I started a discussion on the WSCC forum in the UK to see if anyone can help. Once I have it confirmed I will drill new holes in the chassis and attach accordingly. While I was waiting for some input from the UK forum members I marked the position of my third brake light on the roll bar. Using my micrometer balanced between the bars I was able to locate the centre point where I will eventually tap some screw holes to secure the light.

Yeah, that was the seal the came pre-fitted with the boundary oil pump. I will order a new one from mazda tomorrow and will hopefully have more success. Thanks for the tip.

So after many hours trying to remove the front crank seal and reassemble I think it was about 10:45pm by the time I finished. This morning I got up with high hopes, pushed the car on to the driveway and started it up again.......still leaking..lots. I hope I don't have a scratched crank or oil pump!😔

After spending the evening focusing on the success of my first start, this afternoon I spent some time looking for the source of my oil leak. First I took of all the belts, pulleys and covers Then, I cleaned up all the mess, isolated the fuel pump and gave the engine a short crank over to see if there was anything obvious. Looks like I may have to replace the new crank seal that came with my Boundary oil pump.

No, this is the original exhaust manifold. its just been wrapped.

But that's for another day, today is about celebrating my first engine rebuild and start up.

....and for some reason I have a lot of smoke coming out of the OE o2 sensor port that has been bunged up!? It happens when the pipes start to warm.

I cant wait for that!!! :-)

Fix oil leak! lol Its pouring out of the front near the oil pump!.....then test drive!!!

Thanks @Anaximander! Looking forward to the next chapter!! :-)

Thanks John :-)

It started!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see lots and lots of smoke at first, but it started and stayed alive!!! What was the problem? I contacted Megasquirt and they asked me to open up the units and check the "jumper" configurations inside. We found the issue (MAP related), made the change and she fired straight up!!!! Thank You to everyone for pitching in and getting me into the ball park!!! 🍻 She revs a bit high so have some basic config to play with, but this is now the fun part! Just to close the loop here are the specs: MSPNP2 - MM9093 V1.5 (MSPNP2 1.3b board) mm9093 Miata_3.4.4 base map GM IAT Innovate MTX-L O2 Wideband Internal MAP sensor was a MPXH6400, Baro MPX4115

The 9093 miata base map configures it to a MPXH6400 (It looks like one too). I selected the MPX4250 for fun from the drop down and it changed the MAP value to approx 200 kpa. There is a custom option too where I guess you can put your own values in there.

Yup, they can! Yes, they are the same injectors and I cleaned and bench tested them. Yes, Just checked again and it seems to be good.

Changed the Gauges on the Tuner studio. The MAP, Fuel Load and Ign Load are all identical!?