DanM's Westfield Miata

[DanM]

Each province has its own rules for inspection. In Ontario, (I think) you typically have an inspection once when you first get it registered and then every time the car changes ownership. 
 

The challenge I have is that the number of kit builders (Westfield or other) around here is quite low, so I have to find a shop that will even want to inspect it (They often think it needs a special inspection). If I can keep the engine system as OE complete as possible, intake, sensors, ECU etc. the less chance I have of spooking an inspector.

[DanM]

Radiator

This evening I moved on to installing the radiator. I found this quite enjoyable as in a short space of time I got to do a number of different tasks, cutting, drilling, riveting etc.

 

Preparing the parts

 

Assembling the mounts

 

Installing on the car. I also sprayed cavity wax and put sealant on the drill holes before riveting.

 

The whole install seemed to be very straight forward and went smoothly, but I did notice that the lower radiator outlet seemed very close to the chassis.  Does this look normal to you?

 

 

[fastg]

Do you have a lower radiator hose? That would be next on my list, that does look close. 

 

Graham 

[MPG]

Yeah, mine rubs there. I added some foam around that frame member to prevent wear.

 

BTW, the Polo rad didn't last very long for me. Started leaking where the metal is crimped onto the plastic. I think it's getting more vibration than it does in a VW. I replaced mine with a nice all metal one from coolex.

 

 

[MV8]

I've never seen a plastic/aluminum rad direct mounted to metal by an oem; always rubber isolated for vibration.

 

That looks like a special high efficiency/high fin count radiator.

 

Ditto on the lower port clearance. Verify the L tabs welded to the frame for the lower rad mounting are facing the right direction.

[MPG]

There are rubber isolators, but they're awfully tiny. You can see one in the last picture.

[DanM]

This evening I pulled the coolant hoses out of the kit boxes and made a start fitting them to the radiator.  As seems to be the trend I am missing something...this time it is the upper aluminum tube that connects the coolant neck to the upper radiator input.  After a quick email to Manik, to hopefully get one sent, I made a start on the lower hose.

 

If you recall I bought a G19 Water pump inlet.  As it is a different shape to the donor inlet (with heater connection) the hose doesn't have to be as long.  After a bit of trimming a few test fits and a bit more trimming, I think I've landed on something that will work well.

 

All the trimmings.  I took a little off the radiator hose so I could (almost) clear the chassis.  Turns out there was enough clearance after all!

 

Test fitted to the G19 outlet.

 

Test fitted to the radiator.  It looks close to the steering rack but its just the angle of the photo.

 

Now time to figure out my connecting to the coolant re-route.  My thought is to repurpose the missing upper tube (dark blue) and coolant neck hose (Light blue) and somehow connect to the reroute hose with a coupler and 90 bend (yellow). elegance on a budget! lol!

[DanM]

I have spent the last few days researching the next few parts of the build and chatting with some LHD  builders to help me overcome some LHD specific challenges. Even though they have not been active on the forums for a number years, they have really pulled out all the stops to help me and have been extremely generous with their time digging out old photos and answering my questions.  As always, I'm very thankful.

 

In between searching and chatting I did manage to get some time in the garage to make a start on a couple of bit.

 

Firstly (and reluctantly), I found the old carbon canister and bracket from the donor car.  It is needed to pass inspection, so I got my head down, bushed it, cleaned it and sprayed it.

 

Before

 

After 

 

Installed

 

I kept the old hoses on there for now until I figure out the routings. I also attached the sensor on the back of the canister bracket.  I'm interested to hear where people installed the other items that were also fitted on the bracket (The power TR unit, etc.).

 

Secondly, I had a go at positioning the ECU tray.  Unfortunately, the hinges were missing from my kit, so I went to the local hardware store and bought myself a nice piano hinge.  I had to cut it to length, but overall I'm very happy with it. 

 

Marking and drilling the holes.

 

Test fitting it to the chassis with clecos.

 

Very tidy

 

As I was looking through my box of brackets I noticed that the ECU mounting strap was also missing.  Some days I wonder how I don't lose my S**t with all the bits that are either missing or wrong! 🤬

 

Lastly, I started locating and offering up the steering column pieces.  This is a bit of a dark art for LHDers as there are a lot of obstacles in the way.  I have the extra complexity of trying to forward plan for a future turbo so I've done a lot of head scratching and look at a ton of photos.  Once again I had a part missing (Lower steering shaft bush) so, this little exercise was also put on hold for now, while I order the part from the UK! 

[DanM]

 While I am waiting for supplies, tonight I decided to continue with what ever I could.  Seems to be the theme this week. 😁

 

ECU Tray

On Tuesday, I drilled and offered up the ECU tray ready for trimming.  I used painters tape to mark where it needed to be cut and then used a Dremel to make the cut.  Unfortunately, either my disc was wearing out or my Dremel (well actually, its a Dremel wannabe ) wasn't powerful enough so the most I could do was get about half way through.  This was enough for me to put it in the vice with a straight edge and carefully bend it.

 

 

After a quick zip on the sanding wheel to smooth the edges and round the corners, it was ready for fitting again.

 

Fuel pump

Next, I fitted the fuel pump. First I made 6mm holes in the P-Clip.

 

Then, after reading the manual again and checking a few build diaries, I installed some rivnuts and attached the pump.  

 

Am I supposed to have washer on the screws?  The manual doesn't mention anything.

[fastg]

Your details work and attention to details is amazing, so I have a suggestion for your plumbing system to take it to the next level. I don't use hose clamps. The only hose clamps in my far are for the air filter. If a connection will not get disassembled for maintenances I use Oetiker clamps, for the connection that will come apart during maintenance I use spring clamps.  Why no hose clamps, they damage the hose, they look ugly, and the bare ends can really slice your hands when reaching into an engine. 

bay. 

[Austin David]

Heat shrink gates clamps are very nice too, but definitely not reusable.

[IamScotticus]

Thess are awesome for radiator hose clamps

 

[DanM]

Thanks Guys! This is awesome, I really appreciate the tips!! 

[MV8]

If you want to keep worm drive clamps, they are available fully banded so as not to damage soft silicone hose. If a hose clamp is too big/too long a tail when tight, the excess can be trimmed. I use spring T-bolts for boosted applications so the clamps don't loosen from the heat and pipe expansion cycling. Be sure to order the max size based on the loose hose od versus the pipe od.

 

 

[papak]

Pegasus sells moulded rubber covers for the excess worm drive. 

Edited November 11, 2022 by papak

[DanM]

So its been nearly 2 weeks since my last post. Since my last update I continued with the back end and installed the fuel filter using the bracket for my donor.

 

I looked at a few build diaries to figure out where to put it so it didn't interfere with the wishbone bolts and wiring and once I was happy I inserted some rivnuts and screwed it in place. 

 

 

Wiring (ouch!)

So after installing the fuel filter, I decided (For Fun) to lay the Miata loom over the chassis just to see how it lined up with the Westfield. If you recall, one of the first jobs that I tackled back in December last year was thinning out the loom and getting rid of what was clearly redundant (pop up headlight wiring etc.) So, as it had been nearly a year, I needed to visually see it to quench my curiosity.

 

First, I zip tied the dash cluster to the chassis.

 

Then, I laid it out as best I could, just to see where everything went.  Thankfully, all the wire groups were labelled so it was fairly easy to recognize stuff.

 

 

All seemed to be going well until I had the bright idea to separate some of the wire bundles and explore where they went....

 

💩......at this point my stress levels went through the roof and I needed to reach out to the community on to help calm me down.  After a number of evenings staring at the wires, reading my Haynes manual and carefully going over the Canadian Miata wiring diagrams in the shop manual, I finally pulled together a plan.....not really, just plucked up the courage to dive in! 🤿

 

First things first, I made some brackets to attach the fuse boxes and relays.

 

I managed to salvage the OEM fuse box brackets from the donor and after a bit of cutting and spraying created some new Frankenstein brackets to hold things in place.

 

I tried to attach the main engine bay fuse box as per the manual, but unfortunately it would have covered the (very badly punched and barely legible) chassis number.

 

So once again I got the angle grinder out and made a new bracket courtesy of the donor, and attached it to the other chassis rail.

 

With these securely in place and some clamps holding the rubber grommets close to were the scuttle would be, I could run and position rest of the wiring accordingly.

 

Fun fact, the US wiring is different from the European wiring and the Canadian wiring is different form the US wiring!  So after many fun hours in the wiring abyss, wondering why I was missing relays etc., the Miata forums managed to sort me out!  BTW, if anyone is interested the Canadian cars do not have the TNS, Headlight or blower relays!  They also have a Daytime Running Light (DRL) control panel so that the sidelights are on when the car is on.  I'm sure I'll be tripped up by other stuff as my journey continues and be sure to let you know!!

 

This is where I am today..... I am trying to reduce the amount of connectors to the cluster.  Slowly over the next few days, I'll try to get things to a state where I can install the battery and see what's what!

 

[MPG]

Looks like fun! I think this was the slowest part of my build. After culling unneeded parts of the harness, I had to shorten some sections and lengthen others. I actually did a lot of it on a big table before moving it to the car.

 

A couple of things I learned.

• Add extra ground lines. I spend a lot of time hunting down problems where the meter said something had 12V, but it still wouldn't work. The Westfield's chassis can't be counted on to carry amps like the Miata's did.
• Make sure both fuse boxes are easy to get to. You'll need to get to them. The "inside" fuse box on mine is by. the driver's left knee. That means I spend a lot of time upside down in there with a flashlight and my strongest reading glasses. One of these days I'm going to get stuck in there with my feet tangled in the rollbar.
• Make an "as built" wiring diagram, and save it. You'll be surprised how quickly you forget that you repurposed the blower circuit for some other job.
• I'm very glad that I added a jack in the cockpit for a battery tender. It means I don't have to take the bonnet off if I want to leave it on the tender. I also added some USB-A jacks. Those have been useful. I kind of wish I'd added jacks for those heated jackets and gloves that the motorcyclists use.

[Austin David]

2 minutes ago, MPG said:

• Add extra ground lines. I spend a lot of time hunting down problems where the meter said something had 12V, but it still wouldn't work. The Westfield's chassis can't be counted on to carry amps like the Miata's did.

signal boost.  All excellent, GENERAL advice really.  But omg I now run two wires every time I run one, "troubleshooting ground" is the worst possible use of time.

[DanM]

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely keep these in mind as I go.

 

1 hour ago, MPG said:

Add extra ground lines. I spend a lot of time hunting down problems where the meter said something had 12V, but it still wouldn't work. The Westfield's chassis can't be counted on to carry amps like the Miata's did

This is one of my biggest concerns, the Miata seems to have ground wires branching off from everywhere and I have had to cut a lot of them out so I can get a nice tidy loom.  I just need to make sure that they all go back in afterwards!!   Any tips on organizing them?

 

1 hour ago, MPG said:

Make sure both fuse boxes are easy to get to. You'll need to get to them. The "inside" fuse box on mine is by. the driver's left knee.

Mine is by my left knee too, but I'd rather it somewhere else.  I am weary about putting it in the engine bay because of the heat on that side. In hind sight, where would you have put it?

 

2 hours ago, MPG said:

I'm very glad that I added a jack in the cockpit for a battery tender.

Do you have any pictures of this?  I'm curious! :-)

[MPG]

Quote

Mine is by my left knee too, but I'd rather it somewhere else.  I am weary about putting it in the engine bay because of the heat on that side. In hind sight, where would you have put it?

I don't have the same dash as you. I made one from scratch to look more traditional. So I could have put the fuse box anywhere. Getting it over by the ECU probably would have meant extending a lot of wires though. Probably wouldn't have been worth it.

 

Quote

Do you have any pictures of this?  I'm curious! :-)

It's just a connector hanging down from under the dash that's wired straight to the Odyssey battery in front of the scuttle. I think it's what they call a "2-pole flat". Like they use on these.