DanM's Westfield Miata

[MV8]

 Just providing some info on how it can be done but don't get bogged down on the build for this. If the end result is a hole bigger than you'd like or you don't care to be so precise with the hole placement (which is fine too), a 3x3" filler patch of 3003 sheet can be riveted or screwed on to the firewall with #6x1/2 sheetmetal screws. I'd use .050" for the patch or bend flanges in the edges for more rigidity. If concerned about water entering when washing the engine bay, the top edge of the patch can be bent over to form a hoodie similar to what comes on other 70's british cars

[DanM]

So I had a little trouble fitting the 3/4 DD x 5/8 u-joint on the Mazda steering shaft, so I ordered the 16mm equivalent to see if that gives me the extra wiggle room to fit it on.

 

In the mean time I turned my attention to wrapping the rear harness so I can install the fuel tank.  After discussing some options I opted for convoluted tube wrapped in Tesa tape.

 

First I taped all the joints to keep the harness shape, then I removed the harness and fitted the convoluted tubing (in the comfort of my living room.)

 

Once I was happy with the fit, I started to wrap with the Tesa tape.

 

I have ever seen or used Tesa tape before, and my first impressions are what an amazing product!  It looks good, it feels quality and its very easy to handle and apply.  I chose the high temp tape 51036. 

 

The finished loom looks factory quality...well almost! 😜.  

 

The only downside I found was that it takes away some of the flex in the wiring so fitting it back on the car took some fettling, especially in the rear near the fuel filter where the loom splits and feeds into the diff area.

 

 

For my grounds I used a dremel to clear away the powder coat and installed a washer to provide more surface area contact. (Picture shows it not fully screwed in).

 

Fuel tank

With the rear harness in place, I turned my focus on the fuel tank.  My plan was to install the hose connectors and hoses before installing the tank, however both the 12mm hose and one of the connectors were missing from the kit.  Instead, I fitted what I had and then installed the tank on the car.  Time to order more parts....

 

 

[DanM]

Today I spent some more time on the fuel system.  First, I modified the fuel pick up as per the instructions in the manual.  

 

As it came out

 

As it went back in

 

Then I turned my attention to connecting the fuel hoses.

 

 

This is where I started to lose concentration a little.  I couldn't visualize how the hoses would route themselves around the chassis, differential and control arms. The angles, just seemed awkward and clumsy and didn't seem optimal at all. I think if I built another Westfield I would angle the fuel hard lines differently and perhaps reposition the fuel pump and/or filter. Anyway, I got so distracted by this that I completely missed the directional aspect of the fuel filter and plumbed it back to front, wasting a length of fuel line. 

 

Eventually after many hours of pondering I gave it another go and after moving the fuel pump a little in the bracket I managed to get the hoses in position.  Not sure if its the perfectionist in me, but I'm still uncomfortable with the routes and radius', but it all seems to connect together so I'll leave at that for now. 

 

[DanM]

Its been a snowy couple of weeks in Ottawa and now the temps are about to drop to about -29C over the weekend.

 

Now that my replacement u-joint has arrived I am back on the steering shaft.  The 5/8 - 36 spline I had ordered was a really tight/impossible fit, so much so that I destroyed it by exerting too much force trying to push it on.  After searching the internet I found a 16mm - 36 spline equivalent made by "woodward machine" and had it shipped.  This is an example of how we get stung here in Canada....the part was $85USD, plus $40USD shipping then $66CAD brokerage fees and tax. All in it cost me about $200 Canadian, for a u-joint!! 🤬

 

Anyway, swiftly moving on.....

 

To my delight the 16mm fitted perfectly to the Mazda shaft.

 

Next I secured the bracket near the steering rack.  It needed a new 8mm hole drilled through so it could connect to the air filter bracket.  I used a bunch of washers and a zip tie to keep it all in place while I drilled.

 

Drilled

 

Painted and secured with an 8mm bolt and washers for spacers.

 

Bracket from the side. It connects to the front lower control arm bolt.

 

Now its time to figure out the angles before I cut the DD shaft and fabricate a bracket to hold it all together.

 

Any tips on U-joint angles?

[DanM]

More work on the steering shaft this week. Mainly cutting the 3/4DD shaft to length and thinking through how I will support the Mazda portion of the shaft.

 

I am deliberately posting lots of photos for future LHD builders as this is typically a grey area for us!

 

Using a round to test various lengths of DD shaft. 

 

Cutting to length.  I marked the desired length with a marker and cut to the tape.  I used the belt sander to slowly bring it to correct length.

 

 

End to end test fit

 

From above

 

Through the footwell

 

Now I have to figure out how to secure the Mazda portion of the shaft.

 

I cannot weld so I am looking around to find existing brackets that I can repurpose.  I found this and will prototype a bracket using one of the 90 degree supports and bolt it to the engine mount bracket with a heim joint. See mark up.

 

Anyone have other ideas?  I was also thinking of bending a 1/8 steel flat into a rectangle shape and bolting it to the fame, but wasn't sure if 1/8 would be strong enough. 

[MPG]

Quote

bolt it to the engine mount bracket with a heim joint

That's basically what I did.

 

Here's a bad picture:

 

The heim joint is bolted to a 1/4" steel plate that's under the rubber isolator in the motor mount. Not exactly "add lightness", but I figured overbuilt was good here, and the extra 6mm of ground clearance couldn't hurt!

 

The brass and duct tape junk is an attempt from last summer to get rid of some play because the shaft doesn't fit perfectly into the heim joint. It didn't really seem to make any difference. I've always felt like there was a tiny bit of play in the steering. But at this point I think that's just an artifact of all of the U-joints to get around the exhaust and convert from Japanese splines to US splines to British splines.

 

I'm pretty sure the plate is stiff enough, and I don't feel any motion from the engine.

 

 

[lg2k]

I’ll post a picture later of how I did the steering. I don’t remember it being as hard as I thought it was going to be. 
 

I do wish it had less joints. This is one of the things I want to re-do at some point. 

[DanM]

Thank you for the input guys.  I really appreciate it.  

 

@lg2k Any pictures you can share will be great.  We all seem to fly blind here.  I'm trying to future proof as well and I have no idea whether my set up will interfere with a turbo in years to come!

[lg2k]

I just took these really quick for you. Let me know if they aren't clear enough and I can retake them during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by lg2k
Edited for clarity

[DanM]

@lg2kWow! I'm impressed that you managed to use the engine mounted steering shaft bracket!   I chose to keep the Miata shaft as-is, and as a result the U-Joint would have interfered.   

[lg2k]

This may help as well. Here is a picture of the Westfield steering parts in my kit. I believe I was missing some parts at the time (see last picture below).

 

 

 

 

Below are pictures that I had but I'm not sure from whose build this is.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture from Westfield showing how it is supposed to go together.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by lg2k
Added a picture and made corrections.

[DanM]

Lol no wonder it didn't fit, my kits didnt come with the part on the left (Upper spline)!!

[lg2k]

5 minutes ago, DanM said:

Lol no wonder it didn't fit, my kits didnt come with the part on the left (Upper spline)!!

I don’t believe it! Westfield didn’t send you all the parts? ;-) My kit also had parts missing. Lol 

 

It’s been awhile but I think that upper spline is welded to the shortened Miata column. 
 

 

[DanM]

8 hours ago, lg2k said:

I think that upper spline is welded to the shortened Miata column

That makes total sense. I guess we'll know for the next one! lol

[lg2k]

There is no slack in the steering at all. I have an NA Miata I still drive and I can't tell much of a difference in the steering between the two. I just think that being a Seven the steering should have more feel and I think having so many joints takes away from that but I've never driven any Seven other than mine to compare it to. 

 

I'm installing a VVT engine now to increase the power a bit and I'll see if I can make the new headers so that the steering doesn't have to work its way around the exhaust the way it currently does. We will see but I suspect I'll probably leave it the way it is. 

 

You're motivating me to start a build thread of my own as there are a few upgrades in the works. New engine, wide track suspension, quicker steering rack, etc..

[Austin David]

It's been a while since I spent time in an NA, but my NB and NC are great.  The Caterham is better, but for several reasons.  Weight obviously changes dynamics a lot.  It's also got a much lower ratio / shorter lock-to-lock, so a lot less input is required.

 

I did prefer the manual steering in a no-package NA over the power steering in the others.  

 

 

[DanM]

9 hours ago, lg2k said:

You're motivating me to start a build thread

Go for it! It would be great to get a bit more build activity on the forum.  I'd definitely follow it!! 

 

 

[MV8]

Here are some of my old pics of the miata intermediate shaft components. Note the keyed spline and injected plastic that holds the male section in the tube end. I turned the pillow bush id for a snug fit to the shaft so the bush rotates with the shaft in the stainless saddle instead of the shaft rotating in the bush. Much greater surface area against the saddle so it should stay tight longer/wear much slower.

[DanM]

More Steering work this week...

 

I made progress on the steering shaft bracket.  First, I used the angle grinder to cut out the piece that I needed.

 

Then, after a lot of positioning and fettling I chose a location for the heim joint and used a step drill bit to make the 5/8 hole. (BTW Heim joint has a 5/8 bore for the Mazda steering shaft).  One drilled more fitting and fettling was required before cutting off the excess material and giving it a quick squirt with some paint to protect the bare metal.

 

Test fit

 

After the final cut and paint

 

 

I used 8mm bolts to secure it to the engine mount.

 

Once everything was in position, I drilled the DD shaft ready to secure the U-joints.  

 

Ready for final install. Once I am ready for the final fit, I will use thread lock to keep everything tight and together.

 

Tomorrow I'll start to look at where the steering shaft passes through the footwell. Unfortunately I didn't save the Mazda boot for this area, does anyone have photos of what they used.

[DanM]

It was a public holiday here in Ontario today, so I managed to get a few solid hours in the garage. 😁

 

First, I tied up a few loose ends around the fuel tank such as the vent hose and the earth.  I decided to drill and tap a new earth screw on the upper triangle brace.

 

 

Accelerator cable

There are no instructions in the manual for attaching the accelerator cable to the pedal box, so once again I turned to some of the LHD build threads to figure out what to do.

 

I decided to hog out a rectangle hole in the pedal box and fit the cable connector as-is.

 

Hogging out

 

Shaping with a file.

 

A quick spray of paint in the bare metal and then inserted. Happy with that!!

 

Next, I had to adjust the pedal assembly to receive the cable.   Step 1, enlarge the hole to 3/8 inch, step 2, cut a slot to slide in the cable, Step 3 quick spray of paint.

 

 

Installed and connected

 

Last job of the day...start to prep the side panels with kilmat ready for final install.