DanM's Westfield Miata

[DanM]

3 minutes ago, DanM said:

....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.

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

[Austin David]

8 minutes ago, DanM said:

....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.

Was it painted after welding?  It might just need to cook off a little 

[DanM]

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

[DanM]

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.

[Anaximander]

DanM said, " Looks like I may have to replace the new crank seal that came with my Boundary oil pump." 

 

First thing that comes to mind is that the "new" crank seal may not have been the proper one for your YM Miata engine. The second thing that everybody warns about is not putting any scratches on the crankshaft when messing with the front seal. If there are scratches on the crank, some have suggested that you cannot get a good seal. 

 

As I mentioned before, this is an amazing opportunity to learn the nuances of the engine you rebuilt. Few people can say that they really know what internals they have in their engines. You will not be one of those people.

[DanM]

 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!😔 

[MV8]

Looking at page 9, it appears the seal was driven too deep before installation of the dampener. Generally seals are installed level with a housing or slightly higher. Use the appropriate socket/pipe/driver to make sure you are pushing on the outside edge where the metal is, not the rubber seal. If pulling the pump, get a seal driver kit if necessary. The driver will be only SLIGHTLY smaller than the bore of the housing. It is possible to use a 3/8 extension if you can get it started without distortion of the seal, then back and forth (like tightening a wheel) to slowly, gently tap it down to level.

 

Also, to remove the seal without damaging the crank or bore, use a 3 inch deck screw with the torx head on each side. No need for a drill. Use pliers to walk it out.

Edited August 26, 2023 by MV8

[DanM]

23 hours ago, MV8 said:

Looking at page 9, it appears the seal was driven too deep before installation of the dampener.

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.

 

23 hours ago, MV8 said:

use a 3 inch deck screw with the torx head on each side. No need for a drill. Use pliers to walk it out.

Thanks for the tip.

[DanM]

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.

 

[Anaximander]

Dan, It's just like Roseanne Roseannadanna' (portrayed by the late, great Gilda Radner) was known for saying in the 1970's: "...it just goes to show you, it's always something — if it ain't one thing, it's another."Mar 14, 2020

Edited August 28, 2023 by Anaximander

[DanM]

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!

 

[DanM]

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.

[Anaximander]

Dan, It seems like your kind of up against it. IMHO, I would contact a specialty company like Flyin' Miata who sells a ton of specialty parts for Miata's and has very extensive experience with building Miata engines for all kinds of applications.  They may be able to give you some guidance as to what you might need to do at this point and they may have just the right parts you need to get over this oil leak issue.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Anaximander

[DanM]

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...

[Anaximander]

Dan, Has Fab9tuning gotten back with you about that oil pump seal? It was suggested that you mentioned installing the pump seal which suggest that they might not come installed? Hopefully Fab9tuning will give you some insights into what might be going on? This is an interesting mystery and we are all pulling for you on this issue. If it makes you feel any better, when I was building my AXR, one of the half shafts was not staying in the differential properly for some unknown reason (which became known) and it took a dickens of a time to figure out how to prevent it from backing out. Oil leaks are a bear!

Edited September 3, 2023 by Anaximander

[DanM]

On 9/2/2023 at 10:28 AM, Anaximander said:

Has Fab9tuning gotten back with you about that oil pump seal?

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...

[DanM]

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.

[Anaximander]

Dan, Looks like your making progress in spite of the oil leak issues. Good job! I had to laugh when I saw your use of heim joints for your roll bar as my Stalker AXR uses a TON of them in the suspension setup for unbelievable adjustability capabilities. The suggestion of using anaerobic sealant (sealant that works in the absence of air) sounds promising. It does make one wonder if the seal and dimensions of the oil pump opening were as well engineered as they could have been given the amount of money they wanted for that specialty part. Let's hope this fixes the problem. On my Stalker, we had to add a shim ordered from McMaster-Carr to get the proper interface between my halfshaft and the custom built rear differential which is something I didn't expect to have to do but it worked out perfectly. So, hopefully, the anaerobic sealant will end your misery of this oil leak and you have lots of other fun things to finish up.

 

Dan, These build threads are soooo helpful for all of us. I began to wonder where the name Heim joint came from and it turns out that it was named after a German company during WW2 that developed the joint. In reading about Heim joints, it stated that one of the down sides to the joints are that they can wear out faster, especially if not kept properly lubricated. As I mentioned, my Stalker AXR utilizes a lot of Heim joints in the construction and it was recommended that one use WD40 to keep the joints lubricated and helping to prevent rust and contamination issues. Well, I know from experience that regular WD40 attracts a lot of dirt which would add to the wear so I used WD40 Silicone (also hydrophobic) which was recommended by my garage door technician as an excellent lubricant for all of the frictional surfaces within my two sets of garage doors. So, this morning, with a rag to prevent overspray and using a can of WD40 Silicone with a built-in spray straw, I gave a shot to all of the Heim joints on my Stalker AXR. Thanks for taking us on your journey. I think we are all benefitting from the shared experience.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Anaximander

[DanM]

Thanks @Anaximander, fingers crossed.

[DanM]

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.