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Post by buildercg on May 16, 2016 3:49:58 GMT
I finally got a good weekend of work in on the car. The frame is close to being ready for powder coating. Over the last two weeks I've: * fabricated a bracket for the battery box  * fabricated a bracket to allow the driver inner seat belt harness to clear the hand brake lines and installed the hand brake (I have to work on re-positioning the spring, it pulls everything toward the driver seat)  * mounted the radiator reservoir and vacuum tank  * fabricated a new cover for the wire tray (the one that came with the kit was about 1.5" too narrow to use)  * and, finally, mount the transmission tunnel. By far the most tedious, annoying, frustrating, infuriating task I've done. Lots of trimming, re-trimming, cutting, etc. Every part of working on the car has been fun except for this one task. I spent about 20 hours over 3 days trying to get it to fit and it still doesn't fit as well as I'd like but it's in.  |
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Post by zeitgeist on May 16, 2016 12:33:30 GMT
Looks good. I wish I had a welder and skill to use it. For the handbrake spring I drilled two holes in the front of the mount between the cables. 1 larger hole and a small hole. I then ran the end of the spring through the larger hole with the tip sticking out through the small hole works great and keeps everything aligned like normal.
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Post by buildercg on May 16, 2016 13:45:25 GMT
Looks good. I wish I had a welder and skill to use it. For the handbrake spring I drilled two holes in the front of the mount between the cables. 1 larger hole and a small hole. I then ran the end of the spring through the larger hole with the tip sticking out through the small hole works great and keeps everything aligned like normal. Thanks. I picked up a cheap mig welder from Harbor Freight a few months ago to meet several fabrication needs for this project. I'd never touched a welder before a few months ago. I don't trust my skills (or the inexpensive welder) for structural welding but it's working great for small parts. I had a similar thought on the spring but I was thinking a slot and hole instead of two holes. |
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Post by zeitgeist on May 16, 2016 16:28:34 GMT
A slot and a small hole would work better but I didn't have anything to cut a slot without drilling a hole first. You could also weld a small washer to the front of the area between the cables and loop the spring through it.
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Post by buildercg on May 26, 2016 4:26:41 GMT
I've been busy with the car building a custom air intake bracket for my new K&N filter and a custom bracket/container for the 12 gallon ATL fuel cell I bought to replace the Miata gas tank. For those wondering, the fuel cell barely fits (keeping my fingers crossed this is really true after the hoses are all fitted on). Both have taken much longer than I expected. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
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Post by buildercg on Aug 18, 2016 15:19:43 GMT
It's been way too long since my last update. The summer has kept me busy with work and family, and not enough time on the car. The good news, I was able to get the frame and other remaining parts powder coated (finally!) by finding a new vendor (waited more than 8 weeks for first vendor). It was not cheap but I'm really happy with the finish. The frame and skate are back together and I've been fortunate to spend about 12 hours over the last two weekends getting the car put together. My target is to start the engine sometime in the next 3-4 weeks.  |
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Post by buildercg on Sept 25, 2016 23:11:53 GMT
I haven't been able to work on the car for a while due to work and family life. Finally got a good weekend in this week and got the fuel and brake lines run. I welded up a custom frame, mounted it to the skate, and used P-clips to hold everything in place. I should have done this when the frame was off as it would have been a LOT easier but it works and I'm happy with the solution. I'm now stuck though. I tried bleeding the brakes and I cannot get the fluid to move at all no matter which wheel I try to bleed. I'm getting a hissing noise from the master cylinder right as the pedal is fully depressed (sound only occurs as the pedal gets close to the floor). I read in my Haynes book that if the master cylinder is rebuilt I need to add vacuum, but I didn't rebuild mine. Is my master cylinder dead? Also, since I couldn't get my brakes finished I started re-installing the exhaust. I just found out that the Jackson Racing header that came with my donor clears the tunnel but it's impossible to attach the catalytic converter as it won't clear the tunnel. Since we all like pictures, this one is from about a week ago, before I finished running all the brake lines and hanging everything.  |
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Post by gwnwar on Sept 26, 2016 6:27:39 GMT
Sounds like you need to replace the brake master.. Bench bleed it first.
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Post by buildercg on Oct 3, 2016 1:10:58 GMT
Sounds like you need to replace the brake master.. Bench bleed it first. Thanks gwnwar. You were right about the need to bench bleed. Brakes and clutch are now fully functional. I had seen a couple of videos about bench bleeding and noticed the mess. I wanted to avoid this so I used a few spare 10mm fittings and some scrap brake tubing. Almost no mess.   |
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Post by buildercg on Oct 10, 2016 1:08:04 GMT
It's been cold and rainy here lately but that didn't stop me from finishing the install for my fuel cell late last night.  Shock spacers from Exomotive showed up but since the car is still in the driveway and it's been pouring I haven't been able to work on getting them installed so I started working on the rear harness. Does anyone know if I'll have problems deleting the double 10amp fuses that connect directly to the positive terminal? I traced them to the defroster, which I certainly don't need, but they also connect to the front harness (a red wire and blue wire). If I'm reading the book correctly, the two 10 amp fuses are indeed for the defroster and the heater. Since I won't be using either it seems I can get rid of them. Also, is it safe to just remove the door sensors?  Finally, since the catalytic converter won't fit to the header (hits the tunnel and cannot be attached) I've decided to cut the exhaust both before and after the cat and add flex pipes. It's not elegant but it should work and it's a lot cheaper than buying a whole new exhaust which is important since I'm over budget. Parts should be in later this week. |
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Post by gwnwar on Oct 10, 2016 7:36:23 GMT
They are for the hardtop defroster and the power antenna.. Into the scrap pile..
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Post by buildercg on Oct 10, 2016 14:48:33 GMT
They are for the hardtop defroster and the power antenna.. Into the scrap pile.. Thanks gwnwar! |
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Post by buildercg on Nov 4, 2016 4:11:28 GMT
I haven't been able to work on the car until the last few days. The wife insisted that with the winter coming I needed to clean up the garage and "clean up my mess" so last week entailed putting the wheels back on, clearing my wife's side of the garage and moving the Exocet indoors. The move is beneficial for me too, as the car has been outside for a few months and when the weather was not ideal, I was not working on it. Now I cannot use that excuse on myself anymore. Last week I finished the rear bodywork and a few days ago I got the wing installed. So tonight I spent a few hours getting to the point where I could turn things on. Taillights, headlights, turn signals, and the front/rear markers are all wired in. I connected the battery and was pleased that quite a bit works. However, I'm having a problem with the turn signals and tail lights. * when I engage the right turn signal I get a "hazard" like response: all the signals trigger together * when I engage the left turn signal I can hear the clicker running but none of the lights come on * the brake lights do not work correctly; when I plug in the sensor they come on as well as the front turn signals (solid, not flashing), even with the key out of the ignition Does this sound like a grounding problem or more of a wiring mixup? A big plus is that I did try to over the engine but I did not attempt to start it (no fuel, no radiator fluid, a few grounds are not connected). The starter engaged immediately and I could hear the fuel pump behind me so I was happy about that. Now for some eye candy    And yes, I know the front suspension is messed up. I installed the front two bolts on the lower wishbones backwards and I need to remove the steering rack to pull them out and install them correctly which will allow me to torque them. I also need to install my shock spacers which I haven't done yet either. |
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Post by gwnwar on Nov 5, 2016 1:45:39 GMT
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Post by buildercg on Nov 5, 2016 14:40:19 GMT
Thanks gwnwar. I do have the wiring diagram for the '92 which I found via Google. I suspect my problem is due to using LED taillights and/or not connecting a ground. I'm in the process of going through every wire. I also have resistors that I'm going to add to the taillights to see if that fixes the issue. Tedious, but not hard.
Another question: when I first tried my turn signals I didn't have the hazard switch/popup light switch plugged in and the turn signals didn't function at all until I plugged in the switch. Since I clearly don't have popup lights anymore, I want to change out the switch to something else. Before I attempt to change this, should I stick with the Miata hazard switch (basically, are there electronics in the switch itself that I need to keep)?
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