LocostUSA.com

I don't trust you people with clean garages. What's with that?

-dave "oh-so trustworthy" hempy

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

Fear not...I kicked over the trash can and ground an 8' length of tubing to dust right after I took that picture. That pic also doesn't show the dead mouse thats stuck to the trap behind the bandsaw....that'll teach'em. I'm debating if I should leave it as a message to the others or clean it up?

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

The primaries for the new header are tacked; just need to tackle the collectors.

I only have about 1/4" of clearance between the #1 primary and the alternator; do you guys think this is too close even with some sort of heat shield?

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Very nice. I think with the right heat shielding, the alternator will be fine. I would do a section of header wrap at that point, and an aluminum heat shield with barrier on it (like Thermo-tec or something similar) between the header and the alternator. Use rivets to hold it to the aluminum. This is what it looks like:



You can get it here: http://www.thermotec.com

I think they carry header wrap as well.

Hope that helps!
Randy

_________________
My Haynes/Miata build: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3774

Andrew, finally got around to reading your build thus far, very impressive.. Reading others' build diaries is always inspiring, thank you for sharing

Jesse

_________________
http://www.spartanv8.com/

The header flange is massive compared to the ports. Aren't the ports large ovals?

I would add a another bend to the #1 primary. A 1/4" is not enough clearance.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Very nice looking work Andrew. What is the weight difference and projected performance difference between the two mills?

_________________
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Sure thing Jesse. I'd agree that its neat seeing how other people do things.



Nope they're round ports on the Duratec.

Its painful cutting 1/4" on the HF bandsaw. Thats the main reason for so much being left. I still need to remove the primaries from the flange for welding so I may try to bum a real bandsaw with a good bi-metal blade at that point and go to town. There is also the internal EGR port that is covered by the back of the flange. For the amount I can actually remove and not mess up the sealing surfaces versus the time it will take, I may just leave it as-is.

I've been trying to figure out if I have length for another bend and I'm still really not sure. I'll have to do some drawing and see if I can do it without causing interference issues or screwing up my primary lengths. I'd almost rather try to relocate the alternator to the other side or space it out some so the connectors and other stuff are spaced away from the heat.

I'm probably being overly optimistic here, but I've been in FSAE cars where the header was almost touching the back of the firewall and from the front, you could touch it. It was pretty toasty but probably not more than under the hood normally. With my luck, that stuff on a metal shield will probably not be enough to save an alternator.

As far as weight goes Chet, I'm predicting a push. Based on some of the actual bare weights people have posted on here for Duratecs and the 4AGE, the Duratec is a hair lighter (maybe 20-25lbs) but the Miata transmission is a little heavier than the Corolla transmission.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

I sooo wanna steal you header! Nice Job!

_________________
I'll keep an eye out for you!

To err is human...
I am more human than most.

Thanks. I just hope after welding, they line back up.

I spent the past week working on the collector (minus the bolts to hold it to the primaries), transmission mount, and shifter. I'm still not entirely sure why but those three items took a week.

To make a long story short about the shifter and why I didn't use the factory one, the junkyard I bought the transmission from either had a customer in need of a 2007 shifter before me or they figured they did not need it and threw it away after the transmission was removed from the car. Regardless, I did need it.

I started off by calling Flyin Miata to see if they either had any NC shifters or if they knew if the NA or NB shifter had the same sized bushing at the base. Unfortunately they did not have a NC shifter and no one had tried (and rightfully so had no good reason to try) sticking a NA or NB shifter in a NC transmission. I called a few other Miata salvage places with no luck.

After doing a little more research, I was able to find out that the part number for the bushing at the base of the shifter was identical for the NA, NB, and NC transmissions; I ended up winning an aftermarket Ebay special short shifter for a 2nd generation transmission. So far it seems to work pretty well with the custom tower. I just need to order the environmental seal.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Nice Andrew. Where does the speedo cable exit on that box? Best plan for it now, it's easy to overlook and can be a pain. (ask me how I know)

_________________
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

I already had that issue with the Corolla tranny. That is the reason the diagonals on the sides of the tunnel are not symmetric (one side has one diagonal; the other has a "V").

Fortunately the NC transmission appears to be all electronic for the speedo as there appears to be no cable. I guess this is good for now when I'm packaging stuff - its probably going to be somewhat miserable when I try to make a needle on a gauge accurately point to a number telling me how fast the car is going.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Looks great, I was wondering a few things. When you completed the FEA on your chassis, was it modeled as 1 part or did you model each individual tube and assemble it? What software package did you use for the modeling? And lastly would you be willing to share the models? I would like to look at some stuff in detail if possible.

Again, great build.

The whole chassis was drawn as a part....sort of. Using ANSYS, you create keypoints to represent the nodes, create lines between keypoints to represent tubes, then finally define the material and geometry of the member. Then you apply your constraints and mesh and run the test.

Before doing the FEA, I used Solidworks to do all of the modelling.

If you use a FEA program that is part of a CAD package (like Cosmos is to Solidworks), you will want to make the frame one piece using the weldment function. Making each tube a separate part will probably result in an overly complicated and large model that Cosmos may or may not run.

I owe a bunch of people models. I've been trying to figure out a way to move files since some of them are rather large and cannot be emailed. When I figure something out, I will post it here.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

That flyupload.com seemed to work okay for me for large files... don't recall what the max size was though. I'm sure there are lots of similar sites that would work just as well.

Cheers,

Jesse

_________________
http://www.spartanv8.com/