LocostUSA.com

Nice job cutting the manifold. Just based on the photos, I'd have guessed the weight of the new turbo setup to be significantly heavier. Yup, you got a good deal on the weight to power increases even considering the intercooler, new plumbing, etc., too.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

I am just as surprised as you Lonnie. When I set about doing this I expected at least a 50lbs penalty. Contributing factors for the modest gain: Stock header is heavier than expected. GT2554R is a small frame turbo - a larger turbo isn’t required to hit the targets I was after, and while the header is thick-wall steam pipe, it’s dimensionally small overall. The intercooler is exactly 5lbs as pictured above. I’m guessing it would heat soak on a track duty car that sees extended duration high loading, but for street duty Bell agreed that it was an appropriate choice. The installation will include a gauge that reports inlet, outlet, and differential temperature so it should be easy to keep tabs on and find the limits.

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Peace, Ron

One more item checked off the to do. Mazda put two half-round notches in the passenger side of the diff arms as a ‘fuse’ to protect the unibody in minor incidences. Consequently they tend to snap in that location with the increased torque of boost. Welding in a reinforcement plate should do well to mitigate the weakness.

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Peace, Ron

A not-so-much pro tip: Seal the tops of tubes where they meet body panels. I had done this on the inside of the car but forgot to do it in the boot. Over the course of 3K miles I was starting to get a build up of small pebbles behind the gas tank, between the lower tube and aluminum panel. I imagine, given time, they may eventually erode the aluminum. Out came the tank, pricked out the pebbles (they were jammed in surprisingly tight) and filled the gap with black silicone like I had done on the cockpit.

On another note, the ceramic coated header and turbine housing got checked off the list. Very pleased with how they turned out.

The differential had always been an ugly beast with all the corrosion and road grime of it’s previous life, so I spent a tedious couple of hours cleaning it up.

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Peace, Ron

I'll be very interested in learning if that ceramic coating reduces the heat in a noticeable way for you. There's a shop in my area that does all that kind of coating stuff. I've been asking myself if it would be worth doing on the exhaust system of my build. The idea would be to reduce heat where it runs outside the body, increase durability of the exhaust system itself and just dress things up a little. They have a wide selection of colors.

I think those woven heat shielding wraps look OK in the engine compartment, but not so much when visible on the outside.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Lonnie you can try cerakote's stuff, since I couldn't find an applicator near me . I had good success with the piston coat, also did the valves .

@niko

Thanks for the tip. I found their website.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

The engine has always been an oil burner, long before the addition of the turbo. It was also a grimy mess from its former life. I wasn’t ready for a full rebuild, but did want to put a tourniquet on the oil consumption as well as clean things up a bit. I embarked on a partial teardown, enough to do a re-ring and new seals. The oil control rings were fully carbon-seized so that explains that. Next came seemingly never-ending scrubbing and a dash of paint. It’s not cleanroom clean, but at least now you can work on it without gloves.

Merry Christmas!

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Peace, Ron

Looks like a new engine.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Nice work. That's on my winter projects list for the Midget [pull, reseal, clean the drivetrain & engine bay]

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1975 MG Midget
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=24382
13B Powered Rotus Geauxkart
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20899

Looking at the alternator belt tensioner set up on your engine renews my faith that there are automotive engineers out there with common sense

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Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle

Easy there Perry, don’t go getting all tingly for humanity… Mazda engineers did that 30 years ago

But you are correct, for a manually adjustable belt, it’s about as convenient as it gets.

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Peace, Ron

Happy New Year Locoster’s!

The car is mostly back together, just a handful of shoelaces left to tie before start-up… EFI Harness, fluids, and the like.

Notes & Mods:

Ported the valve cover a bit to reduce crankcase pressure
(Insurance policy to keep seals from unseating)

Fab9 COP’s
(Eliminate high-tension wires/decrease EMF)

Cleaned up the extra ports on the intake manifold
(Because more prettier)

Added air bleed ports on radiator and back of head
(Was trapping air. Should more thoroughly and more easily purge)

Installed the RIFE air temp sensor in the rear of the intake plenum.
(In previous testing of the RIFE I could NOT get it to heat soak more than a degree or two so I’m confident it will do well in the plenum, which is where I prefer data from)

Flyin’ Miata Level 1 clutch
(They advertise over 300ft/lb rated and “a pedal that feels almost like stock”. This was important because I use a slightly larger MC to keep the pedal travel short (more static legroom) and didn’t want a heavy clutch. I can happily report there is no noticeable increase in pedal weighting)






Recirc valve plumbed directly into compressor inlet


Idle air is ported directly to the Intercooler end tank
(Small hole in end tank is for an air temp sensor not yet installed. There will be one on each side)

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Peace, Ron

Looking good, Ron. Very impressive work!

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Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

3D printed an angled and recessed gauge mount for a knock meter and added an intercooler in/out/difference temp gauge in front of the shifter. This should give me a feel for when the intercooler is heat soaking. Still need to sand and paint the printed mount. ECU datalogs the FWLR knock meter and can also plug in ear buds for real time listening. Red & black wire dangling is the battery tender.

A member suggested I share a set of plans of the frame so I decided to start putting that together. It’s about a 1/3rd complete, shooting to have that wrapped up in a few weeks.

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Peace, Ron