| THE MG |
|
|
 | |  | August 29, 2010 - The next big step - a really big one.
The engine is now installed, hopefully to stay! Janel came in to help me wrestle the big beast into place and it was one of those situations where it looked like there was no way it was going to work - until it just slipped into place.
Now feel like I can really make some serious progress. Anything I do from now on stays done! Exciting? Oh yes.
entry 374 - tags: engine | | |  | August 29, 2010 - Of course, the first thing I did with the engine in place was to grind off some of that new paint.
The oil pan drops below the steering crossmember slightly, and I wanted to protect it from potential impacts. It should be 5" off the ground, but still. A piece of 1" square tubing welded to the bottom of the cross member does the job perfectly, offering to sacrifice itself in the event I meet a big obstacle. I'll paint it up again once I've done a couple of other things.
The piece of steel was actually part of the shipping crate the Seven arrived in. There's a little bit of each of the cars going into this one!
entry 375 - tags: oil pan, protection | | |  | August 29, 2010 - Before I start installing the exhaust, I want to add a bit of heat resistance.
I'll have some inside the car under the carpet, but the headers run pretty close to the footwell. Enter Reflectix: a great heatshield for use under the car. It's basically bubble wrap with an aluminum coating, making it very light and completely weatherproof. It's also inexpensive (I think this roll was under $20) and super-light. I've been running it in the transmission tunnel of the Targa Miata for a few years and it's working well.
entry 376 - tags: heat insulation | | |  | August 29, 2010 - The Reflectix in place.
It's held in with foil tape - the kind that's actually waterproof enough to install underwater. Again, something I've tested on the Targa Miata. This is the driver's footwell from the viewpoint of the wheel.
I realize I should have sprayed a bit of black paint on the original panels here to make it look better. And I might have to replace this stuff after the fender flares are added. Whoops. Still, you have to admit it looks awesome.
entry 377 - tags: heat shielding | | |  | August 29, 2010 - Before I could cover the passenger's footwell with the Reflectix, I had to fix this panel.
It attaches to the car's unibody and seals off the inside of the fender. Sort of, anyhow. But this one was all bent up. A bit of time with a vice and that problem was solved. It's a nice reminder of the original color of the car though!
entry 378 | | |  | August 29, 2010 - I'm having to pay attention to what I'm doing now.
A lot of this work is going to essentially be on display in the future, so a bit of time thinking on the cleanest way to do something will make a big difference. This is a new anchor for the hood release cable. I was going to use a plastic anchor, but this aluminum one just looks so much better!
In a similar vein, the hood latch itself went into the bead blaster and got a new coat of paint. It's front and center in the engine bay, why not?
entry 379 - tags: details | | |  | August 31, 2010 - I'm often accused of having an unfair advantage when building cars because I work at Flyin' Miata.
The advantage is access to exotic tools and knowledge. I've discussed the exotic tools before, but what about the knowledge? Well, I spend all day sharing that knowledge with other people, but it is coming in handy at this step.
I needed to hook up the power steering lines. A GM pump and a Miata rack. Luckily, this is the exact combination used in the V8 conversions at FM. So I used my special insider knowledge and went to the FM website to get a parts list of what I'd need. Yup, special insider knowledge that's shared with the entire world!
These two parts are the adapters to convert the fittings to common AN-6 ones. The one the right is specially machined to mate with the flare on the Miata rack, the one on the left is off-the-rack with a special washer as the usual o-ring doesn't seal. My advantage was that I didn't have to order them and wait for the parts to arrive, but I was able to simply go pick them off the shelf for instant gratification. I'm still missing one 90 degree adapter - the different packaging of my setup requires different hose routing - but it's almost all hooked up now.
entry 380 - tags: steering | | |  | August 31, 2010 - I'm working on routing all the various hoses and wires, and I have to make sure they stay clear of the hot stuff.
Which means it's time to bolt the headers on. And oooooh, do they look good. Yum!
However, I did discover a problem. When I built the headers, I bolted the flanges on to the head using just the two end bolts. I did the same every time I checked fitment as well. Except this time, when I decided to put in another couple. And that's when I realized that I'd welded the flange on upside down on the driver's side! The end holes are symmetrical, but the others aren't. Oooops.
Luckily, there's a lot of meat on the flange and so all I have to do drill some new holes. I can use the gasket as a template. So at the moment, it looks as if my mistake won't be difficult to fix.
entry 381 - tags: headers, mistake | | |  | August 31, 2010 - I may not need it, but I fitted a cooler to the power steering loop.
It's a small transmission cooler. It's anchored at one end to the support under the hood latch and supported by the power steering lines on the other. Works nicely. The fins are pretty fragile so I've wrapped it in cardboard to protect it for the time being.
entry 382 - tags: steering | | |  | August 31, 2010 - The heater connections are two different sizes (3/4" and 5/8") and aim straight sideways at the frame rail.
This happens in Miatas as well, so I grabbed the same hoses used on the Miata builds. The big one is necked down to 5/8", then they're both dropped to 1/2" to mate up to the MG heater.
entry 383 - tags: heater | | |  | August 31, 2010 - The current state of the engine bay.
The radiator is in and fully hooked up - it took me a while to remember how I'd intended that lower hose to work! Power steering is all plumbed in other than the one missing 90 degree fitting. You can see the heater hoses looping around the left side of the picture. I'll anchor them down shortly to give a nice clean install. You can also see the refreshed hood latch and the relocated VIN tag at the bottom of the picture.
Okay, that's enough playing around with the big, fun, rewarding stuff. Time to work on the wiring.
entry 384 - tags: radiator, heater | | | September 3, 2010 - Janel commented a while ago that "there didn't seem to be a sense of urgency about this one".
She's seen me consumed by my projects before - she met me just around the time I started the whole Seven project, and the Targa Miata really sucked me in. Well, that was true. I've been taking my time with this one.
But now the fever is upon me. I'm doing things for the final time and I can see real progress happening. So I've fallen upon the car with vigor and enthusiasm, and Things Are Getting Done.
entry 385 | | |  | September 3, 2010 - Time for the wiring to commence.
I have a few Miata parts (ignition switch and the headlight/turn stalks), a whole bunch of GM parts (the whole point of this project, really) and the leftover MG parts (ie, housekeeping). So I'm having to do a lot of cross referencing and some mental redesigning. It's kind of amusing - the MG diagram is one 8.5x11 page. The GM engine diagrams are on four 8.5x11 pages. And the Miata book is about 120 11x17 pages. But it's more useful!
entry 386 - tags: wiring | | |  | September 3, 2010 - The ugly truth.
There's a spot in the engine bay above the passenger's feet where one of the main MG harnesses erupts from the fender. Just below that, I've mounted the GM computer and rerouted the other main MG harness through the cockpit to arrive at this same location. It's quite a traffic jam.
I'm tracing through the MG harness to pull out unused wires and to figure out how some of it works. I'm doing a lot of electrical forensic work as I try to identify a number of the connections. I know there's a hookup for the reverse lights in there somewhere...
The first splice between the GM and MG harnesses was made yesterday - the alternator light. The ignition switch is also wired in, so I can check that the appropriate circuits will be energized when the battery is installed. Since the MG harness has a few unknowns for me, I'm being particularly careful to avoid stray electrons.
entry 387 - tags: wiring | | |  | September 3, 2010 - I do love my bead blaster.
This is a relay for the starter solenoid - probably added to the MG over the course of production to protect the poor ignition switch from the power needed to trigger the solenoid. The Miata switch is robust enough to handle it, but the wiring in the MG harness is a little smaller than I'd prefer. So I'll keep my relay to trigger my solenoid to trigger my starter. At least, that's how I'm thinking now.
Just look at what 20 seconds in the bead blasting cabinet did to this (probably) 38-year-old component. There's no corrosion on those contacts!
entry 388 - tags: wiring, bead blaster | | |  | September 3, 2010 - The pedals have been dropped into place.
I figured the pedal box installation would be easy - I've been told the power brake components simply bolted into place of the old pedal box. Umm, no. A number of the holes didn't line up and I had to cut an extra slot in the firewall for the brake pedal. Then I discovered that it has to be partially assembled on the car. Lots of fun!
But it's in.
entry 389 - tags: pedal box | | |  | September 7, 2010 - I was hoping to get a lot of work done on the car over the long weekend, but life got in the way.
Lots of other jobs to do. But I did sneak down to the garage and solve one major problem.
As part of cleaning up the garage - I had to pull the Seven out of the trailer in preparation for a track day, and this meant I needed an extra parking space - I dropped the MG hood on to the car. This reminded me that I needed to do something about the oil filler neck interfering with one of the ribs on the bottom of the hood. Without much time to spend in the garage working on it, I turned to Google. That's where I discovered that the neck is simply clipped in to the valve cover. When removed, the stock filler cap will screw right into its place. Perfect!
It's possible to force this part off, but you'd break a locking tab that keeps it in place. The clever way is to remove the valve cover and pull back this little tab (visible in the picture) so the neck can be removed. That took all of five minutes. And voila, problem solved! The hood now clears every part of the engine.
If only all my problems were that easy to fix.
entry 390 - tags: clearance, oil filler | | |  | September 7, 2010 - Janel and I have realized that the interior of the car is going to need some attention.
We bought this particular car because it was black with a tan interior, and it looked great. Of course, then it turned out to have a bad paint job and the interior was just spray painted. But we still got a good rust-free chassis!
Of course, if we're going to refresh the interior we have to deal with matching the paint or replace it all. The latter is tempting but we have the problem of the headliner. I do not want to replace it - and it actually looks pretty good.
Looking at various color samples online, it appears the (unpainted) seats are "biscuit" and they do match the rest of the interior. Unfortunately, Moss Motors doesn't sell this color for the GT, only the convertible. I found a shop in the UK that offers a full biscuit interior for the GT but I wanted a color sample to be sure. And here's what showed up in the mail today!
The good news is that I was right. The seats are biscuit and match the sample perfectly. The complete interior does include new seat coverings, but this way we know everything will match. Yay! A big thumbs up for Chase MG. I'll put in an order for the parts soon. It actually quite affordable, a full interior for less than the price of two seats from Moss.
entry 391 - tags: interior | | |  | September 7, 2010 - The new brake master cylinder is here.
I did some calculations a while back on brake master sizes, and the ideal (to match the Miata) ended up being 15/16". My plan to use the Miata booster fell through due to a critical lack of space. Well, I have the choice of the old 7/8" setup from the MG or a 1" Wilwood caliper. Since almost everyone prefers a hard pedal with a bit more effort to a softer one, I've decided to go with the Wilwood setup. This also means I don't have to mess around with British flares! I'm not going to bother with the brake plumbing yet, but since the master arrived I just had to bolt it in.
I also bled the clutch hydraulics, so I should theoretically have a functioning clutch. I don't have any way to tell for sure yet - I'll wait until Janel is around, then see if I can spin the driveshaft by hand when the clutch is depressed. Oh boy, I sure hope so. It feels good anyhow.
The power steering lines are also fully hooked up now. By this point, all the fluids in the car (other than the brakes) should be contained. So it's back to wiring...
entry 392 - tags: clutch, brakes, steering | | | September 9, 2010 - Power!
With a few spare minutes in the garage and a freshly connected main relay, I hooked up the battery to the car for the first time. First, of course, I had to come up with a good grounding point. Hopefully I did.
When I connected the battery, nothing happened. That's good.
Then I flipped on the main circuit breaker. Nothing happened. That's good.
Then I turned on the ignition and saw a light come on inside the dash. Must be the alternator light. I also heard the main relay click over and the fuse panel for switched power came alive. That's good!
No sparks, no shorts, no nasty smells. All the smoke stayed inside the wires. This may not seem like a big step, but now that I know I have a smoke-tight electrical system it'll be a lot easier to trace wires and determine that everything is hooked up correctly.
Woohoo!
entry 393 - tags: wiring, smoke, electrical | | |
|
THE DIARY