More poor life choices #3(and possibly #4)

Snickety snick snick...

I got the shifter rebuilt today, based on the condition of the remaining pieces I’m surprised it worked before. 

I went out to the garage this morning & figured out what was up with the coil harness connector...

Apparently the old plug broke off inside the coil-end of the harness. 

I guess it's supposed to look like this.

In reply to Dirtydog :

Correct, that’s the chassis-side plug, and the orange part in your pic is what got stuck in the coil-side part of my harness. 

I figured out why the engine wasn’t level. On the driver’s side motor mount, much like sex, in my exuberance to get it into the hole I didn’t notice it was in the wrong one... When I couldn’t reach the starter terminals at all I realized I needed to level the engine, thus leading me to this discovery. 

Ah yes.  The wrong hole recipient, will always gently remind  of placement.  One less concern.  Now on to wring issues.

That's kinda E36 M3ty. You'll have to drop the subframe again, won't you? 

You've just got all kinds of stuff stuck where it doesn't belong. LOL

In reply to Crackers :

Fortunately I was able to loosen the 3 driver’s side motor mount bolts & pry it into the hole, set the engine down, then tighten the bolts. 

I got everything in the engine bay connected(I think), with the exception of the fuel feed & return lines. The oil, coolant & PS fluid is in, and the clutch is bled. 

Remaining is: connect fuel lines, replace fuel filter, possibly drain tank(?), change diff fluid, install driveshaft, bolt in the downpipe, hook up the battery...then check for leaks, oil pressure & fire when I crank it over. 

Kinda nice when you catch a break now and then.  Sounds mighty close to firing it up.

Getting closer, need to sort out an electrical issue & install the driveshaft. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

The true definition of a flying Miata.

Pete Gossett said:

I figured out why the engine wasn’t level. On the driver’s side motor mount, much like sex, in my exuberance to get it into the hole I didn’t notice it was in the wrong one... When I couldn’t reach the starter terminals at all I realized I needed to level the engine, thus leading me to this discovery. 

Snicker.....

I got the driveshaft installed this morning & exhaust bolted up...except for a stud on the front of the cat that snapped off. I’ll live with an exhaust leak for now, since replacing the whole exhaust is on the short list. 

I did a bit of electrical troubleshooting too, but didn’t find anything conclusive yet. 

It’s alive!

I need to get one of the boys to hold down the brake so I can torque the crank pulley bolt, then install the undertray & related hardware, check the lights, bolt on the plate & take it down the street and back. Hopefully that’ll be Friday. 

Then I can check my eyeball alignment & see what other problems need dealt with before bolting the interior in. 

Then I need wheels/tires/exhaust, then...

Give the man a ceeegar!  Good for you.  Glad it's running.   Now on to the then.....file.

Stanced out bruh...

Per my iHandy Level app that’s -4.5* left and -5.4* right. I also checked it with my $0.99 dial angle finder, which showed ~ -5*. This seems odd since most STS cars can’t get more than -3.5* without offset bushings, even when using the same extended lower BJs I am?

Front ride height is ~4” from the bottom of the pinch welds, rear is ~4.5”. Both measure within the range of other STS cars, though I want to level it out. The front is raised as high as it’ll go, so I may need to swap the ISC upper mounts from front to rear to get more range. 

I’m going to give it a better alignment too. I just kinda looked at it & adjusted until the hubs were mostly pointed straight ahead. 

I took it for a short drive through the neighborhood - after using a c-clamp to close up my exhaust leak somewhat. There were no problems with the car, though a Yukon almost blew a stop sign & parked on top of me...fortunately I saw her ahead of time & stopped in the middle of the intersection to wait. 

Also - it feels *really good* to drive a stick shift again after more than 2.5 years. 

Looking good.  It's fun finding the power band you like.  I just drove my son's new to him 89 TBird Super Coupe.  First time I've driven a stick in,  umm, decades.

You know, some tape and rattle can white, might doll up the beak on that.

In reply to Dirtydog :

Plastidip is the working plan, but that probably won’t be until next year. 

I took the Miata for a “real” test drive this morning, after getting it aligned a bit closer & bolting on the hood. The first stop was 2-miles to the gas station to fill it with premium so I can set the timing later. From there it was 3 more miles to McDonalds. 

Bee as my copilot. 

While sitting in the slow moving drive-thru line the temp gauge started climbing up to about 3/4. The line was slow enough I just shut the car off between movement, and by the time I was about 1/2-mike down the road back home the temp had already dropped. I never heard the fan kick on, so I’ll have to check it & the relays. 

I also smelled a bit of oil, but didn’t see anything under the hood. I’ll check for any drips/puddles underneath later, but the oil pressure held steady so it’s hopefully nothing major. 

I did wring it out a couple times. It’s certainly not fast, but it pulls steady & smooth, and the exhaust actually sounds decent. The chassis is nice & tight, and the only rattles were from the windows, which need attention anyway. The idle dips really low when I’d let off the throttle, but it came back up & never died. 

So far, so good. Mostly. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Oil smell is left over from the many blown C4 front seals. It is the bane of your existence forevermore

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

Haha!!! Possibly...

I replaced the blown turn signal bulb this afternoon & also discovered the right headlight was cracked/blown. Fortunately I have a pair of headlight assemblies from a Mariner Blue car, and when I went to pull a bulb from them I discovered they’re Hellas - hell(a) yes! So I swapped in both bulbs so they match. 

I verified the radiator fan works when I jumper the diagnostic terminals, and the thermoswitch is new, so I think it might not be grounding through the coolant neck. I still need to figure that out. 

I took it for another drive this evening, Wendy’s this time, and it still seems to run & drive fine. I was able to toss it around a corner just a bit, and even on these crappy old all-seasons there was no drama. 

You and your buddy buzzing around town, eh?

Great you got this one going. So is the budget Challengable?  Going for 1st in autocross?

In reply to Stampie :

Sadly, no. It could have been if I’d not bothered with the timing belt/water pump/gaskets/motor mounts/etc., but I didn’t really want to pull the engine back out again. 

Also, I’ve never once been able to build a car the way I want to - I’ve always run out of time/money/skill/tools/patience - on every single car. I realized that unlike the Vette, the Miata is a car I can afford to do that with. It’ll still take me several years to build it fully the way I want it, but that’ll work well w/my schedule, and I can use/race/tweak the car during that time.