Titus's V6 Swap build thread

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

Wouldn't it be advantageous to have the rod and cylinder on a common plane? Seem a bit cocked which I would think could put the cylinder in a bind and cause premature wear.

But it could be just the picture.

Impressive work on the entire project!! :clap:

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Yeah, this is on my list of things to look at. I think the picture really makes it look a little worse than it is, as the spacer is only about 6mm thick. I was thinking about pulling them off and hitting the spacers with a grinder for more of a wedge shape to align it better, but I don't know if it would work without looking closer at it. Before the spacers were included with the kit, the install manual called for hitting that corner of the engine with a grinder to allow it to sit flush.

Pardon the intermission… I seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...227_105328.jpg

I think the red wire is bad. ;)

Don't clip the wrong one…..::Blowup::

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Originally Posted by Rogue

Don't clip the wrong one…..::Blowup::

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Call Bean to help tidy up those wires! ::EvilBana

The rabbit hole is never as bad as it seems. You will need wiring diagrams from both cars. Then sit down and make a plan on how you are going to wire the entire thing and then follow the plan! I did this way back in the day on a project where I put a much more modern computer with way more sensors into an older EFI car. It was Ford to Ford, so that was way easier, but still get two diagrams and make a plan! Then proceed carefully checking twice and cutting once.

I will be doing the same process myself this time next year with a Ford 5.0 engine (which has been done a lot more so I have more reference material and an easier time :p).

The needed wiring was done a few weeks ago. The rabbit hole was when i got into removing unneeded wires from the harness. :punchout:

That work is done now... now one to the next hole.

The harness work under the dash didn’t end up being so bad. It was time consuming work that left my fingers sticky and sore, but I managed to get all of the unneeded Mazda wires that go to the passanger side completely removed from the harness. What was left was rapped up and reattached to the firewall.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...227_165738.jpg


Before reinstalling the dash, I disassembled the 3 hvac boxes, cleaned them, and applied new weather stripping. The AC box was the worst of them.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...304_173942.jpg


Once they were reinstalled, the dash went back in and I gave it another startup test to make sure it still ran after surgery. All was good, so now I can move forward with final passanger side engine bay wiring wrapping and routing.

I got the passenger side engine bay wiring wrapped this weekend, along with reinstalling the headlights, fans, and radiator overflow. The oem overflow is nasty looking. It will do for now, but I am looking at aftermarket options. If I can’t find anything I like, I may just get a new oem one.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...306_180227.jpg


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...306_180238.jpg

I am behind on my write-ups, but got a few things written up last night.


Sway bar reinstall


Even after a good cleaning, my 13 year old Flyin Miata front sway bar is looking pretty sad.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...312_134631.jpg


What should have been a 5 minute step in my reassembly turned in to hours. Even though I thought I had done a good job bagging and labeling bolts, I just could not find 2 of the end link bolts. After a few hours of searching everywhere, I remembered that I had a set of end links in a box of parts from a 96m I parted out years ago. I pull them out and find they still had the nuts and bolts attached to them. 5 minutes later and the sway bar was back in the car.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...312_150527.jpg


It is hard to tell from the pic, but it clears the pulleys by a good 3/4″.

Throttle cable modification


The throttle cable needs some mods to work. First is the throttle body side.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_141431.jpg


You need to cut off both the rubber piece, and the metal bushing that slides in to it.


Once those are out of the way, it bolts right up.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_144042.jpg


With this done, you quickly realize the cable is about 3 inches too long, and you really only have about +/- 3/4″ adjustment. This is caused by the mounting point being closer to the Acura throttle body than the Miata throttle body.


Unless you have the skills to do the fancy barrel cable ends like used at the throttle body end, you need to shorten the cable from the peddle end. This means you first need to remove it from the car, which is a real pain. The stupid firewall clip is my worst enemy. It may be marginally easier with the dash out, but I have reinstalled the dash twice so I was not going there. The only advice I can give is letting you know that there are 4 clipping points that need to be compressed at once, all from the inside of the car. 2 on top that you push down and 2 on bottom that you push up.


Once out, I cut off the amount needed and followed a write-up I found on line for making a new solder ball. It involved first sticking the old ball into playdough to make a mold.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_151131.jpg


It was then removed and the cable was slid in to place.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_152339.jpg


No pictures of the solder melt because I don’t have enough hands, but I basically filled the hole with liquid flux and then hit it with a torch while feeding 5050 lead solder in. In the write-up I was following, it said the playdough wouldn’t burn, but mine looked like a toasted marshmallow in seconds. Might be because I was using a hotter torch? Regardless, it worked.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_152859.jpg


After a little cleanup on the grinder, the ball fit right in to the plastic retainer. It also is on there very securely.


http://www.v6miata.com/wp-content/up...320_153124.jpg


A few minutes later it was in the car and working perfectly, and I was off to the next item on my list.

Well?

Don't think he's touched it since then from what I gather he's been swamped with work.

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I had heard he changed his mind on the swap and was going to put that motor back in the Minivan. ;-)

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

I had heard he changed his mind on the swap and was going to put that motor back in the Minivan. ;-)

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His Mom got pissed and wanted it back.

There was a guy at Hallett with an Acura V6. Titus needs to get this out there next year.

^That car was wicked fast!

Did this car ever get finished? It was a great project. I’d love to know how this turned out.

Titus who? He hasn't been on here since last November.

Nope. It's sitting just like it was when I left for Florida.

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