build diary

June 16, 2005:
Exciting news!
A Flyin' Miata customer has access to a louvre punch. He'd be happy to help me poke some holes in the hood. This is a happy situation as I've been looking for someone to do this for some time. The louvres should help alleviate the high underhood pressure that's keeping my intake temperatures high, heating up the transmission tunnel and lifting the hood above 80 mph or so. They'll also look good. I'm so excited, I want to go punch them right now. Of course, I should probably also get the car running so I can see how it all works.
entry 895

June 21, 2005:
The Seven is going to be ignored for the next couple of weeks.
Between building and testing the Flyin' Miata car for the Car and Driver Superfour Challenge, resurrecting my own Miata to take to Michigan (long story) and testing various chassis reinforcements on Janel's little blue car, I'm just not going to have time. I did spend a few minutes poking around the 2001 instrument cluster, though. In 1995, Mazda changed the oil pressure gauge to a simple on-off device that looks like a gauge. My fully functional 1990 pressure gauge will not bolt into the 2001 cluster. Instead of running the car with a gauge that looks like a gauge but acts like a light, I've decided to install a water temperature gauge in there instead. The stock Miata water temperature gauge has a large "sweet spot" and isn't exactly linear. I might use the driver for the fuel gauge instead, I just have to check the resistance values. I am hopeful. Some surgery of the gauge faces will be required in order to get them to fit in their new homes but that's easy to do with scissors. And the oil pressure gauge? It will be replaced with an obnoxious light set to about 7 psi. If there's an oil pressure failure, I want to know about it immediately.
entry 896

July 8, 2005:
As promised, the Seven was completely ignored for a while.
I was running around the country with the fast Miata for work. The Car and Driver competition went well and there was some good machinery along. Caterham couldn't make it, unfortunately. That was a shame. I was hoping for the chance to crawl all over a CSR.

One of the things I did while in Michigan was exchange my Canadian 1990 Miata (sigh) for an original Mini and drove it home in two days. 800 miles in one day at a 71 mph average in a Mini? Yup! The Miata couldn't be registered in the US and so it had to go. The Mini is old enough to live in the US so it's taken up residence in the garage and will soon claim some web space as well. Between the Mini, the 1966 Cadillac, the 1967 Land Rover and of course the pseudo-Lotus, some might think that I'm stuck in the past.

So what about that little Seven car? Well, this weekend I plan on wiring up the gauges for the 2001 and pulling the differential. If I really got into it I could have the diff modification done this weekend but I think I'll take some time to relax. It's been a long hard haul on cars recently.
entry 897

The newest addition to the fleet meets the Seven.
It's fairly easy to see where the Land Rover parks when it's in the garage, too.
entry 898

July 11, 2005:
Finally, some Seven news that's actually technical and not just prattle about other cars.
The differential is out (I enjoy that job less each time I do it) and is being fitted with new bushings. I've started working on the mount as well. I'm considering selling the exotic Guru differential that's currently in the car and replacing it with a standard Torsen. It would save weight and I really don't need the strength of the Guru. The preloading is nice so it won't wheelspin like a Torsen with an unloaded wheel, though.

I've also spent a couple of minutes mucking around with sway bars. I'm trying to figure how to best mount a set of stock Miata ones to the Seven. Given that I also have some high-rate springs on the way, I might just put one smaller one on the front. Or I'll just be a little more creative. I know it's been done before. Also, while goofing around the rear wheels, I noticed the rear brake rotors are blued from heat. The fronts are fine. Well, at least I know I'm working the rear brakes! Perhaps they'll get an upgrade later.
entry 899

Looks as if the rear brakes got a workout on the track.
Perhaps I'll upgrade these to the slightly larger ones from a 1.8 Miata. All I need is rotors, pads and caliper brackets.
entry 900
Sway bar madness! A collection of Miata sway bars to try out on the Seven.
entry 901
For my new differential bushings, I need to reuse the steel sleeve from the Miata part.
This is gooey work.
entry 902
The new bushings are pressed into the differential housing.
entry 903
The first part of the differential mount comes together.
entry 904

July 14, 2005:
The Mini needs a bit of work on cooling (as do I, it's waaay too hot!
) which has taken away from Seven time. The Mini will get its own site shortly. Still, I did manage to finish the work on the diff last night. I just need to finish the mounts for the side points. I'll do the same thing that CMC did - it can be seen here on Heikki's site. Then it's back to my home garage with the bits so I can put some plate on the transmission tunnel and get this all bolted up. After that, it's simply a matter of reworking the (ugly) transmission cover, wiring in the new instruments and modifying the housing, adding sway bars and reassembling. The new harnesses (proper Seven ones with pull-down lap belts) will be here in a couple of weeks. I have some work to do before then!
entry 905

My little baby PPF.
It's not sexy, but it will allow me to connect the diff in a better location and use more fasteners.
entry 906

July 19, 2005:
Well, the Mini has been cooled and now has it's own website.
So that's done then. The diff mounts for the Seven are done so now all I have to do is put the big lump back in the car. Then drill some new mounting holes and do some reinforcements to the tranny tunnel. The latter will be a bit of a hassle as, while I have the ability to weld at home, I don't have much in the way of fabrication tools. I'll have to make the parts at the Flyin' Miata shop and bring them home. I'm starting to second-guess myself on how much new bracing to put in the car. Seems to me that designing and mounting sway bars will likely be more important and if I want to have this thing up and running happily before the Open House, I should get to work on that. A little more desultory test-fitting last night indicates that the front Miata sway will not go in happily with my radiator mount. Should I move the rad, or do something different with the swaybar? A rear Miata sway would actually work pretty nicely in the front and may be all the bar I need. Still, it's hard to ignore the results found on the ex-GRM car. Decisions, decisions.

I've also taken a few minutes to start wiring up the new instruments. Now I just need the nerve to turn on the car and see if they work.

It appears my guestbook is attracting spammers. Interesting, most of the code is my own. I'll see if I can fix it. Meanwhile, I apologise for the idiocy.
entry 907

The side braces for the diff.
These are only intended to keep the bolt from twisting back and forth, not to provide the main support for the diff.
entry 908
The side braces in place.
This one isn't actually attached but is just waiting to fall down, thus the appearance of poor fit.
entry 909

July 25, 2005:
I spent the weekend proofreading the layout of the new book.
So it was a very Seven-oriented weekend but not one that got a lot of work done on the car itself. Still, I did manage to wrestle the diff back in to place. My little PPF is perfectly lined up with the outside edge of the transmission tunnel. I'll put a piece of relatively hefty plate on the side of the tunnel for mounting. The PPF (actually, it's nothing like a PPF, it just bolts to the diff) will get captive nuts on the back to make it easier to attach. I'm also going to plate the whole transmission tunnel in 1/8" plate on the sides and just use aluminum on the top. It'll add a couple of pounds of weight but will also stiffen things up and get rid of the ugly misshapen cover. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a chance to pick up the rest of the steel I need.

Swaybar thinking has progressed. A suggested spot for the front bar - slung under the chassis - is intruiging so I'll check that out. I'm still not sure if I'll run one in the rear or not.
entry 910

July 26, 2005:
The new differential mount in place.
Now all I have to do is a whole bunch of welding.
entry 911

July 28, 2005:
I haven't managed to get much work done on the Seven this week, but I did spend a very successful hour on it last night.
I figured how to install the front sway bar nicely. I need a 1.6 bar (they have shorter arms than the 1.8) to fit, but I picked one up today from my friend Jim. He's the one who made this whole project possible with the donation of the green car, if you've read that far back. I'll check it tonight to see how it works but I'm pretty excited. Jonathan Freinkel has been doing some analysis of the "CMC Miata" geometry and found some weight jacking in the rear. Racetrack photos bear this out. His idea is that the sways front and rear will help counteract this.

This weekend I'll weld up the plates on the transmission tunnel to finish the transmission mount and start putting the poor neglected thing back together. A couple of extra reinforcements will also be added. And the Seven gains weight, hopefully for a good cause.
entry 912

Everyone wants a little attention.
The Miata is a supercharged one that I've been playing with. Why? Because it belongs to my girlfriend Janel, and she wants her "cute little car" to go fast. Who am I to argue with that?
entry 913
Trying to sort out the front sway bar.
The blue tape indicates an upcoming chassis tube.
entry 914

July 29, 2005:
Okay, that's odd.
The 1.6 bar looks to be identical in size to a 1.8 bar I pulled out earlier. I'll have to fit everything up and see how it works. I'd prefer a bar with slightly shorter arms. Perhaps I'll have to get creative.

The goal for this weekend is to have the welding done so I can reassemble the car. My new belts are on the way and I've decided to leave a few modifications for later just so I can get the car together. There's an autocross next weekend, you see. Unfortunately the stiffer springs are still in the UK so I'll see how the car works with new bars but the same springs.
entry 915

The 2002 instrument cluster is ready to install.
Well, maybe I should put the indicator for the water temperature on there somewhere. The needles sit a bit higher than in the earlier cluster so this might cause problems with the glass. The nice thing is that it's a bit lighter due to the electrically driven gauges.
entry 916
Ooooh, nice interior!
The orange poster board is being used to mock up the metal plates that will be welded into the transmission tunnel. This will both stiffen it and let me stop using the terrible-fitting transmission cover. The driver's side will be overlaid on top of the tunnel while the passenger's side needs to be welded between the bars for just that little extra clearance.
entry 917
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