New Miata owner on MICO

[nissangirl74]

Be cautious of Southern CA cars. Their suspensions can be junk because of having to drive on those s*** roads. One of the big insurance companies did a study and found out that car owners in southern California spend an average of over $800 more on annual maintenance than car owners in other parts of the nation. They sighted worn out / blown suspensions, warped wheels, and damage caused by tire blow-outs as the main culprits. Just my .02

[Jesda]

Be cautious of Southern CA cars. Their suspensions can be junk because of having to drive on those s*** roads. One of the big insurance companies did a study and found out that car owners in southern California spend an average of over $800 more on annual maintenance than car owners in other parts of the nation. They sighted worn out / blown suspensions, warped wheels, and damage caused by tire blow-outs as the main culprits. Just my .02

Absolutely, but those are usually easy to notice on an auction test drive. The stuff that lurks and hides like underbody rust, brake lines, and dry rotted gaskets are what scare me.

I should have kept the 1990 Q45 I picked up in Los Angeles back in 06. It just needed injectors (typical 90s Nissan s***). The suspension was well worn at 160k but the body and everything else was spectacular.

[gwoods]

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[gwoods]

U

I like that the previous owner writes mileage on oil filters means he was keeping track

Should I use Mazda head gasket and crank bearings or aftermarket?

[gwoods]

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'd probably glue the b**** together and enjoy it during happy top down season. Rebuild your junk motor with all those goodies.

But to answer your question, use Mazda stuff (head gasket and bearings).

[gwoods]

So tempting. I have my 1999 Altima apart right now so I won't start working on the miata for another week but.... Might just swap it in as is!

Broken timing chain on the aw limited 5sp Altima

[gwoods]

Altima is nearly done, I ordered a Clevite main bearing kit, a gates timing belt and Felpro intake & exhaust gasket. I'm not going to mess with the head gasket for a couple reasons... #1 time, #2 its not difficult to do with the motor in the car later if I had too, #3 hopefully next year I'm swapping in a turbo 1.6 and 5spd that motor will have a new head gasket. I'm hoping to be driving a Miata next week.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Altima is nearly done, I ordered a Clevite main bearing kit, a gates timing belt and Felpro intake & exhaust gasket. I'm not going to mess with the head gasket for a couple reasons... #1 time, #2 its not difficult to do with the motor in the car later if I had too, #3 hopefully next year I'm swapping in a turbo 1.6 and 5spd that motor will have a new head gasket. I'm hoping to be driving a Miata next week.

wait, where does the Altima repair parts stop and the miata start?

The miata intake manifold gasket should be re-usable. Hell, I think the exhaust is as well.

[gwoods]

Ha ha you sound like my wife, I only like to have one car apart at a time for several reasons most importantly so I don't mix parts & fasteners. The Altima needs to have the radiator put back in and the accessories bolted on then its drive time! So I ordered parts cause by the time they get here I will have disposed of the Altima. The two gaskets were $20 so why not replace them, plus the motor I'm pulling has been ran with no oil who knows the condition of anything when it gets cooked

[AZhitman]

James and I spent the last 2 days working on my Miata. Replacing the downpipe turned into a full removal of everything from the exhaust manifold back, replacing manifold studs, adding the O2 mod from FM, and a couple gauges (boost / AFR). Bleh.

Next project: New timing belt / VC gasket / water pump / belts / tensioners. Anyone local feel like lending a hand?

[gwoods]

Feel like yes time too no

[gwoods]

Man the crank does not look bad very tempting to glue it! What do you guys think?





This is the new crank it's from a newer car where they supposedly resolved the issue

[PapaSmurf2k3]

f*** it, just weld the pulley right to the crank and then hammer it off when you change cranks... or just replace the whole damn block

I'd probably glue it and enjoy topless weather. Just make sure it doesn't have any slop and it is oriented correctly. The crank pulley runs your timing.

[gwoods]

I did a poll on miata site eleven people said loctite zero said swap it I'm going to do loctite

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yay!

[gwoods]

I'll try to get it loctite tomorrow then motor swap sunday

The Altima runs but I messed up the grommet on the oil pump feed timing cover whatever so it came back apart tonight to fix the leak and make it perfect

[AZhitman]

Make sure you give it a good cleaning with brake cleaner, then alcohol, before running it in with the Loctite.

[gwoods]

I like carb cleaner then isopropyl alcohol but yep it will be clean!

And I got talked into doing the crank seal learned 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe fitting is perfect tool to press it on

[gwoods]

I picked up a tan soft top in excellent condition today (glass window with defrost) for $150

I got the damaged crank loctite fixed today. side note the tool that I was advised to buy, Lisle 58430 Shaft Type Seal Puller is useless for pulling the crank seal on my Miata. I just completely destroyed the inner crank side of it without harming/gouging anything else. I bought a OEM Brand seal puller tool from Autozone that worked perfectly. My thumbs were sufficent to install the new seal.

I am 1 awefully designed transmission bolt from pulling the seized motor.
I hate this bolt!



After 2 weeks of soaking the cylinders in PB Blaster via the spark plug holes I can turn the seized motor back and forth about 30 degrees with a 1/2 breaker bar and a 4' lead pipe over so thats one good think. I can't wait to get it apart and see what failed.

It is possible yet extremely unlikely I will be driving a Miata tomorrow!

[gwoods]

Well well well, the old engine is out I'm going to swap the accessories to the new engine tonight and stab it in.

There is no waiting to learn what went wrong with the old engine...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Cool! Looks like mine. Put them together and you could have a coffee table that could potentially kill you if you stub your toe on it!

[gwoods]

I was thinking either that or leave it in the middle of my front yard and plant flowers in the block

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Do the latter. Don't make coffee tables out of iron blocks!

My rod actually went through cyl 3 and took that motor mount out on its way.






POW! RIGHT IN THE KISSER!

[gwoods]

my starter housing is cracked?! I bought a new starter but wow.

I will still disassemble the broken 1.6 and sell off any "good" parts picture will be posted laughs will be had ect ect.

The hole in the side of the block/pan also explains why less than a quart of dark metal laden oil was in the pan.

[gwoods]

New motor is in!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

SWEEET!
They are so simple without the VVT.

[gwoods]

I finally had some wrench turning time last night and decided to spend it getting the external combustion motor stripped down and out of my garage!

Here are the pictures of the fail.

Got the head off, shop forman supervised



Head gasket was in remarkably good condition for 140k miles and a serious mechanical failure



Its nice to have a spare 1.6 head! I did no testing at all, if I need it I will have it set up by a head shop and massaged.



#1


#3/#4


Most of the rod bearing and cap from #2 were in the valley of number 4



#1 had started to come apart one of the bolts for the cap was gone and the other was finger tight



Rod/Crank journal on #2.... so this crank is no good right??? I kept it...



Assorted broken parts



The pistons



#2 wavy rod destroyed skirt



#1 not in great shape either



The crank bearings look GREAT! considering



#4 bore


#3


#2


Can I fix it with this?



Or do I need this LOL



Spare parts incase my loctite repaired crank fails.

I have a spare head, two cranks one from this thrown rod motor and one that came with my new motor both are 1.6 big nose. I have a 1.6 big nose oil pump, rear main seal (might be the same as small nose) and the oil pump pickup (also might be the same as small nose). These oil covered parts are uncleaned and in a $14 rubbermaid tub in my attic now.

[Jesda]

Loctite fixes everything, including relationships.

[gwoods]

Come March I'm going to join a new Miata forum and start a thread about timing. Then when someone suggests the crank key issue I'm going to find damage. Then when they tell me about loctite I'm going to repair it. Then I'm going to say my motor is making noise. Then I'm going to show the picture of the rod out the block. Then on April Fools I'm going to say I fixed it with loctite and it worked

Hitman & Nissan Girl still have the best April Fools prank what with the marriage and everything and you have to applaud the follow through.