Re: Ever open up a Miata?
The project is finished. Here's the engine tucked back in its crowded little shell.
And then, since it left a few minutes ago, here's the 911 -- back inside the garage for the first time in 7 weeks.
Aren't you spose to take those out from the bottom?..
I've been told there are multiple ways to remove the flesh of a feline.
Not necessarily. 4th gen Camaros drop the engine out the bottom with k member. It's interesting to do at home. Undo frame bolts, lift nose of car up and roll front end out. It will come out the top, but it takes a lot of doing. Fortunately I never had to pull the motor out of mine.
I learned that mechanics will typically drop the engine (along with the front suspension assembly) for a Miata, while ordinary guys will pull it up and out, since you don't need a lift that way. I suggested we try dropping it, but all the step-by-step guides I found were guys pulling it out the top. So reluctantly, I bought a hoist. (Who am I kidding? I was glad for the excuse to buy it -- now I have another way to lift heavy stuff.)
DARNED sweet car, and definitely subbed to this one...
Any idea what caused the #4 rod to go? How many miles?
Not just academic, as we *also* have an 04 MX5 Mazdaspeed (also in that awesome gold-flaked red with black) and if its something we can watch for...
Right now, we have a weird vibration between 50 and about 75 MPH, I think it may be the driveshaft or ?? (Not the wheels or tires, this we do know), but it ***** it's at highway speeds.
Anyway, thanks for the story, keep us posted!!
There won't be much more to post, since we started in December and now it's done and out the door. I don't know the mileage, but it was not the original case. The explanation for the #4 rod bearing was oil starvation. I don't know Miata's very well, but it could be lateral g-force loads kept oil away from the pick-up. The car was low on oil when it happened and was being driven at a track with long, fast sweeper-type corners. It could be shortcoming of the previous rebuild, which was done by a previous owner. There was also a 5-4 mis-shift, which brought the revs up to just under 8K, which might have contributed to it. We simply don't know.
I would guess your vibration is drive-shaft related. Has it been removed and reinstalled? It could have gotten turned when that happened and put out of balance.
But again, I'm not a Miata guy so that's a wild guess.
What did you do with your Porsche while this was going on?
It got the covered spot in the driveway. It's the longest the car's ever been out of the garage I built for it.
Great project. Jack. You're surely the favorite Uncle now!
That is quite awesome. Way to help out your nephew
The mis-shift was mine, unfortunately. So while it might or might not have been the cause of the bearing failure, I wanted to help. We split the cost of the engine work and did the rest of it ourselves.
All told, we were very lucky with getting so much of it right on the first try. Miatas are very different from Porsches. And we had to keep track of vacuum lines, fuel lines, air lines, water lines, oil lines and all the electrical harness connections. We also had to pull the transmission and line up the clutch and all of that. It went shockingly well, all things considered.
