Fits and Starts and Miscellaneous Parts

 Engine Work

The engine work has gone in fits and starts, with pauses while waiting for parts. A pandemic and a blizzard didn't help things get here any faster. But the real problem is that I keep finding new seals I hadn't thought of before. The reader may remember that my main goal for this engine refurb is to keep the oil inside (not a complete rebuild). 

Here's the front of the engine with new water pump, new oil pump, new timing belt gear, and the cleaned up and re-installed oil pan. And of course all the gaskets and seals for all of these things.

This is a trick for keeping the camshafts properly situated to each other: put two adjustable wrenches on the flats, then use a pair of vise grips to clamp the cams together. Because if these aren't oriented correctly to each other engine will not work.

None of this is terrifically difficult mechanic work, but it's going slowly because every time I think I'm ready to put something back together, I see another potential place for oil to leak and thus need a new set of seals. Then ordering the new seals and waiting for them to arrive. And in the case of valve stem seals, waiting for the valve spring compressor to arrive. My next engine job will be the valve stem seals and new lifters - but I think I'll save those for a subsequent post because this one looks like it could get long and besides, it's been a while since I posted an update.

I would like to take a moment to thank my long-suffering wife, who gave me this radiant heater for Christmas. With this thing, I can work in the shop in the middle of Winter in a 5-foot zone of relative comfort.

Miscellaneous Parts

I love this kind of stuff. The reader may remember my previous attempt to get rid of the Mazda branding on the valve cover - filling the 'Mazda' etc with metallized epoxy and painting over it with chrome-ish paint. That looked pretty good - until I tried a heat test. The failure was dramatic and not attractive, as the epoxy expanded and there bubbled up from under the paint blobular masses vaguely in the shape of the letters "DOHC 16 VALVE." 

So the new idea is to create my own branding or logo and replace that part of the valve cover.

I got on SolidWorks and designed a simplified version of the Aston Martin logo, then Dad helped me mill the shape into aluminum.

There is a bit more machine work left here - will need to mill flats on the tops of the cam covers, and also trim these wing logo pieces down to the size in the frame - but it should be possible to inset these wing designs into the valve cover so that it looks like they belong there. Then the valve cover, and a handful of small parts, will take a trip to Powder Coat Sam's shop. There are some new metallic powder coat products - chrome and silver - that look really good and I should be able to make this piece nice and shiny and presentable.

I also started work on the hood and trunk latches. You might be surprised how tricky it is to bend steel rod into curves - and trickier still - to bend another piece that winds up looking more or less the same.

There are some machined parts that will go with these, some of which are brazed on, then they too will go for a visit with Power Coat Sam.

I think I have already complained about the original factory Mazda gauges, which look fine on a Miata, but don't quite fit on what purports to be a 1950s British sports car.

This builder (below) made his own faceplate to create the appearance of separate gauges, which is definitely a step in the right direction.

Still, though, the gauges look very tightly crammed together. It's fine in the tiny instrument bubble on a Miata, but on a big wide open dash like this it seems like the gauges could be spaced out a little. Maybe it's just because I know the arrangement of Miata gauges, but this hollers "Miata!" at me.

So I decided to try moving the temp, pressure, and fuel gauges off into their own piece of territory where they have some breathing room. The Miata gauges don't have their own individual cases - their workings all sit together in one big plastic gauge case. So to move the three small gauges off to a different spot, I needed to make a new box with all the little spacers and holes and standoffs that the original Mazda gauge case has.

Another job for SolidWorks:

Then I test-printed a piece just with the holes and spacers and standoffs, to make sure it all fit:

Fortunately Ray reminded me that it gets hot in car dashboards. The PLA material seen above is really easy to print, but if it gets up around 90 degrees it will soften and deform much in the manner of a snowman on a warm day. 

ABS is a different kind of plastic that's much more heat resistant, but there was a bit of a learning curve learning to make it print properly. After a wee bit of frustration and a second try, I had the box below (with gauges installed)

The observant gentle reader will notice that the 90s looking Mazda gauge face graphics have been replaced with period-correct parts. Or at least a reasonable facsimile.

Here are the speedometer and tachometer, looking a lot less crowded without the small gauges crammed in around them. I will still use the turn signal indicator lights from this cluster - but they will be used to illuminate 1950s jeweled lamp lenses like so:

It's always a question how far to take things apart. Should I go one more step and replace/refurb the ____? I had debated whether to take the head off or not. When I did take off the head, I was able to look in the cylinder bores and see that the original cross-hatching from when they were honed in the factory is still visible. This isn't 100% guarantee, but it suggests the bores and rings are probably in good condition and it was a nice "this looks good!" moment to stop disassembling further and start reassembling.

Torquing the head bolts marked a new phase: no longer taking apart,
now starting to put stuff back together.