Transmission found

Finally found and bought a used T-56 6 speed transmission for sale locally this past weekend. Discovered it for sale on the LS1Tech.com forum. Previous owner was doing a auto transmission conversion on his 2002 Camaro Z28 and needed to sell the manual trans.
Looks and shifts ok but won't know for sure until everything is together. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I plan on cleaning it up this weekend and doing some other general house cleaning in the garage.

After the first of the year, after some bills have been paid, the hunt begins for an engine!
Argh this build is taking forever, I need to win the lottery!

Suspension

I finally ordered and received my new suspension parts for the car this week. I went with Flyin Miata's "Stage 2.5" suspension package. It consists of Tokico Illumna adjustable shocks, larger front and rear sway bars, new bump stops, new rear upper shock mounts, and I also added the optional adjustable Ground Control coil over springs which allows ride height adjustments. Vey nice kit and everything has fit as expected.
We installed the rear parts today, now on to the front.

Diff mount & fuel lines

I know its been a while since the last update but there has not been really anything new to report.
I fixed my issue with the rear differential mounting bracket. I cut the rear support gussets, mounted the differential to the bracket after some slight persuasion to the bracket, and brought the entire assembly to the welder and had it welded in place. Painted it, done.






Fuel system:
Next up was the upgrade of the fuel lines and pump. The stock Miata fuel pump and lines are not adequate for the bigger V8 engine so both need to be replaced. For the fuel pump this means removing the in tank assembly, thankfully Mazda provides an access panel on the rear package tray so the tank does not need to be removed to replace the pump. Simply remove the access panel, then carefully remove the fuel pump assembly unit. The stock fuel pump can then be removed. I am replacing the stock fuel pump with a Walbro 225 which will be able to supply the new engine with enough fuel. Since I am installing larger 3/8 fuel line versus the factory 5/8 line, I needed to have a way to connect the new lines to the fuel pump assembly at the tank. There are several ways this could be done but I drilled out the 5/8 hard lines and replaced them with -6 (3/8) AN bulk head fittings which will connect to -6 braided hose to a Corvette fuel filter/regulator then 3/8 hard line to the engine bay.

Here are some pictures of the process so far:

Top of gas tank with the stock fittings.


Stock fittings removed:



New pump and fittings mounted:



Assembly installed with -6 braided supply and return hoses connected:



Here is the Corvette fuel filter/regulator installed under the car (the other 2 lines are the rear brake and fuel tank vent lines) :



Next on the to do list is to run the 3/8 fuel line from the filter to the front of the car. Then I can install the rear subframe back into the car. I wanted to finish the fuel setup first before installing the rear subrame, one less thing that could be in the way.

Small update

Not much new to update on the build. Been waiting on some parts to come in and also trying to save some cash for the next big purchases...engine and transmission.
Have been getting some things done though..

Got all of the new suspension bushings installed into the a-arms. They are ready to go.
Painted the firewall, I used Ford engine block blue, a surprisingly close match!



Also finally got the mounting bracket for the rear differential welded into place onto the rear subframe. Don't mind the screws, they were just holding the bracket in place so I could take the whole assembly to the welder.



One minor problem I have had with the differential bracket mount is the bracket is flat but the location on the subframe where it attaches is curved. When the bracket was welded into place it was pulled down to the subframe. This changed the location of the bolts in relation to the differential's mounting holes, moving them off center. In this picture you can see what I mean.



Those two bolts should be centered in the mounting holes. With the bushings inserted, the bolts will not thread into the bracket. I'll have to figure something out for a solution but a big hammer may be involved.

Not much else to say. After fixing the differential problem, its time to start on the fuel system.

New parts...

Busy weekend!
Doesn't look like much but all of this small stuff is time consuming!
Applied some sound/heat insulation to the interior floor and firewall. Hopefully to keep some of the heat from the engine and exhaust under control, not really concerned about making it quiet!


Also finally got some new suspension parts and started to install them...woo-hoo! New ball joints, tie rod ends, end links, and a set of polyurethane bushings for the front and rear control arms.


You can see here the state of the high mileage suspension versus new and why I went ahead and replaced them while it was apart! This is a picture of the front upper ball joint. Unlike the lower ball joints, the uppers are part of the upper control arm (Mazda built it that way for some reason) so you must replace the whole A-arm as one unit. The upper ball joints were not too loose but the boots were torn and worn out. Replacement rubber boots are available from Mazda so I just replaced them with new boots. Simply popped the old ones off with a tap from a hammer and chisel and pressed the new ones on using a 1 1/8 " socket.



Next is to start installing the new bushings. That will be the job for this weekend.

Finishing the firewall mods....

Got the widening of the transmission tunnel all done. Not too difficult but it was a lot of work. I'm sure it would be faster a second time. A cut is made where the firewall meets the transmission tunnel and then the tunnel is widened to about 18 inches in the center to clear the T56 bellhousing. This is needed since the engine is placed further back using the V8 Roadsters kit for better weight distribution. Other kits do not require this modification but I wanted to optimize handling.
Now here are some pictures of the process. And a big thanks to my neighbor Jeff for welding up the cuts for me!

Original transmission tunnel (with corner tabs cut):


Cuts to the driver and passenger sides:



After some "massaging" with a hammer and some heat.
Note the firewall has been folded over in these pics. It could have been cut as well:



My neighbor welding the seams for me:



All done, welded, grinded and sealed!



Now it just needs a little clean up and some paint.

One thing I would do differently is cut the support gussets on the inside of the car first.
There are 2 gussets inside the car that reinforce the transmission tunnel to the firewall and they are not easy to move. If they were cut combined with the cuts of the tunnel, it would have been much easier to widen the tunnel. Obviously they would need to be welded back into place but its just a couple of more steps. Eh, live and learn!

Frame Stiffeners Installed

Installed the frame stiffeners today. These are bolted in place over the floor rails under the car and help reinforce the unibody as well as provide mounting points for the transmission.

Also started prepping the rear subframe for welding the differential mounting bracket. Just sanded off the paint where the bracket will be welded and placed it in the proper position for a 3.5 degree pinion angle. I'll have a local welder do the job.

Not much else to report. It is nice to actually put parts ON the car instead of removing them though!

Started firewall mods...

Cut out the "tabs" of the firewall today. These are located on both sides where the frame rails meet the firewall. They must be cut out for clearance of the new engine and transmission.

I still need to widen the transmission tunnel where it meets the firewall. I'm waiting before doing this as once the cuts have been made and the tunnel widened, the firewall and tunnel will need to be welded back together, a job for a experienced welder.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cut tabs:

Driver side tab


Passenger side tab

Busy work...

Not much new to report.
Been busy cleaning and painting upper & lower control arms for the front and rear suspension. Also cleaned the Ford rear differential. Need to order some new suspension parts before going further but it may be a little while before that due to budget woes. I hate bills!
Oh well, got plenty more parts to clean and I still need to modify the firewall.

Here are couple of pics of the diff before and after a cleaning:

Removed the rear subframe today.



And after a little cleaning....



Now I need to have a mounting bracket welded onto the subframe for the installation of the Ford rear differential. I'll have a professional welder do this since it needs a strong weld.

In the meantime, I've got some work to do on upgrading, cleaning, and replacing old suspension parts....


BTW...anyone want a used 1.6L Miata engine & transmission? I'll sell it cheap!

The story so far....

Hard to believe it has been a year since I brought the Beast home and started the tear down but it has, May 17, 2008 it began!
The plan is to create a low weight V8 powered sports car on a reasonable budget. Think budget Cobra!
Here are my preliminary specs:

• 1991 Mazda Miata base
• GM LSx based aluminum block engine at ~350-400hp; specific model TBD
  
• T56 Tremec 6 speed manual transmission
• Ford 8.8 Independent rear suspension
• V8 Roadsters conversion kit
• Upgraded suspension and brakes
• Curb weight of ~2650 lbs
• Weight distribution close to 51/49 front/rear
• Used for weekend bruiser and auto-x

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The donor car is a 1991 Miata with 200k miles but well maintained by its third owner. I started disassembly a week later, removing the drivetrain part by part and tagging and bagging each part as it was removed. Cannot stress that enough, what seems obvious now will look like a mystery part in a few days! Also took photos of everything prior to removal for reference.

On 7/6/08 with some help from my Dad we got the engine & transmission out, a major step! After we got the engine and transmission out, the rear differential assembly was removed.
Found out that the car has a limited slip option, nice surprise for when I go to sell the Mazda drivetrain parts. Also removed power steering lines from the steering rack as I plan on using manual steering. I know it will be a pain in parking lots but this is meant to be a sports car!


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For a while the car sat since I am working on a budget and can only disassemble a car so far before needing new parts to go back in. So some time passed while some money was saved.

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January I found a deal on Craigslist too good to pass up, a Ford Thunderbird SC 8.8 IRS differential rebuilt with 3.73 gears and posi for $300. Drove to Jacksonville and it was mine! It has been sitting for a while so I will have a shop go through it but it looks like it is in decent shape....especially when a new one would have cost $600+ !!

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1-18-09 Dash removed. The dash needs to be removed for firewall modifications needed when installing the LSx V8 using V8 Roadsters kit. This mounts the engine rearward giving the car optimum balance, almost 50/50. I know it looks intimidating but I had it out in about an hour! Easier than I thought! While I have the dash removed I also cleaned up the factory wire harness, removing the factory engine control wiring and airbag wiring and sensors. This was tedious and a shop manual is a must, but I got it done. Not really required but why have all of those extra wires when they are not being used? Also found out I need a new heater core so I'm glad I removed the dash anyway.

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I also ran the main power cable inside the car from the trunk to the engine bay instead of keeping the factory harness that is ran under the car in the transmission tunnel. The plan is to keep it away from the tighter fit of the T-56 6 speed transmission that will be installed. I used 1/0 awg gauge power cable, just a little larger than stock. Connected the battery and made sure all of the accessories still work after my harness mods. I have lights, turn signals, brake lights, wipers all ok. Could not check the defrost/heater fan as the dash is still removed but no worries.

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3/25/09 I removed the steering rack from the car in preperation of removing the front subframe. While it is out I cleaned it up a little, hard to believe how much dirt was on that thing!
The Mazda front subframe will be replaced with a new one that is included in the kit from V8 Roadsters to mount and place the LSx V8.



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5/4/09 Purchased kit from V8 Roadsters I ordered the full kit which includes front subframe, engine mounts, driveshaft, transmission mount, frame rail stiffeners, axles, rear differential mounts, and all of the hardware needed for installation. I picked up the kit since I only live about a 2 hour drive from them and was treated to a test drive in their LS6 powered NB Miata!
All I can say is wow. I really need to get this project done!! I highly recommend contacting those guys for any questions you may have. Top notch customer service!

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5/23/09 Working on rebuilding/replacing front suspension parts. Removed front bushings from control arms and front lower ball joints and tie rods. That is the press I used to remove the bushings in the picture to the left. You have to remember this car has 200k miles on it so these parts are over due for maintenance and since I have it apart already, might as well fix them now. Also cleaned, sanded, and painted a-arms, they needed it.


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So that is where we stand at today, No interior, no drivetrain, a rewired harness, and a disassembled front suspension. I plan on ordering new front suspension parts soon, when funds allow. In the meantime I plan on starting the firewall modifications and dropping the rear sub frame for installation of the rear differential mounting brackets. It will be a slow build due to my budget concerns but I plan on keeping this blog up to date weekly. Thanks for visiting!