More pics to come. Just tore apart my parts car engine, sandblasted and repainted my entire racing beat exhaust, sandblasted and primed some engine bay pieces...

you'll see

 

Looking forward to the updates. I bet you'll like that new rebuilt engine, I've never driven a 12A with less than 80,000 miles on it.

 

Thanks Ray, I bet i'll love it even more once I get everything together!

So I've been a little bust lately, in addition to buying lots of parts (not pictured quite yet) I have been cleaning up my old parts and getting them ready for Roxy. But first! Most importantly, I have to thank my green 83 gsl for donating her engine to a good cause

 

This was the first day of a couple days of massive fun... a little tiring but well worth it

 

And here are the fruits of my labors!!

Roxy is going to be soooo happy... or is that me? same difference

Also, notice how large the breaker bar is above? Just about the right size too! hahaha, made life much easier

 

And Now I magically turned everything into a paint shop... it's magic!

or just lots of cleaning...

The rust red pieces are primed that color for now, I didn't have time after blasting them so I primed them to protect and give the paint a nice surface to grab. I'll be using white POR flexcote paint for all the engine bay pieces. That should give everything a really clean look when i'm done!

For the exhaust i'm using POR-20 high temp aluminized paint. It supposedly protects up to 1400 deg and also has great corrosion resistance... I'll let everyone know how things work out with the paint. It looks pretty good so far, not sure if a second coat is necessary. I am also planning on wrapping the header back to the pre-silencer with header wrap and then painting the wrap with some 2000 deg paint. This will hopefully keep my engine bay temps down a little

More to come, just thought I would update where things stand.

Have a good one

Pete

 

Looking good Pete, thanks for the tip on painting the exhaust. And you are an inspiration for an engine rebuild, in the unlikely event that one of my 12As finally bites the dust. I'm looking forward to the day I get a first hand look into one of those horses that have given me so many miles.

I have some stock and semi-stock exhaust pieces that are going into storage when the RB system comes in, I think I'll give them all your POR-20 high temp treatment, that will keep the rust down while they are stored at least.

Maybe good for running too, I'm curious to see how it holds up when installed. I read on the RB site that rotary header temps run 1400-1600 degrees F, so I'm thinking no paint will be good enough for the header at least. We'll see when you get it in!

 

Looking real good Pete! The paint on that exhaust might last for a little while, but it'll burn off eventually. Hell the chrome plating that comes on the RB headers doesn't even last... Either way you'll get many years out of that system, they are built very well.

 

After thinking about it a little bit more, I'll be putting a second coat of paint on the exhaust.

Ray, if you do end up using any kind of high temp paint, just be aware that it needs to be "baked" on before it really sets and protects the part. This paint will stay pliable until it sees temperatures of 300 deg F. It can still rub off if not handled gently.

Also, if possible any paint will enjoy life more if it is applied to a sand blasted surface (either primed or directly painted) nice and clean

 

So if you used your other car Engine, What do you think a rebuild would run?

 

Ok, I forgot to include some shots of the exhaust before blasting. Here you go!

There is also a shot of the engine bay pieces prior to blasting and priming... paint this weekend!

Also, this is what i'll be using after I tig in an O2 sensor into the collector and repaint the high temp that I'll be grinding off

and here's my intake after using all of my dremel tool wire brushes....

 

Here's a few more parts waiting for the engine.... I'll have to remember my camera next time I head up to work on it!

I have a bunch more parts in waiting, such as a shift **** with a rotor and old mazda logo in the middle!!... pics later

 

Dominion: Here's what i'm getting for my rebuild, don't forget.... I luckily had two engines from which to pull parts from

- New 84 Housings
- New stock mazda seals
- Reusing front, intermediate, and rear plates
- Using donor rotors, concentric shaft, and front counterweight from green car
- Lightweight steel flywheel (not included in price)
- Aggressive (i think) Streetport
- port matching on my racing beat intake
- Reinstalling existing centerforce clutch (no big deal... just thought of it...)
- setup to run high oil pressure front and rear regulators

This is running me about 2500$ - 2900$ depending on a few things.... seems reasonable to me considering I've quoted about 6 different good shops and the lowest I was quoted was 2500$ and that was a strictly stock rebuild + sp

Most of the shops that quoted me for the engine I just listed were about 3500$ so i'm happy... will be even more so when I get it!

 

hey swbtm..where did you pick up your radiator?..is it brass core and aluminum frame?..im trying to pick one up

 

looks like mine i got it from rockauto.com there right around the corner from me

 

yah..i was thinking about getting mine from them..it was like only 150 for the brass core and aluminum frame...and only 20 bucks shipping..hey yetter..how is the oil filter sandwich working for you..i havent put mine on yet

 

Picked up the radiator from

http://www.radiatorexpress.com/default.asp

150 + shipping... sounds the same as what yetter has

 

And here are some shots of the LSD and the left and right rails.... almost no rust!!!

 

Here's some more pics of my latest addition to the effort.

POR-15 paint is some nasty and wonderful stuff...

I have more POR-15 to use, the parts that i've painted are test spots, some of which are necessary, but i want to see how it weathers and holds up before i go bananas and coat the entire undercarriage

I've heard some horror stories about it bubbling off and actually holding pockets of water against the bare metal making things rust faster!

For now I will see how this single coat performs

 

And here are a few more parts....

Air fuel monitor to tune the carb... Not a wide band though.

Miata shortshifter kit bought from ebay

Shift **** purchased from mm miata

Finally, a comparison for all those thinking about doing it. A shot of the shortshifter next to the stock shifter, notice the additional length below the shortshifter's fulcrum (ball)

I am actually having some difficulty installing this guy, I'll probably wait until the car is running and us a mill to get the spacer down to the right thickness. BUT, the set screw that comes goes in the thick spacer (three mounting holes) it doesn't seem to seat very well in the keyway that is machined into the ball, there is a plastic insert. Anyone think that that should be removed?

 

You will love that short shifter once you get it in there. makes the stocker act like just garbage cant believe i ever drove without one!

 

Here's a little something that should give the engine bay a really clean and unique look.... also it's going to be a pain to clean... but it should look great!

This paint is really thick and it still required two thick coats to cover up the rust red primer that was there. What is neat about the paint though, it is self leveling so you just put smear it on leave some brush strokes in it and they will be gone in a few minutes... I think it turned out well enough for where they are going to be

Let me know what you think!

More to come soon... picking up the engine this weekend... old flaked housings, mis-matched rotors and all

 

Here are the problem parts from my previous engine...

If anyone is interested and knows exactly what they are doing... these two rotors weigh the same... the would need to be dynamically balanced though.

 

And the housings... oh my!

 

Here she is... waiting patiently for all the goodies that i've been trying to find lately...

And that is the exhaust with the wrap on it before and during painting.... there is a shot of it installed a little later