Wanker's GTX Project

[Wayne_curr]

Phew, motor is finally out. Really wasn't any more difficult than a miata engine pull, perhaps even easier. Having more space in my garage would have made this much easier. The whole drivetrain could easily slip out under the left side frame rail.

Illustrating the tiny space i'm working with. My bench was only 2 feet behind that hoist. Just barely enough space to maneuver it.


Engine on the ground in the engine bay while I decided how I was going to get it out.


You can kind of see how it would have slipped under the frame rail easily if I had the space and a skateboard.


Decided it just needed to come out the top.


Tiny little turbo and cracked manifold.


I really want to put this oil feed hardline on my miata. I'm going to either make one or find one from a B6T.


And the engine/trans on the floor. It took a million turns of the hoist to get the motor turned 90 degrees from the way it was sitting in the engine bay.


Lots of cleanup to do. Need to get my hands on a pressure washer.


Overall it wasn't a bad job. Again, its really weird working on the same motor thats in my miata in this configuration. The starter and alternator are remarkably difficult to get to when the motor is in the car.

[Ace]

Getting into it there. So what are you going to do with the motor and chassis before you drop it back in?

[Wayne_curr]

Getting into it there. So what are you going to do with the motor and chassis before you drop it back in?

Pretty much just rebuilding the motor back to stock. Going to clean the block, hone it, check it for flatness and get it decked if necessary. Currently trying to get my hands on a long nose crank to swap in it as well. Also deciding on if I want to throw in miata pistons. Nothing fancy on the head, clean it, check it for flatness, etc. I'm not interested in building it for power since the tranny will never stand up to it.

As for the engine bay; i'm going to semi-gut it and pressure wash it. See if it needs paint at all then i'll either touch it up where it needs it or completely gut it and paint it.

[Wayne_curr]

Didn't do much today. I only ever have 45 minutes at a time to spend on the car unfortunately. Had a lot of mid-terms lately.

Anyway, I did manage to fix the spider gears in the replacement gear box. I used a long screwdriver while turning the input shaft left and right on the transmission and they flipped right around. I stuck one of my old miata 1.6 diff stub shafts in there to hold it in place for now. Works great. Only took me like 3 minutes to fish them around. Very simple.

[Wayne_curr]

Finally had more time to work today. I put the suspension together and pulled the driveshaft and moved the GTX out of the garage. Much better, actually have room to work now. Split the trans from the engine and got the engine on the stand. Got almost everything stripped off of the block. Just need to get the valve cover, timing belt stuff and head bolts and I can pull the head and see how usable this thing will be.

The clutch disk looks new, but the pressure plate and flywheel look like they were reused without being resurfaced. Looks like crap with lots of hot spots and obvious slippage. Does this look like a stock clutch disk?


.


Its tough staying organized in a tiny space




This thing is a greasy mess. Not going to have a lot of fun cleaning it. Might drop the block off at the machine shop to be decked, honed, and hot tanked.


Parts on the way: Long nose crank and pistons. Actually, those pistons might be on the door step right now!

[Wayne_curr]

Pistons are indeed here! They'll clean up great.

[shorestiva]

Does this look like a stock clutch disk?


.

Judging by the pressure plate thats a centerforce.

[Wayne_curr]

Well now that the quarter is over I actually have some time to work on GTX stuff again. I got the block and head back from the machine shop. I also spent some quality time in the garage cleaning parts today. Got the miata pistons cleaned up and on the GTX rods. Waiting on piston rings, oil pump gasket and pick-up tube gasket before I can assemble the short block. Should be this weekend.





I also had to pull the plug out of the miata oil pump to make way for the B6T dipstick.

[structureboy]

Looking good! Keep the updates coming

[Rustypro]

looking nice

[Wayne_curr]

Progress! Got 90% of the shortblock assembled tonight. I still need to do the oil pan and a few other things to finish it off.

The work area prepped.


Inside of clean, bare block.


Oil jets in.


Crank laid in on new bearings.


Crank torqued down.


New rings on cleaned up miata piston.


Almost there...


In the hole!


And the rest are in too!


Also got some of the stuff hung off the front of the block as well.


I still need to order all of the upper-end gaskets. I'll probably have to wait a week or so for the girlfriend and I to get paid. I just dropped 800 bucks at the dentist today (frivolous, I know).

I'm excited to get this done and back in the car! Hopefully I can pull it off before school starts on the 4th and I can finally put the miata back in the garage for the winter so it can hibernate and get upgrayedd's (with two 'd's for a double dose of pimping)!

[Wayne_curr]

Progress. Good news, bad news, and some questions for you experts. First, pics with good news.

Engine is pretty much done. Just need timing belt covers bolted on, valve cover, and the accessories and such on each side. I've been pondering how i'm going to get the gearbox mated up to the block. Its going to be a hell of a process i'm sure.




I noticed that the alternator mounting ears wouldn't fit around the long nose oil pump. I filed down one of the ears to fit. Anyone else ever run into this?


Question:
What are the two sensors on the cold side of the block just up under the intake manifold? I haven't swapped them from the old block to the new one yet. They look kind of beat up and like the electrical tabs broke off

Bad news:
I went out to look at the GTX since its been sitting outside for a few weeks. Looked like there was frost on the windshield but upon further inspection, the frost is on the INSIDE of the windshield and there is a ton of moisture in there. My first suspect is the sunroof, second suspect is that the windshield needs to be resealed. Sucks either way

[MD323]

Question:
What are the two sensors on the cold side of the block just up under the intake manifold? I haven't swapped them from the old block to the new one yet. They look kind of beat up and like the electrical tabs broke off

its been awhile since i have seen the B6t block, but i think its the oil pressure sensor for the idiot light, and the knock sensor

[Wayne_curr]

its been awhile since i have seen the B6t block, but i think its the oil pressure sensor for the idiot light, and the knock sensor

Ok that was my guess too.

[nickz]

Hey Wanye,323s are known to leak from some kinda seal that goes bad high in the dash.Ive never found the actual spot(s).The water will dribble down the interior fire wall towards to outter footwells.Mine have usually been the pass. side.Do a search you will find the remedy by someone forsure.It will mean taking off your dash.(no fun putting back).Do a lookie look under the padding when its wet out.Im sure others will chine in on other places to look.Nice car!Good Luck man. NickZ