1995 G-Limited ***RESTORATION***Rebuild

[Mazda Mender]

I have changed the title to read correct


M-m

[Lumphammer]

You are such a gentleman - I have put it back

[John&Luke]

LoL love it.

[Lumphammer]

I need a manifold pressure feed to the fuel pressure regulator and another to the ME442 ECU. There are existing points after the throttle body you can use but I think i'd need a T piece and they're the wrong end so made two connectors from some brass hex threaded M5 and tapped a flat region of the square top's plenum next to the feed for cylinder four

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Made them flush on the inside so hopefully it won't experience too much error from venturi - that was my logic anyway, dunno...

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The throttle body that came with the engine wasn't in great shape, corroded and the bearings were a bit gritty. Bought one of these off of eBay - they have mixed reviews, some people don't like them because the build quality is allegedly poor and apparently it's a rip-off of a Skunk2.

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I don't know about it being a rip off, I don't have one to compare and this seems to be a pretty basic throttle body. Build quality arguments are justified, the machining isn't bad but the finishing is pretty poor. I spent an hour or so deburring it, the most sketchy thing about it are the two screws retaining the butterfly. Mine weren't loose but they were nothing but hand tight, given it's a critical failure point they should have been threadlocked or peened over - but then that would have stopped me taking it apart fully to clean and finish properly... I've deburred it and will be using loctite 270 (permanent) on the screws. As long as it's not considered a finished product then I think it's alright.

As it's 64mm v's 54mm for a standard throttle body there is a 2-3mm lip onto the square top plenum

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I smoothed it in using a die grinder with a carbide and then some 80 grit rolls

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Will finish it off properly with some paper by hand

[Lumphammer]

Put the baffles back in the cam cover, used loctite 5980 and loctite 243 on the screws

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Got a few bits back on the engine, new waterpump and timing belt etc

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[Lumphammer]

Found another problem that the new throttle body adapter plate for the NB idle control valve fouls on the face of the plenum, should be flush with the face of the throttle body. It's only minor but they should have though of it.

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milled about 2mm off the edge

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The fixings are best thrown in the bin, all the screws are either wrong or unsuitable. Hey ho..

Put new core plugs back in the manifolds resonator chamber. I took them out to clean out any debris

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Made a couple of blanking plates from 6mm alu for the EGR, cut some 2mm nitrile sheet for a gasket

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Fuel rail is tight but fits. Wiring the injectors will be fiddly

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The engine is mostly back together. Need to tighten some things up and fit the rear main seal when it's off the stand

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I swapped the oil pressure gauge out in the cluster to an early type so will be fitting the old type oil pressure sensor to get a real reading

[Mazda Mender]

M-m

[Lumphammer]

Made a start to the wiring of the engine, I decided to keep the majority of the MK1 loom upto the engine and make the VVT engine "fit" with it as best I can

I've separated the MK1 injector / coil pack looms which is just removing tape as they are electrically separate

For the Injector loom which also has the 2-pin ECU temperature sensor and 1-wire dash temperature sensor I swapped the injector connector housings for the VVT housings as one of mine was smashed and they key onto the fuel rail to stop rotation. The 2-pin water sensor housing is bust, i'll get another one at some point.

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I made a little bracket to hold the connectors for the injectors and coil packs out of alu. I'm going to do another one on the other side to hold the CAS sensor rewired to have CAS and crank on the original connector. I'm going to try and keep the original connectors as much as possible

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The coil packs are a bit more involved, I soldered the MK1 loom to the VVT COP loom with chopped off pigtails. I ran the ground from the connector to the normal ground the VVT coils use and then back up to the coils with the EMC reduction capacitor soldered between the 12v feed ground. The internet has many opinions about this but IMHO it's just a bypass capacitor (250v 0.47uF) to reduce the noise on the rails from the coils firing. I put it in because it seemed sensible.

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I'm going to put the VVT actuator connector on the second bracket next to the CAS / crank connector, will have a go at that tomorrow.

Sorry if it looks a bit ghetto, I'm working it out as I go along

[Lumphammer]

I decided to re-do all the engine loom with new connectors and wire. There were some connectors I couldn't buy easily in the UK (Sumitomo SL series) so i substituted some with DL series (coil packs) and the one for the VVT actuator I couldn't buy or substitute so i de-pinned the existing and remade it with new pins.

I've not touched the existing MK1 main loom, I made all changes on the VVT loom / injector loom so hypothetically a MK1 engine would fit straight back in.

I found the following thread very useful:

https://www.miataturbo.net/electronics- ... 034/page4/

This is what I used or substituted for putting a VVT engine into a '95 MK1 1.8:

Connector to MK1 CAS connector 4-pin
Sumitomo 6195-0030 "Male Coupling"

VVT crankshaft Sensor 3-pin
Sumitomo 6195-0012

VVT camshaft position sensor 3-pin
Yazaki 7283-9730-30

VVT actuator 2-pin
Sumitomo 6189-0642 (SL part, I couldn't find new so repinned with female pins beneath)

VVT Coil-on-plug coil packs
Sumitomo 6189-0638 (SL part, I couldn't find new so replaced with - Sumitomo 6195-0009)

MK1 Water Temperature sensor (mine was bust)
TE Connectivity (formerly Amphenol) 184006-1

VVT Injectors (MK1 are the same):
Sumitomo 6189-0651

Terminals for re-pinning salvaged connectors
Sumitomo 8100-1427 (female)
Sumitomo 8230-4472 (male - weren't need in hindsight)

I also added another part so the VVT connector added to the MK1 could be unplugged like the others, these are a simple 2-pin plug
Sumitomo 6195-0003 / Sumitomo 6195-0006

I bought the parts from:

https://www.auto-click.co.uk/

First time I've used them but I ordered on the Sunday and they arrived on the Friday, which given the current situation is fair. Most of the connectors are around £2 each, some a bit cheaper some a bit more and they come with pins and the rubber bungs.

I bought a cheap M or W shape crimper off of eBay for £13, says it was for Delphi Weatherpack connectors but it works on the Sumitomo's I pull tested each crimp. Not the nicest tool but good enough.

This is what I've made, it took ages, wiring is very fiddly and motivation is low at the moment. Need to tie down a few bits but it's mostly there

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I've taken the +12v feed for the VVT actuator from the injector loom, the CAM and CAS from the VVT engine are put through the existing MK1 CAS loom which is 4-pin. All the connectors are on a bracket so it should look clean in the car and not a birds nest of wires. Need to paint the bracket, probably silver.

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Apart from that I made some oil seal fitting tools on the lathe, one for the diff side seals (I made it a touch wide so it can also do the gearbox rear seal) and a rear main oil seal. I replaced a rear main seal once before the hard way and the tool will make a lot better. They're just made from oil filled nylon. If anyone cares the 6 flywheel bolts are on a 65mm PCD.

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I bought a lightweight flywheel, might drive me mad but will be interesting to try. Should arrive soon then the engine can go in.

[blackyb]

Cracking work, as for motivation, I dont think you need much more than being told there is an end in sight and I cant wait to read the rest of the build.

[Mazda Mender]

I feel your pain on the motivation side, i am off ill and even if i wanted to a can't, frustrating and boredom is setting in big time , hit it when you can Tom, if you need a boot up the bot, we are all here to offer our services buddy.
M-m

[Zed.]

If anyone cares the 6 flywheel bolts are on a 65mm PCD

thats useful info (I care )



guess I'll have something else to make now

Rich.

[Lumphammer]

Done some work getting the ECU in. Needed to get a plenum pressure reference, control for the VVT actuator (as it's not part of the NA loom) and the wideband O2 sensor. Used the A/C holes and made a couple of grommets for them.

First one has the VVT and pressure reference, I added third hole "for future use". The second is just for the 02 sensor.

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They come through like this, only had the bigger one in at the time but they fit nice. I'm using this 10mm corrugated tubing I bought along with the connectors, it's really useful and does a neat job

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With both in and a bit of bracketry and stuff

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The ECU is a plug and play ME442, it goes into the existing case in place of the original. I found that there needs to be a 3mm spacer on one corner else the whole thing sits on the p***. The Mazda ECU has a height difference because of a heatsink tab. Small bit of Alu fixes it

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On the ECU to control the VVT you need to use the auxiliary connector which is a Molex Mini-Fit. Trouble is that with the ECU lid on the mating half alone stands proud.

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I think most people get around this by cutting a hole in the lid and have it coming out vertically but I didn't want to do that so I made an alu can so the cable(s) can route back inside

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Other modification is for the USB connection on the ME442, I think this should be re-orientated as there's no possibility to plug in the supplied cable when the board is mounted in the case

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Put in some glands for the various things. I slotted the gland for the O2 sensor so the ECU can still be relatively easily removed from the car.

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Looks a bit weird with the big alu hump but it works to route the cables better. No one will see it anyway

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In the car, it looks alright - had to take the dash out again to do the above - pita job!

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Other than that, made a handle for the dipstick - it came either snapped or chopped off

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[Lumphammer]

Made some brackets to support oil heater / cooler hose. Normally they are supported by the throttle body which has a water feed to prevent icing in cold weather. The new throttle body doesn't have a water feed so the two pipes joined together are very flappy and would probably get eaten by the alternator belt. Made a coupler from brass, don't have a bead roller so machined it from some bar

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Cables fastened down and engine pretty much ready to come off the stand

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Made a crank locking tool, always done it before by getting someone to ride the brake with the handbrake on while in 5th

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Took the engine off the stand and rested it on a bit of wood to do the rear main seal, flywheel and clutch. Tool works good, only needed two bolts and the seal wound straight in good

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Exedy lightweight flywheel. Got the old bolts clean, wiped with alcohol and then loctite blue on the threads

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New ZF sachs clutch and pressure plate. Not particularly fond of this alinment tool, it worked OK but the fitmet in the spigot bearing was like a hotdog in a hallway.

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Picture for nostalgia, another part that no one will see

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And then the miserable process of getting the gearbox on, about a day of lying on my back. At least there's no rust falling in my eyes with this one!! I made a makeshift transmission trolley plate for the jack, this was incredibly useful

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I found the best way to do this in the confined space was to put the gearbox in, support it at a slightly jaunty angle and then slowly and carefully bring the engine into alignment using the crane

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Unfortunately when putting the neutral switch back into the 6-speed the switch sheared off with very little pressure. I think it's just bad design, cast steel thread of M16 x 1.5mm with a 12.25mm internal bore for the ball bearing plunger. Wall thickness of absoloutely f*** all. So I'm off to go hunting for a replacement

Need to read up on how to align the gearbox and diff too, but the drivetrain is back in - mostly!

[Lumphammer]

Wayne, you have another part added to the box - some idiot machined an alu knob for a dipstick belonging to an engine that no longer exists..