With the 2015 autocross season finally complete it's time to turn attention to getting the 99 Miata back into fighting shape for it's 2016 campaign towards Solo Nationals.
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| Huge thanks to Tyson for RallyCross WRX, which fit the engine and three adults perfectly while returning much better gas milage than a pickup truck. The rear hatch's opening perfectly accomodates an engine on a hoist. |
A 50k mile Mazda re-built engine was sourced from a fellow Miata enthusiast in Charleston. The dead motor from my car looks to be mostly re-buildable, but the opportunity to have a complete, running, low-mile engine to drop right in over a weekend won the war for funding.
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| What do you do when the engine hoist isn't available? Use a tractor. |
Thanks to a generous loan from NMS North, and a 2004 WRX station wagon borrowed from another SCR-SCCA member, we braved the wet and cold weather (on loan from Canada) and brought the new engine back on Sunday.
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| As always, precision driving and operation by Chuck |
Currently the powerplant is resting at Chuck's shop, where we've done most of the 99's maintenance to date. While the rest of the SCR-SCCA guys head down to Roebling Road Raceway for a weekend of driving on the track, new gaskets, seals and accessories will be arriving in Columbia with a plan to install everything in two weekends.
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| Touch-down. Only a few days until we're pumping air, gas, and electricity through this bad boy. |
Since the spark plugs and wires in the current engine aren't too old, do you plan to put them in the new engine?
ReplyDeleteAll of the good, working electronic bits out of the old car are going into this motor except spark plugs, which will be replaced with brand new ones that weren't over-heated at CMP just for good measure.
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