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Oh, so the sewing machine noise after my upgraded my heads, cam and lifters, can be solved by going with the short travel Johnson’s on my new 408 build.
I wanted to back up the post Tony made about the Johnson lifters. Mine were quieter vs stock in my 346. I then sold them to someone for an LS3, and he also reported back to me they were quieter - even used, and hard used at that.
Darth was man enough to admit when he made a mistake so others could learn. I paid a *lot* of attention when putting my valvetrain together as a result.
Here is my mea culpa. The FAST intake manifolds require drilling for the MAP sensor. I was worried about drilling at a bad angle, so I put it on the mill table, and used the mill as a drill press. I should have been more worried about other issues. The drill grabbed (I started with 15/32" ... first mistake) and the manifold climbed the drill and ovalled the hole (holding down with one hand, second mistake).
I made lemonade by fabbing up a bushing on the lathe. Those of you without a lathe might do the following ...
Drill using a hand drill ... if it grabs, you'll feel it instantly, and be able to get your finger off the trigger faster than I was able to shut off the mill. Second, start with a relatively small drill, and gradually increase the size. I started at 15/32", the finished size. That is most likely to grab. By making small jumps in size, it won't be as likely to grab. I really think the instructions should say something more instructive than just "drill out to 15/32" ... but maybe I'm an idiot. :-)
Here's the lemonade I made on the lathe. I drilled my manifold oversize (33/64") and then put this .507" OD bushing in with epoxy. It will be easier for you to do it the way I suggest.
A lathe is a handy thing... I turned this down quite a bit ... supported with the tailstock (not shown here). This is the top of the new bushing... And this is the bottom. Installed with epoxy.
Last edited by grubinski; Aug 11, 2020 at 12:30 AM.
At an internship I had in college I made a hold-down bracket that held down something in an electronics enclosure out of sheet metal with tin snips. It looked like hot dogshit. It was in a little bit of a boomerang shape and I got so much **** for it but in my mind it did the job and it was behind closed doors in the end so who cared. My nickname was batman for the rest of the time I was there after one of the guys turned it into a batarang with a sharpie lmao
I'll bet that manifold getting away from you was a butt-pucker moment... LOL Good recovery though on the bushing, nice job!
You didn't by chance happen to do a before/after on the weights on any of this or the car as a whole? Had an NB (10th anniversary) for a while. It wasn't fast but it was fun because it was so light.
You didn't by chance happen to do a before/after on the weights on any of this or the car as a whole? Had an NB (10th anniversary) for a while. It wasn't fast but it was fun because it was so light.
Stock it was 2268 lbs. I left anything off it that doesn't make it faster, when I put it back together. So no A/C, power steering, radio, power windows, etc. Part of the reason it got the RPS flywheel setup is that it's 30# lighter than the stock 'vette parts, and that's weight off the nose of the car. This is probably one of the lighter street driven LS swaps. It's 2400#. So it only gained about 130# net. F/R is 52/48 (IIRC, stock is 51/49, and turbo setups run 55/45 ... all the extra weight is in the nose)
Stock it was 2268 lbs. I left anything off it that doesn't make it faster, when I put it back together. So no A/C, power steering, radio, power windows, etc. Part of the reason it got the RPS flywheel setup is that it's 30# lighter than the stock 'vette parts, and that's weight off the nose of the car. This is probably one of the lighter street driven LS swaps. It's 2400#. So it only gained about 130# net. F/R is 52/48 (IIRC, stock is 51/49, and turbo setups run 55/45 ... all the extra weight is in the nose)
LOL. There are at least a few Exocet kit cars (1700 or 1800 lbs with Miata suspension and running gear) running around with LS motors in them. But I think those are track toys, not street driven.
Glad to see you paid close attention to the weight, I've seen a lot of engine swaps on light cars where none was paid and it ruined the handling. Which really is the point of a Miata. Always felt mine was built to handle a few more ponies. Was almost always full throttle wherever I went.
Fun project! Miata's are awesome until you make more power and realize you need a longer wheelbase plus way more Tire on the car.... then you do an FD RX-7 2800lbs with 315 front/335rear LS swapped! 50/50 weight balance full tank of gas street car complete interior.
I had a fully setup road race FD with 335's at all corners,438ci LS7, totally gutted, GSR 4spd dog box, 8.8" IRS rear and 8 gallons of gas that was 2470lbs with 49/51 weight bias! It ripped.
Fun project! Miata's are awesome until you make more power and realize you need a longer wheelbase plus way more Tire on the car.... then you do an FD RX-7 2800lbs with 315 front/335rear LS swapped! 50/50 weight balance full tank of gas street car complete interior.
I had a fully setup road race FD with 335's at all corners,438ci LS7, totally gutted, GSR 4spd dog box, 8.8" IRS rear and 8 gallons of gas that was 2470lbs with 49/51 weight bias! It ripped.
I think FD conversions are cool, but a) I'm a convertible guy and b) I wanted a modern day Cobra (not a Cobra Daytona). The short wheelbase keeps me alert. :-)
Fired mine up Sat. Lots of valvetrain noise.
Turned out the rockers were hitting the LS3 valve covers where the bosses for the LS3 coils mount.
I used to have LS1 covers.
Fixed that, problem solved. Teething problems.
Since you are running the same rockers, but 1.8’s something to watch for.
Tony set me up with thicker gaskets, so I think I won't run into this.
I was just down in California for the last 5 days helping out my Dad (he's 89, I'm 61) . Drove back up I5 (through Portland!) today. I expect to fire this thing in the next week. Fingers crossed. :-)
Tony set me up with thicker gaskets, so I think I won't run into this.
I was just down in California for the last 5 days helping out my Dad (he's 89, I'm 61) . Drove back up I5 (through Portland!) today. I expect to fire this thing in the next week. Fingers crossed. :-)
Good deal. My dad also lives in CA, Palm Springs, he is 95.
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2800lbs with 315 front/335rear LS swapped! 50/50 weight balance full tank of gas street car complete interior.
