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It’s been a while…

My apologies for taking so long since the last post..a lot has happened but almost nothing automotive! After having a son most of my time has shifted to family time with occasional hours looking at my project. The sad reality is that swapping the LTG into the chassis would be more work than I expect to have time for right now. As a result I have decided to sell the ecotec. I would love to put it in an car that needs less work but time and space is the limiting factor.

I would love to sell it all as a single package.

That would include:

Engine

6 speed manual transmission

Alternator

Starter motor

Turbocharger

Custom stand alone ecu harness

Flashed ecu

And the fuel pump assembly. If interested shoot me a message!

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The “Ecu” wheels appear to be coming offf…

I placed an order in early May for a pcm wiring harness and flashed pcm. The company was Swap Specialties and Performance. ( http://swapspecialties.com ) Initially they told me 4 weeks turn around. As of this day it’s been roughly 13 weeks  and they don’t answer their phone consistently (4 times in probably 40 calls) and when they have they told me “it’s being buttoned up and will go out Thursday”- but nothing has ever appeared. Then the story changed to “that person doesn’t work here anymore” but the line about it shipping on Thursday continues.

I finally filed a paypal case against them and not surprisingly they did not even reply to that. Thankfully Paypal was able to recover my money. ($730+). Their conduct was very poor and the multiple lies were not appreciated!

If nothing else I hope my frustration saves someone else the hassle. I will admit I don’t know what I will do next- this is a big setback.

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Few new pipes

The turbo finally made its way to its permanent home.  I removed the manifold to check for obstructions. All clear!

 

There is a ton of potential in good manifold. One day I might put it on a mill and clean up the ports to their potential.

Some of the pipes needed arrived. The GM packaging is by far some of the best!

All ready to go now. Just need a few more nuts for the turbo to manifold

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Flywheel pilot bearing hell!

My personal opinion is that Fidanza shouldn’t be allowed to sell parts with sick half assed support . To get a party they recommended I would have to go to Europe or China but online the part is harder to find than a uniform.

I bought a piece of bronze on what and stayed to machine my own. The dimensions were simple. 16mmID 28mmOD and 26mm in length. It took about an hour to make.

Overall it will get the job done and be fine. That said I am no where near the phase of recommending a fidanza product. Especially after the need for custom bolts!

http://www.exportedafrican.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/img_8470.mov

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In the beginning…

Once I decided I would start this project I realized I would need a donor. The North American favorite is the Mazda Miata because of the rear wheel drive configuration.

Talking to John Holt at HoltWheels and he mentioned he had this 94 with rear end damage. After discussing the terms we came to an agreement and he even delivered it.

What I landed on was a 94 Miata M with an open rear diff.

Driveline Donor.. in 2005

Reason it was a donor..

Build Table was needed and we used a piece of 1/4″ plate. It was “Flat enough” even though I see a good number of new builds with NASA level of engineering on their table.  I bought an abrasive saw- I wouldn’t recommend it. New carbide saws or band saws are leaps ahead.

Initial Build Table.. 1/4″ steel Plate
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First Post- Why I created this page..

One of the most frustrating things I have encountered lately is a fortune of great posts being ruined by images no longer being available because of hosting changes.  I told myself that I wanted to own all the pieces for future preservation!

I previously had a web server and it required a good bit of rework… rather than doing all that hard labor I just created this site!

About 13 years ago I started on the car you see below. There should be a good number of historic pages added to discuss the build and modifications.