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Do like this build, alot! My 106 Rallye had CBR600 ITB's and it had 3D printed intake manifold made out of heat resistant PLA plastic, been in use for 2 years and are still going strong. Just so that if you'r wondering, there is 3D option aswel. ITB's them selfs were some where or region or 60€.  |
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Last Edit: Jul 21, 2020 11:19:39 GMT by samulis
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Sept 15, 2020 8:12:48 GMT
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How time flies... we are due an update. The gearbox is now back together, although not without a fight. I was having a problem where everything would turn over beautifully and function fine until I fitting the front cover. With that on it the layshaft would develop a tight spot and sometimes lock up entirely. I lost over a week trying to work out what on earth was going on there before eventually calling in the pros who found a small burr on the nose of the layshaft itself.  Fighty B*stard is not impressed with the lack of straight cut gears This was stopping it from sliding easily into the front of the box for the last few thou and was holding the front cover off. Even lightly tightening the cover was enough to distort the case fractionally so the end float on the layshaft gears was lost and the box went tight! That was a fun one! Still, all's well that ends well on that front. With that back together I made up a new mount for the CPS, and fitted a new sensor as well while I was at it before bolting the gearbox back on and refitting the engine.     All under the watchful gaze of Workshop Dog While I had been working on the gearbox drdantastic kindly put the Facebook Marketplace inlet manifold up on his mill and skimmed the pipes to get them level.   Before  After This meant I could get rid of the silicon hoses and fit original type mounts with the 'gripping' rounded bead groove detail to properly grip the carbs. It wasn't possible to add a corresponding groove into the manifolds so I just bored the manifold side of the rubber mounts out to match the manifold on the Myford.  Groove detail  Less shonk The bent studding was also swapped out for a clevis joint  De-shonk continues Finally the radiator lightly modified to suit an electric fan. I know that this goes against my ethos of not modifying the original car but I justified it by telling myself it is a sensible change to make regardless of whether there is a Nissan engine or original A-Series under the bonnet. 30 seconds with a grinder thru the plug welds and it would be back to stock regardless.    That must make it ready to fire up? James |
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Last Edit: Sept 15, 2020 10:54:28 GMT by metroman
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Sept 15, 2020 8:37:58 GMT
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That must make it ready to fire up? Urm, no, not really. What followed was several weeks of frustration with the misfire still very present, quite intermittent and impervious to everything I tried to fix it. Crank sensor gap was adjusted, the plug replaced, the sensor replaced and the ECU power feed changed countless times. A new coil was fitted and the HT leads swapped out, new plugs went in and I gave up. The NODIZ went back to an equally confused Motorsport Electronics for testing which revealed nothing. In case anyone else finds themselves in this position the symptoms were: Good, smooth running for about 30 seconds before a miss and then more smooth running. No sync loss recorded on the laptop but the laptop lost connection with the ECU every time the miss occurred. At one point I thought I had fixed it because it ran really well for about 20 minutes while I balanced the carbs, then barely ran at all an hour later when I went to put the car away. Maddening. The cause turned out to be EMF. The loom from the alternator was quite close to the CPS wire (shielded) for a short stretch. Moving that fixed it. So I took it for a little drive. |
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Sept 15, 2020 23:05:45 GMT
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The little drive was fantastic for the motivation on the project. It has been a serious battle at times to get this far. However, it did reveal the requirement for a touch more work on the setup! AFR was a good 12 - 13 cruising and lightly accelerating to 1800rpm. After that, lean out and no more revs. Based on the chart below, and that I had already fitted much larger pilots, I figured that the needles were probably at fault.  Removing the dashpots revealed some very odd looking needles with two distinct diameters and a 45 degree step between them. These are not factory fitment and had 5 height grooves. Moving from the highest (leanest) to lowest (richest) helped but not greatly with very un-progressiveness mixture control. These were swapped for a set of adjustable tapered needles from DanST  DanST left, old 'stepped' needle right What a difference those made! An afternoon of adjustment with the help of a friend and the car was running fantastically. The mains ended up being drilled out to 1,8mm giving 13:1 across the range.  Test driving sadly revealed why nobody fits side pipes to Midgets - ground clearance was just hopeless. So goodbye Corona Cannon, hello Maniflow 1 5/8" single box system from Midget Magic. By pure miracle it fitted my cobbled together manifold just fine.  Old  New  Much better! I am very happy with the Maniflow. I was wary after having fitment trouble with the Metro but this system went on perfectly and sounds lovely. Much more refined than the DIY job but still with a nice tone and a bit of noise on overrun. Here is another quick video of a test run on some of the lanes. And some shots of how the car looks now    The front bumper is off as it was quite bent. I am not sure it will go back on again in a hurry tho... It even managed the 65 mile commute on Monday with only a few little issues to sort over the next few evenings. A session on the rolling road is booked for Monday... Thanks for looking James |
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Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 21:50:08 GMT by metroman
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Sept 15, 2020 23:12:47 GMT
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Definitely sounds a happy little motor now!  |
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Sept 16, 2020 7:22:17 GMT
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That sounds fun. Nice swap.
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 226
Club RR Member Number: 106
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Sept 16, 2020 9:38:15 GMT
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Sounds great! What an awesome swap |
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Sept 16, 2020 15:48:33 GMT
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Very nice. Looks to have just enough power (ie just a little too much for the chassis and suspension to handle). That's gotta be fun to blat about in.
By BL logic, you now own a Sprite Sprint.
Phil
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Sept 23, 2020 11:44:39 GMT
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Thanks guys! PhilA - you sum it up pretty well, it is perfectly useable with just enough power to be a little bit scary when booted! The important part for me is that the feel of the original car is very much intact, it is still very light (well, more so than before) and nimble with plenty of input needed from the driver. On the commute on Monday I had a bit of bother with the alternator belt squeaking. On inspection there was an irritating oil leak from what I think was the cover on the front of the head.  So I pulled it off, cleaned up the area and resealed everything. There is a chance it is also leaking from the crank seal but that is a bit more involved to replace so will stay as-is for now.  I also found the MX5 idler bearing was completely shot. It felt fine when fitted but was pre-enjoyed. A new one went on along with a temporary expansion tank and air filters. I fitted the tank as I was seeing the coolant dropping a little after a run but with no sign of leaks.   The filters are just cheap DCOE ones but should do the job for now. I plan to make up a proper airbox with cold air feed eventually. I took the car to work again on Thursday and all seemed well. No coolant loss, good AFRs across the range and coolant temperatures looking happy. The acceleration out of roundabouts is really good fun! Saturday was spent tidying up a few bits and pieces, refitting the grille, spanner checking and wiring in the Mikuni TPS to the NODIZ. This was straight forward with just 3 wires to the pre-made loom and a calibration check. I then went to start it and nothing. No spark. Nothing registered on the laptop. Dead. Several hours of checking followed, TPS was disconnected, all wires checked, AC signal from the CPS checked at the pins on the ECU, everything I could think of. The NODIZ has gone back and a DTA S40i is on its way as a replacement. I won't be using Motorsport Electronics again. While waiting for the new ECU to arrive I thought I would have a look at refurbishing the dampers with the kit from a club member.      Judging by the 'oil' that came out that was well overdue! Thankfully there seems to be very little play in the bearing so I think it will be good with new oil in. I gave it a good flush with some brake cleaner, then thin oil, then the damper oil from the kit. Unfortunately the gaskets supplied are for the later type dampers, mine has very early ones normally only found on frogeyes. Damn.  Fingers crossed the new gaskets and ECU arrive soon so I can re-book the rolling road. James |
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Last Edit: Sept 23, 2020 11:45:52 GMT by metroman
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Oct 17, 2020 14:29:09 GMT
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Looking forward to the next update on this build, James.
Really good progress being made; well done!
Binnman
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Oct 18, 2020 10:58:33 GMT
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Since my last post there have been a few developments. I did receive the correct damper gaskets and got them back on the car. Interestingly, despite being a relatively late Mk1 Midget the rear dampers are from an early Frogeye and are quite rare. Next on the snaglist was the radiator which had a slight weep  Drip  Soldered and sorted The DTA then turned up and I spent a few evenings plumbing it in. It was a real joy to install with a proper Amp connector. The software is also lightyears ahead of the NODIZ with helpful features like the ability to update a map offline (gets whats yous pays fors). As I was there (and having had to drop a fair bit of cash) I figured I may as well wire in some of the additional functionality so wired in the coolant temp sender so the ECU can control the electric fan. I was a bit gutted to find the original flasher relay died so installed one of these chaps: www.classiccarleds.co.uk/collections/indicator-relays-electronic/products/12v-electronic-indicator-flasher-relay-classic-car-with-oe-click-x-l-p-2-3-pin A straight swap with the bonus that the indicator warning light now doubles up as a shift light and ECU warning light! I just piggybacked from the indicator switch to the ECU which earths the connection. With that all sorted I went to fire up on the DTA. I just copied the same 2D advance curve (15* idle) and trigger offset (115* BTDC) I had previously run with the NODIZ so expected it to just work. Interestingly this was not the case... instead I got lots of coughing through the carb indicating a lot of advance. I dropped the timing to 0* BTDC and it started and ran, but not that happily. Dropping the trigger offset improved matters and at 80* it was running well enough to get the timing light on. Set to 2 stroke / wasted spark I ended up at 60* BTDC and an engine running very happily indeed - and me feeling a bit confused. I then proceeded to put several hundred miles on the car with only minor issues that come from putting a 60 year old machine into regular service for the first time in decades. I even cleaned it!  Time for a cheeky pint after having far to much fun driving over the south downs   The only negative really is that I had been really pushing to drive the car to the Mille Miglia with some friends next week involving some epic routes over the alps but given the current situation I have had to cancel. So with the weather closing in, evenings getting short and a week off work I have decided to start on the next phase of development - a 5 speed gearbox swap. Hopefully more will follow very soon. James |
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Oct 18, 2020 12:46:11 GMT
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Thanks for the updates - and Well Done!
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Oct 18, 2020 17:46:35 GMT
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Are there any boxes which bolt up to the micra engine or is it case of adapting something lime an mx5? (I'm trying to fit one in a minor, the midget should be easier as there's a bit more room around the clutch housing)
I did find a drawing of the mx5 bolt pattern if you need it too.
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Oct 18, 2020 18:46:09 GMT
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Are there any boxes which bolt up to the micra engine or is it case of adapting something lime an mx5? (I'm trying to fit one in a minor, the midget should be easier as there's a bit more room around the clutch housing) I did find a drawing of the mx5 bolt pattern if you need it too. I'm thinking a Suzuki Jeep box might be a good bet. It's very compact, not much bigger than the Midget unit. |
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1953 Minor (Long term project)
PT Cruiser
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Oct 18, 2020 19:11:59 GMT
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Suzuki box like this maybe..?  |
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Oct 18, 2020 19:22:12 GMT
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Are there any boxes which bolt up to the micra engine or is it case of adapting something lime an mx5? (I'm trying to fit one in a minor, the midget should be easier as there's a bit more room around the clutch housing) I did find a drawing of the mx5 bolt pattern if you need it too. The CG was, at least in my opinion, pretty underused. Other tha Micras it only saw service in the cube and some forklifts so there are no off the shelf rwd gearbox options. |
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pptom
Part of things
Posts: 475 
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Oct 18, 2020 19:30:29 GMT
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I'm using an Sj413 box in my midget, albeit with a Suzuki engine so bolts right up, cost me a whopping £10, but they are getting very thin on the ground. Lots of Jimny boxes about though and lots of jimnys being broken.
Fitting wise, mine is similar to what I've read about the ford boxes, trans tunnel crossmember needs to come out with a brace / gearbox mount in its place, good clearance in the tunnnel. The gearstick even comes out the original hole. Not driven it yet, but with a shortened stick it selects gears lovely. Cable clutch so that's easy, think Jimnys are hydraulic?
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Oct 18, 2020 19:49:56 GMT
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I've enjoyed the story and results look excellent. We've started work on putting a Jimny engine and box in a Triumph Spitfire. Doing engine mounts and stuff on a spare chassis at this point. Gearbox wise, we have the non-VVT Jimny stuff so it does have an overdrive 5th - but it's not a very tall ratio (0.86 IIRC). Looks like the 0.79 gears from an SJ 410/413 can be swapped in though. Beware that the gearboxes from the later VVT equipped Jimnys have a 1:1 5th - which rather defeats the object! My other current project is modifying a Mk1 MX5 gearbox to fit in a Triumph GT6 (I hope). This is hard because the bellhousing is too small for the flywheel so there has been some fairly serious engineering at the front end to get a Triumph bell housing on there. This is now sorted. The other big issue for me, which may also be a problem for you, is the overall length of the gearbox (considerable!) and the fact that the gearstick is right at the back. In the Triumph context this means a gearstick which is 10" back from the standard one - or towards the back end of the handbrake lever...... ON the Mk1 MX5 (NA) box it's really easy to move the shift position forward 104mm, somewhat harder to achieve around 120mm. 240mm is a complete mission - but I hope to prove it's possible! Note that on anything other than the Mk1 (NA box), moving the shift anywhere will be extremely hard as the mech is very much integral to the rear housing. Will be interested to see what you come up with Nick  |
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Last Edit: Oct 18, 2020 19:53:52 GMT by vitesseefi
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend)
1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing)
1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Oct 18, 2020 20:01:37 GMT
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pptom - that is interesting to know that something similar has been done. Did you have a custom propshaft made? Ref the fitment, if anything needs cutting to get this in then I will abandon it and try something else. The aim of this project is to have a totally reversible conversion. The Jimnys stayed with a cable clutch but I will adapt my concentric conversion and use that rather than rework the pedal box. I will follow with a proper update when some proper progress has been made. At this stage is it still early days of sketches, measuring and planning. Until then, some teasers:  Gearbox with original mount and shift linkage fitted. This will all be going as there is no way it will fit  The remote housing has a slight design flaw - it is not sealed! Not good for an offroader...  The grot hasn't done a lot of damage. The high ratio on the shifter is interesting to note. This is to give a sensible throw with what is quite a long stick.  Oil looks healthy  Some debris on the magnetic bung but no large lumps. This is just an eBay box for mocking up so if it turns out to be wrecked I am not going to be heartbroken.  New meet old. James
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Oct 18, 2020 20:17:20 GMT
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I've enjoyed the story and results look excellent. We've started work on putting a Jimny engine and box in a Triumph Spitfire. Doing engine mounts and stuff on a spare chassis at this point. Gearbox wise, we have the non-VVT Jimny stuff so it does have an overdrive 5th - but it's not a very tall ratio (0.86 IIRC). Looks like the 0.79 gears from an SJ 410/413 can be swapped in though. Beware that the gearboxes from the later VVT equipped Jimnys have a 1:1 5th - which rather defeats the object! My other current project is modifying a Mk1 MX5 gearbox to fit in a Triumph GT6 (I hope). This is hard because the bellhousing is too small for the flywheel so there has been some fairly serious engineering at the front end to get a Triumph bell housing on there. This is now sorted. The other big issue for me, which may also be a problem for you, is the overall length of the gearbox (considerable!) and the fact that the gearstick is right at the back. In the Triumph context this means a gearstick which is 10" back from the standard one - or towards the back end of the handbrake lever...... ON the Mk1 MX5 (NA) box it's really easy to move the shift position forward 104mm, somewhat harder to achieve around 120mm. 240mm is a complete mission - but I hope to prove it's possible! Note that on anything other than the Mk1 (NA box), moving the shift anywhere will be extremely hard as the mech is very much integral to the rear housing. Will be interested to see what you come up with Nick That's a nice looking conversion there Nick. I did look at MX5 boxes but there is no way they will fit without cutting a lot of car away on a Midget. The box I have is a 0.86 top gear as you say, not a huge overdrive but enough to be very helpful. The current gearbox with the 4.2:1 FD (standard to 948 and 1098 cars) is really fun on twisties but was less than ideal for touring even with the 948  Common practice is to fit a 3.7:1 FD from a late 1500. These are not cheap and, as I found, are mostly completely shagged. They do give a fairly sensible drop in RPM for cruising.  However, the Jimny box will match the 3.7:1 with the 4.2:1  Fit a far more common 3.9:1 diff and you have some effective touring ratios without compromising anything low down (although I suspect the CG13 would have been more than a match for a 3.7:1 - 1st gear is not very useful with the 145 section tyres)  James |
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