Panther Lima Restomod

[mezy]

Another good day yesterday. Warming up here a bit now 17 degrees.
Wiring loom going in and there's a lot of. Heater box and blower motor. Fuse box and relays bolted in. Fuel lines from tank to engine bay. Battery cable from boot to engine bay

 

[mezy]

After the gearstick relocation mod the engine was cleaned with some aluminium acid and it almost slipped back in the tub, truth be told, im hopping thats the last time,
fits like it belongs there, steering column fitted in ready for the rack, front suspension subframe all stripped cleaned up and refitted.
engine is now all connected up and turns on the key.

Now im just cleaning and derusting all the suspension parts and rear axle, have ordered shimms for the diff from Martin Robey, pluss some new bushes and diff gasket and rear wheel bearings.
Am liking this electrolosis bath for shifting rust, takes a while but works realy well

 

[waltesefalcon]

That's great looking work, it looks right at home in the engine bay.
Can you reach the oil filter from the bottom? It doesn't look like you have much clearance from the top.

 

[mezy]

That's great looking work, it looks right at home in the engine bay.
Can you reach the oil filter from the bottom? It doesn't look like you have much clearance from the top.

There is faff all room to get down the drivers (right) side, needed to unbolt the fuse box to fit the starter wires, but access is much better from underneath so future servicing should not be a problem, new cambelt and water pump will be fitted before the rad goes in.

 

[mctriumph]

Mezy I love the beast !! You and I are from the same cloth.We never did the SU conversion on the 1.8L that we used in later
years. Wussed out and kept the PI. In the last build of the 1.8 motor we took the bore to 85mm and decked the block .010
This was a torque monster with great HP.
The 1.6 motor with the SU's made great numbers on the dyno ,124 HP at the wheel on a bone stock junkyard engine.
To build the manifold we had flanges jet cut from patterns (gaskets) and got some suitable tubing and did the splitters
before welding on the carb plates .The 1.8 could be so modified too.
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

Mezy I love the beast !! You and I are from the same cloth.We never did the SU conversion on the 1.8L that we used in later
years. Wussed out and kept the PI. In the last build of the 1.8 motor we took the bore to 85mm and decked the block .010
This was a torque monster with great HP.
The 1.6 motor with the SU's made great numbers on the dyno ,124 HP at the wheel on a bone stock junkyard engine.
To build the manifold we had flanges jet cut from patterns (gaskets) and got some suitable tubing and did the splitters
before welding on the carb plates .The 1.8 could be so modified too.
Mad do

Some here in the Uk do a motor bike carb conversion with four carbs, saves a little room and makes them go like $hit of a stick.

 

[mctriumph]

Mezy, dont forget that under the exhaust heat shield is a pretty nice looking header,.....Jet coat?? after cleanup of course.
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

Finnished making the exhaust over the past four days, finished makeing and fitting all the brake pipes,
Fitted the fuel tank, put some fuel in there, she cranked over but not starting, spent most of yesterday faffing around
checking connections, pulled the plugs and was getting a single spark then nothing, turn off turn on, crank it over,
another single spark then nothing.
pulled the connector on the camshaft sensor, something didnt look right, i could not get a socket on the retaining bolt,
remove bolt with a spanner and pulled the sensor, it is all plastic and the bolt lug was bent about 15 degrees,
warmed it with a heat gun and it went back into shape, refitted and we have a spark, fitted the plugs and coils, turned the key,
first on up she fires sounds great out of my home grown exhaust, but idling a bit high at 2000 RPM. but i know the are vacuumpipes need blanking off on the inlet,

 

[mctriumph]

"Excellent Smithers !" I did not mention it, but in cleaning up the cam cover, it is good to fill unwanted
depressions with metal bonding epoxy.This withstands 300 deg F (easily less than you will ever have.) once painted
decals can be applied for fun to confuse the onlookers. This says Morgan 1.6L
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

"Excellent Smithers !" I did not mention it, but in cleaning up the cam cover, it is good to fill unwanted
depressions with metal bonding epoxy.This withstands 300 deg F (easily less than you will ever have.) once painted
decals can be applied for fun to confuse the onlookers. This says Morgan 1.6L
Mad dog

That is exactly the sort of thing i want to do, to get rid of the Mazda impressions and put Panther on the one side, and the cat on the other, the top will be comming off soon for a new cam belt and water pump, will be a good time to have a play before it goes back on

 

[mctriumph]

The 3M # on metal bonding epoxy is 8115.Takes a special dispenser, but you can fake it ,just mix 2/1 . It bonds
to clean metal for as long as the part is kept under 400 deg F. One can only pray the cam covers are NEVER heated
to this extreme.
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

I have the gun to put the 50ml tubes in and spare nozles, when the time comes i will get some

 

[mctriumph]

Mezy ,just noticed the live axels in the background, Ever think of the Mx5 rear sus?? I have some pics somewhere
but the Tr7 race car got the complete cradle assy from the donor car. With the disc brakes and coilovers, the car was transformed.
The issue was that the Mx5 wanted a 411 gearset and there was nothing for the 7/8 rear end. Lots of Mazda stuff out there.
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

Mezy ,just noticed the live axels in the background, Ever think of the Mx5 rear sus?? I have some pics somewhere
but the Tr7 race car got the complete cradle assy from the donor car. With the disc brakes and coilovers, the car was transformed.
The issue was that the Mx5 wanted a 411 gearset and there was nothing for the 7/8 rear end. Lots of Mazda stuff out there.
Mad dog

Hi mad dog. It was considered to drop it on top of the whole Mazda assembly, I had the whole car but width is an issue with the Lima the Mazda is quite a bit wider. The Lima seats were made for it at under 16 inches wide I had to keep the tunnel as narrow as possible. Having the mx5 gearbox allowed me to narrow it up front to give more room for my big feet. Getting in and out will be the issue. May need a quick release steering wheel hub

 

[mctriumph]

Too wide? how much? For a man with your mad welding skills taking a section out of the cradle would mean little
mornings coffee(tea?). The half shafts have a fair amount of play might not need to be sectioned......
On the race car, once we had all the liveaxel bits out, we had considered making up cradle mounts to attach it as OE.
In the end it was just better to weld it permanently into the frame/monocoque. Made the beast stiffer. Coil-over cans
were made up to fit where the OE shocks had been. it was done in a day.
Picture from Hallette, OK, full throttle 2018

 

[mezy]

Too wide? how much? For a man with your mad welding skills taking a section out of the cradle would mean little
mornings coffee(tea?). The half shafts have a fair amount of play might not need to be sectioned......
On the race car, once we had all the liveaxel bits out, we had considered making up cradle mounts to attach it as OE.
In the end it was just better to weld it permanently into the frame/monocoque. Made the beast stiffer. Coil-over cans
were made up to fit where the OE shocks had been. it was done in a day.
Picture from Hallette, OK, full throttle 2018

The MX5 I bought had been totaled in the N/S Rear quarter took all the subframe driveshaft and suspension leg. The other downer was I couldn't fit the original wheels. but thanks for the compliment

 

[mezy]

Fitted new cam belt yesterday not before time by the amount of slack in it

Had been rubbing the underside of the cam cover

Today adjusted peddle heights. Tidied some wiring. Fitted the top deck back of engine bay. Fitted the rad. Then dropped the body back on for the last time. I hope.

 

[mctriumph]

The Miata wants tensioners and a water pump too when serviced. Its all cheap and a great Oz of prevention.
Mad dog

 

[mezy]

The Miata wants tensioners and a water pump too when serviced. Its all cheap and a great Oz of prevention.
Mad dog

Agreed mad dog, got the whole kit Gates belt included. plus new alternator belt, no point putting the original one back on.
all that was cheaper than self adjusters for the rear barkes,

 

[mctriumph]

mezy , I hate this rear brake setup.When we ran the live axel on the "Rat Patrol" it was ever the big problem.
Finished up the last 4 hours of a race only by blocking off the rear brake line at the master. Which cut over a second a lap off everyone;s
lap times, (oddly enough braking makes things slower.) But it was terrifying, the front brakes were hardly up to the job in the
beginning, and were so badly warped in the first hour that hitting the brakes almost shook out your fillings!
We went to disc brakes in the rear. Not a hard thing to do Miata rear disc fit nicely re-used the tr7 front calipers after fitting Tr8
units up front. On a street car , the Miata rears could well have been fitted and saved the E brake Mazda used.....
Mad dog