I'm OFF!

Do you think that putting a Viper motor "into" a Miata would not cost a large quantity of money? It might not happen all at once, but by the time you're done, you'd have spent it.

Dana

My valve cover gasket was leaking for awhile, I took the opportunity to remove and polish it before replacing the gasket. It was dripping right down on top of the heat shield. And don't let anyone fool you that cam angle sensor O-ring is only easy if you DO IT RIGHT! Ya, if you get in a hurry and think it's going to be a breeze, you could end up like I did, making approx a million attempts to align the 'propeller' thing-a-ma-jobby with the slot for it.

Oh well.... Chris

"Dana H. Myers" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Nope, it's free because I only plan on thinking about it. In between thinking about sex, of course....

"Chris D'Agnolo" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

I have two oil leaks apparently. The valve cover gasket and cam angle sensor are dry and oil tight, it seems that oil is coming from the camshaft seals and I also have a small drip from the right side of the steering rack.

I suspect the camshaft seals because looking up from under the car (with the plastic underpan thingy removed) the crankshaft seal appears dry and oil is coming from higher up, it mostly seems to be coming from behind the water pump pulley and that almost has to be camshaft seals doesn't it?

Anyway, it's now down at Mike's Place* and I'm waiting for a call. I was right it's going to be VERY expensive if it requires replacing the power steering rack and doing a complete timing belt, crank seal, camshaft seals, water pump job.

And I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it will require.

So now I'm headed for ebay to see if I can auction off a kidney or something.... :-(

XS11E wrote in news:Xns962171802AE85xs11eyahoocom@68.6.19.6:

OK, I got the car back today.

First, I gotta say Mike's Place is an absolute gem! I arrived Tuesday AM just before 7:30 am and Kurt (he and Mike are the mechanics) wrote up the work order. Mike's wife and office lady Ann (could it be Anne?) drove me home and called later in the day to tell me the oil leak was the crank seal but they would replace the cam seals as well. The accessory belts, timing belt and water pump were new as the guy who sold me the car had told me so the bill would be less than the original estimate. She said the car would be done at 5pm today, Wednesday.

This morning Mike called, the seals were replaced and the power steering rack was NOT leaking but the boots were bad and the oil I saw was from the crank pulley throwing it all over. I asked him to replace the boots, why not spend the entire family fortune while it was there? I can stand to go a month or two w/o eating...

A bit later Mike called and said he didn't have the boots (bellows, I think they're called?) but he had one and the other would be there in a couple of days. He suggested I pick up the car and bring it back next week to have the work done so he picked me up around noon.

The bill was $300.78 with a Senior Citizen discount (Well, there has to be SOMETHING good about getting old, right?) and the car doesn't leak. All the missing screws I'd notice previously have been replaced, the entire area around the crank is clean and I'm a very happy Miata owner!

The cam seals, crank seal and valve cover gasket were $50.05, labor was $262.00 and the Old Fart discount was 5% or $15.83 for a total of

I'm happy to recommend Mike's Place to anyone in the Phoenix, AZ area!

Hey there Iva, well I am looking forward to Pocono -- if the roll bar gets done... and I should probably get new tires.

Although, the it might be fun to scrub off the old Brand X tires that are on there now.

;-)

Lucky for me, I wasn't in a hurry. But it took me way longer that 10 minutes to do it, mainly because I didn't realise that I had it lined up correctly SEVERAL times, just that it wouldn't seat itself because the new O-ring needs to be twisted into place after you've gotten that propeller thing in the slot.

IIRC, a rollbar is not a requirement for Pocono. I saw some cars there last year that did not have one installed. Good, sticky tires are a definite plus though. I know I scrubbed mine pretty good last year.

Right now I just want to get the darned snow tires off!!! Everytime I have it scheduled, it snows again.

Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata

That reminds me of this now-famous picture of four Vipers following a miata in a race. The miata in the picture looks much better than the Vipers, imho, cost far less even with upgrades, and has the top down, not to mention being out in front. Best of all, the miata is not named after a venomous snake. :-)

pws wrote in news:fZX0e.30898$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.texas.rr.com:

Now you've done it! You've insulted Fred, my pet mamba. He can probably out run you so maybe if you hold really still? ;-)

I'll pass on the mamba bite from Fred, but actually, a "Mamba Miata" or "Mamba MX-5" from a custom shop sounds kind of cool as a name, imho, though "Dodge Viper" makes both a decent name and a wise course of action. :-)

pat

Hell yes Pat...very good advice indeed!...:)