threads
Page 6 of 7
Mazda Projects \  '90 B2200, 347 Trubo Stroker, Engine Swap

'90 B2200, 347 Trubo Stroker, Engine Swap

Mazda Projects
views 18107
replies 64
following 10
 
347 stroker   +1y
more photos
post photo
post photo
347 stroker   +1y
So I had to replace the two blue ignition boxes because they were not compatible to the ecu... wound up buying two new compatible boxes... stayed with crane cams because these particular ones are rated @ 1,2000mj - just like the blue NASCAR series they are replacing. vs comparably priced MSDs are around 145 - 250 mj... big difference.

But the new ignition boxes are longer and taller and did not fit in same location so I had to ditch the diamond plate and find and new home for them. They are still not wired up, but soon... Have been working on other details, still have do figure out dipstick for both engine and tranny. Also have to come up with a functioning tranny shifter setup, and route the tranny cooling lines to radiator. Modify alternator mounting bracket for better support... and a host of other little but time consuming stuff.

Still... little by little I'm double and triple checking the systems as I begin to close them up good. Slow progress, but progress none the less.
post photo
post photo
post photo
Post was last edited on Feb 06, 2016 04:02. This post has been edited 1 times.
347 stroker   +1y
So I had a bit of a dilemma with the ignition box wiring because if I cut any of the wiring connectors, or if I cut the power supply wires shorter than 6" it would void the warranty... I don't want to do that... so I i did the best I could with the wiring while still trying to keep it looking half way decent. I did have to fetch all around town for 1" wire loom but just as I was giving up I found some @ O'Reilly's.

I also had to tackle modifying and routing the distributor harness in order to wire the boxes up... All the wiring is complete for except for some ground terminations 3@fuse box, 3@distributor harness after the dist. is installed for good... it's just serving as a place holder for now... since this particular one is a bit difficult to install and it requires the ecu to be powered on, which requires the wiring to be completed. I'll install it soon but that's the very last thing I will do before cranking it up.

I have closed up and finalized the intake pipping and bov boost ref. line. Now all I have left besides the few wiring terminations is the alternator bracket modification (soon to come), and the same stuff mentioned in the prior post... but today I went searching for parts and options, and i think I've figured out what to do about the tranny dipstick. So im headed to the garage now to work on and hopefully complete the tranny & engine dipstick setups, as well as the tranny oil cooling lines.

But that's it, ones those few things are done, it's a matter of timing dist, bolting down a few things, inspecting all the systems and connections and firing her up, and dealing with whatever little issue show up then.

Hopefully by the end of this month, next for sure she should be running.
post photo
post photo
post photo
Post was last edited on Feb 10, 2016 09:02. This post has been edited 2 times.
347 stroker   +1y
Quick update... found an engine dipstick that would fit with some tweeking, no biggy.

Had to get creative with the tranny dipstick. I cut the original tube in sections and used the lower and upper sections with a flex hose wrapped in DEI heat shield tape that I had left over since it runs some what close to the exhaust pipe on a section.. and I wound up making me a custom flex tube.

The dipstick is made out of 1/8" wire rope cut to the proper new length and attached to the original dipstick handle... and will soon be calibrated to indicate proper oil levels. Have to make me a small mold and melt some lead into the tip are to serve as a level indicator and ease insertion... but it works great so far.
post photo
post photo
post photo
Post was last edited on Feb 13, 2016 01:02. This post has been edited 2 times.
347 stroker   +1y
So I've been putting lots of hours over the last few days... alternator support bracket done, hard line tranny oil cooler lines to radiator done, fuel system bleed and closed, throttle cable calibrated, modified e-brake cable to make it functional again since I had removed the pass. side cable and brackets for tranny install, and a hole list of other little items to get it ready for start-up.

My brake system was empty... one of the wheel cylinders had leaked out, which I knew I had to address. So among other things today I installed new rear brakes shoes, new hardware, new adjusters, and new wheel cylinders. Started bleeding the system and the master cylinder was bad... wound up having to buy a new master cylinder as well. So I've bled the brake system and flushed all the old fluid w/ new one. and front brake pads have a good 70-80% left on them. So my brakes are good to go.

Had some problems w/ my distributor, and after some diagnosing found out my harness needed some tweeking, plus the cam pickup inside the distributor is shot... which means I won't be able to do sequential injection. But i can still run batch fueling or bank fueling w/o a cam signal so that's what I'll do for now. the ignition side of things works based on crank signal anyways and that's good.

So after many hours today I have basically done everything that needs to be done to get the engine running. WP tested ok, Fans tested ok. Filled cooling system and pressurized fuel system... had a fuel leak but took care of that. I almost could crank the engine today, but I'm not rushing it.

Just need to set all the parameters on my computer, which I'll be doing tomorrow after work and upload them to the ECU, and the engine will be ready to start after I calibrate the TPS and a few other things.

Still need to calibrate tranny dipstick for proper fluid capacity once I run engine, and still need to come up with a shifter linkage setup so that I can actually drive the thing... But if it all goes well with the programing side of things, tomorrow I should be cranking the engine and checking for leaks, and dealing w/ whatever decides to come up.
post photo
post photo
post photo
mymmeryloss   +1y
This thing looks great!
347 stroker   +1y
Thanks mymmeryloss!.... I've added some more recent pics from 2 days ago...

So I was so anxious to get this thing cranked that after working around 20hrs on the truck Sat & Sun, I took a vacation day Mon to get this thing cranked! Took me a few hours to double check everything, and calibrate the ecu, and then the moment of truth - went to crank her over and it was a FAIL!!!!

1st - the battery wasn't up to par, it was an older battery I've been using to aid in my wiring testing & setup, and been keeping a charge on it throughout so I thought it would bee good... I knew it may not work... so no super surprise there but still a setback. So wasn't going to let that stop me... so I took the battery out of my Ram truck and used it keeping a charger on it. Turned over great, good oil pressure on the digital gauge, fuel pressure good on manual gauge @ fuel rail... but NO START!

2nd - every time I cranked the engine over I would loose the ECU connection to my desktop while live monitoring... thought that was odd, since I had wired the ECU supply on dedicated cabling to battery. I did some quick trouble shooting and was able to pretty quickly determine that my ignition boxes were not even receiving a signal to fire from the ECU during cranking by the l.e.d. diagnostic lights on the side of the boxes, which coincided w/the connection loss... So I went to distributor, which has status indication l.e.d. lights inside as well, and with cap off cranked engine and found that I was loosing power supply to the distributor during cranking, and returning once cranking was over w/ key still on... That could only mean one thing (in my case) that the switched voltage supply to my ECU was not a constant switched supply. I had installed an A/C switch ( my truck does not have a/c) as the ""security"" ignition switch for the ECU, and it works as supposed to (if lit up - circuit active), but I forgot to make sure the switched voltage I used to supply the circuit was constant during cranking... since it would power the ECU. So it took me an hour or so to figure that one out, but I verified that was the problem.... took glove box off and bypassed the supply with an interim wire directly from the battery... and that fixed my electric problem. Cranked it and verified distributor was registering signal, ignition boxes too, and tested coil output w/ tester and yeap... I was receiving spark this time around. !! YES !! Let's fire her up !!... I thought

NOPE! Cranked, cranked, cranked... no start. Do have some backfiring... which is better than nothing at all... but it clearly sounds like I'm out of time. Messed around w/ the programming... tried different default configs... found that there are two different firing orders for 302s... so I went down that rabbit trail for a few hours researching, and determined that the firing order I was using is the correct one for my cam, which I have the p/ns stored under crane cams desktop dyno... messed around w/ ECU timing settings as well as good'ool fashion distributor timing adjustments and after spending hours t/s... I walked away on Monday convinced that my cam-to-crank timing must be off... So I'm taking a breather before I have to tear back into it and take timing cover off and check internal timing...

FAILED 1ST START ATTEMPT!!! Any suggestions welcomed!
post photo
post photo
post photo
Post was last edited on Feb 25, 2016 12:02. This post has been edited 1 times.
347 stroker   +1y
more photos
post photo
post photo
347 stroker   +1y
So... I tore down entire front end of engine, and my cam-to-crank timing was on the money, but my dist was way off... reinstalled everything in its right place, and while I was at it I took water pump apart because it was leaking at it's electric motor-to-pump housing plate gasket... wound up having to install some threaded rods to replace bolts... Assembled engine back together and attempted to get her running a second time... but I had no fuel pressure in my gauge... Chased that down for a day or two, and wound up taking the fuel tank back down and reinspecting everything, replaced hose inside thank and pressure tested pump w/ tank removed... flushed lines... and put everything back together... got my pressure to show up, and adjusted the pressure regulator...

And got her started... She was running rough and only w/ throttle open, would not idle... Took most of this afternoon messing w/ computer settings, and distributor timing to get them both synced in... Wound up destroying my brand new starter, as it turns out it has a plastic outer planetary gearing... PLASTIC!-on a starter-, that got chewed up after probably 20-30 starts! - wound up rigging an good ol' fashion starter to it for now... had to pull up the cam data to get my idle rpms somewhat dialed in for my cam because it would not idle at all...had to adjust throttle plate and calibrate IAC... But I have finally got the engine "rough" tuned to where it now will start fairly easy, and will stay idling, and has fairly good throttle response... IT'S ALIVE!!!

Did however find out my ecu activated fans (stg1 & 2) as well as my electric water pump are not working at all... have been bypassing relays to get them to work.... The w/p circuit will be fairly easy to fix, but I have to t/s the ecu controlled fans to see wazzup w/ that... Also need to figure out my tranny gear shift direction so that I can get me the correct length shift cable and modify the factory auto shifter to work.... besides that a few odds and ends and she'll be ready for a test drive soon!
post photo
post photo
post photo
347 stroker   +1y
more photos
post photo
post photo