ProjectB10 - 1993 Eunos Presso HI-XS

[projectB10]

I have gone mad and cleaned up the shed.

The day time temperatures in the shed are about 30 Celcius (for a big part of the day) here at the minute.

However there is a method in my madness.

I need to complete the KLZE/transaxle swap on the red car ASAP. All the many bits and parts have been sitting around for about 4 years (eg complete KLZE long block build up completed in April 2015). It’s just ridiculous and attracting a bit of pointed but polite comment. I need to get on with other stuff and this is all in the way now.

Part of that hurry up involves gathering up all the parts from around the shed so that I can put my hands to it all when I need. The swap job is an auto to manual swap as well as little upgrades along the way.

Anyway all of that big clean up revealed some long forgotten but interesting bits as I cleaned up the shelves, boxes and under the work benches (and also created my throw away scrap metal pile outside the door).

Spot the difference #1

Left hand (OEM description) exhaust manifold K8 and KL. It’s the rear or firewall manifold for me. If you get this one wrong on a KL swap (no headers to existing exhaust pipe) then it’s a might big PO.









Spot the difference #2

Starter motors. The bigger and heavier one of the two is ex the K8. The smaller and lighter one is labelled KL36.









The weight measurement is very approximate as those scales are also going out the door. But the pictures do tell the "difference" story.





Spot the difference #3

Brake master cylinder. The red car will have the Subaru Legacy GT/ Gen 1 Impreza WRX brake calliper conversion (2 pot) fitted at the same time as the swap. Experience tells me that that the Presso 15/16ths master cylinder bore is adequate but not really optimal. So I will fit the 1inch master from the Mazda Millenia. The comparison photos show masters that I have pulled from the CB model Mazda Lantis with the KF-ZE engine.

Not much to see that is different externally save for the brake pipe connection points and the OEM 1 stamp on the side of the master in place of the 15/16 stamp.

[WhiteFinish]

i ike it !!

never realized the differences

[projectB10]

Its getting confusing with two project themes all mixed up in the one Project thread. The Presso are both shades of red (sort of), both 1993 models and both K8’s (originally).

To distinguish the two apart I have taken to using their build serial numbers as a quick way of separating them.

The cars are both JDM 1.8L V6 Eunos Presso (Gen. 1 from June 1991 to September 1993). The cars were manufactured from 1991 until 1993 under the Mazda factory designation of EC8SE.

The factory serial numbers started at 100001. The red one is #102171. So its #2171 for me.

Fitted a second hand MS rear Spoiler.

he original plan was to use a spare rear hatch I had purchased that was originally fitted with the Spoiler part (so the hatch was all predrilled) and most importantly it also provided me with the required plastic trim or garnish.





The car is due a respray in the original colour at the end of all this so no big deal if its fitted with black painted parts. The idea of not having to measure up and drill and fit the Spoiler to the existing hatch was also very attractive.









No such luck!!! An examination of the black hatch (removing the garnish) revealed a lot of rust (advanced to perforation stage) in the two rear corners.





So the fitting of the Spoiler turned into a mini project of its own, of cleaning up parts, transferring parts and q lot of measuring and fiddling about…not my favourite recreation by far.

[projectB10]

Ok back to the job I really want to finish. Had to refit all the interior trim removed to fit the spoiler. Lots of mucking around for little to show.

I want to get on with the many silly little things so that I can make the engine and transaxle swap.

I want to make sure that the silly stuff doesn't break early once the job is done. I have built this engine up from a mix of (a lot of) new components such as a short block, reconditioned stuff like the cylinder heads, mixed in with parts moved across from used engines.

The latter stuff needs to be used with care... especially anything carrying coolant as the used parts are very corrosion affected. So fitted some new parts today.







The lady at the parts counter at the local Mazda dealer told me that this one was the last one in inventory in Australasia

[projectB10]

Swapped in a FullRiver HC 20 lightweight absorbent glass mat (AGM) based battery.

https://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop ... ttery.html

I was running one of these

http://www.exidebatteries.co.nz/battery ... /x55d23cmf

Less than half the weight (at 7kg) of the OEM spec Wet Battery (at 16kg). Used an Odyssey battery bracket and Odyssey SAE spec battery posts.

The intention was to install the HC-20 in the same physical location (engine bay wise) using as much of the existing OEM cable and battery box base hardware as possible.

The car is RHD for those trying to orientate to the photos. So the battery bracket was mounted to the OEM base battery holder. Lots of room on the OEM battery holder base obviously. So the goal was to mount as far back to the firewall and as close to the chassis rail as possible without any cutting or hacking.

Not properly road tested yet but seems to start the engine easily (no different to the fully charged OEM spec battery). Beginning of spring here so the day time temperatures are about 15C to 16 Celcius.

So no extreme temperature challenges to affect battery performance.

[projectB10]

I have made a trial fit of a set of lateral locks to the Whiteline rear sway bar .



The locks are fitted in pairs. I am using the KLL122 kit.





The kit as pictured is installed as per the Whiteline instructions. The intention is that the pair of locks are attached to the sway bar shaft immediately inboard of each of the OEM mounting mounts. The locks, as installed foul the mounts slightly at the very top as you can see in the following pictures and that prevents them being locked to the bar flush with the side of the OEM mount.





I will remove them and adjust. One option is too slightly radius the very top face of each lock where it sits against the OEM mount. The aim is to achieve a flush mount along side the OEM mounting point and the Whiteline bush.

That will remove some of the bling anodised finish but not much worried about that.

That option is not preferred.

The other option is to rotate the locks on the shaft so the flat sits at the top of the sway bar and the rounded ends are aligned fore and aft. I just need to be sure that as the bar rotates (only a very slight rotation) that the lateral locks don,t foul the chassis.

[projectB10]

Just doodling a bit here.

Currently fitted with Mazda Lantis knuckles, 5 stud hubs, rotors and brake calipers and brackets.







I am about to make the change to Mazda Millenia brake calipers and brackets.

I had to source the late model Millenia Caliper Brackets and will have to drill the Knuckle mounting ears out to 14mm to accommodate the brackets.

The later brackets are longer between the caliper pin mounting point and the mounting bolt hole to fit the 274mm brake rotors. The earlier Millenia brackets are too short across that dimension and cause the caliper to foul the rotor.

[lantisv62500]

Hi Chris,
Is the car finished?
Seems like 10years ago I brought some MS Shocks and springs from you for my Mazda Lantis Type R.
By the way I still have it and it is going well.
It needs a paint at some point but the interior, shell and all the mech are excellent.
Thanks
Craig

[projectB10]

Hi Craig. Still a live project I confess. I broke it about 2 years ago. I have just got back to it now that I have a little more time. I had a problem with the injectors. Poor running and a lot of frustration. Left it to gather dust in the shed. I have a fully refurbished long neck ZE manifold, with new set of injectors, 67 mm TB, a new set of PC cam covers and have installed a new MSPNP2 with a v1.3b motherboard etc etc. I have also been moving the other one forward also. I have a complete Millenia front brake upgrade ready to go using 2002 Millenia brackets and a built up new ZE engine which has been sitting since 2015 all ready to go. Very embarrassed about that. Semi retired now. Feeling like a human being again and the enthusiasm is back. A campervan is now getting in the road timewise.

[projectB10]

Bosch combined temperature and 10 Bar fluid pressure sensor and thread adapter (NPT)

[projectB10]

Back on the road again after three years in the shed. Big clean up under the hood, different manifold etc.





The roadworthy test failed the car on the front suspension mount tops.

[projectB10]

my mini get it back on the road project included completing some minor upgrades.

I had been sitting on the parts for a long time. I installed a set of Exile Autoworx supplied cam covers in wrinkle red with all new gaskets and bolt hardware. The quality of his work is just outstanding.



I also installed the KL-ZE "straight neck" manifold in place of the KL-ZE "curved neck". The manifold was freshened up and the fuel rails fitted with new injectors. That inlet manifold change allowed me the clearance to install the Mazdaspeed strut bar. I wished I had changed over to the straight neck much earlier. So much better. Also fitted the KAInjection Bosch fuel pressure regulator kit and an adaptor on the upstream fuel rail to fit a fuel pressure sensor to drive a gauge. I think that part was supplied by KAI as well.





The battery change gave a reduced battery width and provided teh extra space for clearance.



I used an OEM TB hose and some pipe to connect the manifold and TB up to the factory airbox. I wanted a clean factory like look.