Front subframe is in. It may come out a couple times more before all is done but it’s in for now!
V8R frame rail reinforcements are also in. I had tabs welded to the insides of the frame rails for the flat bottom so I had to cut those off:
Then it was hammer time to straighten the frame rails so the V8R rails could fit over. Here’s the frame rails and transmission crossmember in place. No drilling/bolts yet, I am going to wait until the trans is in the car and I’ve confirmed the crossmember lines up before committing on the frame rail placement:
With that in place, I turned to the transmission. I want to monitor transmission and differential temperatures on the track. This trans is a bit more costly than a Miata 5-speed so I’d like to be sure it’s operating happily, and it would also be great to finally have definitive data on the effects of the flat bottom on drivetrain temperature.
So, I picked up a couple extra Accutech SMI oil temp gauges to use for this. Love these gauges for my engine water/oil temps so it was a no-brainer.
Neither the diff or trans have locations to put the sensors. After draining the trans I stuck a camera in the fill hole and had a peek around to see where there was room to drill and chose a spot just below the fill hole (red mark):
The sensors are 1/8″-27 NPT. Drill hole with size “O” drill bit, then tap. Basically the same process as you would drill/tap an oil pan for a turbo drain while it’s still on the engine; grease the bit and drill slowly so all the shavings are captured by the grease:
Fill trans with more oil and drain to pull out any shavings that got inside. Then a dab of thread sealer on the sensor threads before install and voila, transmission temp sensor done:
