Page 20 - mishimoto

In our last post, we selected an ideal location to mount our cooler, so now we need to develop and fabricate a set of brackets to rigidly mount our large 25-row heat exchanger. For this task, we have a full fabrication shop and many bright minds at our disposal.

GTO Oil Cooler Mounting Bracket Fabrication

We opted to utilize the upper grille ducts shown in our last post, which should provide ample airflow to the heat exchanger. With more airflow hitting the core, we should see impressive heat transfer.

We began this project by capturing measurements and dimensions from the points where we want to mount within the front grille area. Once complete, we drew up some rough plans for the bracket shape and modeled them in Solidworks. These models were then flattened and printed out in template form.

Interested in purchasing our new ND Miata direct-fit oil cooler kit? Check out our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Mazda Miata Oil Cooler Kit!

The most exciting part of product design happens during the final stages. Product testing reveals any flaws in the design and also provides insight into possible adjustments for enhanced performance. In addition, testing validates our existing design and makes all our efforts well worth the time spent. So far, our team is having a great time developing new ND Miata parts.

Our ND Miata oil cooler kit will be no different. Since the stock vehicle with SkyActiv technology does not include a factory oil cooler system, we expect to see some pretty big decreases in fluid temperatures. On to testing the Miata oil cooler!

Testing Conditions and Instruments

As we noted in the conclusion of our last segment,

The prototype for our MK7 GTI intake system will be unique. While designing the airbox, we needed to accommodate the factory mounting points, the battery cable routing, proper filter placement inside the box, and the stock fresh-air inlet scoop. Let's take a look at the gradual progression to a fully functioning prototype!

We gathered some piping in our garage and tack-welded together an intake tube route. We then sorted through our air filters to locate an appropriate air filter that would fit within the constraints of the airbox we had in mind. The filter will be placed right next to the fresh-air inlet, optimizing the amount of fresh air that will pass through the pipe.

The Piping

MK7 GTI intake prototype

Interested in purchasing our new ND Miata catch can system? Check out our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Mazda Miata Baffled Oil Catch Can Kit!

In our first segment, we removed all components within the 2.0L intake system to evaluate oil contamination. Our findings indicated that a reasonable amount of oil was making its way into the intake manifold through the PCV system. Not only was this coating the manifold, it was producing buildup on the valves themselves. A catch can install is an easy way to slow this progress, which is exactly what we will be working on for the ND.

Catch Can

For the ND, and all our existing direct-fit kits, we will be utilizing our compact baffled oil catch can. This component has proven to be extremely effective at separating oil/fuel byproduct in numerous applications.

This catch can has numerous features that

We left off development with a neat look at our first prototype, when we determined the shape and path of our brace and printed out mounting brackets for each side of the piece. By using specific angles with our square material, we were able to avoid modification of the seat mounting bracket, retain rigidity, and provide a bar that is easily hidden by the rear tray.

Our last image showed our fabricator tacking together the material. Below is what we ended up with.

Prototype Fiesta ST rear strut brace installed

We then installed the floor panel mounting covers.

It's been a while since our last update on the Fiesta ST cat-back exhaust and we are excited to let you in on the details of the final prototype! The last detail to square away was the exhaust tips. While the tips we had were decent, we found them a little on the plain side so we switched it up. Rather than the single-wall tips, we went with a dual-walled setup that we think look much better on the ST and will hold up better over time. Check out some photos below!

Fiesta ST exhaust tips

Interested in purchasing our new ND Miata direct-fit oil cooler kit? Check out our product page linked below!

Mishimoto Mazda Miata Oil Cooler Kit!

Not long ago we posted some initial details regarding plans for our direct-fit Miata oil cooler solution. We've been hard at work on our design, with hopes that our end product will provide optimal oil temperatures for track junkies.

Final Bracket Design

Last time, we constructed two mounting brackets for our kit. We prefer three mounting points for optimal rigidity. This Miata oil cooler is going to see quite a bit of airflow, so we want to ensure the cooler mounts can handle this force. Below is a shot of our third bracket, which ties into the passenger side of the radiator support.

The Engineering Department here at Mishimoto has been buzzing with activity around our new Miata intake design. We've just constructed a prototype pipe and box, bringing us even closer to dyno testing! Let's walk through the process.

It's extremely important we pay close attention to detail on this project. From the beginning, we knew this box had to be made of aluminum, not steel, which is much too heavy. We also decided to utilize the factory air duct on this setup, so the box has an inlet accommodating that component.

Airbox Construction

The next few images show how we went about designing the air box. A major goal for the air box design was for it to be simple to install so utilizing factory mounting points was a must. Below, you'll see shots of the stock Miata intake system removed and a couple of our pieces being

Interested in purchasing one of our new shift knob designs? Check out more product details at the link below!

Mishimoto Shift Knobs

We've brought you two prototype designs thus far, and now we have one more weighted shift knob ready to pull from our knapsack and present to the public. These three designs are displayed in order from wild to mild, with our third design representing a more traditional shape. Hopefully, one of our new designs is something you could see yourself grabbing ahold of while ripping through some gears.

3D Models

As with our other designs, this life also began as a 3D model. Our Solidworks wizards went to work and quickly transformed an idea from sketches to a rendering. Check it out!