Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

I started another thread in the DIY turbo section which is obviously the wrong place and obviously before I explored this site enough to find the proper place. That being said, I'm too lazy tonight to add the pictures that I have, so I'll do that tomorrow, but this will be the initial write-up of my progress so far.

I got my first Miata in May of 2016 after my Mazda 6 got rear ended in evening Philly traffic. I had very little technical experience with cars, my dad and brother were the gearheads growing up. Looking for a new car, I knew I wanted something small and fun. Found a 1990 Classic Red NA6 at a dealership and bought it, hindsight being 20/20, I would have looked longer for a 1.8 probably, maybe an NB, but above all a car that was rust free. Anyway, I learned to drive stick after we got back, and then I immediately wanted to look into modifying the car. Like a 24 year old idiot, I immediately found grainy videos of guys doing 2JZBROO $WAPZ with fat vape clouds everywhere and wanted to look into trying that. I literally emailed a shop to ask them if they could help me do that. Oh god, embarrassed to type some of this out, but it was part of the journey that I accept. One day I realized that I should "settle" with a 1.8 swap and turbo it. Found a 1997 discarded drift **** at a junkyard for $700 that started immediately, tore it apart mostly for motor, diff, driveshaft. Such a great find for that price.

Found this site and started reading and trying to figure out how to use the search function. Almost immediately overwhelmed with terms and graphs and pictures that I couldn't recognize or make sense of, but kept soldiering on. Let's get to the build.

#Goals: Try to make a car that can handle whatever I throw at it, will be improving as I go along. HP? whatever the engine will safely do with an allofit build - I don't want to steal fae's idea so I'll call this a mightaswell build. Throwing out numbers, plan on up to 20psi, but again that's just something I want it to be able to handle. Standard MT build from most of the posts I've seen:

The Big Stuff:
BP4W head, stock valves, took it to machine shop and having it checked out and Supertech double heavy springs installed
VICS IM
Cometic .045 head gasket
Built block: Wiseco 83.5 8.6:1 on Manley H beams with ACL HX Std; ARP head and main studs
6 speed from a 1999; Nielex short shifter; Flyin Miata 10lb flywheel from donor car; ACT XT 6 puck
4.1 Torsen from the donor car; 1.8 single-piece axles
Tokico Illuminas on FM shocks; have Racing Beat sway bars from donor car but haven't tried to install them yet, may need to drill another hole in the front one (1.8 -> 1.6), may just buy a new front for 1.6 chassis; FM adjustable endlinks (do I even need these since the car isn't lowered?)
ECU: MS3X
TSE EFR 6758.

Other stuff:
Depowered steering rack from Hahnlsquid
949 Cooling kit (radiator, reroute)
D585 LS Coils
Walbro 255
ID1000s
15x9 6ULs on 255/45/15 not sure which tire yet
SuperMiata Damper
Boundary oil pump

More stuff:
Complete PU bushing kit
AC delete
Airbag delete
Want minimum 4 point roll bar with door bars, frame rails eventually
Replacing clutch master/slave and have SS clutch line
Replacing tired and rusted old nuts and bolts
949 hybrid motor mounts possibly
Buying ThirdGen's valve cover with the welded pvc vent port
Replacing all gaskets and seals

There are probably more things I'm forgetting, I'll add along the way



Things from the above list that I have not bought yet, plus residual parts:
Left to buy:
Turbo kit and all accessories
Cooling (radiator, reroute, hoses)
Wheels/tires


EBC: need recommendations
Gauges:, oil press, temp, boost will be on ebc
Valve cover, possibly oil pickup, VICS IM
Exhaust: Artech 3"
Misc nuts and bolts that need replacing
Fluids, gasket maker, other sealants
Assorted **** that will pop up and give me headaches.

farpolemiddle

You do understand this is literally the easiest part of all this?

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

You do not need to replace your stock FPR, to answer your query.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Thanks shooter, I did read that the 1.6 FPR will do, so that's a relief.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Ez pz amirite

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Truthfully, our IC setup is going to be sized for 95% of applications (i.e. everything under 400whp). If you really want to make good use of that 7163, you're going to want to cut up the front of the car and fit a Precision 600hp.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info Sav, according to precision's website, the 600 is 31 1/2"L X 8.0"H X 3 1/2"D compared to the 350 you guys sell, with a difference of 5 inches in length and 2 inches in height. I'll look into what I would have to cut to make the bigger IC fit. Another question that I'm sure you could answer: with a bigger intercooler, actually with an intercooler in general, how much is the airflow to the radiator affected in NAs with the stock front end? Are there good any ducting mods to make sure enough air is passing through to the radiator or will it work as is?

Onyxyth

iTrader: (2)

I bought a 1.6 FPR thinking it would work with BP4W head + NA 1.8 fuel rail. It doesn't - the hose barb side has a kink that makes it interfere.

I used my stock 1.8 FPR flipped upside down.

Onyxyth

iTrader: (2)

The EFR turbos come with a boost control solenoid bolted to them, and the Megasquirt can control it (at least, I'm pretty sure it can, I haven't had a chance to try it yet).

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Any idea if the 1.6 FPR would work with an NB fuel rail? I'm using a VICS IM and possibly that fuel rail. I will have both my 1.6 and 1.8 fprs so I'll figure it out somehow. More research required.

Yes, the efr turbos come with a boost control solenoid, and megasquirt can control it, but i would like to be able to change my boost settings on the fly if that's possible. I need to read more about how it works. If I'm completely wrong, I'll know sooner than later.

farpolemiddle

https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...80308/page350/


read this.

Onyxyth

iTrader: (2)

Actually now that I think about it I'm definitely using the NB fuel rail. The 1.6 FPR wouldn't work with the VICS manifold.

MS3x can do table switching on an input, you could run a highboost/lowboost table via a switch on the dash.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

The 1.8L FPR's vacuum nipple faces into the cylinder head IIRC, so your vacuum line will eventually tear, lean the motor out, and blow it up. The 1.6L FPR works, you just have to straighten that nipple out. Alternatively, you can source the EUDM 99-00 FPR from a return-style NB, which drops in and fits perfectly. Even fires the fuel line down, which is slightly preferred over the upside-down 1.6L FPR which puts the return line up.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Debatable. OP will need a DW300 at minimum, and a Walbro 450 if he intends to run E85 on his setup. Both of those will cause crappy idle with the stock FPR unless you put them on a rewired solid-state relay, which requires PWM control from the MS3. Even if he does do the SSR, OP may discover that to make his power goals without buying a $900 set of ID1300s, he may need more base pressure than the stock 43psi FPR has to offer. At that point, an adjustable FPR becomes required.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

That's what I really had in mind, a potentiometer is a neat idea to solve that.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Okay, so here comes a decision point: I had thought about going e85 because it's just better for a setup like this, but had to weigh in availability of e85 stations in my area, there is one in my city and 2 others within an inconvenient 25 miles of me. I have 93 everywhere, so that's what I was planning on using. What do you guys do when e85 stations are few and far between for street cars?

And thanks for the reality checks whenever i finally think I know what I'm doing lol

curly

iTrader: (25)

where has this info been for the dozen NB swaps I've done. Does this mean 60psi? Off to scour eBay.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I forgot the e85 part of the equation when I said that. Lack of attention to details on my part. We don't have e85 here so it doesn't come to mind like it should.

Philly Miata

iTrader: (1)

Sixshooter what do you run on?

Onyxyth

iTrader: (2)

This is a NA 1.8 FPR on the NB Rail & VICS intake.

(click to expand)