krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

This is my 3rd motor in the car and I planned on being a lot more comprehensive on my documentation but due to some phone issues i'm missing some pretty machine work and howto information. I had to replace the phone mid build and the pictures never made it to my backup account.

Well I disappeared for a while but i'm back. I stopped driving my miata after it got into an accident. It was my fault and nobody was involved. I cracked two 6uls and ripped up my fender. My front bumper cover got trashed in a separate incident along with my hood. Some Mexican backed into me and took off. I mention it's a Mexican because it was a Mexican. NOT a Mexican-American aka an American.

I'm a Locksmith and own a 1996 Dodge B series van, 2001 Audi A6 (c5) 4.2L, 1999 Jeep Wrangler (tj), 1990 Miata. I do all my own work on the vehicles and between real life and Maintenance on my vehicles sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. Anyway I'm finally catching up on everything in my life and now ready to give my Miata some serious TLC. I was into supras and evos for a bit and had some fun too in the last few years but really was wasting my time.

Previous Setup:
1.6L Begi Log
Begi-S Downpipe
ebay IC
MS1
Tein Flex (whatever spring rates emillo recommended think it was 12kg front 9kg rear)
15x8 6ul
RX-7 460cc injectors
Innovate LC-1
GM AIT
2.5" Custom Exhaust (magnaflow muffler).
Garrett 2560r
1.6 Flywheel Exedy Stage 2 clutch
5-speed

Current Build:
1.8 out of a 99.
1.8 Begi Log
Begi S-4 Separated gas DP 3"
Built Head 99 - valves, springs, ported.
Built 99 Short Block - 8.6 Supertechs, Ebay Rods (same as m-tuned, eagle, man... I ran into several pictures of them all having the sameproduct code), ACL Race Everything.
Billet Street Pump 2 shims
ebay IC
MS1
Tein Flex (whatever spring rates emillo recommended think it was 12kg front 9kg rear)
15x8 6ul
Stock injectors
Innovate LC-1
GM AIT
2.5" Custom Exhaust (magnaflow muffler).
Garrett 2560r
1.6 Flywheel Exedy Stage 2 clutch
5-speed :(
Coolant re-route via Begi Spacer
Toyota COP
ARP Head Studs
ARP Main bolts
ARP Rod Bolts

So here's the deal. I plan on street driving some; 6k miles a year. I'd like to Track it ~8-12 times a year as well.

Future Plans Performance todo list: In no particular order.
TSE Mani & DP
efr 6758
v-band 3" exhaust
6-speed
upgrade my ms1 to ms3 or sell my ms1 and make an ms3?
1000cc injectors.
TSE Radiator
MBSP
949 Twin Disc Clutch
XIDA's
Harmonic Damper/Balancer thinggy


am i forgetting anything?

Safety:
I need everything. Brakes, Bars, Braces

Eventually after I finish all the upgrades I don't plan on Streeting the car at all really. I want to buy an NB and then put all my left over parts that i replaced on it. The log,dp etc...

The 1.8 swap was kind of easy but came with lots of small issues. I sent the head in to get built and ported and while i waited for that I stripped down the short block and rebuilt my first motor. It wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. After getting the begi stuff off the FS section I realized why I stopped buying from them. You'd think though if it were used it would be modified and correct... nope. Same crappy craftsmanship as before. I can't believe the wastegate would open into the separated gas exit and cause like an 80% obstruction. UNACCEPTABLE. I bought another flange off ebay and welded a partition in it and it was much better. now allowing more movement and a lot less obstruction of the wastegate. I am NOT a fan of their 2 piece downpipes as this is the second one that hasn't fit correctly. I had to heat up and manipulate/move the bolt bracket that holds them together. I forgot to move my FPR from my 1.6 to the 1.8 so I had to take apart my IM and remove the fuel rail... doh! A quick search on here yielded some information I felt dumb about. I was like "why doesn't this fpr fit". After searching MT.net I read "put it upside down". I put it upside down and then bent the nipple so it's almost 90*. Because the donor car was in an accident some of the plastic connectors were broken . Everything else has been pretty smooth. I repainted my engine bay and am ready to drop my new motor in. I still have to move my clutch, starter, and setup my cops but other than that i'm just about done.

I'm still undecided on what to do after i get everything in. Opinions on tuning? Should I run the car on oem ecu for break in period? I saved my AFM and could just leave my turbo on and put filters over the suck and blow holes so the turbo won't actually function other than a crazy fan in my engine bay. Or should I run ms which isn't really tuned for my current setup. my injectors are different , motor, etc...

Upullit:
I got 7 coils off a 2001 tundra (the 8th was misisng... lol) out the door after tax $60.17 I think I did pretty well. I snagged the wiring connectors too :-D they wanted to charge me 15 per plug + 4 per connector but I threatened to put them all back and go somewhere else and so I got them for 8 per plug + a 10% "good customer" discount...lol. He said he'd pretend he dind't see the connectors.

I also just bought a new alternator for my 1.6 DOH! I grabbed a thermostat housing off a kia sephia 2000 and an alternator off a 96. I pulled three alternators. All the cars had 160k+ miles on them so I figured I didn't want an original alternator. Eventually I found an aftermarket one took it to Orielly's and got it tested. I am going to save my 1.6 alternator just in case and get a bushing so i can move the pulley over from my 1.8 to the 1.6 if i need to later. my total upullit for 7 cops, alternator & kia thermostat housing was. for whoever is thinking of a swap you'll read this in tons of swap threads. for the alternator don't forget to get a alternator bracket. it will be frustrating and waste time. luckily my motor came with one. the kia one would also probably work and only takes like 5-10 minutes to get off a upull it including the alternator. i chose not to use my 1.6 pulley because i plan on getting a harmonic balancer and you can't use a balancer with a vbelt pulley (i don't think).

60.17 cops w/ connectors
5.23 thermostat housing
32.08 alternator

under 100 buck. score!

btw: I also attempted to put the 1.6 coils in the 1.8 bracket and it worked ok but it would require a few bushings and the pack would be backwords. I wanted cops anyway so i ditched that idea.

I'm sure there is more I have to say but this thread isn't going anywhere and i'm hungry.

Miater

Looks like a fun project. Lots of work there.

I have a coil plug that looks just like that. It's the other side however. Still odd cause I feel like I have that exact same pic.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Rad, awesome pics. Looks like a nice build, some quality parts here.

Any chance you will be selling that Begi downpipe when you get the Artech parts? I really need one

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

I forgot to mention since I added the extra flange on I had to bend the heater core line. It was hitting the downpipe.

I'm sure I will sell it eventually. If you do buy a separated begi dp make sure you're aware of the issue described. Anyone I have spoke with regarding that downpipe has some kind of boost creep and had to do something to fix it.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Love the very solid start to this thread. Love the pics. Love the thoroughness.

But

Maybe I'm confused or tired or whatever, I don't get which setup you're doing NOW: is it the begi log/garrett turbo and you plan on the efr setup later, or you're going to an efr setup now from a begi setup?

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I get you. My current Build is actually still in progress. It's essentially done but my motor is not in my car as I was cleaning up my engine bay. I speculate having it in and running by the weekend.

I kind of got tired and hungry before i really explained myself but the todo list is where i plan on going with the car.

I figure with my current parts (the ones in the pictures) I should be at the limits of my clutch and transmission. As I upgrade i'll start moving the todo list into my current build.

At the moment i'm leaning towards this build order:
megasquirt 3, 1000cc injectors
clutch transmission at the same time (for obvious reasons)
artech stuff/efr

The mbsp and xida's, damper will all fit in somewhere but i don't have a rhyme or reason to put them ahead of anything else.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

So this weekend I spent some time working on the car. Last week I went snowboarding everything went on hold.

I rattle canned my engine bay black with some krylon and as I put things back in the bay it was scratching easily. I really had been bothered by it so I took a bunch of stuff back out and decided to try another approach. I headed over to ace and bought some of this stuff.


The results were pretty good.



I decided on it because it's about 40 degrees out during the day at the moment and my garage has a sand rail in it, my motor, an old Harley, and a 250cc dirt bike. The oil based enamel worked very well especially since the sun was beating on it for 4ish hours. I was able to use several different sponge brushes and go over the bay very thoroughly. The only spot i'm not happy about is the front driver side under the headlamp cover. That was the firt place I test painted with flat black. The flat black turned out TERRIBLE and when i painted over it, it wrinkled some. I'll wet sand it down later and redo it for peace of mind. I know it's not a big deal but it will bug me if i don't do it. Even though it'll be sitting under the lamp anyway.

Now I don't have to worry about my bay scratching easily also i have plenty of paint should something get scratched.

Next I moved on to..... COPS!

I know it's not really necessary but I wanted to make sure the elements never made it into my plug wholes. I used some 3/4" rubber grommets. They are a little small for this application so i had to trim them up a bit.


Because the grommets were so tight they actually held the cops in really well. I was debating wheather to even use a mounting bracket. The main rail here is completely necessary though. The tundra cops are very tall. I used poly spacers as you can see with the grommets. This is to make up the additional room so the plug would sit flush on my aluminum bar. It is 1.5" Aluminum by 1/8" thick. Since I had some extra aluminum laying around I figured I'd make a bracket to hold the cops down (since I couldn't use the oem mount point on the tundra cops. there wasn't enough room. I cut off the oem mount points with a hacksaw). I made some individual brackets. It's probably a better idea to do this for lots of reasons but I didn't like that I couldn't get every bracket EXACTLY the same. I'll probably change to something like this in the future.


This was my end result. It's not quite as serviceable but it looks clean and is simple.


I still need to make the wiring harness. A while back I burnt out an igniter with my megasquirt. YES I read the instructions but somehow I fucked them up haha. Anyway now I have an extra one to make a pnp harness...

I'll try and tackle that tomorrow. Anyone know off the top of their head what a good length is for that harness? I understand there is a variance. But wouldn't mind if someone had a rough guess on how much wire I'm going to need. I picked up 3 rolls of 16 guage 17' the other day. would say 5' be a good length for the longest part of the harness?

Before I left I broke open my earl parts to make my braided stainless return line and feed line. I also replaced the feed fitting with a restrictor. Apparently Begi doesn't give you one unless you specifically ask for it. I've read lots of opinions on it and Garret apparently says to run one so since they designed it I think it's probably good idea. The return line was cake to make but the feed line was a bitch. I stabbed myself with tiny stainless wires until got smart and taped and cut the line.

Anyway I know this isn't the first time any of this stuff has been done but it's the road i'm going down. I've had to move a bunch of times in the last year or 2 and so it's been rough completing projects. In march I'll finally be back in my house and be able to use my new three car garage. I currently have to commute 20-30 minutes to work on my car.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

p.s. that f20c miata thread makes me hate myself. screw you HONDA. SCREW YOU AND YOUR HEADS AND YOUR VTECS. SCREW YOUR PREBUILT FORGED INTERNALS.

I'm also pretty set on going efr after I get situated but am still curious on the garret gtx numbers. Unless I missed something I haven't gotten to see any miata dynos with them. I remember reading aaronc7 has one but never got dyno. Maybe by the time i efr (next 6 months to a year) they'll have vband housing? I don't really feel like EVER wrenching on a manifold or downpipe/turbo again. it's not so bad when the motor is out but it sure is a pain in the *** when it's in. Not to mention messing with the studs. I know the inconel blah blah blah. but can you blame me for wanting all vband?

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

Did i do it right? 8 pins, 6 connected, 1 bridged?



1) I have a headache
2) My soldering iron kept cutting off and on during my soldering causing me to want to break stuff.
3) That **** inside the igniter is really annoying
4) My solders weren't sticking.

/sleep

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Your work looks good, heat shrink FTW!

I used to think I couldn't solder, then I learned about this:


A flux pen is truly MAGICAL. Words cannot describe how much better my work comes out now. I also stopped using garbage leadless Rat Shack solder and switched over to MG Chemicals Sn63/Pb37 solder. They sell these at Fry's Electronics if you have one nearby.

rhysmate

iTrader: (1)

good looking thorough thread.. i like clean engine bays

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

yes, flux pens help out a **** tons, espeically on contacts that dont want to take.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

thanks. I kind of feel like a retard. I used to solder a lot and actually have a flux pen but forgot they existed. Also I was using someone else's soldering iron and solder. I normally get good solder from the local electronic store. Fry's is nice but in phoenix. none in tucson :(

The last time I soldered was years ago when I made my megasquirt. I used fancy sparkly blue speaker wire. remember that brain? xD

also i'm assuming since nobody told me I did it wrong I followed the circuit diagram correctly? As mentioned I am a little rusty and lacking confidence. It makes sense to me to not connect pin 1 and 8 but feels wrong to leave something disconnected that was once connected.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Pin 1 and Pin 8 run up along the factory harness to the back of the head. The OEM path is ECU>Pin2/7>Pin1/8>Coils. All you're doing is cutting in at the halfway point and running your own wires.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

so motor is going back in, in the next few days. I was going to throw my 1.6 clutch and flywheel in and just drive it that way but since the 1.8's are more torquey

1) put 1.6 flywheel and exedy stage 2 back on. the 1.6 exedy is only rated like 160ish lb/tq.
2) upgrade clutch to fm1/fm2/949 twin disc
3) upgrade clutch to fm2 & 6-speed transmission

I only have about $1000 bucks I can spend...
I sourced a 6-speed from a 2003 se w/ 39k on it. $700
Fm2 looks like it's going to be my guy. w/ stock 1.8 flywheel. So anyway 6-speed and fm2 incoming. Unless someone can convince me it's really worth saving up for the twin disc. I'm not so sure it's really worth it. I'll be daily driving this thing for a little while anyway and have a/c.

I can spend about ~1000 a month on this thing till it's done so i'd only be waiting for 10 more days.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

annd......



fm2 clutch on the way and flywheel is getting the rub down if you know what i mean ;-)

it's shiny on the inside too. I wasted a lot of time cleaning out my crummy 5-speed.

anyone that cares I've got a 1.6 begi log manifold and begi-s downpipe, exedy 1.6 stage 2 clutch w/ only about 8k miles on it. PM me if interested. I'll take pics in a bit and throw them up on the FS section in the next month or so. If you want them and are in a hurry i'm not so don't expect rush service.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

It's in.

I have a very detailed busy job and it's proven difficult to remember all the details of my build and the details of all my current work. After dropping my motor in i realized that the sender unit for my cooling was not plugged into the back of the head. I also was quite confused on where it goes. When looking at the head from the back it is on the drivers side of the rear water port (basically below your heater cool line from the back of the head). I have a 99 head so it's plugged ( with an alan #5metric). After searching I guess the 99 has a 3 wire harness where it pulls both for the ecu and temp gauge from the same sensor. Gathered that from one of hustlers threads. thanks hustler.

SO that brought up another question for me. I mean it seems like a no brainer question but It never hurts to ask for confirmation. Do I pull my 1.6 L wiring for the fuel injectors and sensors and swap it with the 99? I really don't see any other options but didn't see it documented anywhere.

krissetsfire

iTrader: (1)

Ok so I know I stopped posting on progress and I stopped taking pictures as well but I have now passed emissions.

Issues I ran into: I got a head gasket kit that had a different intake manifold gasket for each year they changed it. I think I put the 94-97 one in because I had a huge vacuum leak and as embarrassing as that is it's the truth and I fixed it. I then was able to set my timing and then realized i had a sweet puddle under my car. The 1/4" npt plug i put in my sandwich plate was letting a decent amount of oil through it so i removed and put some sealant on the threads. I added a restrictor to my turbo and it sounded like it wasn't getting enough oil when i was at idle so i also removed it and it sounds much happier now.

I also installed an ebay radiator since mine was gross and crusty. One day i'll get a tse baller one but that is not in the budget right this minute.

My idle jumps between 800 and 900. My afr is kind of bouncy as well. I hooked my lc1 directly to the harness. I passed emissions and now im ready to move on with driving the car on a regular basis. I have a couple questions.

The rpm @ idle is 800-900. Is it normal for it to stray like that? My afr is also bouncing between 14.3 and 14.8 or so. Sometimes it blips into the 15's. I do have some older gas in there that i probably should have dumped.

Also My coolant temp gauge in the car was chilling in the middle and the one in TS said it was 197 while idle in the emissions line. 205 or so on the emissions dyno. What should i expect for the gauge cluster temp gauge? At what point should it start climbing? I also know my motor is brand new. What kind of extra heat should i expect from that?

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Awesome! This thread is exactly like by build. What did you end up doing to use the BP, sensors wise? Did you swap over all your 1.6 sensors, or use the 99 sensors?

I'd also assume you would use the injector harness from the 1.6 if going that route, that's what I plan to do at least. Any other details or tips for someone putting a BP4W into a 90?

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

For tuning idle, I found these links to be helpful:

Tuning idle with MegaSquirt - DIYAutoTune

How Do I Tune My Idle With A Standalone? - MX5nutz

Tuning Idle Valve - Ms2 - MX5nutz

In fact, I think I PDF'd the MX5nutz pages and saved them somewhere. I also have some notes in my massive thread of fail in the supercharger section, around page 4 IIRC