my LeMons car

[eyesoreracing]

Originally Posted by speedf50

This is the best build ever! I guess you are going to be at the Thunderhill event? I am tempted to drive all the way up there just to see this deformed turbo throwing beast run.

Oh and like Joe said, what kind of $ do you have left? I'm thinking a FPR would do in your situation, but if you have the $, a MS would be awesome. At these low boost levels, you could probably get away with just running some 1.8 injectors if you went with the MS.

FPR is definitely a possibility (and we have one to try, just in case) but they aren't so good for fuel economy. We were able to get about 2.5 hours on our 9-gallon CRX tank, which meant we only needed one gas stop per driver. If we suck enough fuel to require two stops per driver, we've lost whatever advantage the power gave us.

I used to have one of those MSD boost retard boxes kicking around, but unfortunately I sold it on eBay for like $40. IDIOT! An FPR and retardo box would probably be enough...

Unless someone has a fuel cell they want to sell for cheap...

-Dave

[Trent]

JKav, you have a PM.

[speedf50]

Originally Posted by eyesoreracing

Unless someone has a fuel cell they want to sell for cheap...

-Dave

Well going with the insane ghetto theme, couldn't you try to shove a big'ol tank from a truck or larger car in the trunk/normal location? Or are there rules that prevent you from doing so?

[eyesoreracing]

we have a second stock tank, and were considering adding it to the trunk, along with some fancy wiring that used the rear fuel pump to refill the front tank whenever the gas gauge was less than empty, but a comination of rules and common sense ruled that out.

-Dave

[eyesoreracing]

How to freebuild a Miata engine.

Step 1: Get four donor engines.
#1: 1.6 Automatic (low compression) that runs on 3 cylinders. Burned exhaust valve, scored bearings, small-nose crank with keyway damage.
#2: 1.6 Manual (less-low compression) with spun bearing, three burned exhaust valves, no pistons or rods, and grooved main bearings.
#3: 1.6 of unknown origin with severely grooved (big nose) crank, blown head gasket and all the rust and other damage that creates.
#4: Low-mileage short block that's been sitting, headless, under a bird cage for at least 10 years, but nonetheless has a good (small nose) crank.

Take block, head and low-compression pistons from #1, crank, bearings, oil pump, and rear main seal from #4, camshafts from #2, one exhaust valve from #2, and manifolds from, well, actually, we're not even sure which engines those came from..

Do a "valve job" with a drill, 3-inches of vacuum hose, and some valve lapping compound:


Deck the head with a slightly-too-small flycutter and get rid of the ridge between passes by wrapping 400-grit sandpaper around a steel block and taking turns sanding it until it seems smooth and flat enough.


Hone the cylinders with a drill and some WD40


Increase oil pressure by wedging a random washer from the floor under the oil pump relief spring.


Buy piston rings and a head gasket from Mazdaspeed Motorsports (yes, this does count as a motorsport) at their sweet racer discount, and assemble the engine with used gaskets everywhere else.

-Dave

[eyesoreracing]

Free coolant re-route:

Drill and tap the back of the head to accept the ECU coolant temp sensor (green)


Bust out the little mini thermostat that hangs out next to the big thermostat so there will be enough coolant flow when the engine is cold to keep the water pump from cavitating.


AND so it will clear the temp sensor...


Bolt the thermostat housing from the front onto the back, using a broken thermo fan switch to plug the hole while clearing the firewall (and stick the real thermo fan switch in the coolant pipe just downstream of the thermostat).

(oh, and slot the bottom hole on the coil pack so you can get it on and off easily later when the engine is in the car)

Then, if you're planning ahead, plug the coolant outlet in the front of the head with a Honda freeze plug. Or, if you already bolted the coolant neck on before installing the cam gears, go ahead and leave the neck on and make some kind of block-off plate for it later...

-Dave

[eyesoreracing]

Free turbo manifold:

Flip the gasket upside-down, note that the four outer holes and exhaust ports all still line up, and mark the manifold where the few mistaligned holes hit the flange.

Cut metal:


There will be a total lack of clamping force at the bottom of the flange...

Fix this by making a bridge to connect the four studs along the bottom of the manifold. In the middle, where there is a large gap between studs, just weld in a reinforcing rib. The welding also warps the bridge in the right direction to increase the clamping force across the two middle tabs.


Build the adaptor y'allns have already seen, then make a support bracket to take the weight of the turbo off the flimsy stock manifold.


Finally, install engine and answer the burning question about forward visibility.


-Dave

[KPLAFIN]

This is truly awesome. When is everything going to be finished and running/moving?

[MattEGTR]

If there were any car that needed to be run open downpipe, this is it...

[eyesoreracing]

And while we're on the subject of awesome, here's a big shout out to Mark DiBella, owner of MD Automotive, who not only asked us if we'd like to clean that big pile of fucked up old Miata parts out of his back parking lot, but then let us use his shop, his parts washer, his mill, lots of his tools, and let us move his supercharged K20-powered Exige project out of the way so we could assemble said shitpile.

[24LeMons]

Originally Posted by matttheniceguy

Sweet, it doesn't even need a downpipe or exhaust system. This is the ultimate in low back pressure.

Depending how noisy that baby is with just the turbo at the end, a muffler might be needed to meet Thunderhill's noise regs. That would create the option for a super-sweet smokestack, like this one from the winning car from LeMons Detroit. Of course the Eyesore version would be even taller.

[Stein]

Tractor muffler FTW!

[y8s]

Originally Posted by Stein

Tractor muffler FTW!

when your dad works at a tractor shop and your 500 dollar car has a muffler fall off.... you make it work!

[Joe Perez]

Originally Posted by eyesoreracing

There is much awesomeness here.

[naarleven]

Sound bite please when you get this running.

[MikeRiv87]

I noticed you didn't mention anything about upgrading your motor mounts. I never took a detailed pictured of what I did but here is a pic from my book of ghetto. Take a close look at my motor mounts.

http://i33.tinypic.com/11b2ems.jpg

Cheap, easy, and stiffer/stronger than stock without being to stiff like some of those solid mounts out there. Should costs about $4 for the pucks and another couple bucks on the hardware if you don't already have...

[Gcat]

That is some nice work for sure!

[btabor]

This is just awesome, I cant stop laughing. Do donations count in the budget? You should open a thread for people that want to help you out, for example piping, couplers, etc, just stuff that you will need

[johnwag]

This is awesome! I couldn't think of two better geeks to build a turbo miata for LeMons.

[eyesoreracing]

Originally Posted by MikeRiv87

I noticed you didn't mention anything about upgrading your motor mounts. I never took a detailed pictured of what I did but here is a pic from my book of ghetto. Take a close look at my motor mounts.

http://i33.tinypic.com/11b2ems.jpg

Cheap, easy, and stiffer/stronger than stock without being to stiff like some of those solid mounts out there. Should costs about $4 for the pucks and another couple bucks on the hardware if you don't already have...

Do you know how hard it is to find hockey pucks in southern California? I have a friend who needed some for jacking pads for his 911 and it took him over a week to find any.

I know where they are now, though...

So, what, did you just bolt through them?

-Dave