Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

Hello all I have a 1990 miata. Bought it with plans to build track/street car. 116k miles new water pump, timing belt,plugs wires.all fluids ect. This winter I will be turbo charging it. But I need to set a financial limit somewhere so I plan to make this years number under 6k. So the question is if you had 5-6k to put into your car where do you start?

I was thinking of a voodo kit, clutch, radiator,1.8 rear. But I eventualy want a standalone and that seems like a wasted step but would be a good start

Or
Go for a full fm2 and clutch wait on the radiator and rear to a later date ( if I break the diff I could justufy buying it as I would need it at this point)
Any other thoughts
Car is stock now what woud you do with 5k

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

There's two ways to go through the process:

1) You spend more money buying a kit

2) You save money piecing a set up on your own.

I would advise for No. 2. There is always good deals in the FS section. You could end up with a well put together system for about 3k. I strongly recommend that you stay away from band-aids. They limit the potential of the system and they are no match for real engine management. With that said you could have a Megasquirt built to your liking for about $500 and even for less if you take on the task of building your own.

Anyhooters is up to you where you want to dump your money. If I were you I'll start the with the MS>Wideband>Injectors>Research>boost.

Also read the FAQ and the All You Need to Know thread.

85z28

iTrader: (2)

Buffon1 hit the nail on the head. Read a **** ton until you understand everything and start piecing together a turbo kit, you'll save a good bit and have a bit more pride knowing you sourced it all yourself.

jacob300zx

Nope thats a terrible idea. What is your track experience? What mods are on your car now? List all your mods, all of them. If your not running artech, absurdflow, rotrex, you are going to have big problems. Lets not even talk about teething problems running a new FI build on track.

4.3 torsen rear end $850
coilover/sways/endlinks/r tierods $2500
tires/wheels/pads/lines $1500
hardtop $800
rollbar/seat/qr wheel/belts $1200

Thats the basic track setup $6850

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

No real track experience yet..couple of hpde classes. just getting into this style of racing..I've been drag racing a while and always moded and built my own cars. I enjoy wrenching and driving . I sold my11 second fox body and bought the miata. Im having allot of fun working ok driving tecknieks (heel toe shifting ect) but I also want more power for better exit speeds and the white knuckle feeling on the straights. I'm used to much faster cars. And I love when you can surprise people on the street with a sleeper.

No Current mods for incresed performance except bread pads
I have a beltronics accelermoiter I hard mounted
Clutch switch delete
Sun visors removed
Custom dome light
Headrest speakers
Trunk relese
Remove spare
Removed toe hooks
Rewired fans to turn on together
Other small things and a lot of prementive maintnance ect

soviet

iTrader: (10)

just do safety, wheels, tires, brakes and suspension. track it N/A. turbo it later.
you can also look up on ThePass and Genesplicer's posts - both track their cars, have plain jane 1.6 turbo setups and and went from noob to pro

jacob300zx

You will get white knuckled taking corners at 100mph with the tail sliding I promise...NA

curly

iTrader: (25)

A miata is just "perfect" in stock form for a little track work.

Do nothing but double the power, and you'll over cook the brakes (even with race pads) over heat (even with a large number of aftermarket radiators) blow up the diff, blow up the transmission, and half your power will be wasted with any tire you could fit on stock wheels. And that's ignoring the stock suspension, which is "fine", but isn't exactly confidence inspiring.

Hence our suggestion to spend $$$ on things like safety (that's a no brainer), brakes, suspension, wheels/tires, and your cooling system first. After that, an aftermarket ecu, diff, clutch, and a few others bits and pieces will give you a bit more power and reliability, and make you turbo ready.

The turbo itself is a whole other issue. Above and beyond the normal street setup, you'll need a manifold strong enough to live up to sustained heat and vibration, ~$200 in turbo hardware, and an oil cooler of some sort.

jacob300zx

Go to 949racing.com and drop coin.

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

Thank you all for the advice....I'm ref going to get some kind of standalone..of course oil be droping money into safety and tires that was a given. I have the factory wheels and like them does anyone have experience with keeping these our will I need different wheels to have a good tire combo.
Stock ones I have are the 14x6 spoke design they are light too.

Also john I see your in miami..I'm new to florida as of a couple years ago where do you race? Is love to get some track time before dropping coin. Other than thinking I want more power and needing sticky tires I really know what kind of set up I want.

One more thing the rollbar. I've had mixed feelings about it. Being the car is not only for the track I aril want to be able to put top up and down with ease. I've also heard its more likly to be in a rear end collision on the street then flip on the track..and as I don't drive to the 7 11 with my full face helmet on, seems dangerous to smash head on the large metal bar??
However unless I have one I can't track the car at all os that right?

Sort to sound like such a newb just new to this world coming from building v8 cars and drag racing ect. I used to carve canyons in midcoast maine with my 150hp crotch rocket (r1) moved to florida got ran over by a old guy who tab a stop sighn and broke leg. Having 3 young ones wife says no bike til later and the roads here are boring. Hence wanting a miata and some turns:-) but having a car with less power then my bike...thought would be boring lol. Need a track to see for myself

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

Just read that post myself..sorry for the grammor issues.. I'm using a cellphone with a spider cracked screen. Reading while typing is not easly done:-(

curly

iTrader: (25)

Wheels are fine, but there's a huge selection of 205 or 225 tires on a 15" wheel, and an even larger selection of 7-10" wheels of varying prices and weights. These 15" wheels also fit over larger brakes. Not only for stopping power and fade resistance (depending on compound of course) but the stock calipers wear pads on a taper, wasting half the pad and therefore half your money. Not to mention wilwood pads are cheaper

hustler

iTrader: (6)

+1

You will learn a lot with stock power and it will help you later, when you add the power. It takes a lot of money to keep a turbo car going because you will have minor problems. Some of the hidden costs are things I've done to my car like $300 of heat sheilding, melted wires and stuffs, the liklihood of you blowing up that 5-speed, a couple hundred bucks to build the heat exchanger ducting, a couple hundred for the oil cooler...and let's not forget that I have over $500 of SS lines in my car.

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

It's true what Jacob said. I got a little carried away on the "how to boost" and I left out the fact that you want to track. Do all the suspension and safety upgrades first, then take it to the track.

I see that you come from straight-line fast. Miatas, although they can be made straight-line fast, are design for handling. You will have a blast tracking a well put together N/A. Look at Emilio's cars (949 Racing) to get an idea.

I do not track my car. However, I know there are some Miata folks that go to Homestead, PBIR, and sometimes Sebring. There is this guy called Apexscalpel he posts mainly in miata.net and CR.net, but his car is very well put together (N/A). I remember he mentioned being part of a club and getting a good deal on tracks. You may want to talk to him about that.

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

All verry good advice......only reason I want the turbo is not because I think I need it at the track but rather the street...getting cut off and out accelerated on onnramps by priuses and mini vans is embarrassing lol. Maine I'll get a ms that way I can fine tune the ignition maps and optimize fuel mayo for n/a first meantime get tires radiator roll bar suspension and torson lsd....than maybe turbo and exhaust next year.....any one know place near me to start track events

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

You don't really need a radiator at the moment, unless of course the one you have now is damaged. I would do a re-route instead and optimize the coolant flow. $0.02

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

Good to see another local on the forum. Sebring and PBIR seem to be the 2 big tracks to go in the area but they're a bit of a drive. There's a really good autocross (www.gulfcoastautocrossers.com) close by if that does anything for you.

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

Lol yeah I plan to go to the gulf coast autocross this upcoming season. I was told about those events by one of the instructors..who happens to work for the music company who fixes audio equiptment, at my restaurant. Can't remember his name but he races a 350z.
I'm thinking I'll stick with the factory brakes for now but get some ss lines. Also going to get a set of coilovers, new sway bars ,Sticky tires. Still can't decide about roll bar. But I will be getting a ms soon to start getting familiar with tuning
Scott I am also excited to see someone thats not 100 miles away lol
mods do you have for your car?

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

I think you're going to have a nice bbq with your stock pads...

Hahnlsquid

iTrader: (6)

No I have aftermarket pads (hawk) just ment stock rotors
and calipers lol