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Need advice on buying Turbo'd Miata as DD

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Old 01-01-2011, 03:32 PM
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Default Need advice on buying Turbo'd Miata as DD

I'm looking at buying a turbo'd 1.6 Miata and have done a lot of reading of old posts and the stickies, but I want to make sure that I'm not missing anything as this car will be my daily driver and I'll need it to be reliable for my delivery job.

Here's what the car has:
Megan tubular turbo manifold
Megan O/R downpipe
2G DSM (Garrett 2445) turbo
2.5 inch intercooler piping
Spearco intercooler mounted in front of radiator
Mazda 1.8 injectors
Vortech FMU
2G DSM blow off valve
New ACT clutch
New Walbro 255lph fuel pump
New braided clutch flex line
New shifter bushings
New shifter isolation rubber
New slave cylinder

The problems: "Needs alignment, Idle is high because the car needs driven for the computer to learn since I had it disconnected."
"I recently bypassed the intercooler and went strait to the TB in a makeshift way because I was having an erratic idle. After doing so the idle is steady but needs some miles to relearn everything.

The guy seems to be pretty honest and seems to know what he's doing but I thought I should ask people who know more then me about turbo'd Miatas before going ahead with the deal.

Thanks
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Old 01-01-2011, 03:51 PM
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Nothing special. Much better deals out there. Heck, look at some of the cars in the FS section on here. Computers don't just "forget" their tune. ***** wrong. I'd be weary of the manifold for cracking as well.
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Old 01-01-2011, 03:52 PM
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Run as fast as you possibly can.
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Old 01-01-2011, 04:57 PM
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Is this that car that kid was trying to get running?
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Old 01-01-2011, 05:49 PM
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Pass.
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Old 01-01-2011, 05:50 PM
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Please tell me it's this car: https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/somethings-wrong-54590/
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Old 01-01-2011, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Gearhead_318
I'm looking at buying a turbo'd 1.6 Miata and have done a lot of reading of old posts and the stickies, but I want to make sure that I'm not missing anything as this car will be my daily driver and I'll need it to be reliable for my delivery job.

Here's what the car has:
Megan tubular turbo manifold (going to crack)
Megan O/R downpipe (WTF is O/R?)
2G DSM (Garrett 2445) turbo
2.5 inch intercooler piping
Spearco intercooler mounted in front of radiator (where the **** else would it be mounted?)
Mazda 1.8 injectors
Vortech FMU
2G DSM blow off valve
New ACT clutch
New Walbro 255lph fuel pump
New braided clutch flex line
New shifter bushings
New shifter isolation rubber
New slave cylinder

The problems: "Needs alignment, Idle is high because the car needs driven for the computer to learn since I had it disconnected."
"I recently bypassed the intercooler and went strait to the TB in a makeshift way because I was having an erratic idle. After doing so the idle is steady but needs some miles to relearn everything. (WHAT, praytell, needs some miles to "relearn everything"?)

The guy seems to be pretty honest and seems to know what he's doing but I thought I should ask people who know more then me about turbo'd Miatas before going ahead with the deal.

Thanks
Honest, seems so. Knows what he's doing? Questionable.
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Old 01-01-2011, 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by scottyd
Originally Posted by scottyd
Is this that car that kid was trying to get running?
God no thats not me. I just found one on CL and the guy was willing to do a straight trade for my truck and it seemed tempting. Notice my use of capital letters.

I guess I'll try to find a 1.8 NA and do everything myself instead. Thanks for the advice.
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Old 01-01-2011, 06:25 PM
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Starting from scratch is the way to do it. It's the only way to know exactly what's done and if it was done right.
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Old 01-01-2011, 06:38 PM
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Thats true, plus then I can say I did it myself.
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Old 01-01-2011, 07:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Gearhead_318
Thats true, plus then I can say I did it myself.
Or you can buy my car!

https://www.miataturbo.net/cars-sale-trade-6/cspences-1992-mazda-miata-%246700-tuckin99-n2-6ul-cf-ht-49882/

https://www.miataturbo.net/build-threads-57/cspences-build-thread-33438/
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Old 01-01-2011, 07:59 PM
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There have been some SUPER nice turbo miatas for sale here for horribly low prices. No need to buy a POS
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Old 01-01-2011, 08:15 PM
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Thanks for the offer but I'm looking for something for less then 4K, looks good though.
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Old 01-01-2011, 09:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Gearhead_318
Thanks for the offer but I'm looking for something for less then 4K, looks good though.
I'm in the market for a Pagani Zonda, only willing to spend $2500 though.

Buy a nice clean stock Miata and save up for a good turbo setup - you won't find a well-assembled turbo car for $4k. Good cars with very little supporting modification start at ~6k, and cars that have been thoroughly massaged are closer to $10k.
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Old 01-01-2011, 09:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Savington
I'm in the market for a Pagani Zonda, only willing to spend $2500 though.

Buy a nice clean stock Miata and save up for a good turbo setup - you won't find a well-assembled turbo car for $4k. Good cars with very little supporting modification start at ~6k, and cars that have been thoroughly massaged are closer to $10k.
I wasn't really looking for a turbo car but a guy offed to trade so I thought I'd look into it at least.
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Old 01-01-2011, 09:40 PM
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You might honestly want to look into THIS one.
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Old 01-03-2011, 08:04 PM
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That's fairly similar to my old set up and it has been super reliable for a long time now. However, this dude saying a stock ECU needs to "relearn" how to run? Makes no sense. If you can get it for cheap, go for it because it can be reliable if run at low boost but you'll be looking at putting money into it.
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Old 01-03-2011, 10:37 PM
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I looked at the white one that's up for sale @ $5K. It looks awesome but I honestly don't have the cash right now, which is too bad cuz its relatively close
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