96morbst

Hey guys my name is Chris. I am from the Boston suburbs. I recently added a 1996 miata 1.8l manual trans car to my fleet (with a limited slip, burnout tested on private property with permission from owner). I am a car enthusiast and cant say no to a good deal. I went to school for mechanical engineering for 2.5 years. While at school I was design team leader for FSAE hybrid suspension and braking design team. I have a few other cars that I own. A 2005 Subaru Legacy GT manual that is my first love. A 1987 Toyota supra turbo manual I am rebuilding the motor in currently. a 1972 Datsun 240z I bought when I was 13 and now 8.5 years later is 2jz swapped with a manual trans, custom coil-overs and a ford 9" rear end with 3:73 LSD. A 1999 Subaru RS coupe that I am converting auto to manual and swapping a WRX motor into. Please before you ask no I am not mommy and daddy sponsored. I work 3 jobs to afford my hobby and I learned how to weld and fabricate from my uncle who owns a metal shop that I am very lucky to have him in my life. My father and I do not get along and I end up sleeping in my cars or the unheated metal shop most nights.

Outside cars I am an Eagle scout, a Jr. Olympic shooting coach and participate in an APA pool league.

My goals with the miata are to boost it with spare Subaru parts I have laying around. Fabricate my own manifold, down-pipe and intercooler piping to a spare grim-speed FMIC core I have laying around. I have a Garrett gtx3071 20g turbo that was pulled from my friends wrx after I built the motor and he went even bigger turbo. I understand this turbo will be kind of laggy because of its size. But I would like to use the setup as a test bed for meth injection. I do plan on building the motor to push that turbo once the Legacy is finished with body work from a hit and run accident. I plan on purchasing a PNP megasquirt ECU and using that to control the engine and probably 550cc or larger injectors.

Yes I am sorry for the long post but I actually read all the stickies at the top for NOOB posts. I'm pretty new to forum groups so I'm just trying to follow the rules the best I can. Anyways hello everybody!

Jumbosrule

Welcome! Tufts grad here, now living in SoCal.

Interested to see how the plan unfolds.

96morbst

Now with pictures! Also a little more info on my miata. Car has 1855xx miles and is my daily driver. Bought for 1000$ about 5 months ago. Car has no radio and had a misfire when purchased. Seller thought it was a dead cylinder but a close listen it all sounded smooth but the plug wire was very loose in the motor. Found out the #3 spark plug had heat cracked in the porcelain and was not delivering spark into the cylinder. A set of plugs and wires later and she runs like a top. Leaks oil from the CAS but i have the o-ring and will be installing it this weekend.

carid

Congratulations on your new Miata and welcome aboard! Awesome looking car! Looks like you've already added a few personal touches on her. Any plans on what your next mod will be?

96morbst

Next will probably be wheels tires and suspension. I ordered an exhaust manifold flange, schedule 40 1.5" pipe 5 90 degree bends. 4 45 degree bends and 3 feet of straight pipe. all stainless. Looking at some 15x9 konig dial ins and 225 tires. Then I need to find some coilovers.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

If you are building your own manifold then check out Absurdflow for manifold designs. Should possibly be able to find one on there that you can copy that will work with your turbo.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

mt.net -- home of the "I came onto this random turbo that's incredibly oversized for my application, but I'm going to use it anyway, because it's free and I'm too lazy to size one appropriately for my setup" build.


also: is that a GTX3071 or a 20G? there's no such thing a GTX3071 20G.

hint: it's not a GTX3071

fun fact: the 20G is a 650CFM turbo.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

The turbo pictured is a Mitsubishi, TD05 / 6 18, best I can tell. Not what was quoted. Not saying it is or is not more appropriate than the 3071, just that is is not a Garrett 3071.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

It looks more like an IHIKKKMITSUGARRETTBORG 50 trim.

perfect random turbo to build a setup around.

96morbst

Im sorry if I mis-spoke on the turbo. This is the information I was given from the shop that the turbo was purchased from. It has a center section ID plate I took a picture of and sent to my trusted tuner for my Subaru and he replied it was a gtx3071 serial number. I will post a picture of that center section plate later. I have other turbos I could have chosen. TD04 from WRXs, vf 40, vf52, stock 2jz turbos. I liked the challenge of making this one work and if I did not like it I had other subaru flanged turbos I could use that are more common turbos for turbo miatas. I wanted to see how the larger turbo would spool on a smaller motor with a better designed manifold. This turbo spooled in an acceptable range on one of the least efficient manifold designs on a slightly bigger motor. 2.0l wrx vs 1.8l miata. On the wrx it still had full boost before 4000rpm and made 350whp at the top end. With 350 hp being my end goal that's why this turbo was chosen.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not worried about the choice of turbo because you are building your own manifold. If you don't like it you can whack off the flange and add something else.

The diff in your car is a torsen. There's a cool video on youtube that explains how they work. As an ME type guy you will probably appreciate it.

Check out the DIY FAQ because many questions you will have are already answered.

Suspension is the proper place to start on this platform. There are several quality name brands that build components for the Miata that are utter garbage for some reason. Check out the suspension hierarchy thread, the Blistein DIY coilover thread, a few others for clues before dropping cash.

Have fun.

96morbst

Thanks 6! I will check those posts out. Thank you for the advice.