2002 VVT swap into 1990 NA with MS3
 

Well it seems there's no better place for a swap thread than here. I'll be sure to keep my nomex on, cause let me tell you I'll be asking some pretty flame worthy questions. :noob::vash: I'll continue to do a lot of reading.

Luckily for me Curly will be helping a lot with the swap and tuning.

Here's the recipient. 1990 base car, about 220lbs with most of the interior, non A/C, properly (cool project)depowered rack
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406921372
140,xxx miles. Koni/GC, autox, track, street
use, blah blah.

Attachment 239094

1.6 going away, no issues, little drop of oil, still runs strong. Raceland FTW.
Attachment 239095

Curly and Greddygalant's newly rebuilt 2002 VVT engine is sitting in my garage.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406914425

So I need to come up with a swap part list.
MS3 Basic on order with Rev.
AEM AFR gauge delivered.

I need to start ordering other items.
I'll start with the basics of what I know, but don't know.
Header- 1.8 but from a 94-97 or 01-05 with EGR?
Cat or test pipe- my cat now is a fairly new Magnaflow, can this be used or modified? If not, 1.8 cat? and that will bolt to my RB midpipe and muffler?
Coolant hoses?
Plugs and wires- my 1.6's are fairly new, swap over?
Air intake
Alternator and water pump pulley- which year?
Garage Star - Alternator and Water Pump Pulley Set for 1.6L and 1.8L Miata

Curly recommends waiting for the MS3 to come in and get the 1.6 and wideband installed and running the car before doing the swap.

When we pull the engine, here's a few things I want to address.
-Remove all airbag wiring and sensors.
-Find the source of coolant smell when driving, heater core pipes?
-1.6 clutch and Fidanza flywheel, reusable or not
-Cleaning engine bay

You need a 99-00 fuel rail, re-use your 1.6L fuel damper; mount it upside down and bend one of the barbs slightly and lightly.

You need a 94-97 header, I highly suggest picking up an RB. No idea about cat/test pipe and the catback. Don't worry about EGR, just block it off.

Use the NB2 coil near plug setup. Parts are cheap and less prone to failure. There are resources out there to use your ignitor with the NB2 coils.

Air intake: go on siliconeintakes.com, buy some elbows and aluminum pipe. Tuned length is between 19-23" from TB to air filter. Pick up whatever AEM dryflow that fits.

You should swap over to the NB throttle cable. It's 30 bucks and you don't need to worry about goofy adapter plates.

Thanks! Looks like RB 94-97 is back ordered.
First part of delivered, yeah.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406921324

Jesus, my photos are huge.

Here's the build sheet on the fresh engine. Doppleganger had this engine turbo'd in his car, then it went kablooey.
0 miles.
(From Curly's message.)
First, the head. It was cleaned, but not painted. Shaved to .015" under factory minimum, for increased compression. Valve seals were replaced, and guides were repaired/replaced. Head was then pressure tested.
Rods were replaced with used OEM ones, and the block, oil pan, and oil pump were washed for assembly.
High temp sparkly black paint went on the block. An entire OEM FelPro gasket kit was bought and used the entire time. ACL race bearings and OEM mazda piston rings were used. The ACL race bearings like slightly more frequent oil changes, so it'd have to be kept close to 3000 miles between changes.

Resize your photos, dude.

All 1.8s had EGR, but either way we're blocking it off.

The cat cannot be reused, I believe it's the front flange angle of the 1.8s that's different from 1.6 exhausts, so everything after the cat should bolt up, but the header and test pipe or cat needs to come from a 1.8.

We're flipping your mixing manifold and eliminating a lot of potential leak points, but silicone heater hoses wouldn't be a bad idea.

For now, yes. However as others have said I'd love to see you using COPs eventually, but not the '01+ for tach reasons. We can drill out your valve cover and use the same Toyota COPs I use. We'll use your 1.6 wires for now.

As Dunning Kruger Affect said, we'll scrounge together a decent cold side intake, much like Nail's, if you glance at recent Lexi updates you'll see it.

'01 pulleys. Martin and I successfully modified Laz's 1.6 alternator (which you have to use) to use the 1.8 ribbed pulley. So we'll do the same with your engine with the MSM's alternator pulley, and the crank and water pump pulley that are currently bolted on.

He has a '99 fuel rail. I was unaware the 1.6 FPR would work, I guess I didn't want to bend it. I'll give it a shot, we already got him a '94-'97 FPR though.

As stated above, I'd love to do this as it's a quick bolt on thing once you source the parts, but you can't make the tach work without some work. Although I'm sure Reverant's MS3 has a tach output.

Forgot about this. I'd plan on buying an NB throttle cable Ryan. Martin swapped the MSM one into Laz in no time. Yours is probably decaying by this point anyways.

Awesome Josh, you are a multi-quoting machine.

Needed
NB throttle cable
94-97 header and cat

I didn't see a way to have the 94-97 FPR clear the IM when I did my swap. Savington and the rest of the VVT swap folks have the same exact setup.

The 1.6L FPR is mounted upside down, you can see it in this pic:
Attachment 239090

You can see how I routed the return line here:
Attachment 239091


e: shit, looks like I have a perfect picture of fuel rail
Attachment 239092

Yeah the vacuum barb is in a better place, we cut the second brace off the top half of the intake to clear it. I may try the 90-93 fpr on his.

Josh, can you elaborate on the motor mounts? I keep seeing that I need 1.8 mounts, my Mazdaspeed 1.6 mounts are practically new.
Do you alter them in some way?

No, the rubber parts are identical '90-'05, the metal parts are engine specific, and already installed on the engine.

Excellent.

Here you can see a new motor mount sitting next to an old mount bolted to the metal part I'm referring to. The rubber part is the mazdaspeed part we'll reuse.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406997044

So RacingBeat is backordered on the 94-97 header until about 3rd week of September. Sounds like I can still go with a 99-00 header since we are just plugging the EGR.
But I may just get a cheap OBX/Raceland. D:

Wait for the Racing Beat header, OBX and Raceland stuff often have fitment issues.

Good to meet you last night Ryan and enjoyed getting beat by you at Sykart too :party:

I think this is the type of header you should get:

http://flyinmiata.com/turbos/images/IMG_4002_300.jpg

:laugh:

Current plan for the header: OBX.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1407283758

And Theseusesese's oil cooler going in my car...

And a little splitter action?

Yes, that's the splitter/undertray Mitch water jetted at his work. I'm going to try and mount it for the 18th, but it takes a lot of fiddling to get it fitted correctly, and in a way that won't fall off. Martin, and of course Mitch also has one.