'90 Build: Not Really Faster, Just Less Slow
 

I suppose since I'm starting to make some actual progress on my turbo build, I should start a build thread. Some of it will be to document what I've done and some will be to gather advice. My upgrade path has been mostly on a budget and is similar to what a lot of other :noob: might try to do, hopefully I can make things a little easier from someone else out there.

First some history.

I bought my 1990 as an 18 year old in the summer of 2000 for $4750 with 50,000 miles, it took all the money I had at the time. As my funds replenished from working shitty jobs I installed a roll bar, the FM spring & AGX combo, SuperPro polyurethane bushings, a Borla exhaust, some Azenis (they were the hot shit once upon a time) and got into autocrossing. I was never all that good but I learned a lot and had fun.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408615846

The car was my only form of transportation for a long time so it got driven year-round in New Hampshire. Flat-brimmed driftarding wasn't really a thing back then but I did have altezza style tail lights for a time. Sorry.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408615846

Not surprisingly, I ended up with rocker rust and the car was parked for a couple years, but I refused to part with it. Eventually I graduated, got a real job and a garage, and started working on the car again.

I took the whole thing apart for a cleaning a repaint

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408618969

Rust repair:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408615846
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408615846

I had never painted a car before, but I figured it out in my garage with a Harbor Fright gun, a cheap Home Depot compressor, and the help of a friend.

Attachment 235525

There was a lot of wet sanding involved.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408615846

I'm reasonably happy with how it came out, a pretty surprised that I accumulated no real mechanical problems after 5 years of sitting. With a fresh charge, she started right up. Brakes, suspension, engine are all still good and I easily got an inspection sticker.

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I spent a lot of time just driving and enjoying myself, getting up to 125k miles, but started to get bothered by a bunch of little things. The ride is, in a word, horrendous. My 15 year-old FM springs have sagged and hit the bumpstops pretty frequently. I also get stuck behind slower traffic pretty frequently and I'm not comfortable trying to pass with so little power.

Going forward, I'd like to push power as high as I can on the stock internals, replace my old 14" wheels with something lighter and wider, and make the ride more enjoyable on the shitty roads I have in my area. I may autocross again, but I'm not really interested in tailoring my build to any particular class.

To be continued. I'll make another post with further upgrades I've done, parts I've accumulated, and decisions I still need to make. :burncash:

After reading through Matt Cramer's Performance Fuel Injection Systems book and much reading here, I decided to start slow with an Autometer vac/boost gauge and an Innovate MTX-L wideband just to get a sense for what the factory ECU does. This also gave me a much better handle on vaccuum behavior during different driving conditions.

I'll probably move the gages below the radio at some point. Sorry for the shitty picture.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408624757

Then I picked up Megasquirt DIYPNP kit from DIY Autotune. I was a little intimidated, not having any experience soldering circuit boards before so I bought a cheap educational practice kit off Amazon. It flashes some LEDs and sounds a siren and shit.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408624757

Then I built up my DIYPNP. It was easier than I expected - just had to follow the instructions methodically.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408624757

Installation in the car was easy enough and I used a 2.75" aluminum coupler to mount the IAT sensor and an AEM Dryflow filter.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408624757

Initial start up went smooth enough and VEAL has been treating me well. I've put about 1500 street miles on the new computer with no real issues. It does feel a little down on power compared to stock but I imagine that's due to the conservative ignition timing tables that I don't really have the means to tune without going to a dyno.

I really don't like how close the filter is to my manifold, so I'm starting work on an airbox and NACA duct in the headlight lid.

I bought a flanged 4" NACA vent from the same place Revlimiter did. Unlike him, I don't have dual lens low-profile headlights and I found that some trimming of the headlight frame was necessary to get the duct to fit. if I were to do it again, I'd probably order the 2 or 3 inch size. Lucky for me, I had a spare pop-up assembly from a parts car and I felt free to hack away. :fael:

Mocked up:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

Epoxied, Bondo-ed, and primed:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

Meanwhile, I picked up a tiny T3 churbo off eBay (with the .48 turbine AR that everyone seems to like), a Vibrant intercooler from Fab9, FM silicone charge piping, a Turbosmart dual port BOV from Fab9, and some stainless weld-els and a T3 flange off Amazon.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

Manifold mocked up. The T3 flange came machined to nest on 1.5 inch pipe pretty nicely.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

Then I freed up some cash by selling a bunch of climbing gear that I haven't used in a long time so I could buy a MIG welder off Craigslist. It's a good thing I bought some extra fittings to practice on, this shit is harder than it looks and now I need to buy more gas.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

I'm hoping to reuse the flange off a spare stock manifold I have. Burring out the old welds has been a colossal pain in the ass.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408627015

As for the manifold, I have no power steering or air conditioning so I'm going to mount the turbo as low as I can while maintaining access to the fasteners and compatibility with the FM silicone pipe. Then I'll make my own downpipe and exhaust; 3" all the way to the bumper.

I thought pretty hard about going the ArtTech route for exhaust parts, but I realize that my motor and turbo combination is a little weak and if either blows up, I'd like to be able to just fabricate a new manifold for a 1.8 and a larger turbo. Plus, I want to learn how to weld just like I taught myself to paint and solder, even if it takes longer and costs more that just buying off the shelf parts.

Also, I have a set of used Toyota COPs to wire up, a torsen with new axles, green RX8 injectors, and a homemade BEGI-style coolant reroute waiting to be installed.

On order, I'm waiting for a set of Tecna coilovers and some 15x8 tungsten 6ULs. I figure when the new suspension arrives I'll drop the rear subframe to clean and paint it and install the torsen at the same time.

Sometime in the near future I'll pull my motor out to do a timing belt, seals, clutch (to be decided on), coolant reroute, and drill the oil pan.

Items remaining to be procured:
-Throttle body elbow, BOV pipe, misc clamps and fittings
-Clutch
-Turbo oil plumbing
-Turbo studs
-Downpipe and exhaust materials, muffler
-Grease fittings for bushings
-Tires - probably 205/50R15 Federal RS595s
-Valve stems and lug nuts

Max props!! You saved a Miata from the rust demons and are doing everything right. I applaud all the DIY here.

Don't be in a hurry to move those gauges. The visibility behind the shift knob is lousy.

Thanks, man. I've mostly been lurking here for a couple years and enjoy both your build threads.

I had a '91 parts car that was even rustier. It donated a rear bumper cover, passenger door, spare motor, and 5 speed (Oxford comma FTW). My wife made me get rid of it for some reason...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408642980

I forgot, I also added FM frame rails and a replica R-package lip. The wheels are 14x6 Ronals that people usually confuse for BBSs. I bought them from my dad who got them out of the newspaper classifieds in the mid '90s for a Civic coupe he had. I've never seen another set but I'll probably sell them to offset the cost of my 6ULs.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408642980

Bonus cat pic:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408642980

I completed my thermostat spacer this morning. Considering that I started with a 2" x 4" x 6" piece of aluminum stock that I got for free, and only had a bandsaw and a sloppy Chinese mini-lathe to work with, I'm fairly pleased with how it came out. A friend did the welding for me.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1409147428

I have a Kia waterneck and GM truck hose ready to go, just need to come up with a freeze plug and block off plate for the front of the motor.

I made some progress on my NACA duct last night - finally blended the filler to my satisfaction. I still had some pinholes in the carbon fiber that I couldn't really get good access to sand, so I decided to paint the duct part with bedliner. It seems to help hide a lot of the imperfections.

I got some mariner blue in an aerosol can from my local paint place, the color match concerns me a little but I'll wait until it's fully cured, wed sanded and buffed before I make a judgment on that. I'm kind of wishing I'd just gotten a pint of the same urethane single stage for my spray gun, like I did for the rest of the car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1409226610

Botto of the lid, showing epoxxy mess.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1409226610

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411041535

I received my green RX8 injectors (195500-4460) back from being cleaned and flowed at Witch Hunter yesterday. They commented "Turned out OK. Not the best we've ever seen, should be usable."

I'm not sure what to make of that, but I went ahead and installed them with the highest flowing one on cylinder #4 and the lowest on cylinder #1. The install went alright until I broke off one of the fuel pressure regulator bolts. :crx: I'll have to go back and fix it, but it doesn't leak so I left it for the time being so I could start and tune the car.

I revised Req Fuel with Tuner Studios calculator, changing nothing else. It started a little hard and ran rough, very rich, but once it warmed up Autotune took care of everything pretty well. It idles a little richer and faster than before, but throttle response and power seem to be improved. I've of course got more tuning to do.

One slightly disturbing thing is that I was getting knock at very low engine speeds with very high vacuum, basically WOT in second gear at 15 MPH. AFR was very rich when this happened, so maybe I need to pull some timing if it persists after further fuel tuning.

This build is awesome so far, any more pics of the car after the paint job? Love it.

Thanks. :) A couple more:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411043634

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411043634

I had surprising success filling in all the gouges on the bumper cover with plastic filler from JB Weld. I did a test on a junk bumper cover, flexing it to try and get the filler to pop out, but it never did. So far, so good.

It's funny how obsessive I got over getting rid of the orange peel. Some of it's still there and it bugs me until I take a close look at my Forester and see what passes for a factory paint job.

Also, some 205/50R15 Rivals showed up on my doorstep last week. The $70 BFG rebate is what sold me on them over the Federals. I can't wait for my tungsten 6ULs and Tecnas to come in. I really like the mesh wheels I have, but they take a lot of weight to balance and the tires are pretty old.

Where did you get that rocker material? Did it come formed, or did you do it yourself?

Just a piece of galvanized sheet steel.

We made a cardboard pattern:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...w-img_1804-jpg

Did some bending:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...w-img_1806-jpg

Did some more bending:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...w-img_1808-jpg

Epoxxied and clamped it in place:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411046384

Filled it:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411046384

And painted it:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411046384

You really can't tell it's there now unless you notice that I filled in the seam at the back of the door. 1500 miles later and there's no cracking of the filler or anything from chassis flex.

Awesome! Thank you much!

Amazing man. I love a clean mariner blue.. one day I'll repaint mine.

Not until I have a covered parking spot though, or preferably a garage.

What year/model is your FOZ? Foz/miata is the best combo.
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Very cool. I've seen it when lurking in your build thread. I also have an SV650 to your Buell.

Mariner is still my favorite Miata color. A decent DIY paint job is very doable if you've got a clean place to work, but it's a very different skill than mechanical work. Much more of an art than turning wrenches. I had to adopt a much more patient mindset.

My Forester is an '07. They do make nice daily drivers.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411061994

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411061994

Aforementioned SV:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1411062445

BLUE, BLUE, BLUE. That's cool man, really like the SV as well. Good bikes.

And the forester is an XT so, clearly awesome.

Ha, just noticed your skid plate.

The best part is that in deep enough snow, it acts like a ski and you can float over the top :giggle:.

OH, and it was free fiddy.

In for turbo Miata, FXT, sv650 owners club!

I mean I've owned all three just not at the same time...

Handed out a bunch of deserved props!

Interesting that you epoxied your patch panels rather than stitch welding. Hadn't seen that done before.

All the Miatas down here are completely rust free with hail dimples. We get spoiled and the PDR guys always have work.

Yeah, I didn't own a welder at the time, and the adhesive let me used a galvanized piece.

I used 3M automotive panel bonding adhesive. Something like this: 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive 08116

I did a few tests on some scrap and it's pretty damn strong.

Progress has been slow recently because I've been busy doing other things.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413462405

Best get a move on, winter is coming.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413462405

Some recent progress:

I began building my Corolla coil on plug ignition setup; ended up caving and bought Trackspeed's COP bracket rather than making my own. It's a nice, clean solution.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413461724

I felt like I was making decent progress on my manifold but ran into some snags. I should have spent more time dry-fitting.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413461724

Shit don't line up, son.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413461724

So I decided to start over without reusing the stock head flange. I bought a machined one off Amazon:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413461724

The listing title states it's for a 1.6 but the description says 1.8, so I was a little confused but figured I could just return it if it didn't fit. It is, in fact, for a 1.6. All the holes line up with my factory flange and I test fit it on a 1.6 head.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413461724

I'll need to make a new log, as this flange is sized for 1.25" schedule 10, rather than the 1.5" I already have.

And I got some baller new lug nuts and valve stem, just no wheels to put them on yet. Can't wait for my Tungsten 6ULs and Tecnas.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1413462405

Love all the DIY.

I'm feeling pretty torn about my Tungsten 6UL pre-order. I much prefer the looks of the 10 spoke design on the Jongbloeds over the 12 spoke 6ULs. I'm sorely tempted to cancel my 6UL order from Goodwin and put the $200 saving toward other things.

Welp, it's official. I cancelled my 6UL order in favor of the silver Jongbloeds. They won't be here until November, but I'm not in a super hurry anyway.

I'm a little confused as to why a vendor in San Diego can ship a set of 15x8 wheels to New Hampshire for $75, but one in Colorado quotes almost twice that much. In any case, I went with Phil's Tire Service in New York, the closest and cheapest shipping of them all.

Because FM makes $$$ on shipping???

I've found a possible buyer for my 1.6 differential, which gave me enough motivation to start my Torsen swap. The diff came out without too much trouble and, mercifully, so did the axles. Just a couple taps with a hammer and splined section popped free of the hub. I removed the axle nut a few months ago and squirted some PB Blaster in there, so that paid off.

I wish I'd gotten a better picture, but I did notice some debris and rust color near the wheel bearings, inboard of the seals. I suppose now is as good a time as any to swap those out.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1414106356

In other news, my father, who has an '00 SE, called up 949 to pre-order some Tecnas. They told him that there's been a delay because of some kind dispute with the Longshoremen Union. ETA has been pushed back to late November.

Latest news on the Tecnas is that they're delayed until late November. Best case scenario is that I'll get everything together in time for one test drive before the car goes up for the winter. I had Emilio add some ARP extended lugs to the order as well, as seeing so little thread engagement on the aluminum 949 lug nuts gives me the willeys. Plus, the bullet noses will look baller. I've also got some Timken bearings and Amsoil Dominator grease on the way, just while I'm there.

In other news, my 15x8 Jongbloeds arrived and I had my 205 Rivals mounted up. I think I'll just keep them in my basement for the winter, rather than the garage, to keep the tires from getting super cold.

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I also pulled the rear subframe out for some cleaning and POR-15. Moving that around was fun, considering my quads and core are wrecked lately.

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This is what I'm dealing with. None of it seems to be a structural threat and the rust cleans up nicely with a wire wheel. You can see where I slathered on some POR-15 while the subframe was still in the car, but I couldn't access the whole thing.

Attachment 235523

Also, here's DIY manifold V1 (left) and V2 (right). V1 uses 1.5" pipe and the OEM header flange, V2 uses 1.25" pipe and CNC'd flange off Amazon. I'm liking V2 much more, besides the 3D machined flange, the overall height is lower without any trimming of the pipe, making for easier turbo-to-frame rail clearance and the smaller radius T-fittings give better access to the middle flange stud-nut.

Attachment 235524

I'm encountering some tough sleddin' getting my rear wheel bearings out. The hub came out without trouble and I was able to chiselwedge the inner race most of the way off the spindle, then it got stuck. I ended up carefully dremeling a little slot in the inner race to create a stress riser, then was able to split them off on both sides.

Attachment 235517

The inner races are being more stubborn. After removing the retaining clip I was able to drive the race out partway with a socket and a hammer. It's a couple millimeters away from being flush with the outer face of the upright and doesn't seem to want to move any more, even with the largest arbor press I have access to at work. I'm kind of at a loss for a solution beyond finding a bigger hammer. :confused:

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Inspiring build. Love the grassroots effect. '90 love!

Thanks, man. :)

More progress...

I painted my subframe:

Attachment 235504

Drilled and tapped my control arms for grease fittings:

Attachment 235505

And bought new TImken rear wheel bearings from Rockauto:

Attachment 235506

Insert quarters between the inner races (because there was enough space and pennies are for proles):

Attachment 235507

Popped the races out with a small arbor press I have access to, but you could just as easily use the loving caress of a hammer and socket:

Attachment 235508

Inner races out, wiped down, a bagged up:

Attachment 235509

I had to use a slightly different method to release the balls than I've seen done for the front. :giggle: I tried prying them out with no success and I was afraid I was going to break the plastic retainer or scratch the outer race. Instead, I removed the seals with a flat blade screwdriver and a couple taps:

Attachment 235510

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Success! No damage.

Attachment 235512

Then I used two screwdrivers to pop out the retainer and balls together, so I wouldn't have to chase them all over the floor:

Attachment 235513

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All wiped down and put away. That's enough for today. Tomorrow I'll clean the parts with WD-40 and reassemble with Amsoil.

Attachment 235516

Today's work:

Scrubbed bearings with WD-40:

Attachment 235498

Packed them with Amsoil Dominator, now they're greasier than the carpet at Chuck E. Cheese:

Attachment 235499

I managed to get the bearing outer race unstuck from my upright the other day (just needed to buy a manlier hammer), removed the dust shields since they were in poor shape, and hit them with some Rustoleum.

Attachment 235500

Both bearings measure at 74.00 mm outer diameter at room temperature, and the upright bores check out at 73.88 mm, giving a 0.12 mm interference, or 0.005" if you're not into crazy Old World moon units.

Attachment 235501

I chilled the bearings to -23C and heated the uprights to 150C in an oven. One dropped right in with a quick hammer tap:

Attachment 235502

The other one got stuck part way:

Attachment 235503

Well fuck. I'll try to separate the stuck one tomorrow and try again.

Loving this build. I had no idea that our bearings had quarters in them.

I took the quarters out when I was done because I'm cheap. Do you think my bearings will asplode now?

Subframe installed:

Attachment 235496

4.1 Torsen differential, brand new NB-style halfshafts, driveshaft, and painted control arms all installed:

Attachment 235497

I just need to finish up my rear bearings, ARP studs, and uprights, then I can get wheels on and be able to roll the car into winter storage. It's looking like my old FM/AGX setup will be going back in for now, Tecnas are delayed (yet again) until January.

Oh yeah, and my $30 angle grinder finally shit itself after 7 years of use. I'd say I got my money's worth.

Where did you find new halfshafts?

ToughOne CV Axle Assembly NCV47590: Advance Auto Parts

I paid $135 shipped a few months ago. Just now getting around to installing them. New, not remanufactured.

Rear upright rebuild complete:

Attachment 235495

Almost too pretty to install, but if you send them down here I'll gladly track-test them for you. :)

Thanks for your kind offer, but I hope to track test them myself. :)

Part of me is tempted to to sell off my turbo stuff and just buy a VVT motor, XIDAs and some Wilwoods to go the Supermiata route, but piecing the turbo together is too much fun. I suppose one is about the end result and the other is more about the process and educating myself. So far I've learned rudimentary painting, soldering, tuning, and welding skills.

Today's work: repacked front bearings with Amsoil and pressed in ARP studs.

Attachment 235494

Very nice build thread. Looking forward to your updates.

I finally got everything back together today, with just enough daylight for a quick rip up and down the road before it got dark.

Still no Tecnas to install, so I had to put my old AGX setup back in. :vash: The underside of this car hasn't looked this clean in 20 years.

Attachment 235489

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I threw my new Jongbloeds on for the first time, just temporarily to see what they would look like. I'm pretty pleased and I don't feel like I missed out on anything by not going with 6ULs. These should fit my needs just fine.

Attachment 235491

A little beefier than my old 195s on 14x6.

Attachment 235492

Old wheels back on and car up on dollies for the long winter's nap. With this arrangement I can barely fit my Miata, my Forester, my wife's Honda Fit, the SV650, and the lawnmower plus all my tools in my two car garage. If I were just storing Miatas, I think I could fit six of them in here. :party:

Attachment 235493

There probably won't be any more updates until spring, though I may work on my COPs harness over the winter.

In other news, I got selected in a lottery to do a long footrace in southwestern Colorado. I'll probably end up selling my bike to pay for the two week trip.

I discovered something interesting in my weekly googling of "Supermiata Tecna":

Welp, it sounds like 949's Tecna project went tits up. Reading between the lines of the second hand information on M.net, I suspect the production shipment finally arrived in California and didn't pass muster, leaving them with no other option than to refund everyone's money. I've not personally received any contact or a refund on my card, but I'd expect that in another few days. Kudos to 949 for making the right call, but I think I've learned my lesson on pre-ordering with a deposit.

Now I have to figure out what to do for springs and dampers because my old FM/AGX combo is probably the biggest thing that currently hurts my enjoyment of the car. The FM Vmaxx is in a similar price range but I'll need to research it some more. I might be able to swing XIDA Club Sports, but those are listed as out of stock until February, so who knows when they'll really be available?

It was a tropical 44 degrees out when I got home from work today, so I started the next stage of my project. I supported the motor from both above and below, then dropped the front subframe and disassembled the suspension.

Attachment 235488

Next steps will be cleaning 25 years of oil smegma and surface rust off everything, then painting and reinstallation. Along the way there will also be new brakes, motor mounts, springs and shocks, as well as the new hubs I repacked over the winter.

Excited to be making progress again. :party:

Things accomplished yesterday:

- Made bigger mess of garage:

Attachment 235484

- Installed homemade NACA headlight duct:

Attachment 235485

- Installed Wilwood brake proportioning valve:

Attachment 235486

- Scrubbed engine from beneath:

Attachment 235487

I'm not sure how I'm feeling about the NACA duct; starting to think it's too big and not at quite right angle. I made the rearmost edge parallel to the rear edge of the headlight lid, but now that it's on the car I feel like it should be pointed a little more toward the center. The paint also doesn't quite match. Not sue if I'm just spergin' out here.

I'm considering getting another lid and the smaller 2" duct to try again.

Attachment 235483

It's getting warm out and most of the snow is gone locally, so I'm eager to get the car back on the road. I'm hoping for a shipping notice soon on the Xidas I ordered in January so I won't have to put my old setup back in.

Meanwhile, I stripped and primed my subframe and lower control arms. Upper ball joints were being a bitch, so the upper arms and uprights didn't get painted at the same time. Maybe later this week.

Attachment 235482

Lots of recent progress, not a lot of pics.

-Painted and re-installed front subframe, spindles, and control arms.
-Installed grease fittings for existing front PU bushings
-Installed new lower ball joints, new upper ball joint boots, and new '93LE tie rods
-Installed the Timken hubs that I re-packed over the winter
-Installed 11" Wilwood fron BBK, Xida 700/400 club sports, Racing Beat solid front bar, and 1.8 sized rear brakes. :party:

Attachment 235480
Attachment 235481

Things remaining to do before I can try all this stuff out:

-Fix leak at brake proportioning valve. I must have over tightened and stripped one of the adapter fittings.
-Bleed brakes
-Set ride height
-Torque suspension fasteners
-Adjust and install existing RB sway bar end links
-Ghetto alignment with iPhone and tape measure
-Drive car to settle ride and bed pads
-Check and adjust ride height as needed
-Get real alignment and corner weight
-Lots of other miscellaneous junk

Then I just have to save money over the summer for a clutch, radiator, and downpipe and exhaust materials. Once those are in hand, I'll be able to start turbo-ing and stuff.

It lives. :)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1430611624

I drove perhaps 15 miles tonight and I'm very happy with the new setup, especially the Xidas. I had a particular bump nearby that was pretty rough on my old FM/KYB setup, the Xidas gave no shits.

I was unable to bed the brakes as my alignment is bad enough that I got some serious pulling to the left under moderate braking, so that'll have to get moved up the list. I also experienced some tire rubbing in the rear on large bumps. My 205 Rivals on 15x8 Jongbloeds made brief contact with my unrolled fender lips. Hopefully the alignment will fix that, otherwise I'll need to do a roll.

Swapped out my 700/400 lb/in springs on the Xidas for 550/350 and it rides sooooo much better. Like buttah. I'm super happy with the setup right now, aside from the wheezy N/A 1.6.

Getting my alignment done tomorrow, then I've got to refine my after-start-enrichment and acceleration enrichment.

Got the car setup with 949's dual duty spec, -2.0/-1.7 F/R camber, 0 front toe and 1/8 rear toe. It handles much better now and I'm no longer getting any fender rub with my 205s on 15x8 +36 wheels. The place that did it, Synaptic3 Engineering, is local to me and seems to specialize in rotaries. I've been driving by their shop for years but never really had a reason to stop by. They seemed to know what they were doing and I may have them final tune my Megasquirt once the turbo is on.

In turbo news, I'm getting pretty frustrated trying to weld my log manifold. I'm using a small 110v Lincoln MIG and having a hard time maintaining a good arc while welding the the Els to the head flange. There seems to be two things going on; one, I have hold the feed cable almost perfectly straight to get the wire to feed out of the gun without binding up and two, my wire almost instantaneously melts back to the tip as soon as I start. I remember using the original spool of wire that came on the MIG to pretty easily weld some scrap mild steel together but now that I'm using the 309 wire recommended by my local weld shop to weld SS to SS and SS to mild I'm having a hard time making anything bigger than a tack weld before the wire melts.

While I want to figure out what I'm doing wrong (undersized welder, poor settings, wrong wire, etc.) because I'll need to make my own down pipe and exhaust, I decided the manifold wasn't worth the frustration and delay, so I ordered a cast ebay unit. It looks the same as the out of stock TacoTaco unit but is sold by MiragePower. For $130, I'm willing to guinea pig this one.
1989 1993 Mazda Miata Eunos Roadster 1 6L B6 Cast Iron Turbo Manifold | eBay
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433343317

To be a little more clear on the welding problem, I was able to weld the log together out of stainless Els, but my beads looked like crap so I ground and filled them repeatedly until I had a reasonably smooth surface. I'm not sure if this is a robust enough joint, but at least it's physically one piece.

Welding the stainless log to the mild steel head flange is the real bitch. I can't really get beyond a tack weld before the wire melts. :vash:

Current 1.25" manifold is pictured in the front:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433343745

Have you tried playing with the wire feed speed?
What size wire are you using?

Yeah, varying the speed doesn't seem to help much. I want to say the wire is 0.030", same as the original wire and gun tip.

Got my eBay manifold in the other day and test fit it on my spare motor. It's a Mirage Power not TacoTaco, but appears to be essentially the same thing. All the bolt holes line up, so that's step one. The quality of the casting and the gasket surfaces seems adequate.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433945559

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433945559

Shit's upside down, yo.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433945559

I'm currently working on porting the waste gate from my .48 A/R eBay T3. My 1/4" shank Chicago Electric die grinder burrs are laughably inadequate. I have some 1/8" carbide burrs that fit my Dremel, but that's broken at the moment, so I'm stalled until I can resolve that.

Progress!

Ported waste gate:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

This went more quickly than I expected using a dremel and 1/8" shank carbide burrs. Maybe 20 minutes start to finish.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

Clearanced housing for WG flapper rivet:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

Clocked center housing to point feed/drain vertically, compressor outlet straight down and re-mount WG actuator, which is conveniently easy on this turbo given that there's six different positions you can mount it on the compressor housing.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

I also did some hiking/trail running:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1434499970

<p>what welder are you using? some of the cheaper (HF) ones use&nbsp;plastic feed rollers, which simply will not feed wire correctly, if at all. since most are direct copies of lincolns, ive heard you can swap in the lincoln wheels and have a welder that actually works. you may have to do some research, but something like this</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/ei...DEF:X:KP1884-1</p>

It's a Lincoln SP-135T:
The feed rollers are steel. I think the best thing I can do to troubleshoot at this point is try different wire and go back to practicing on mild steel. I don't remember having nearly so much trouble when I first tried to weld mild with what I was told was the spool of wire that came with the welder when it was new. I don't think I have crummy 309 wire as I bought what was recommended to me by the guy behind the counter at the local weld supply place. They seemed reputable enough, but I guess I just have to go back to my baseline and start over.

Only other thing I can think of is to double check the wiring for the polarity.