Alright so today I'm having a minor panic attack about the health of my motor. I finished my exhaust except for a vband leak somewhere, doesn't help that I stripped one of them. The exhaust doesnt contact anywhere but comes damn close to the trans and subframe. Around 1/4 of an inch. Again trying to trace the leak on my down pipe and more water in the exhaust system? Also when starting up it runs fine when my wideband is on heater but once it warms up it leans out and it dies. Which I think is the leak before the o2 sensor so oxygen is present=lean. Is it a problem to lean out at idle? So some minor ms problems to sort out like idle control and fan control and trying to get autotune going.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1458520775


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1458520775


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1458520775

The only thing else I did engine wise is switch to a 1.6 bk6r plug from the bk5r plug. Yes the downpipe is rough but it moves gases. Exhaust is 2.5 inch straight to a thrust muffler.

I wish i could help diagnose the problem. Lets just say I'm very jealous that you already have your turbo stuff installed. My cars a lawn ornament till i replace the clutch

Didn't realize how much I suck at pictures. So far the car is running and driving, to and from school. Tuning strategy is good afr's via ve analize, which I love btw. As well as a set of Det can headphones. Still getting boost creep which prevents a full wot throttle run. Cashed out on Dremel bits and will do a nice port job tomorrow. Stock clutch isn't loving it, so the beefy act clutch will be going in soon. Also new england goes from 65 degrees on april 3rd to 4 inches of snow on april 4th and 5th, god (or whatever you think it acceptable here) hates miatas. So next purchase will be some Kosei K8R's 15x8 from tire rack as well as a set of Kumho ecsta v720's in 205 for a summer tire, when ever it comes.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1459899716


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1459899716


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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1459899716

So what I originally wanted this build to be, and what it will be, is very similar to tekel's 95 turbo. A cheap churbo street car that has good suspension, brakes, tires, and power. So I think its pretty close to that :)

You want carbide bits for the dremel. Check my GB thread, sonofthehill, deezums, and nigelt's build threads for pictures on the type of porting you need to do. Basically you need to enlarge the wastegate hole a good amount.

:laugh:

Ok I can't resist, as an SF native who survived 4 harsh New England winters and is happy to be back in sunny California.
The universe, unicorn, god or whatever loves miatas he just hates New England. ;)

Thanks Lars, Ill check that out. BTW the waste gate on the turbo IIRC is 8 psi right?

When the car was still NA, we had a 70 degree christmas, drove the damn thing a lot with the top down. Forecasts shows 60 tomorrow and then more snow next week :yippee:

You don't need to port the waste gate, you need a new downpipe. Ew.

its been redone since then, the welder was set up half assed that was a test fit, everything got redone and the vband set up was moved down. Grounded and had some real welds on it

I think Curly might not understand how tight the shelf is there with that tacoburrito T3.

Still some pretty shitty looking bends, but I guess it fits...

Like I said its since been redone, I used a similar bend just because of how tight it is. There is a blurred line on what impedes flow and what doesn't. What did yours look like? I could find any pictures on your build thread?

Yeah the DP definitely is not good, but even barring that the wastegate needs to be ported.

1.6 tacotaco is different then the 1.8 tacotaco. 1.6 one is much easier to build a down pipe for. I bet deezums down pipe looks just about exactly as the ones in my setup.

Mine was a lot easier, the 1.6 manifold has the turbo like three inches forward of the 1.8 manifold, and it's up a lot higher, too.

It's why I'm having Lars make me a manifold for my 1.8, his manifolds are closer to the 1.6 tacotaco. I won't have to change my downpipe much at all.

But here's mine...

https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...3/#post1184331

https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...6/#post1214480

If I had time I'd measure both for you. I have the 1.6 manifold (like yours) and the MK 1.8 manifold. Visually they look pretty damn close.

still hitting over boost with a mild port job, will pull it this weekend and go at it again. What is the wastegate setting for these turbos?

It depends on the preload you put on the wastegate can, or if it's binding...

My other suspicions include the waste gate being higher than the rest, when I bought this I couldn't find a number. My waste gate reading of the comp housing of the turbo. Or something else. Preload should be zero to standard

Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage to mod my downpipe to work without measuring. I've had Lars check for me too already :likecat:

You should be able to set the wastegate preload loose enough to hear it rattle around at idle, if it still overboosts then you either need porting or a new wastegate can.

You could also use a bike pump to check it yourself if you wanted. It should be around 7-10 psi or so.

A bike pump is a good tool for wastegate testing. I recently rigged one up to find the max and min duty cycle of my ebc solenoid. It was very easy to see on the gauge, 7% closed, 98% open @ 19.5hz for those who want to know.

You should check min and Max by doing pulls not like that. It may open at 7% but it might not open enough to change spool until 30%. That's why each setup can be different

Good point, I was running 10% & 100% before by logging pulls but I had gone from 90% to 100%. I mainly wanted to see if 95, 96, 97% ect... was visible on the gauge or not. I will play with the low end again and pour over some older logs. Thanks!

So my rings when today. Compression before today, about a week ago, 180-175-165-175, Ok but not great. Then today after a few pulls, no knock, no leaning up top. 180-180-130-145, poor motor was probably tired and neglected. I feel like I need a hug, Also oil turned black quick so Blow by, YAY...fml

Stupid or crazy, you decide
 

So after I found out my engine had blow by, I had no where to go. Either quit and pack my bags I.E. sell car or drive it until it goes for good, or replace/ rebuild. Anyway a week later I found another 95 for sale that was a part out car, motor had 182k and needed a head gasket most likely, owner also said a rebuild wouldn't hurt. So I decided on a rebuild of a 200$ 95 long block.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
Note the ricey valve cover
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
This is where I'm at right now, block looks good, still has factory cross hatching and is gunk'd and ready to be honed (going to use the diy "deglazer")
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
Trying to keep barn destruction to a minimum, in the background is a 1942 Dodge WC 52, used in Normandy, the only hobby my father really has is with that thing
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
Then I saw this, keyway walk? The crank keyway is damaged somewhat, could I do the 1.6 loctite fix? I'm guessing that the pulley and sprocket were put in wrong. Anyone care to elaborate?
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
The key was destroyed, harmonic damper issue?
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530667
Im not engine expert so I don't know what constitutes a *clean" engine, but this one was gunk free, besides some slight surface rust on the cams which at the worst will wire brush off. Note none of the rust is on the lobe part. I'll read up on this and see what I can find.

Stupid or crazy, you decide
 

So after I found out my engine had blow by, I had no where to go. Either quit and pack my bags I.E. sell car or drive it until it goes for good, or replace/ rebuild. Anyway a week later I found another 95 for sale that was a part out car, motor had 182k and needed a head gasket most likely, owner also said a rebuild wouldn't hurt. So I decided on a rebuild of a 200$ 95 long block.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
Note the ricey valve cover
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
This is where I'm at right now, block looks good, still has factory cross hatching and is gunk'd and ready to be honed (going to use the diy "deglazer")
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
Trying to keep barn destruction to a minimum, in the background is a 1942 Dodge WC 52, used in Normandy, the only hobby my father really has is with that thing
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
Then I saw this, keyway walk? The crank keyway is damaged somewhat, could I do the 1.6 loctite fix? I'm guessing that the pulley and sprocket were put in wrong. Anyone care to elaborate?
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
The key was destroyed, harmonic damper issue?
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461530701
Im not engine expert so I don't know what constitutes a *clean" engine, but this one was gunk free, besides some slight surface rust on the cams which at the worst will wire brush off. Note none of the rust is on the lobe part. I'll read up on this and see what I can find.

so I'm sure a lot of you are face palming pretty hard about the keyway issue. I'm trying a Loctite fix, which looks like it works, obviously someone didn't torque the harmonic damper to spec. I might swap cranks when I pull the motor. The old motor is still running and has the compression numbers from before, so the rings were just worn I guess. I've put 1500 miles on the whole turbo setup and no issues with the manifold or turbo to report. Only a few fuel leaks from the injector spacers, but I'm pretty sure I've resolved them. Got some new 16x7 wheels and new tires, added a gv lip, and I'm looking for a hardtop. One's for sale for 500$ a days drive away from me, tempting. My main concern is to swap motors before I go back to school at the end of august. As far as the megasquirt goes I'm running 029Y4 and it seems to run fine. I don't know how much better Hi-res is but I have the code saved somewhere, I just need a windows 7 computer to reflash. My fans, iacv, and tach issues have all been resolved. Also I re-ported the turbo and now I don't hit overboost, which that's always good. The exhaust still hits the steering rack if I turn left extremely hard, will probably fix when I pull the motor. Also got some megan motor mounts to replace my worn stock ones, should also help the exhaust problem.
Here's a picture
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...65988411e4.png

Move your front license plate off to the side of the mouth. You can block airflow with where you have it and cause cooling issues. Building a new bracket is like $10 in parts or something.

thanks for the input lars, I haven't experienced any overheating issues since I heat wrapped the down pipe and wired up slim fans. I would move the plate if I experience any more overheating issues. The real problem I have with that is that the company I hired to paint the car didn't remove the plate, as well as the front bumper has indentations for the plate to be mounted there
Btw I saw Jxphan's setup at miata day, you're welding looks amazing and that magnaflow really is huge, really wish I was that talented with a welder!

I have the front plate on mine mounted like that. It is fine on the street (though I am N/A), but autocross or track it overheats.

So I decided to swap motors last weekend. The whole endeavor took around 3 days. Day one was the pull and cleaning of the bay, day 2 was swapping parts, day 3 was reinstallation. Here are some pictures, they might be out of order, trying to fix that sorry. The taco taco is holding up fine with around 2.5k on it. The rebuild motor has around 100 miles on it now, had crank wobble but found out I was sent an snc key from tcm, swapped it out with the proper 1.8 key and redid the loctite fix. The original valve cover had a crack in it so I picked up a protege one. Having lots of tuner studio issue, I'm still not on hi-res right now and I am having typical connection issues after updating to tuner studio 3.0
I know I should just get ms2 but I'm done pumping money into this car for now I want to enjoy it. I know this car isn't perfect but it's come a long way since I first got it, also I'm still in high school so my budget is limited. Thanks for following this thread, I think I can call it quits here
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So another update. I have not been to the dyno yet but I'm pretty content at 9 psi. Car really only needs an alignment and it should be good to go. I've had a few hoses go but that was mainly negligence from me not replacing 20+ year old rubber, I'm sure most of you hate old rubber. I also think I might of screwed up my main seal putting it in. It threw oil everywhere and dripped a few drops when parked. So I set out to replace and accidentally put a cam seal. Then I found my spare crank seal and fixed it, I think it stopped leaking so I'm calling this one a win. Also it needs a clutch slave, no biggie 20$ on Amazon. I had a break line melt, my fault, replaced the melted section because I was unable to find a whole new section. I also think there is a tuning company local to me who tunes for a somewhat reasonable price, some Miata.net old timer was telling me about them. I've got about 750 miles on the rebuild, it fun as hell, loving the car a shit ton. I also swapped out my wrx 440s due to the seals not staying in the injector spacers. I switched to rx8's. I also might switch to ms2 soon to. I picked up a roll bar and got some free fallen azenis rt615k's for free too. Hopefully I can get and alignment and improve the tune enough to find an auto cross event before the winter rolls around.

Oil pump went earlier this week, looks like the motor will be coming out and I'll be getting rid of the cancerous crank that is in there right now. So new bearings, new pump, and that should be it. Maybe power wash the bay again

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b8f368c02.jpeg

Worked on the car for a few hours today. Started pretty much just unplugging stuff. Tomorrow hopefully I can do all the shitty under the car stuff, then have it out by Saturday. I also pulled the crank from original motor, it looks fine. Bearings looked pretty good for 103k

forgot I had this gem :party:
I hit 8 psi in 3rd gear, I know my down pipe and manifold are like the worst possible spooling setup for this turbo, I was talking to jimmy, jxphan on here, and he said he hits 10 or 12 psi in 3rd gear. But is this spool relatively what it should be? I mean 1st gear is only really a few pounds at best. 3rd gear is really fun, I just want to drive this though

also I'm running really short bolts on the manifold to turbo, I want to fix this asap. Anybody know the pitch off the top of their head? I have the begi studs for the block to manifold.

I think they are 10x1.5 but not positive.
That's interesting about you guys only getting few pounds in 1st. I remember talk about that very early in the MKTURBO thread. I need to look at my logs to verify, but pretty sure I am hitting 14 or 15psi by the top of 1st gear, even with the huge .60a/r compressor.

I'll check and try to find some Inconel studs. Jimmy is hitting 12 psi in 3rd, big leap from 8. I think I hit 8 in second though, but its probably pretty high up

we are tapping our waste gate signal lines through our compressor housing, I'm pretty sure that's the culprit

What was the oil pump oring Lars was talking about, I have the pump to block, front main seal, and the oil pump to pick up gasket. What am I missing?

So I'll do a full write up of what I did today instead of lots of short posts on my phone.
I pulled the crank shaft today, realized I forgot to order the sump gasket, rear main seal gasket, and the oil pump gasket. So I put an order in for them and hopefully they should be here soon. I ordered my spacer, block off plate, and gaskets from begi. The rest of the stuff like the hose, T-Stat, and water neck I was able to get from amazon. I'm in at about 170-175$ for the reroute. Fingers crossed it doesn't leak. I also ordered their turbo mounting hardware. I know that the TSE studs are the hot item but I couldn't bring my self to spend 145$ on studs for a street/auto x car. I also installed the begi extended studs that I bought a while ago for the head, they look a lot better than home cheapo bolts. I'm also going to shorten the oil return line. Unfortunately between the oil return line and the intercooler pipe, there isn't much room for the lower radiator hose. I switched to a 1 piece gates hose from an NB, I'll try and put a 90 degree straight from the turbo and try to clear up some room, I just don't know if the PS pump will get in the way. I plan to add another Vband to the exhaust now too, it's currently just the down pipe and the rest of the exhaust, so 2 pieces. I also want to get my IACV working, I'm not on hi-res anymore because I lost my firmware and I can't get 64 bit windows to reflash hi-res. Also discover my thrust bearing went, which got microscopic metal shavings in the oil, ruined the rest of the bearings. It's the right thrust bearing, installed with the notches facing out, I don't understand what went wrong but then again I don't really know how its supposed to work.
So that's my hopes and dreams for now. Maybe I'll get some pictures of bearing destruction up, maybe I won't

Not sure if I am reading this right but you don't want a 90 coming right off the turbo for an oil drain.
It will cause you problems.
Oh and I run the regular studs supplied with the MKTURBO kit.

But I don't autox.

I mean a 90 off the turbo for intercooler piping, probably should of clarified that

Just making sure :)

haha it's late
I just want to drive this damn car, in the 9 months I've been building I don't think I've gotten it to 100% of its potential

Also sonofthehill, where are you getting a wastegate signal from?

Put the bottom end back together today. Measured just about everything except endplay which I will do eventually. If any one could take the time to explain to me the purpose of a thrust bearing I would greatly appreciate it. I picked up a new daily driver, an 2005 mazda tribute with 150k. Here's the kicker, got it for free. My grandfather has/had a used car dealership, he getting ready to retire so all the old stock is on its way out. Should be easier to daily and drive in the winter than the miata :party: Anyway the oil pump has to go back on and the pan. I got my reroute stuff from begi. I followed revlimiter's write on it. I was about 170$-180$ in by the end of it all. I was also thinking would my head be trashed from running with no oil? I would bet it is because I wiped off the cam and cam surfaces before reassemble. Fingers crossed they look ok though.
I was thinking about adding a real oil pressure gauge. Any input?
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-SP0F000052-Style-Mechanical-Pressure/dp/B00UM9X4UW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1475465350&sr=8-3&keywords=oil+pressure+gauge

When you push on the clutch it pushes on the flywheel which pushes on the crank. You need something to control the front to back movement of the crank.

Sorry for the late reply, my wastegate pressure is sourced about 3 or 4 inches outside of the throttle body. Post IC pre throttle body. I run my EBC solenoid in the wiper cowl, so it is difficult to see.

So why would you want endplay at all? would any amount of movement in the slightest cause wear? I would assume that there is an oil clearance right, although there is no direct oil passage to the bearing itself

Don't know for sure but I assume it's because without any clearance it will self clearance?

That's what I'm having trouble wrapping my head around. I get that they are supposed to locate the crank and prevent play. I know my clutch is fairly tough, but whatever destroyed my thrust bearing really screwed it up.

Does your grandpa have any other free cars he is trying to get rid of?

:D

Best part is the window price was $4650 :dealwithit:
I think it needs a wheel bearing or something, has a pretty bad vibration above 45 mph.

Haven't updated this thread in a while, me and my friend Nate figured out why my thrust bearing failed. Apparently you need to kill the clutch switch when you start the car or it will prematurely wear the thrust bearing out with heavier than stock clutch, because I bought the clutch second hand I didn't get/receive this info. I've got like 300-325 miles on the engine and its running gravy. I got flamed for my timing map but I was setting base timing the wrong way with my old school ms1 so it turns out I was more retarded than advanced so no hard done, I didn't even really flog on the car at all. No leaks or anything yet, my coolant reroute hasn't leaked at all so that's good and the car holds its fluid so it's already way better than it was before. I fixed all the jenky bullshit that was done to it too and it makes a decently reliable DD. I still need to take the car to get an alignment, fix my iacv, and upgrade to Hi-res code which has been the biggest headache because I need a windows 7 32 bit pc when all I have is a windows 10 64 bit and 64 bit windows 7 laptops. All for a quick little reflash. I also picked up a snug top for 450$ a few weeks ago, it has a cracked window so I was thinking of going with the TCM lexan replacement window, besides the window its in pretty good shape, I added a rollbar as well, hard dog hard bar with a racing beat cover. I also installed electronic det cans and raised the boost up to 10 psi and the car rips, I still haven't really gotten it to roast 1st but I think that will take a few more Kpa. So hope fully by spring time I can take the car out to autox and maybe hang out with leach and other MT.net members.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cce1e11a4a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8866edcc84.jpg
Picked up a set of wide open's for an absolute steal. 66$ PER WHEEL, prime is a lifesaver, 114$ without it per wheel. Picked up a whole set for just 280$ and free shipping too. I'm thinking of craigslist-ing a set of 195/205-50-15 all seasons for the rest of the winter and then switching to a better compound tire.
Also this is a copy of my spark map, the car is amazeballs at 8-9 psi, I don't really want to jack it up too much without a tune, spools at like 3.5k too which seems a lot better than what I was getting before. It actually feels like it has horsepower at top too. I've just been driving around with VE al and det cans, the tune sounds solid, no "dropped pebbles" sound on the mic and afr's stay pinned between 11.5 and 12 throughout the whole pull. I'll snag a data log and post it up for opinions. I have the next week off from school, I'll see if I can get the iacv to kind of work. I've been idling at like 12 to 1 with no load and with the heater and headlights it hits mid 13.5.

I hate you a little bit.

You should be able to run about 28 degrees in the 101 kpa cells on pump 92-93 with a stock engine. And a little more beneath that row.

won't that be like a 10 degree drop into boost? most other maps that I've seen run around 20-24 degrees in the mid range

Table should be on there, I think I was running around 28-27 degrees in the 55-75 area between 2900 and 5200, turned it down a bit to the 22-25 that should be there now. Also increased the in boost timing to around 24 degrees tapering off 14-16 when I max out at around 160 kpa.

turned boost up to 10.5, because I like to party :party:
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Just missing my MT.net stickers....