Barton's na6
 

So I've had this car for over two years now and am getting real close to getting a turbo fitted on so I can join you boosted guys :naughty: so I thought I'd make some sort of documentation of my progress and get some feedback if I'm doing anything wrong. I'll let pictures do most of the talking for me. Currently I'm trying to keep the car looking stock to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679

I picked the car up in a fairly stock condition. It already had some xforce headers, low king springs and a N*Power muffler (racing beat re-brand). Not long into my ownership a rear caliper seized on me and I ended up having to refresh all the calipers due to the pistons being rusted. Got myself some EBC greenstuff pads, braided lines and slotted rotors. I regret going doing all of that now as I should have just upgraded to 1.8 stuff and gone with better pads but I didn't know any better at the time. Currently I'm using Hawk HP+ pads which hold up fine on the track so far.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679

Not much happened for a year after than (poor uni student life sucks :p) except for building a DIYPNP megasquirt and getting the car running on that. Couldn't believe the difference after removing the crappy flappy door AFM.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679

I then imported a nb8a engine from Japan to replace the old 1.6 motor and started buying parts for a turbo conversion. I cleaned up the engine bay while there was no engine in there, removing rust and painting stuff. Added some nice bits to the new motor including Garage Star pulleys, Astina valve cover and toyota COPs. I took a look at the wiring guide here for the COPs and decided to do it a simpler way. Instead of wiring it from the igniter plug next to the fender I just connected the COPs to the existing coil pack plug which supplies 12V and two trigger signals and I grounded the loom to the rear of the head. The only wire I had to run back to the igniter was a tach signal.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
Someone decided to bring sad eyes for it lol.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679

Once all that was done she started up perfectly and I was quite pleased with the extra power the 1.8 has over the 1.6.
That basically brings me to where I am now. I've just installed some msm bilstein coil-overs using 7F 5R spring rates, 1.5" ISC rear top hats and NB front top hats. Next up is getting the car running on a turbo. I've already received a manifold and dump pipe made by Nitrodann and an intercooler. Just need to fab up some intercooler pipes, the rest of the exhaust and fit an oil cooler.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440132679

Recently I discovered a problem with the voltage my ECU was reading. With the car off the gauge in Tunerstudio would read 11.7 and with the car on it would be around 12.5. I checked the voltages at the battery and alternator with a multi-meter and was getting 14.7V. I also checked the voltage at the injectors and was getting the same value as what the ECU is reading so it probably isn't an issue but it does bug me. Anyone have any ideas to what it could be?
Unfortunately I lost my datalogs from before my engine swap so I'm not sure if the low readings are a result of something I did during the swap or if it was always that low. I checked all the ground points in the engine bay and cleaned them up but no change.

ECU needs to match what injectors are getting.

Yup I've made sure that they are matching so that's all good but it still annoys me that I've got such a large voltage drop on the ECU power supply compared to other cars. A few other NAs that I've helped get running on megasquirt all measure around 13.6V at the ECU. I guess I should just stop thinking about it and move on with my life lol.

Received my new muffler and cat in the post. I chose a 3" Magnaflow 200cell cat and a Dynomax VT muffler. Not sure how quiet it's going to be since the muffler isn't that big but I'll see how it goes. I'd like to keep it as quiet as possible to avoid attention from cops.
I also still need to clock the turbo and test fit it so I can measure up the inter-cooler pipes I need to buy. Unfortunately I probably won't have time to do it until November :cry:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441857678

Here are some more shots of the manifold. Stock heat shield bolts up to it :D

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441857678https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441857678
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441857678

Test fitted the turbo manifold to see what bends I need for the inter-cooler pipes. It sits nice and low and hopefully will be quite hidden with the heat shield over the top.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442671195

I also installed the msm bilsteins in the front. Looks like I might need helper springs to get it to the height I want since the springs lose preload when the suspension droops.

I added a sequential injection board to my ECU and will soon have a TinyIOx board to add as well for digital wideband input. Since the board gives me extra outputs I could use to activate VICS and the rad fan should I bother wiring up sequential spark as well? Might just do it anyway because I can.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1445964674

Got a list of things to do hopefully over the next month
-Install 3.9 OBX LSD
-Rewire harness for NB cam and crank sensors and sequential injection
-Install FM 36-2 trigger wheel
-Cut inter-cooler pipes to size
-Drill sump for oil return
-Weld up exhaust

LSD waiting to go in (really need to clean up the rear housing)
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1445964674

Mock up of hot side inter-cooler pipes. Need to cut everything down to the correct lengths.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1445964674

I picked up a cheap ms2v3.57 board, TinyIOx and sequential board to replace my diypnp. Not too sure how to mount the TinyIOx inside the case yet or whether to make a separate case for it.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537

My car is also now turbo! :party:
Drilling and tapping the oil pan was a lot less painless than I thought and very straight forward. For the moment I don't have an intercooler but the piping to add it will arrive next week.

Sump drilled and tapped.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537

Fitting added. I used some sealant around it to make sure it doesn't leak.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537

Looking very OEM with the heat shield.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537

Also installed an AGI precision hardtop only roll bar with door bars.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451192537

Got round to mounting my inter-cooler and piping. Mounted it using aluminium brackets to secure it from the top and bottom. Intake temps are quite nice now sitting around 10-20 above ambient.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452991258
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452991258
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452991258

I also fixed a noise issue I've been having with my sensors. I was helping a friend install an Adaptronic e440d in a na6 and noticed in the instructions it said to cut a sensor ground wire located at the back of the intake manifold which would eliminate a ground loop. Cutting it removed almost all of the noise I was getting.

Before:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452991258
After:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452991258

Nice work.

very nice. Things look pretty well thought out :)

So I realised I've been having an electical issue causing the voltage reading that megasquirt sees to fluctuate wildly causing my dead times to be off. I narrowed it down to the LC-2 wideband ground at the ECU since unplugging the wideband gave me a stable voltage. I moved the widebands power and ground to the window switches which cleared up the voltage reading at the ECU but introduced a bit of noise in the AFR signal (also raising or lowering the windows affected the reading lol). Installing the TinyIOx board solved the AFR noise issue though and I can't believe how stable the signal is now. Digital ftw! Also after looking at the oem wiring diagram I noticed the diyautotune instructions for the IAT sensor gets you to ground the sensor at power ground and not signal ground so that was also fixed up. Sooo now I have some pretty noise free sensor readings :vash2:

Before:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454592048

Wideband moved and IAT ground fixed:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454592048

Digital wideband input:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454592048

I re-purposed an audio splitter case for the TinyIOx since that's all I had lying around. Works fine for the moment.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454592048

aaand scored myself some SSR formula mesh wheels for quite cheap :D
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454592048

Looks good!
But it also looks like your alternator isn't charging.

It would seem that way looking at the logs but the voltage at the ECU is lower than the voltage being output by the alternator. Not sure what is causing the voltage drop though. I've tested the voltage at the battery and the alternator and both read around 14V or so. Not really an issue since the voltage at the injectors is also the same as at the ECU.

Recently installed an MS3x ECU I put together. Heaps more features than the ms2 although I'm not using a lot of them yet. I'm planning on adding a number of sensors including GM flex fuel sensor, oil pressure, oil temp and VSS as well as sequential injection and ignition outputs. To make it easier all the extra inputs/outputs that aren't on the factory loom will go through a spare ECU plug I have from a nb8a loom.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1458310534

The MS3 seems to have completely smoothed my battery voltage signal compared to what I had before. Very smooooth sensor inputs however my AFRs seem to fluctuate a bit. Possibly exhaust leak or something else I haven't considered?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1458310534

My AFR fluctuations seemed to have disappeared which is good although I've no idea what caused it. May have been an issue with the LC-2, I'm not sure.
I had the opportunity to get my car on a dyno and mess around with my tune. Unfortunately I forgot to gap my spark plugs down so was misfiring at around 6500-7000rpm and I didn't have enough time to start messing with the ignition table.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461513724

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461513724

Ignore the RPM scale since the dyno wasn't setup correctly to match the wheel speed with RPM. I doubt the power figures (kw) are accurate but it was done with a correction factor of 1.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461513724

Intake temps climb quite a bit during pulls.

Good shot of my "stealth" engine bay. The pod filter is a bit of a giveaway.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461513724
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461513724

Made a new injector loom from the NB one that came with my engine. Stripped all the crap off it, crimped on new USCAR connectors to suit the new 1000cc injectors and terminated it with a deutsch plug. Eventually I'll get round to sticking it in the car and upgrading to sequential injection.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463658947

Fitten the 1000cc injectors and the new loom and switched over to sequential injection. Also made a LS2 ignition coil loom and fitted them using a bracket Beavis kindly made for me. Now time to turn up the boost.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1467649049

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1467649049

Instead of running new wires from the ECU to the engine bay I've been re-purposing any spare wires I can. I've used two spare pins 4O and 4K, on the AFM for the two extra injectors wires and moved the fuel pump trigger to 1K (TEN) in the diagnostics box and jumped it to F/P to turn on the fuel pump.

Recently got round to upgrading my brakes. Nothing huge, just NB8A brakes using my old na6 calipers since I got them for free. Hopefully I won't be needing anything bigger just yet.

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Also fitted a flex fuel sensor. Just have to find some time to set it up and fill up with some e85.

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Your build is looking good... real good!

I might suggest building an air box for your air filter.

I have to say I really like the look of the stock heat shield over the manifold/turbo. Definitely doesn't look too out of the ordinary.

Yeah building an air box is on my list of things to do once I figure out a design for it.

FM's design works fantastically. Might be able to copy their design. Just line the outside with gold reflective tape or a similar product and insulate the edges properly with silicone or rubber.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d3b315787.jpg

Was thinking of either doing that or a cowl intake. I'd guess that the cowl filter would be more effective although I'm not sure if I'd want to cut a big hole in my firewall.

That, and I imagine you may end up with some difficulty doing a cowl intake off of your turbo. If you can come up with something creative I'd love to see it. I actually use a NACA duct headlight and the FM airbox, and my engine is constantly fed cooler air. It is a quite effective set up if you are looking for cold air.

Are those garden snips sitting on your intake manifold? Been trimming the roses?

I have a friend with a turbo and a cowl. Other than sounding awesome it doesn't do much for intake temps.

Still must be better than sucking hot air from behind the radiator surely. Although my temps aren't much higher than ambient at the moment anyway.

Finally got round to wiring up the flex fuel sensor. Reads 0.6% on straight 98 petrol. Will fill up a tank of e85 soon and see how it goes. Fuel temperature also seems to work too.

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Also added this neat little $7 bluetooth module onto my ms3x board. Unlike the rs232 external one I had before this one lets me either use the USB cable or bluetooth to connect to the ECU.

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and got round to wiring up a SLC wideband I got a while ago to replace the LC-2. Stuck the TinyIOx inside the case as well and they communicate over I2C so I still get a digital wide-band input.

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Swapped round to the NB cam and crank sensors with a FM 36-2 trigger wheel. Been meaning to do this ever since I swapped the BP-4W in almost a year ago. Ordered brand new oem plugs to wire it up instead of using pigtails and terminated it with a Deutsch plug so that I can still return the the NA CAS if I have a failure with the new sensors which hopefully won't happen.

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Was having some issues with large voltage drops when adding electrical load like turning on the lights ect so swapped to an NB alternator controlled by the ECU. The regulation is amazing, voltage never deviates from the target. Much nicer than before.

Also got some more track time. Made an 11 second improvement from 1:58 to 1:47 at Winton. Turbo helped a lot haha. Need to improve my cooling system though as temps start to climb a bit after a few laps. Turning the heater on full blast kept temps down but not a great solution. Will have to sort out some better radiator ducting.

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Got started on the flex tune. Emptied the tank of petrol as much as possible and then filled up with 20L of e85. Ended up with around 66% ethanol according to the sensor. Once I get the content up higher I can finalise the e85 tune and set up the flex blending.

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Those coil packs look so at home in the pits of Winton.... very cool :)

Been quite a while since I last updated this. Dropped another 4 seconds off my lap time at Winton even though I was having strange alternator issues that would not let me rev above 5k in 3rd gear and above. Alternator voltage would spike to 18V+ at around 5000rpm in 3rd and 4th gear causing it to misfire. I swapped the alternator for a good one which didn't fix it. The issue turned out to be firmware related, and re-loading 1.4.1 beta 2 solved the problem. I'm not sure why the standard 1.4.1 release has that issue but hopefully it will be resolved in future versions. I also picked up a vented bonnet for track use which helped keep my coolant temps in check.

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I've also installed a NB instrument cluster so that I can remove the mechanical driven speedo to get an accurate VSS input to the ECU. Instead of using the dummy oil pressure gauge I've sent a 12V pwm signal to it from the ECU so it can be used as either a real oil pressure gauge or an oil temperature gauge using readings from my sandwich plate sensors.

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I also had a good mate of mine skillfully cut my rear bumper. Really happy with how it turned out, although the tow hook points need a bit of black paint now.

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Looks great! Love the build.

Has it seen a dyno yet? I know you said the earlier one wasn't accurate.

It's been on a dyno once for 3 power runs at a dyno day. This was back when I was only running 5psi and petrol though. For comparison a stock ecu na6 made 55rwkw on the same day.

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So this was with 5 psi and a 1.8 swap?

Yeah, 5psi, and nb8a (bp-4w) engine.

With the help of Beavis we (he) made a neat heatshield for the manifold using 2 ply dimpled material. I also made a "box" for the intake. Seems to work well but I still need to add some thick foam for the top to seal it against the bonnet. Intake temps no longer get a lot higher when the CLT temp has come up to operating temp and the temperatures drop down when moving after sitting at idle for a bit.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d7473b9d02.jpg
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Latest development has been another engine swap, this time to a NB8B VVT engine.
Unfortunately since this engine came out of a crashed car, the front of the valve cover was smashed as was the front water neck. The water neck didn't matter since I changed to an earlier head gasket and did a coolant re-route before I even stuck the engine in the car but I couldn't source another cam cover so I ended up just cutting it. It did make doing the timing belt a bit easier though haha. While the engine was out I had a chance to clean up / re-do some wiring and add new wires for the VVT solenoid as well as the knock sensor. I don't think there's a single section of the original engine harness left from where the wires come out of the firewall. Now the engine can be pulled out of the car just by disconnecting 3 Deutsch plugs on the back of the intake manifold which is neat. The VICS manifold was swapped over as well since the engine came from an automatic NB which had the VTCS manifold instead of a flat top.

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Like.

Been a while since I last updated this. Added an oil cooler to keep oil temps down and more consistent at the track. Previously they'd start climbing north of 120 degrees after a few hot laps or so. Not it stays fairly consistent and climbs very slowly from 90-110 during each session. I used Trackspeeds kit which came with really good quality components.

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Also stuck in a better intercooler to combat the stupid high air temps I was seeing with the ebay POS unit I had before. Intercooler is from a Ford Falcon XR6 turbo and only cost me 100 dollarydoos. It's got a nice shroud on it too although I had to cut a slot in it to fit with the bonnet latch support. The bolt holes almost line up with the A/C condenser brackets which was handy. Only had to make some real small metal tabs to get it mounted up.

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Got round to setting up and installing my new raspberry pi based digital dash. More details can be found in this thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...acedash-92851/

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The fuel level input circuit just needs some adjusting when I get some time to pull the ECU but apart from that it works really well. It's nice being able to monitor exactly what I want right in front of me and also being able to adjust tune parameters without having to pull the laptop out.

I also managed to trace down the source of the annoying voltage drop I had on the ECU 12V supply. I went back to my car after parking it an hour earlier and it wouldn't start. Fuel pump wouldn't prime and it didn't seem to be getting any power to the ECU. Ended up being a melted main relay so I added a relay to power the fuel pump taking 12V straight off the battery.

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I ended up solving two problems at once as it turns out that the fuel pump was the cause of the large voltage drop I was getting at the ECU due to it's large current draw and being on the same circuit as the ECU. So now I get within 0.1-0.2V difference between the ECU voltage supply level at the alternator output which is great. I also won't have any more main relay failures.

That digital dashboard looks amazing :)

Small update. Not much time to work on the car unfortunately and having to get it back together to drive to work the next day makes it hard to do things on weekdays. A second car would be handy.

First up I installed the solid state relay board I designed although not in my own car. Went in Beavis' track car to control the new electric water pump. Seems to work well varying the speed and the board temperature stays quite low. Also set up close-loop control for it too although will most likely need tweaking once the car gets moving and actually sees some airflow.

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Next was a new crossflow radiator from 949. Seems to be working very well in this hot weather with coolant temps constantly sitting around the thermostat opening point. Will be able to test it on the track soon and see how it goes. Also revised my oil cooler mounting while I was there.

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And lastly a new set of 6UL wheels with some brand new ad08r tyres.

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Very nice!

Upgraded to some larger brakes from an SE (MSM) which worked wonderfully at the track. No more brake fade after a couple of laps. The supermiata cross-flow radiator worked very well too with coolant temps hitting 100deg C peak with ambient temperature around 35+ deg C. Took another few seconds off my PB even with a lot of traffic and high temperatures.

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Bonus engine bay shot.

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Video of fastest lap. Video quality is pretty crap. Need to play around with the camera settings to adjust lighting.

This has to be one of the cleanest builds I've seen here... really nice work.

What pads are you running in the NB2 brakes? I've got the parts sitting around to do the conversion, just haven't gotten to it yet.

Thankyou :likecat:
Pads are HP+ at the moment.

Sold off all my turbo bits and bought a Kraken kit to replace it with. Also picked up a flat top manifold to replace the VICS one.
The car feels quite slow being n/a again but shouldn't be too long before it gets boost again. I've also noticed the stock airbox is quite restrictive only allowing me to reach ~95kpa.

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Also created a nice gauge cluster based off one I found a while ago.

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Hey now! You can't leave us hangin' like that! Details!

Haha what details do you want? There was a thread about it linked further up.

oh yeah... I missed that. :ugh2:

this might help Nigel:

Look at that! Everything you need to know in one tidy and beautifully narrated video!

I have been very busy with work so only a small update to the MX-5. Have mainly been buying parts and letting them collect dust.

Got myself a refurbished ms3pro 1st gen for quite cheap which I will eventually mount in the engine bay when I re-wire everything. Silver box is an Ecotrons ALM-CAN wideband module which I will also be using. Communicates directly with MS via CAN bus. Since I want to also use other CAN bus devices and the ALM comes default with a 250k baud rate I'll need to re-program it to 500k.
Currently have the MS receiving the messages from it however I've noticed that when using the "Ecotrons ALM" CAN-EGO dropdown input the sensor range is limited to 0.5-1.735 lambda while the actual sensor reading goes from 0.5-15.99 lambda (not that you really need to see values that high).
Also receiving sensor temperature data and it also sends out error codes however I haven't set anything up for that yet.
Will also need to look into a better way of inputting the data. Lambda and temperature data are both contained in 2 bytes each. I'm reading each byte individually and putting the raw data into a generic sensor input, and then using the custom channel editor to convert the raw values.


Bench testing:

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Lambda readout. Lambda_CAN is the actual data received from the controller. You can see that the CAN-EGO input is capped at 1.735 lambda. I used cigarette lighter gas to displace the oxygen in the sensor tip.

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Lambda raw conversion

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Temperature raw conversion

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CAN Receiving settings:

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Wow it's been a year since I updated this.

I haven't really had much time for this car over the last year due to work but a few things have happened.

It's turbo again thanks to Kraken!
As you can probably work out I've decided to use a water to air intercooler setup this time. Aim is to get the best response possible and keep intake temperatures very consistent. Biggest bonus for me is that I don't have an obvious intercooler visible at the front of the car. A/C condensor is being used as the heat exchanger for the intercooler since it as free and bolts straight up. Possibly not the best choice but so far it seems to be holding up well enough. Worst case I can swap back to using an air to air setup with the xr6 intercooler I used previously.

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Wiring for the engines water pump. Solid state PWM driver mounted next to the OEM relays in the corner. I re-purposed a trailer lighting module from my old job since it uses solid state relays.

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Heater return had to be moved before the water pump so that the water would flow correctly through the heater core. OEM hardline has been deleted.
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Intercooler EWP mounted just below the alternator.

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Kraken turbo kit is bolted on with a Garrett GTX2860R turbo.
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Dump pipe clearance is pretty tight with the brake line. Brake line will definitely need to be bend out of the way or re-routed some other way

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Electric water pump for the intercooler. It's a small Davies Craig EBP23.

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Also installed another electric water pump for the engine coolant. Davies Craig EWP80 pump. Fit nicely inbetween the OEM lower radiator hose. Will be dríven indirectly by the ECU through a high current relay module so that the pump speed can be controlled.

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Last thing added on for the moment is a LRB undertray. Covers quite a large area under the front of the car and also does a nice job of blocking off the sides of the radiator to prevent air from bypassing the radiator through the wheel well.

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Intake fitted but not finished. Need to weld on some hose barbs for bov return and crank case ventilation as well as change the last silicone joiner to a 45 degree to get the air filter away from the exhaust.
Definitely also needs a heat shield over the turbo and manifold.

Attachment 232883

Also if you're wondering, the sensor in the intake pipe is a GM MAF.

Car is up and running now although not quite finished. Moved the intake over a bit with a 45 degree joiner however I need to figure out how to get air from outside the engine bay to improve intake temperaturs further. Obvious choice is to cut a hole in the firewall and get air from the cowl area but will refrain from cutting the body of the car just yet.

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Intake temps aren't too bad anyway but could possibly be improved with a cold air intake.
Did a test on the freeway at 100km/h when ambient temp was ~28degC. Held WOT while holding the handbrake to prevent vehicle speed from increasing for about 11 seconds. Intake temps increased ~10 degrees over that time from 33 to 44. Boost pressure was 140kPa so going higher should make the temp increase worse.

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Swapped my OEM hardtop out for a Lightyear carbon fibre one.

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Nice weight saving but did require a bit of work adding seals to the side windows and I might need to re-seal the rear window since it can leak slightly in heavy rain. Not a huge deal though..

Also had some some help making a heat shield for the turbo and manifold. Very happy with the end result. Definitely helps keep the components over on that side of the engine bay a bit cooler which is good since my relay controller for the water pump is located there. I had some concern with how well it would continue to work when getting very hot.

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I have also added a radium fuel pressure regulator housing with a Bosch 60psi regulator and a NB8B fuel rail to create a returnless system. Well its sort of returnless since the fuel still comes up to the regulator and then back to the tank however it no longer passes through the fuel rail. Made for simpler hose routing and possibly will reduce fuel temps. The regulator is still manifold vacuum referenced as well. Can see it located just behind the intake manifold. Now I have to go back and re-calibrate my fuel tables...not a huge deal since the plan is to get the GM MAF working and use that for steady state fuel calculations anyway.

Relays added for the secondary radiator fan and intercooler pump patched into the original AC connector which provides 12V and a circuit that goes back to the ECU for control.

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Harness plugs into the original blanked AC relay connector under the drivers headlight.

Swapped my 6ULs for some Advanti Storms 15x9.

Attachment 232890

I also recently took out the MS3x ECU to add a MAF frequency input but I can't stand how messy it all is after all the changes I've made over the years so I've decided to design an adapter board to use a MS3pro gen1 ECU I have been holding onto.
I've made something similar for a mates RX7 FD.

Attachment 232891


MS3pro PCB adapter board is assembled! Now just need to make the patch harness to go between this board and the ms3pro. Just waiting on some new wire to do that. The board has a USB and serial connector for communication to the ECU, two superseal connectors (commonly used on aftermarket ECUs like Motec and Haltechs), the MX-5 ECU connector to match the OEM harness, some pull-up resistors for things like temperature sensors etc, and a relay to control power to the wideband controller.

Attachment 232892

I've also got my MAF working and roughed in a airflow curve for it. Very easy to calibrate however it doesn't appear to be accurately measuring low airflow around idle, probably since it's in a 3" pipe and there's a bend right before the MAF. In the future I will replace the pipe with one that has airflow straighteners which should fix it but for now I can canfigure the ECU to blend the old speed-density tune at low airflow.

Attachment 232893

I also installed a set of superpro poly bushes in the a-arms so needed to get a wheel alignment.

Attachment 232894

Bonus picture of my cat in a box.

Attachment 232895

I would insulate the brake line by the downpipe for safety. You don't want to boil the fluid and lose brakes.

I didn't take any pictures but I did bend the brake line further away from the dump pipe and the heatshield also extends down there between the dump pipe and brake lines. Still wouldn't hurt to add an extra layer of insulation over the top. It's on my list of things to do.

Finally had a bit of free time so finished off my ms3pro adapter...well amost. It still needs a case for the adapter board.

I bought various wire colours in the sizes I needed to make it easier to identify circuits. There's still duplicates however it's still better than having them all the same colour.
Attachment 232867

I had a bit of 'help' cutting and crimping.
Attachment 232868
Attachment 232869
Attachment 232870
Attachment 232871

Hopefully will fit neatly under the passenger kick panel. The extra connector is to supply power to the wideband as well as CAN communication.