Boost in California, the struggle
 

Hi Everyone, I guess it's time to document this build I'm starting and hopefully get a little feedback/guidance along the way...







Now that I'm out of college and have a "fancy engineering job" making "lots of money" its time to get back into the car world.

The basics:
Car: 1994 1.8L R package, all original, w/ ~200,000mi
Power Goal: 200-220whp
Use: Some track days, some drift events, and about 50% daily driver (until the smog police come). I'll have to dance around my smog test in April as I build this car. Mmmm that fresh CA air tho...
Budget: ~$2,500 (includes current purchases)

This budget is pretty tight and doesn't include new wheels/tires, suspension components, roll cage, or extra money spent on better quality parts (like non-ebay oil lines) so there will be some cost overrun eventually. I'd just like the initial turbo portion to hit this number. I like progressive builds, I'm not looking to hit every detail right away. I'm a believer in modifying cars to make them better but preserving the original character the designers gave it years ago. I'd much rather build it myself on a budget than throw a bunch of money at it.

The car is due for a smog test in a few months and I'm shooting to have the kit ready to install immediately after that. I don't use the car as a daily right now, so I'll be tossing on the components and completing the fabrication, then swapping back to emission-compliant form to smog.

Build Plan:
1. MS DIYPNP (purchased)
2. Flow Force 640s
3. TD04L-13T w/ ebay intercooler setup (purchased)
4. All custom: log manifold, 3" DP, 3" to muffler
5. Supermiata organic clutch (maybe sprung puck??)
6. Data: LC-1 wideband, boost pressure, water temp, oil temp, probably EGT
7. Tuning: I want to do a lot of this myself, but eventually take it to a shop for final tune and dyno.

Suspension: Currently I have a set of Megan Racing Street coilovers, which I picked up used very cheap.

Current Situation:

Tuning MS DIYPNP Idle: https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...e-setup-92811/

Reconsider the TD04. Higher egt's, higher IAT's, higher boost needed for same power as an sr20 t25 for example. In other words stick with garretts. Upgrading later on will be smoother. TD04's have too much flange choices and differences among them.

Swapped the suspension in a parking lot a few blocks from my apartment, security guard came up and started asking me about drift cars.
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Current state of DIYPNP, still need to do pullup resistors and jumpers. I chose the DIY because it's straightforward, well documented, and upgradeable to sequential injection/spark. I wanted to go MS3x but couldn't justify the extra time and cost.
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I also have a sr20 T25 and I'd eventually like to compare the two. Part of the DIY manifold choice was due to being able to cut off the TD04 flange and replace with T25 if I want. I'm leaning towards TD04 for a few reasons: Some compressor map plotting showed it should be a good match, I can get them for fairly cheap, and they are 10 years younger than an sr20 turbo. Plus I dont have to bolt on those dumb adapters like the T25s.

Just a few pictures of stuff trickling in by mail.

Sch40 weld ells from aceraceparts.com, flange from turbo-flanges.com
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I tried to go cheap on the turbo, which of course was dumb... Still debating between the T25, TD04. They are both old and rusty so its a lose-lose situation. I may go ebay T25 at this point.
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This seemed appropriate for the car seeing as how I'm trying to keep it cheap with the second hand stuff.
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Oh yeah, DIYPNP is done and I installed the wideband. Looking to install the new ecu this weekend and see if it runs.

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If you are not looking for a ton of power (180-200ish) I rrally don't think you can find a better matched turbo than a TD04-13T. If you have one already, rebuild kits are $100 and that is what I would do.

Once I am done playing with my supercharger, I am planning on using one of the TD04-13Ts from a volvo with the buily jn recirculating valve.

damn I need an UP garage sticker with the amount of second hand and cheap bull shiz on my car

Or a little more:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8df7ee4cf2.png

From Karter74's build

The Volvo td04 is slightly smaller than the Subaru one, I believe we talked about this with aidan (he has one), but overall both are decent and I wouldn't hesitate to use on a budget build.

Yeah I'm going to go with the TD04. I think going above ~200 whp is a slippery slope. If you give a mouse a goal of 250whp, he's gonna want it to really be 300whp with forged internals and a shiny new turbo... Not to mention the need for fatter tires and better brakes...

In related news, I finally got the TD04 apart. Center section was pretty rusty. I figured out a decent way of getting it apart: Three 5/16" bolts each with a nut flush with end of bolt. Shim bolt to gap between compressor and turbine housing. Unscrew nuts evenly, checking turbine wheel for binding. This worked so well I was really surprised. Probably ordering a rebuild kit from gpop shop soon.