I remember thinking there was a lot of spoon-feeding early on in this thread, but you've actually been making moves and getting stuff done, so I guess that counts for something. We need a big spoon emoji on this site... Be thankful Z is a kind person

I was out on a cruise for a Mazda meet yesterday. I'd say about 80-85 F ambient and after pulling logs I was seeing IATs around 95 and peaking around 105 depending on how much my foot was in it.

I'm playing around with some additional intake insulation right now and (unlikely, but possibly) might 3d print some type of scoop to get more air from the fender well.


I'm also not sure where your IAT sensor is located, but that will play a role in accuracy of readings and heat soak.

You removed the fuel evap cannister. See if you notice anything weird after filling up with gas. Not saying you will for sure, just curious.

Glad the coilovers are working. What's with that notch cut out of the control arm?

 

I am really happy with the coilovers. Way better than I expected. I was having buyers remorse for not just getting the Tecnas but after getting them in and driving, that's gone. Definitely good bang for the buck.

The control arm, that was fun. From the factory the nut that holds the backside of the lower shock bolt is welded in place. When I took that bolt out it broke the weld. I couldn't get it tightened back up because there was no room to get that nut out or get a new one in there. Had to cut it a bit then clean off the old welds to get it tightened back up. Not pretty but it worked. The other side was already notched

My IAT sensor is between the IC and throttle body, closer to the throttle body. I've seen people say this is the best place for it. I've also seen people say having it closer to the exit of the IC is the best place. Depends on who you ask lol.

I think part of the issue for new people coming here, at least it has been for me, is there is so much conflicting info not only here but at other forums. I search, I find info but nobody agrees on it. It doesn't matter what it is, everyone has a different opinion. Does make it hard to get things done the "right" way. Most of the time when I ask a question I've already spent a good amount of time researching and just didn't get a solid answer. Even really basic stuff seems to get people fired up here lol. Spark plugs, drama. The best one and the one that had me hesitant is catch cans. So many varying opinions. It was funny reading through those threads and seeing people change their setup time after time because someone would come in and say they were doing it wrong just to then have someone else say that way was wrong as well.

In a perfect world I'd buy a bone stock unmolested Miata and start with a clean slate. Use a better turbo kit. Do things the way I wanted them instead of trying to fix everything someone else did. The only "mistake" I've made on this car is the throw out bearing. I didn't grease it well enough and it's noisy. When I went to pick up that Torsen the guy I bought it from told me that as long as the clutch is working properly not to worry about the throwout bearing. He said all the grease in the world won't stop it from making noise on these cars and unless it's actually causing an issue not to mess with it. The clutch works well so it's not really on my radar right now.

 

Actually, I've made 2 mistakes. The placement of my oil return on the oil pan. Had to delete the AC lol. I really don't think I'd ever use it though. If the suns out the top will be off.

 

Looking at it today, the rear end seems a little lower than it did yesterday right after install. I'm ok with this.

 

I'm going to clean this up and reseal it. I pulled the cam caps off the exhaust side where the gear was broken in the accident to see if it was damaged and it's fine. The head actually looks really good. New water and oil pumps, degrease it and reseal everything. So I have a spare head as well, came off the engine I blew up but it's fine.

 

I replaced my gutted PCV with this. 1/2“ to 3/8" reducer. Gonna be more open than the PCV and it fits more snug.

 

I think a lot of people get hung up on doing things optimally, when for the majority of people/builds you'd be able to get by doing things "good enough". It's like brass T's for oil feed lines. I've heard a lot of people recommend remote mounting them and saying them crack. Personally I've never read a thread or talked to anyone who had that happen. I'm planning to move away from the brass T as well, because I don't want my car to fail on a roadtrip 5 hours from home, but I've also been running one for years without issue. Flyin Miata still sells them, as does Kraken ( just checked an Kraken appears to use a steel T), so they don't seem like they'll fail immediately.

You alluded to it in your last post as well, but I think the racecar/streetcar line gets blurred often. Will upgrading to R8 coils provide any actual benefit for an NA or mild turbo? Probably not, but a ton of people still do it (myself included).

That was a bit of a tangent. As far as finding information, I almost always use Google to search this site instead of the inbuilt search function. If you know how to use the site's search function it works alright, but IMO it's way easier to use google instead. Also, I would assume you've seen Greg's stuff, but TheCarPassionChannel on youtube is a good central location for most jobs. That might be a better place to go to get a baseline understanding of a job instead of trying to piece together a bunch of tidbits from build threads.

 

Greg's channel is the reason I took my head to a machinist instead of trying to do the work myself lol. I do use Google more often than searching the site and usually it brings me here.

One of the funnest parts of having a project car is the never ending list of things that can and will go wrong. I fixed my oil leak with a new oil return hose, now I have another leak. Same side, turbo side. No oil on engine just on steering rack and subframe. Same as before. Me and the wife were driving a bit ago and pulled up to a light and saw smoke coming from that side. Pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood and of course no smoke. Guessing it has to be the return line again but both fittings are clean and the braided cover has no oil. On the parts I have checked at least. Gonna have to jack it up and check it out. I did notice my IAT's were 50 over ambient, about 130 which seems crazy as hell.

 

Yeah I don't know why they laser cut holes in it but it will still dramatically reduce the amount of air coming up from below into the engine bay compared to no undertray. FWIW I have zero issues with heat even on 90+ degree days.

 

The biggest reason I did r8 coils on mine is so that I can keep a spare $25 coil in my trunk incase of a failure instead of a $300+ spare OEM coil lol

 

I think I'm going to get the NRB full kit. And one of those covers over the radiator. Just to start. I need to figure out a new intake situation where I can channel in fresh air to the air filter. Probably end up having to do some cutting but 50 over ambient is crazy.

 

That looks like a nice piece, might be interesting figuring out how to mount it to the bumper but I'm sure you can figure it out.

 

Figured out my new leak. It's power steering fluid. Manifold ate another hose. I didn't even notice it was touching. Going to grab some 3/8 fuel line tomorrow and fix it. It's the soft line that goes from the rack to what I'm guessing is the cooler. Should be an easy enough fix.

Took my hood off to see if that helps my iat's, it didn't. need to track down a sheet or two of coroplast and see if I can make something myself. Gonna need to figure out some hardware as well.

 

Coroplast was easy enough. Lowe's has 30x36 sheets.

I need to pull the AC condensor out as well. From what I can see its in pretty rough shape and I'd be surprised if air even passes through it any more.

 

I would assume removing the hood entirely actually wouldn't help with dropping temps, since you'd be substantially raising the pressure behind the heat exchanger stack, right where you don't want it.

Stoked to see what you come up with for ducting. Been having fun watching everyone come up with their own solutions now that summer's coming on strong.

 

On my Hondas just getting fresh air in through the filter worked. Obviously not boosted cars. I'm learning as I go.

 

So doing research on undertrays and ducting the primary thing I'm noticing is most everyone is trying to get coolant temps down. I don't have any issues with coolant temp. It's never gone over 190 even on the hottest day and doing WOT pulls back to back to back. My only issue is IAT's. So I'm thinking a good place to start would be in front of the intercooler. Blocking any openings between the mouth of the bumper and the IC forcing air to go through instead of allowing to go around. I'm thinking the best way would be taking the bumper off and using coroplast and gorilla tape to close that area off. the IC covers the whole mouth of the bumper so you wouldn't be able to see it from the outside not that I really care.

 

What are the chances I installed my intercooler backwards when I put the car back together? Apparently it matters 🫣

 

Not that I know of, if it does matter it would Shirley be marked so ... did it come with instructions, is it googleable?

It is possible it is a mounting issue, if it is intended to use oem mounting points, but if it is in and working I would be looking elsewhere for your IAT. Are you logging boost, and if so where is the sensor - any scope for a second to before-and-after the IC? Same for IAT.

Have you done all-of-it radiator sealing? The point of the exercise might be CLT for many, but that also works for the IC - get all the air coming in to cool the stack, none of it bypassing.

 

Some IC are directional, mine is not. Took it off to verify. I'm just covering all of my bases.

My current undertray/ducting/sealing situation is, non existent. I have zero done. I will attach pics. Like I said in a previous post, I'm going to start in front of the IC in the bumper and see what each thing I do gets me.

I did pull the AC condenser and all lines out. While I was fixing the power steering hose I also removed what I guess is supposed to be the cooler section. The piece that goes up along the radiator then to the reservoir. Bypassed it with the new hose. It's a lot less cluttered in that area and should make it a little easier to get everything sealed up.

Took her for a little drive just to see if I still had a leak or smoking. Shes good. IAT's were 40+ over ambient still. Luckily it's cooler today so the highest I saw was 114.