Building the boosted smurf
 

After collecting parts for a while and coming back home after working in the Arctic for the summer I've finally started to do some work on my car and thought I'd make a build thread on here as I make progress.

Bought the car 3 years ago and always wanted to turbo it but school raped me so I would never have been able to do it right. Now that I'm in my last year I can finally start doing some of the work I've wanted to do for a while.

Before flying out in April I started with a 1.8 swap.

Attachment 185111

Attachment 185112

Back together for a couple weeks before I left for the summer, also installed a harddog rollbar while it was down for the swap.
Attachment 185113

Parked it and left for the summer, except for the one weekend I visited home and did this
and this

Came back home Sept 8 and started working on it right away. Pulled the motor out Monday night to swap oil pans to the one with a bung welded on it

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...36929345_n.jpg

Rolled the car out so I'd have room for the cherry picker to start putting shit on the motor and so i could power wash the engine bay. Also got a real camera around this time.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps8fd0b746.jpg

cute colours on the engine
Attachment 185114

Will be running a FMII with a gt2560rs for the fall.
Attachment 185115

Bung welded on pan with a couple fittings for the oil drain
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Putting my new garage to good use already
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Picked up my oil feed, oil pan gasket, and exhaust manifold gasket so I started bolting some shit up.

Attachment 185118

Turbo bolted on
Attachment 185119

Dog
Attachment 185120

Then after some cutting and other stupid shit the engine finally dropped in place
Attachment 185121

Since I did a coolant reroute the upper rad hose didn't fit so I used the write up by revlimiter to make that work but did an extra cut in the 90* bent hose for some more room by the throttle body. This was after taking the pictures below.

The lower rad hose from FM wasn't included in my kit from the previous owner so I found a random hose at partsource that looked like it might work, cut it up a bit and installed it.

All these pics were before installing the clamps while test fitting everything.

Before:
Attachment 185122

New hoses, the one I used for my lower rad hose was $11 rather than the $50 FlyinMiata wanted for a lower rad hose.
Attachment 185123

After, this hose was cut some more after this pic to get a better fit:
Attachment 185124

Lower rad hose
Attachment 185125

Had a friend that is familiar with MS come over and start doing MS things, car fired up first try
Attachment 185126

Attachment 185127

At this point everything is installed and ready to go, just figuring out some final things with the megasquirt and will hopefully start driving around tomorrow.

Just need to wire up the wideband and hook up my boost gauge. Also need to decide where I'll be mounting my gauges. Originally was going to do it in the center vents but I think I may do a radio delete using an amp and have them in a blanking plate there.

We were getting a lot of fluctuation in the readings from the VTPS to the MS after calibrating it so we'll have to see what's going on with that. The battery was pretty dead at this point so not sure if that has something to do with it or not.

Current list of mods:

1.8 motor from a '94
Begi Coolant Reroute
FM Level 1 clutch
550cc rx7 injectors
FMII kit w/ GT2560RS & intercooler
MS2 enhanced built by Reverant

We will also be building a 3" exhaust from the downpipe back with plans to make more power down the road.

Over the winter I have a 6 speed w/ a 3.9 torsen to install as well as a Garrett GT2860RS.

Still on the hunt for new wheels and tires. Looking for a more practical setup so I can really enjoy the car.

Will just be running wastegate pressure for now to make sure everything is working properly and then up the boost once we're sure everything else is good.

Finally a good thread.

Awesome start to your build. Very glad to see you are doing this thing up right.

Sell me your 2860 or 2560!

Looks good. Thumbs up!

Calling all smurfs!! Where's Curly?

Woot woot! Smurfs rule.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1379690162

I doubt your VTPS issue is battery related, it only needs 5v, should work with the car off even with the crappiest of batteries.

Make sure your wiring is good, mine looked find standing still, but driving around it would jump a poorly wired BMW TPS and cause dramatic acceleration enrichments.

If you can't figure it out, mapdot works great, and doesn't need the TPS.

Woot woot! Smurfs rule.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1379690177

I doubt your VTPS issue is battery related, it only needs 5v, should work with the car off even with the crappiest of batteries.

Make sure your wiring is good, mine looked find standing still, but driving around it would jump a poorly wired BMW TPS and cause dramatic acceleration enrichments.

If you can't figure it out, mapdot works great, and doesn't need the TPS.

Whoohoo, another smurf.

I just got done swapping and boosting one.

Thanks guys! It's my first time doing a proper build on a car so thankfully i have some friends helping me out to smack me around if I do something retarded. Haven't wanted to post much since I'm still trying to learn things and there's enough information readily available that have pretty much taken away the need to ask many questions.

The fluctuating signal is happening even with the car off. The wires were soldered and heat shrinked together connected like so:

@Erat, I'm hoping to have the car running well enough to bring over to Woodward at least once before the season is completely dead. Would be cool to meet up with a couple other boosted miatas.

Reppin https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1379704140

I wish we could all meet up and rub our smurfs together.

someday...someday i'll be part of the positive pressure smurf club

Thanks for all the smurf love guys!

The TPS I had was only giving a range of 4.5V-4.8V on a full sweep. Checked the wiring, had the constant 5v, and a ground, and then the signal. When calibrating the TPS it only gave a range of 909 closed to 996 wide open. Figured it could be a bad TPS so I picked up a new TPS from autozone.

The new TPS gave readings of 453 and 927 and was much more solid but still sent fluctuating signals. It fluctuates around 1-3% but seems much more steady. Also, after I calibrate the TPS it'll sit at 0%, but after I go to 100% and back it stays around 1-2% throttle rather than 0.

Not sure what else to check at this point. Have been searching but can't seem to find much, and the threads I find with a similar problem don't end in a solution.

Any thoughts? If I can't figure it out by Friday we'll just go ahead and use MAPdot although I would prefer to use the TPS.

Boosted Smurf , awesome idea !
 

Here's mine , cheers from Kamloops BC

Try splicing in a new ground. I had similar problems and that solved it. My coolant temp sensor was also giving wonky readings.

Also check if your throttle cable tension.

Tried doing this the way I understood it from Onyxyth PM and am still getting some funny readings (seems pretty steady but then I do a full sweep and when it comes back to closed I get some negative values until it smooths back out to 0. While doing the full sweep it is jumping around a little bit too).

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1380214581

Cut the ground wire coming off the TPS, soldered in a new wire that'll go to ground. So right now it has that blue ground wire (ran out of black) running to that bracket below the throttle body and the original ground running back to the ecu. Does this make sense?

Checked the tension, it has a tiny bit of slack. Seems to be a normal amount of tension though.

Sounds like it's settling on little spring loaded thingy before going to zero, as it should. Not sure why it's seeing negative values though. AFAIK, MS doesn't care about small negative values for throttle position, if it's intuitive and "failsafe" as the rest of the features like fuel and spark table over runs, I'd guess it would treat anything negative as 0%.

That makes sense to me about why it could be seeing negative values. Something I didn't understand was when I calibrated the TPS with the car off it was steady at 0, turned the car on and pulled it out of the garage and it was sitting at 6%. So I recalibrated it again and after I went around the block it was sitting at I think 2%.

Ah, yeah I've never had luck setting the 0/100% positions with the car off, it always moves a bit when you start it.

But remember what you need it for: the change in rate, or how quickly or slowly you're mashing the pedal. Your jumping around is what you need to fix, not the 0/100 positions. For now.

This is starting to get a little frustrating. Not sure what else I could check.

Tried wiring a ground from the TPS to the Megasquirt pigtail wire for analog grounds and it didn't really affect much


This is going from closed throttle to full and back to closed.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1380308022

How is it wired right now?

Just like that ^. But for the ground I now have it coming off the TPS spliced into two, one going to the grounding point right under the TB and the other going back to the ecu in the original factory harness.

We decided to stop searching for a gremlin which we weren't having any luck finding and tuned off of MAPdot. Car is running well now. Had a friend that is familiar with MS and tuning helping me out and he was very impressed by the base tune you gave and how easily we got the car running well.

Just going off wastegate pressure for now until I can find a MBC. Had one in my garage but it has since disappeared.

Good to know the basemap was good and the car runs well. :)

Do you have the part numbers for both of the radiator hoses you used?

There are 3 different hoses being used. I should still have the ends off the lower rad hose and the small part of the upper hose sitting in my garage with the part number on them. I'll check the garage tonight.

Run a new SHEILDED wire from the ecu to the TPS.

i think you have the TPS and WOT leads swapped.

Hmm, odd since I used the instructions given by Joe Perez. I guess it can't hurt to try switching them around to see what'll happen. Do you mean the 5v constant and the signal wire?

No, I think you have your vTPS Signal for the MS input wired to the WOT switch of the TPS.

You should only be using 3 out of 4 wires on the TPS; the WOT switch not being one of them.

Last time I did that, I saw the TPS slowly rise and slowly decay like I see on your log, unless you were actually manipulating it like that and you're just complaining about noise. (please note: I didn't read anything at all.)

Hey BoostedSmurf! Like your progress ;)
Those wheels are the Konig Wideopens 15x8 +20 or +25 ?
I might pick those up and can't decide on tires, so would you mind sharing your tire specs?

I manipulated it like that as stated in that post lol

They are xxr 530's 15x8 +0 with 195/50's. Currently for sale.

Is there a way to use a slower resolution with the TPS to smooth it out?


Not totally familiar with MS systems yet

As expected when raising the boost, I exploded my diff last night. Rolled into it in 2nd gear, once I hit full boost there was a pop followed by many marbles in the diff. Towed it home at midnight and installed my 3.9 torsen today.

Might take carnage photos tomorrow when I split the 1.6 diff open.

The na6 diff lasted an entire 900 miles after boost lol. And less than 24 hours after raising the boost to 13.5psi.

Wow. That didn't take long.

I told matt in the blue smurf i built for him that he's on bought time with his diff. haha

Well I'd be lying if I said I was easy on that diff from before boost and after. A lot of races have happened trying to benchmark the car since adding boost too.

Breaking in the new diff
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381756058

upload the video nao.

Eh, my vlsd never popped on me with the greddy 1.6. It didnt make jack for torque, over 200whp though.

I never once launched the car on that diff. Not once. I did lots of slides, but no clutch kicks or other asshattery.

OP get back to me via PM!

Sorry for the delay in PM, been busy and need to double check it in the garage.

I'll post the video once I get it from my friend that took it. There were a few different ones playing around seeing what worked since it was my first time sliding around with the turbo and a proper diff.

Many burnouts happened on the old diff and even more launches. Like I said I was expecting it to go before the end of the season.

Are videos of late nights in mexico frowned upon on this site? Don't want to post anything if the mods aren't okay with it since each site is different.

As long as the video contains boosted miata glory, it will be okay. Some might look down on dorofito vids, but i always enjoy a good show personally.

Drifting at an event is kinda silly. But doing burnouts, smokeshow, and donuts in mexico is awesome.

Either way, who cares. Post em up.

I don't have the dorifto ones yet, an IS350 wanted to race. First race he's completely stock, second race he loaded his tune. I missed 3rd in the second one but was reeling him in quick, he let off as I got beside him but we hadn't crossed the line yet. Would have likely passed him at the line.

Mods, if you're not cool with this just let me know

Going to the drag strip this Saturday, want to see if I can find tires for that.

Looks like its running pretty good man! Congrats. What kind of boost level is it on now?

we tuned to 13.8psi with boost cut at 15. it was super cold out so I was hitting boost cut a lot, turned MBC down half turn and it was boosting right around 14psi that night.

trying to find tires for Saturday see if I can hit 12's

This happened Saturday night before our weekly car meet:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381955655

Sketchiest tow truck driver, took him 3 hours to find me. Didn't even know how to use the race ramps to get the car on the flat bed.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381955655

Got the car up in the air and swapped in my 3.9 torsen rear end Sunday morning.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381955655

Went out and tested the new diff. If I ever get the video's from Ceshan I'll post them.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381955655

Carnage:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381955655

Broken rear sway bar? Or just disconnected?

Just disconnected.

So the track day got rain delayed to today. Was very happy with my results. First pass was a 13.6X, but was only boost around 11psi.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1382329080

Adjusted boost a bit to 13psi, just below what I was running the night we were tuning for more boost.

PB, last run, didn't want to do anymore runs after it because I beat the guy I was trying to beat and didn't expect to even hit the 12's today. Plus nothing broke and I still needed to drive the car back home 200km.

12.83@108.44
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1382329080

Very happy with this since I couldn't get tires in time and I was running the stupid stretched 195's that aren't sticky at all. Going to get drag radials for our season opener next year and try to hit low 12's.

Was having a lot of issues with wheel hop at the beginning of the day but was playing around with my launch a bit and in the last run I actually took off pretty smoothly.

Video is currently uploading.

That is quick, good job! I'm taking mine to the drag strip next weekend

What tires was that? I really need to get back after my own torsen swap and improve my 14.x time. I always knew mariners could be fast!

Damn dude, props on the time. I'm not going to lie, that is a much better time than I expected you to put down. Keep on representing!

They were garbage tires. Stretched 195 Kumho Ecsta's. I'm sad I didn't get real tires for the track day but at the same time I'm glad I got to see what the car could do even on garbage tires. I thought I was going to be stuck in mid 13's all day until I had a friend egging me on to go faster.

Yea, I was very surprised too as was everyone else there. People who didn't see the run wanted to see the time slip because they didn't believe it could do that. Then when they saw the car was on street tires their mind was blown lol.

A lot of it came down to learning how to drive and a friendly competition between me and a friend's Nissan Pulsar GtiR. We went out and set a faster time than each other by a few one hundreths every time we went out until we both ran a 12.8342 and decided it was time to call it a day before someone blew up.

Love the thread buddy, i know its been awhile. Car is coming along wonderfully , and man, i was surprised at that trap speed. LOVE IT.

Thanks man, good luck getting everything sorted out with your build.

Here's the video from the night after installing the diff. There were 3 of them but this one was one of the better ones and i don't feel like waiting for the others to upload. Don't know why it didn't upload in HD

108 trap speed on stock block is definitely great. Props to you

Haha you make that look easy. Seems one of the more difficult thing to do in these cars is do a good moving donut like that. I'll have to try it again. lol

Sounds good too.

video title is misleading.

nice slides man, looks like some fun. I've been too jewish with my new tires to waste rubber like that, bravo.

Back on my old tires i laid down some hilarious parking lot slides though. Fun stuff.

Yea, lets hope it lasts me all next year though!

I always found it pretty easy even naturally aspirated. Mind you, i've done it quite a few times just for the fun of it while bored with some friends that wanted to shoot video lol.

What would you call it? It's not really drifting, its just a higher speed donut.

I used to care about my tires a lot more, but they're replaceable and I'd rather have fun with the car. Mind you, these wheels and tires are currently for sale so I probably shouldn't go too crazy on them.