Thanks Ian, I'll take the comparison all day long. :) We considered doing that kind of side, and even had the frame cut out for it. However, it's so damn easy to just step over that it didn't make sense. Well, at least sense to me.

I've had a few people understandably say that the Catfish looks BMW-ish, but I always thought that it resembled Aston Martin, at least from the front.

Chuckle, too funny. The weight might be a bit off and the number of cylinders. Both probably by a factor of three.

So have you decided exactly how many monies one of these is going to cost me?

$200 million, or $13,900. You pick.

Did someone say the stock manifold was UGLY? You should see the California version :facepalm:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1369600037

Yup thats the ugly 99-00 manifold.

Fugly exhaust + coolant reroute
 

Yes, it certainly is fugly. And now you can see it better because I finally got around to a coolant reroute. The nice thing about the Catfish is that I don't need to worry about the heater core, so there's just plain less "stuff" around.

--The swirl pot was also removed as the return tube is not the tallest point of the water. I'll mount the hose in place later so it doesn't bounce around.

--The water inlet was changed from swirl pot top to coolant return, for obvious reasons. The overflow bottle will sit on the passenger side this go-round.

--Since this engine has a Motec ECU, I kept the tacky in-line water temp sensor that goes to the Autometer gauge. Don't re-engineer when not needed.

--The rear ecu sensor was moved to the front block-off plate. I got lazy and ordered a block-off plate, but it wasn't thick enough to tap and thread, so I just made another one. the fuel injector wires needed to be run under the intake, which cleaned up engine bay a bit.

--The return inlet was removed, along with all the other garbage running under the exhaust. Now the engine looks downright lonely. And yet, that fugly exhaust sticks out like a sore thumb. Needs me a custom one...

--The Catfish is a joy to work on. Even the PITA work done at the back of the car was easy. The coil packs didn't even need to come off.

During the sourcing process for the reroute I did find out some new tricks, but I want to confirm them on a standard car before posting them here. I'm still a newb at Miatas and don't want to pass along crap information.

Hmm that water temp sensor by the copper t joint wouldnt be reading anything until the thermostat opens?

Good catch. :) That's already an old picture. I need to confirm a couple of things I did before I tell everyone and look like a complete boob.

...you might already be able to tell by looking at the pictures carefully...

Yeah i saw the temp sensor in the back too, was also curious why you have 3 of them :D

FrankenMiata:). There are actually only two sensors...one to the Motec and one to the Autometer. The ECU sensor is correctly placed, so no worries. Since this is not a standard build by any means, not everything transfers over. I would have the Autometer re routed already, but I need a non standard fitting to make it work...

Does it have anything to do with the shut-off valve at the back of the engine?

You mean the ignition key? :)

I had the choice of two temperature valves for the car; a 180 degree with no bypass holes and a 192 degree with three bypass holes. Because I live in Southern California, I drilled a bypass hole in the 180 degree valve and stuck that in. The holes are generally to allow air bubble to pass through and out of the system.

So, even with the Autometer gauge aft of the water bypass valve, it should still give readings under 180 degrees. The ECU gauge will always get the proper water temperature directly from the water in the head.

Just for reference, bypass valves use a wax that expands when heated to open the valve. 180 degrees is a good operating temperature for most engines IMO, and higher temperature-rated thermostats are probably around not for efficiency, but for emissions. My new placement will be prior to the bypass valve, as soon as I can find the proper hardware.

Haha, that's pretty funny, I found that too and was going to post it :)

Just let me borrow the catfish for a short while. I'll be sure it's returned with a turbo.

The regular ol' original centered/low mount should work with your lack of P/S & A/C. I don't have any actual manifolds I could send you but I can send you some geometry information. I assume you have the entire catfish chassis in CAD and can drop the manifold/turbo/flanges into your assembly.

Then anyone can build the manifold for you. ARTech has a slick quick way of making that manifold that I've since copied. And there's obviously a few others on this forum who are very good fabricators of that manifold :)

EDIT: I never made this manifold but it would be pretty simple as it uses a traditional collector, which is 'easier' and more forgiving when hand fabricating a manifold. Turbo is in the same spot in all my low/centered manifolds. Sorta In between the actual equal length I did for Lars and the original manifold.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1369768033

turbo position with respect to your steering shaft?
http://www.absurdflow.com/miata/stan...tieturbo13.jpg

Hey, if I can't get an Absurdflow original, being schooled by the designer is the next best thing. :) The Catfish frame is actually going through some fairly big pre-production changes that are intended to help packaging, simplicity of production and strength/safety. We're also working on getting a K-member digitized so it can be part of the drawing, so if you know of anyone who has already done this, let me know.

The 1.6 we have in it now is just not a good turbo candidate; it's got a really high compression ratio, and simply needs to be developed more as a car we can take out to track days. A higher flow exhaust is on the list.

The first production car will be NB-based, and will probably be turbocharged. I can't wait to work with the new frame layout to take advantage of all the extra space.

Seeing as headers is the subject de jour I want to get everyone's opinions on these headers.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1369834471

First Cord, do these look like they will work with the Catfish? They look like they have longer primaries than the stock header. Might work with changing the flange location on the exhaust that comes with the kit perhaps?

Second to the Miata Community, my Catfish will be a 1.8L NA for the first year or so. For $200 they are not going to break the bank but if they are going to break why bother is what I am thinking. Are these known headers, is there an opinion formed of them? Quality and/or performance?

Regards,

Miguel

Catfish? | The Story of a hand built car

That car is begging for a sexy custom header with swain white lightning coating.

Are you seriously suggesting he run some POS ebay "megan" header on this sexy beast?

Well I guess that answers the question of the quality of the header. ;)

And yep I am a miata :noob: I don't claim to be anything different.

The problem with many Ebay purchases is that what you're actually paying for is the life experience of wasting money chasing a low price.

The absolute best exhaust for the Catfish is one with a Trubo on it. The simple flange leading to a single exhaust tube makes packaging much easier. The turbo makes exhaust bends and tube length less crucial.