Um...I think that was Abe's decision. I told him I had zero issues with clearance since I don't have power steering or air conditioning, but if I recall correctly charge pipe routing, turbo size (later on, sr20 fits everywhere), and ease of access is so much easier with side mounts.

I also had some issues with my oil drain, it's surprisingly tight, even for a side mount. I know the bottom mount v-band guys have a hellish time with their oil drain. Stuff to keep in mind.

If I did it again, I'd stick with side mount, but go for a more flowing manifold.

Something like this:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1369865427

On another note, if you google "miata side mount turbo manifold", my thread is the first result! Woot.

That makes sense. Even without PS and AC it does look tight down there, both looking at my car and at pictures of setups similar to yours. I'll have to work it out with Abe when the time comes.

Thank you.

Expect to modify your water pump inlet/lower rad hose and heater hardline to accommodate a bottom mount. I didn't plan on encountering those issues when I did my bottom mount.

I gathered that you can flip the water pump inlet 180 degrees and cut/weld a bend into it. The heater hose routing seems trickier if you don't want to add a whole lot of hose to the engine bay.

I modified the heater hardline to still run under the exhaust manifold, but then I attached a silicone hose to it and connected it to a Tee in the lower rad hose. not the most efficient way but I was in a hurry to get it together. Eventually I will just get a hose barb elbow welded on to the mixing manifold to pop the silicone line onto.

Originally I drilled and tapped the stock O-ring location for a large (forget the size) NPT-hose barb piece, and had a rubber line going from the heater core to there. I've since capped that, and now have a hose going all the way from the heater core to a "T" in the lower radiator line. It's actually very clean, and once I installed a 90* off the heater core, it got it the hell away from the turbo manifold. There's multiple ways of doing it, it's just whatever works best for you.

And the way I see it, having 1" of rubber hose versus 20' is all the same, it's when you start introducing multiple unions and clamps that you start running into problems with leaks and such.

What length springs are you running and what length would be optimal to have the ride height you would like?

I have ebay coil sleeves and am wondering about springs and rates for my gutted '92.

Matt

Rates are 450 and 300. Both are 7"

We have an identical setup in Lazarus (search here or CR for build thread), however it has FM top hats and 6" springs, 550/400 I think? He also has 4" long threaded collars. That was the key, I bought 7" for some reason, and have had nothing but trouble. Buy the smaller 4" collars and 6" springs. We run incredibly light, I think around 1800lbs at this point, with 6" springs and at the bottom of the adjustment.

With a heavier car and a slightly more streetable ride height, I think you'd be right around the middle of the adjustment range which is perfect.

Good:
92 95 96 00 Honda Civic CRX Silver Adjustable coilover Springs lowering Sleeves | eBay

The ebay springs are generally assumed to be decently matched 550# springs, so I would purchase a 6" rear springs to match and find a 4" collar, 6-7" ebay set that works and run those.

Note: those links I posted were for sleeve length, not diameter, make sure they fit your shock before buying!

Back from the dead! Haven't done much to the car since the suspension. But my ebay ceramic clutch has been getting more and more annoying, my transmission is whining way too much for my liking, and the throwout bearing sounds like it has rocks inside it any time it gets hot.

So my 949 clutch gets here today. In the mean time, I've been fixing leaks.

First, I JB welded my oil drain fitting. Hopefully this sucker won't go anywhere.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

Then I replaced my sandwich plate o-ring, which was clearly the wrong size.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

A new-to-me transmission received a new input seal, and my barely used output seal was transferred over.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

And a couple labels to make my life easier in the future.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

Next I need to figure out WTF to do with this leak.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

This was just for fun, I've wanted to get rid of my ebay short shifter that's just a little too much shifting effort, but my stock shifter was long gone. This came with the new/used transmission, but needed a little beautifying in my drill press.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390324018

Yup, emilio and crew are awesome.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390331621

About damn time that shifter disappeared, that thing was such a pain in conjunction with your awful clutch. 1.6 clutch right?

Yes, all still on my 1.6 flywheel. I was hoping I could keep it (949 was out of stock for a while), since I had the weight ring removed back when I was a machinist. So it's currently 15.4lbs on the bathroom scale, which is about a 4-5lb loss compared to stock, all for $300 less than an FM/949 lightened flywheel.

looking at the photo of your leak between your manifold and turbo, is the stud backing out or is the flange warped?

Maybe time for Stage 8 locking hardware? If you get it make sure you install it correctly. I bought my FM manifold with a 2560 attached to it used and either FM or the dude I bought it from didnt put them on right and sure enough the nuts backed off a little and I had a 3k rattle.

Looks like flange warp, time for some grindin'?

I like the little SR20 locks though, those are neat.

Sure looks like flange warp to me. Shucks.

Just took it off, no time to check it yet. But the hardware was all tightish. I would of snugged it up, but I figure while the engine is out I should pull the turbo and really check the flanges. I had the head flange sanded for like $15 a while ago, it was really warped, so I wouldn't be surprised if this one was too. Dunno what to do about that...

There doesnt seem to be a lot of material there judging by the pictures. A guy on another forum belt sanded his flat with a big ass belt sander.

That's what I do when Im done manifolds. even if it looks flat and bolts up fine, it can use a light decking.

Find someone with a belt sander. If they have a metal belt, its about 15 seconds of "work".
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390363999

2x on the belt. Few scrubs will clean it up nicely. Odds are with that amount of materials a pro shop will charge more than how much it would be to buy a simple belt grinder.