gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I'm having so much fun driving this thing around.

Without the frakkin' AFM pos it pulls like a banshee.

My cheap *** intake makes it sound like the motor is sucking down a milkshake too. I don't know how loud it is outside the car, but this must be why IRTB guys think they are god's gift to the NA world. They must hear this times 10.

Ordered injector lower seals today since my RX7 "scammer sold to rharris who was nice enough to GIVE them to me" injectors don't have them. I will feel better with new rubber anyways, unlike hustler, who likes to reuse rubbers to poz up unsuspecting negs.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I got the 460cc RX7 injectors in today. I managed to do this without setting myself on fire too, which was nice. Took a few datalogs to get it straightened out, and now runs nearly as well as with stock injectors.

I ended up re-using the rubber parts. I wasn't comfortable with this, but when I showed up at O'reilly to pick up the injector kits, they handed me four heavy boxes, which all contained some HUGE diesel injector. They had dropped a "4" out of the part number when they sent them over from the other store. I should have kept my mouth shut and walked out with $400 worth of injectors, since they would have charged me the $28 on the invoice.

Either way they couldn't round up the right parts after that.

I'm not getting any fuel or vacuum leaks so far, so I'll stop worrying for a while.




Support systems left before turbo:

ACT clutch install (part on hand)

Drill and tap pan




EDIT: I also have Megatune working flawlessly with my laptop, and have taken atleast 15 datalogs, and modified VE tables with them in MLV. It's so easy I don't know why people even mess with Autotune.

I had just gotten my stock injector VE table really smoothed out when I plopped in the bigger injectors. It was worth the experience "tuning" though.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Oh yeah, I'm also planning on adding water injection, but will keep it in the other thread ( https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/t33174/ ) until I get the setup ready to install.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Did a lot today suspension-wise.

I couldn't stand the monster truck look anymore. It wasn't as bad with the wider, lower aspect ratio tires I had on the BBS basketweaves, but the tall skinny daisy tires looked gay as can be.

I put the Tein S-Tech springs on, with a 1/2" spacer in the rear. This gave it a really nice stance,



and the front wheels look perfect in the wheel well now.



I also removed the rear sway bar, and am really enjoying this setup. Stiffness is great, and ride is actually really nice. It doesn't feel super low, and I didn't bottom out anywhere. I did scrape the bumper lip on the driveway, and will probably have to keep parking on the street. It seems to push a lot more, but oversteer is much more controllable without the rear bar.


I also talked to Stephanie today, and BEGi is going to get my IC pipes to me on the pronto. She was very helpful, and had adressed all of my pressing issues by the time she called me this afternoon. It seems like sometimes it takes a lot of prodding to get them to move, but when they do, the manner and product is always pleasing and impressive.


So turbo should hit car next week. Fingers crossed.

Trent

iTrader: (11)

Great progress.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Thanks, trying to do a little every day.

Today won't get much done between classes and work besides running dimmer/light wires to my gauges.




BEGi sent me what they have ready of the parts I lack OVERNIGHT. They really didn't have to do that, and I would have never expected them to. It was put on the delivery truck an hour ago...this means I'll get some more stuff today!

I hear a lot about them being late, yada yada, but it seems when they know they're holding you up, they really bust it to catch up.

I think it just tickles me that they are also putting in effort at the same time I am. It's very easy to become frustrated when you're making progress, and someone else holds you up. Luckily they haven't made this happen with my build.

I'm just excited, gonna be boosted soon <- me and my car

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

UPDATE:


I've been busy as hell with school, work, family and life in general, but I got a few things done over the weekend, and early this week. Mainly just cleaning things up, getting ready for turbo:

- Ran vac line to boost gauge, calibrated gauge, wired lights to LED, and dimmer light to AFR gauge.



Non-zeroed boost gauge from BEGi: $0

Calibrating it yourself and knowing manifold pressure for free: PRICELESS

- Picked up some KYB AGX shocks and a Fidanza short-shifter from Chucky's dad. These are both going on probably next weekend when I swap clutch, and will have the car on a lift at uncle's shop.

- Swapped my extra valve cover (was going to polish) for an extra 1.6L VLSD that isn't viscousing anymore. I got this from Byrdmen, a lurker here, who has a really nice red miater that he put a Torsen in. To me it's more cost effective to have an extra diff than to pay for a Torsen now.

- Drilled and tapped oil pan. This was hell, and trying to get in there led me to:

- Remove A/C and PS. I really like the manual rack. Parking's a little tough, but I love the feel, like the space, and appreciate the weight savings. I beat myself so much over this, I'm happy I finally just did it.



Yes, you can see concrete down there. Turbo install is going to be EASY.

- Swapped in NB sway bar from Stein (you ******' rock Stein, glad to hear you didn't really blow your load all over the road). This was really easy without all the A/C lines in the way. I was going to wait for adjustable endlinks, but I used the Savington method and just tweaked mine. They probably bent about 15-20 degrees, and I'm sure any more work hardening in the form of torsion would have cause failure. They will hold for now. I made up for the other 25 degrees by mounting the bar on the outside of the link instead of the factory inside setup. I don't see any mechanical reason not to do so.

- Due to temporary placement of air filter I was getting some unintended Water Injection when it rained last Friday. While this probably helped clean the pistons a little, I thought it better to move the air filter a little higher off the ground, and away from passenger side front wheel.




Tapping the pan was hell, and it hasn't stopped giving me hell. I used a center drill bit, and even it walked on me. It immediately jumped to the left 1inch to the groove right under the second pan bolt, and WENT STRAIGHT THE **** THROUGH THE PAN. I'm an experienced machinist, and I still fucked this up. I had probably been thinking about it too long.

Instead of being between the #2 and #3 bolts, I'm right under #2. The stupid drill I was using didn't want to stay chucked on to the bigger bit(oh, how I wish I was in my own garage), and made going through the pan hell. Even though I taped the bit to keep it from going to far, I still nicked what looks like the windage tray, but should be fine.

Then I go to hand thread the fitting, and IT'S TOO ******* BIG. BEGi sold me a 3/8" - 18 NPT tap, and the fitting is 1/2" -14 with a 1/2" barb. I needed to use the 1/2" hose since it matches the fitting on the turbo, so this meant a trip to Home Depot. My oil pan now has a collection of adapters attached to it.



Then the ****** starts leaking, even though I got it fairly tight, and put JB weld on. I'm not even running oil through it, it has a cap on the other end, ready to put on turbo fitting. I guess oil is hitting the windage tray/crank scraper and going towards the fitting.

I jacked it up, sanded it down, cleaned it, and applied a fuckload of JB-Weld. It seems to be holding up.

Yesterday, after thinking I'm all ready to put turbo on. I notice, while checking for oil drippage, that there is coolant drippage. Luckily I was looking in that same damn area, and caught my water pump going out. So needless to say, I'm going to do a water pump and timing belt job.

I'm kind of worried though, because it looks like my crank pulley is a little wobbly, and I wonder if this didn't help to kill the WP. I will now be replacing the bolt and key as well.



After gaining lots of momentum, my build is coming to a grinding halt due to mechanical problems, waiting on parts, and usual busy schedule. Hopefully things will start working out, because I'm really so damn close it's not funny.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I am ready to bolt the turbo on!


I got the ACT Xtreme Clutch in:



Which should easily handle my power goals. Engagement is EXACTLY like stock, smooth and solid. Pedal pressure went up a good bit, but you quickly get used to it.

I also put on the KYB AGXs:



Which I really like to my surprise. I had tried to shove them off on someone else and find some Illuminas or Konis, but didn't have any luck, and the car was on a lift Friday, so I went ahead and slapped them on. I'll be back in a few days anyway whenever my bumpstops get in from Sheikh, so if I feel like upgrading shocks(or pulling out the eBay coilovers and putting the Teins back in) I can do it then. I'm kind of experimenting a little with suspension to see what works on the cheap.



I just talked to Stephanie, and the intercooler tubes got back from powdercoating, and are going in the mail today! I'm going to go ahead and start tearing things down, and just skip my morning class, hoping to have all the kinks worked out by the time I go to bed tomorrow.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I AM BOOSTED!


Details to follow, driving more important, just wanted to take the time to say:


THANK YOU!

Thank you Scott, Joe, Savington, Stein, and all the other miataturbo.netters. Thank you Corky and Stephanie at Bell Engineering. Thanks Rick for letting this place be what it is.



Honestly I feel like I just won an Oscar, and that was my speech.


Boost is seriously awesome, and like any good druggie, I'm going to go get some more of it.

deliverator

iTrader: (14)

Congrats!

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I spent Monday taking off the stock manifold and downpipe, and most of yesterday rounding up little odds and ends (mainly two studs that go into bottom of manifold/turbo flange). I thought I'd get a lot done finally yesterday evening, but alas, my mother was in town and guilt tripped me into checking out an RV for her (cheaper than a nursing home).



So I just went to my morning class today, and skipped the rest. I got an incredible amount of **** done, probably because I was working by myself, and had everything at hand finally. Everything except the two intercooler pipes, which showed up at precisely the moment I needed them (thanks again Stephanie).



This is the end result:



Was trying to convey stealth look in this one, not ugly bumper and half-painted intercooler.



Dirty engine bay...sorry.



Still missing heat shield, need two more M10 fine thread bolts.

Nothing pretty or exotic, but it defintely works! The BEGi powdercoated pipes are really nice, and I think the heat shield will clean up the look a little bit. I would have loved to fabricate all this, but it would have taken me two years.



The first thing that struck me assembling this kit was the fit and quality of the BEGi parts. Everything just went in to the right place, and this kit is 14yrs old! This is the whole reason I bought a kit, and especially a used kit, and it paid off.

My tune is surprising driveable after two quick datalogs, and I'm really glad I went about the build the way I did. I don't understand how people go to the trouble to install a turbo, and live with bandaids, or stock clutches etc. I enjoy just being able to romp on it, without reserve. AFRs are solid on the LC-1, the ACT clutch holds, and between the MS and big injectors I don't have to worry about fuel or timing concerns.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up, and some cosmetics to address, but it is solid. No couplings blowing off, coolant gauge doesn't budge, but gas sure as hell disappers.

I definitely need more brake. I would like to have taller gears. Redline comes way too fast.

REVIEW:

This ****** flies!

No question about it. Things happen so fast in boost you have to be on the ball to keep up. I have ridden liter bikes for a few years now, and this thing still keeps me busy. I may get used to it and want more later, but I don't see that being soon.

It carries 10psi all the way to redline very well, which is about what I expected, but was surprised to see how well it did it.

The wastegate was supposed to be set at 8psi, and I thought I turned it DOWN! Guess I went the wrong way on that turnbuckle adjustment.

IATs are just above ambient, and I don't see the need to upgrade to a larger intercooler. If I do the Tbird compressor mod which is popular to get to 14psi and beyond with this turbo, I could see needing something bigger, but then again maybe not. This unit held up well to a 30 minute flogging session.


CLIFFS: You're nuts if you don't think a 200hp Miata is a blast.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Few problems finally, they took a couple of weeks to show up. Sleeve joint on downpipe came loose twice, so I ordered a "band clamp" from Jeg's, problem fixed.

I added the VTPS, accel enrichments come on smoother, and idle droop is gone.

Water pump headed south Thursday afternoon. I first replaced the symptom hose, then the thermostat. If I had just decided it was the water pump in the first place, I would have finished it that night instead of waiting on O'reilly to open yesterday morning. WP/TB job only took 4.5hrs though, I was thoroughly proud of myself upon successful fire-up. I hadn't done that on this car in maybe 6 yrs...less nerve racking this time.

I look forward to doing exhaust next week if my metalcat gets here.

Had first race with a Mustang GT...he'd get a car ahead and stay there, couldn't catch him. Must. get. faster.

Working on a cold air box, have already moved air filter as far into fenderwell as I could.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Time to update the ol' build thread a little.

I've started a lot of projects...but really only finished one of them:



COPS!!!


I <3 COPS. Took about a half a day to build harness and install. Big thanks to Sav for the hold-down bracket.

All the crap that came off:





I'm in the middle of a few things:

Upgrading to 1.8L brakes - So far I've only done the rear since they needed to be replaced anyhow. Pretty good balance without a prop-valve. I'm rebuilding a set of 1.8L front calipers to go with the upgrade, and have stainless Goodridge lines on the shelf.

Swapping to black interior - This has been a monster. I tore out my moldy tan carpet and torn leather seats...and haven't put everything back in yet. This is what it looked like a few weeks ago:



But I've since cleaned the tub and installed frame rails. I've also been gradually going through the harness...but I'm ready for defrost and a dash again....not to mention carpet and passenger seat.

I've also got exhaust parts on the shelf (DIY with a Dynomax).

Swapped in Bilstein HDs with NA mounts. They are nice, but I'm waiting to install the Mazdaspeed springs and FCM 36mm bumpstops that *just arrived.

I also just got a 3.90 Tochigi-Fuji Super LSD swap in from levnubbin. I am really looking forward to installing and no longer worrying about grenading the 6". I am going to wait until I can get to my uncle's shop before doing this and the springs. Stand up spring compressor, air tools and lift ftmfw.

I have finished a couple of other things:

Frame Rails - Highly Recommended...easy install.

Roll Bar/Safety Equipment - Autopower 4-point stiffened things up a little as well. Sabelt harness is much easier to live with than I thought...Corbeau Forza is not.


Will update with a few more, better pics as I wrap up what is really a transformation of this car since going turbo.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I woke up early this morning and knocked out the exhaust real quick. After getting a local shop to weld up an adapter and flange for my downpipe yesterday it was very easy.

I used a 14" long Dynomax center-offset straight thru oval(square?) body. It's ridonkulously loud, sounds like rice, and get's obnoxious fast. I don't care though...because my motor is finally BREATHING.



This is the 2.5" pipe over the stock crap I cut off. Much more cross sectional area (78% more to be exact), not to mention I only have two small bends all the way to the driver's side of the rear bumper.


The POWER is amazing! I knew it would make a difference, but not rolling into burnouts at the top of second kind of different.

I went with 2.5" since I found this muffler for $40 on CL. I don't plan on ever making over 250whp so it will suffice. I spent about another $40 on bends, clamps, couplers and pipes, and $15 on the downpipe flange/adapter. It's kind of ghetto...but it works. I used mostly straight pipe, one flex section after downpipe, and a bent section around the diff. There are zero crimp bends though...which makes me happy.


Again...this is a must do if you haven't already. I can't believe I lived with stock exhasut for so long. Now I just want to find a way to quieten it down a little.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I got the Reflectix insulation and black carpet in...



And painted and installed the dash:



To most of you it just looks like a black Miata interior...but to me it's very nice compared to the 3-color-tan with moldy carpet and torn leather seats I used to have.

It's very nice having everything back in the car. I got the defrost working just in time for a 3-day storm...and the Refelctix insulation now keeps my right shoe from getting gummy when in boost.


I also rehung my cheesy exhaust...sturdier...straight...and quieter due to a little more rubber in there (had a cheesy solid mount deal at back end of muffler that was apparently giving me a LOT of resonance in trunk). I cut about 5" of the back of the bumper and moved the muffler up 3" to optimize angle of bends through diff area and minimize scraping. My midpipe also went up a couple of inches and no longer scrapes when suspension bottoms out.



Wife and I recently had a BIG fallout (during which she asked me to leave...but I begged to stay)...and most of the projects are being set back until atleast winter break. I also need to study more...and look forward to more time with family.

Please see my FS thread if you need turbo parts. I was planning on upgrading to a T25 setup in December...but will just button things up with current setup instead...and try to be content.


Wife does agree that I need new tires though. I'm trying to find a good deal in 14"s...but if I can afford to I will find some nice 15" wheels and get sufficient rubber for once. In the two weeks since I did the COPS and exhaust I've nearly balded the rear Bridgestones...and it's downright scary in the wet now.

Anyone know a good 14" tire for a turbo car?

Bond

iTrader: (6)

You need:

Wheels for 1990 Mazda Miata

and

Store

Sorry about your wife. My GF goes crazy sometimes but I use the back of my hand to keep things under control. Bitches will be bitches. lol

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Wish I could afford both wheels and tires...but I have to pick and choose unless the FS thread blows up.

IF I did go to 15" I would go with Azenis or some of the other myriad summer rubber. I can get the 912 in 14".


Control or abuse?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Nice progress man. Any plans on coolant re-route?

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Would have done it today if homework had gone better.

Going spacerless for now...adding one later when I'm done drilling/tapping and ready to pull front neck off for good.

miata2fast

iTrader: (2)

If you want a sick look, Mickey Thompson has a 24" tall drag radial that will fit on a 14"x6" wheel. You may need a lower gear to get it to work properly.