Google "spec miata tow hooks", there are plenty of super bright colors, orange/red/etc.

For the radiator/hose interference, you can trim the throttle body elbow down so it sits closer to the throttle body, and I've also remove those Koyos, cut the neck off, and welded on an outlet with a small angle to it, making it much better for intercooler setups.

 

Thanks curly. I found the install video for kraken and he shows trimming the silicone coupler. I haven't done it yet but even then I bet it'll be pretty close. I ordered the FM S shaped radiator hose and that should do the trick so I don't have to mess w/ the radiator.

Started hacking away at things. I'm gonna have to borrow my buddy's MIG for a little while.

 

 

Haha.. as if I didn't have enough things to do. In my digging through threads, installing these did cross my mind, but I need to draw the line somewhere and get the car running. If I'm only targeting for ~220whp I think the existing setup should be fine and stay cool. I do like how they clean things up by getting rid of the hood latch. I have singular hood vents I need to install before these. These do look a lot nicer than the traditional hood pins. I installed a couple sets of those years ago.

One thing I haven't talked about is an oil cooler. I was planning on installing that AFTER the car is running with the turbo but I'm torn where to mount the cooler and whether to remove the oem oil warmer or not. I was thinking of mounting it to the back of the radiator like @Kboi12 did on his setup but you obviously need a larger cooler to compensate for the lower airflow.

 

Also a quick update to the saga of my lost package with my seat. The package finally got declared lost and the seller shipped me out a new seat and I got it a week or 2 ago. I was getting a little concerned as there's little recourse I could do at this point since the purchase was in November of last year but he came through. If you need some Recaros he's a reputable seller and they come straight from Germany. Website is maar-shop.com. This is the ABE version. I have an extra harness and bracket ready to go to install this seat on the passenger side.

 

Had a little hiatus from the Miata but other things came up and I got busy for a bit (work and house stuff (we just finished a kitchen reno)). Weather is cooling down now and I want to drive it so I gotta get it running. I want to do at least one track weekend this fall hopefully two. I left the car in a state with a whole bunch of stuff going on and things to do. I'm making a list and just need to start knocking them off one by one. I started work on it yesterday and borrowed a mig welder from a friend so I have no excuses now. For welding I need to box in the tow hook mounting plates that attach to the core support that I butchered. I probably should've done a better job cutting things nicely but it is what it is. It's been a while since I welded (which means they'll be ugly) but I just need them to hold. The metal is very thick here so it's probably not necessary to box it in but it probably can't hurt and will keep it from deforming when I need to move the car with tow hooks. I also want to weld a bracket to the kraken downpipe so it's supported by the tranny bolt(s) like oem. I also expect to have to make some misc brackets.




With the AC and PS out of the car drilling/tapping the oil pan for the turbo's oil drain was easy peasy. I drilled it about 1.5" down from the bottom flange and about 3/4" over from the ridge on the oil pan. The flyin miata video was very clear. Thumbs up to them, there's always so much good miata content out there. I think I used a 9/16" drill bit for the 3/8" npt tap.

 

Welcome back! Haha good stuff man, glad you're back at it and the car is making progress again.

Yeah, shoutout to FM for their thorough explanation of the oil drain location. I've heard of stories from guys locally who missed weren't using a drill stop, and drilled through their pickup tubes as well. I reviewed the location probably a hundred times before drilling mine.

Interested to see what you land on for a turbo/downpipe brace as well, and how well it does at alleviating the common turbo to manifold hardware issues.

 

Someone asked for this so I'll post it here so I can reference it. These are the parts I used to remove the rats nest and redo the fuel lines on the passenger frame rail on my NB1. This uses a fitting to mount a fuel pressure sensor. You can delete a few fittings if you don't want the fuel pressure sensor. This also deletes one OEM pulse dampener on the passenger frame rail.

You need to bend the fuel line.
Russell 644113- 5/16" SAE quick connect to -6AN male
Vibrant 21506 150 Degree, -6 AN Hose to Female -6 AN,
-6 AN hose
Vibrant 21006- Straight, -6 AN Hose , -6 AN Female Thread,
Earl's AT100192ERL- -6 AN male on both sides for 1/8" npt tap (fuel press sensor)
Vibrant 21906- 90 Degree, -6 AN Female Thread, -6 AN Hose
-6 AN hose
Russell 611253- EFI, Straight, 5/16 in. Female Push-on, -6 AN Female Quick-connect
^This connects to the fuel rail.

Some pictures here: https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...9/#post1649399

 

With a long list of things to do, naturally you pick some smaller things to get a few things checked off the list. #1 on that easy list is the quick release bumper tabs. They actually weren't THAT easy but weren't too bad. The metal reinforcement bracket on the backside of the bumper made it a bit of a pain, and honestly they seem slightly finicky at times (after installing and reinstalling the bumper about 10x after this), but I despise those screws that are impossible to reach by the tires so this is a positive in my book. These were cheap ones off amazon. They were the same 6mm thread as the oem nut so that made things a little easier. I removed one of the bolts and popped this in.




I'm going to jump all over the place but that's how I do things, and I never promised this thread would be nice and organized..

I bought a V2 BMM kan gauge, and it's going in the oem oil pressure gauge spot. Pretty straightforward, and it has a nice 3d printed case so you use 2 OEM mounting screws to install it. The hole for the middle has to be opened up a bit to run the wires out the back. I was waiting for a 4 pin harness so this had to be set aside for the time being and I'll finish the wiring soon.




One thing that's required for the gauge is adding pins to the ECU (2 total, one for CAN high/low). Jesse is nice to include these with the gauge. You need a CAN high and CAN low wired to the gauge. You have to undo the retention clip and then you can add the pins. WARNING: Pins 1C and 1J are actually different sizes. I inserted the smaller pin into the larger slot first, and ended up realizing they were different sizes and had to remove it and put it in the other slot. Pay close attention! Depinning a plug wasn't too hard once you know the right technique. A good video for depinning ECU pins:



One of the other neat things about the BMM ECU (MS is proly similar) is just repurposing existing sensors/wires. The OEM "map sensor" plug that is on the passenger side can be reused for my Honewell fuel pressure sensor. I'll just need to crimp on new pins for the different harness.


One thing that's been bugging me is the lower radiator hose to the "mixing manifold." The radiator hose is just in the way and it could be much neater. I wasn't planning on replacing the oem mixing manifold/water neck thing, but said to hell w/ it, let's do it right the first time. I ordered an R theory mixing manifold which should get the rad hose out of the way, allow the heater core hose to sit farther away from the downpipe, and provide room for a turbo brace to the block.


A couple small things.. I cut the heater hose line a little shorter so it sits tighter to the firewall. I think it has enough clearance with some heat wrap but if I can get it closer to the firewall with the new water line coming that should be nice.



The miata roadster studs (I think that's who they're from) just slightly touch the kraken manifold on the bottom of a couple studs. I will take a grinder to take off an 1/8" and that should suffice. They must be a touch longer than oem.



Finally, I was thinking about an oil cooler setup when it dawned on me I have an oil cooler sitting in my garage that never sold for my Honda. It's a Mishimoto 19row 200F thermostatic oil cooler and worked well on my s2000. The thread are the same as the Honda so why not give it a shot.. I knew I'd have to hack the hell out of the OEM IM bracket, and I know some folks run w/o it, but the OEM IM is pretty bulky and heavy, and I'd prefer to keep (at least part of) the bracket so I hacked it good. The Mishimoto sandwich plate juts out a bit where the thermostat is but if I angle it a bit towards the rear of the car it fits fine. Things are a little snug of course but that's no surprise. I need to shorten the -10an lines and I might need to replace one fitting, but it looks like it'll work. I'll mount the cooler to the back of the radiator, just need to make some brackets. Given the low 200whp power target I think a 19 row cooler should do fine.






So this is currently how the car sits. Got a ways to go before it's running again but just gotta keep chuggin along.

 

Suggest you plug the TB and compressor inlet, keep bugs and other things out.

That SS braid is bastard stuff. I gave it away a long time ago, now only use 400 series push-lock stuff. Easier to use, no abrasion problems, and never had a leakage problem. Lacks the bling factor though. You have plain there, any reason why you went to SS for the cooler?

Looking forward to your mixing manifold piccies!!

 

That's a good suggestion thx I will do that tmw!

Regarding stainless lines, I'm using these because that's what came with the "kit." I only used it for a few years so they still should be good. Call me old fashioned but I like the stainless lines though for abrasion resistance and a little extra durability. It's definitely not for bling. The push on rubber heater hose I'm using is for the valve cover breather lines and I'll use it for coolant lines. I'm a little paranoid about the push lock stuff as I recall many years ago there were some recalls related to lines coming loose. SS hose is tried and true and I'm familiar w/ them.

 

Yes, I vaguely recall that too. You were supposed to just push it on into the little housing, and - job done. Then they started saying 'to be sure, use a clamp'. I have always used the little clamps that 'click' when you apply with pliers. I suspect that people were not always pushing it all the way home into the housing. I have always used the proper 400 hose for those fittings, unless it is for a breather or the like where there is no pressure to force it off the fitting.

My issue with SS is, as well as being hard on the hands (and just plain hard) to make up, the SS abrades anything it rubs against. Concerning if it is another rubber hose, paintwork, or just aluminium, I used 'P' mounts to limit its movement before I cried 'enough'...

 

I just picked up a set of the push button hood pins myself! My bumper mounting is super flimsy after being torn off during a trailer unloading gone wrong. Making it easier to quickly remove and install would have prevented that I've still got to work out the rest of the quick release aspects though.

 

I'm interested to see how the quick latches do for you. I've looked at those quite a few times to make my bumper more secure (my non-oem mounting is pretty mediocre) and easier to remove. I've heard really mixed reviews on the generic Amazon ones vs the expensive name brand stuff.

 

I never realized "push lock" fittings were actually designed to lock without a clamp. I used those fittings with high pressure rubber hose for my oil cooler as well but installed them with clamps. At one point, one of my clamps at the sandwich plate loosened (or more likely the line compressed), and I started to get an oil leak. I gotta imagine the pump could create enough pressure to blow those hoses clean off without clamps haha.

 

Admittedly I don't love them.. last time removing the bumper they were finicky and didn't want to release on one side but hopefully they'll be ok. While I don't have anything against cheaper parts I do try and pay up for things when the quality is notably better. It seems like the aerocatch brand hood latches are the way to go and that'll probably be something to install next year. Is there a brand name quick latch for the bumpers? I'm not sure how I found the cheap ones on amazon I bought but don't recall what the good "brand name" option is.

Edit: Duh.. the brand is quik latch. If this one gives me big problems I'll look into others but for now they're ok.

 

Beavis did a video installing those latches on his NB. He went with QuikLatch branded ones which is what made me aware of them. I still prefer the look of not having them, but those seem to strike the best balance between a clean look and good functionality.

 

So chugging along kinda slowly but making some progress. I got the gauge semi working, I just need to hookup a few wires. It does look very nice and OEMish. Another BMM user bought a 2nd gauge to replace the coolant temp gauge and I might consider that down the road. I also mounted the LED for the water pressure gauge and have the power running to a switch so it will only be operational when the switch is flipped (I don't want it on for say cold starts or when the car is off). The other momentary switch is for the BMM kan gauge and allows you to cycle through different displays. More thoughts when I can actually test it. I also soldered the +12V illum wire on the back of the cluster as well.








One thing that's eating some time is a project I gotta get done for the house. During the kitchen reno the plumber had to hack a bunch of the basement ceiling to run new plumbing. My least favorite project to do is drywall repair and to make matters worse it's the ceiling. I was supposed to have a contractor do it, but got a "I don't really wanna do it" quote, so I'm DIYing it. I'm not spending 2-3k to patch and paint this ceiling, that's some Xidas $$ right there. For projects like this I just try and put a couple hrs in every other day, and eventually it'll be done. Fortunately it's in a section of the basement that isn't frequently used so it's out of the way. I got one sheet up over the bar, and gotta finish installing blocking in the bedroom..





I started planning out the oil feed line and oil pressure transducer (sensor) and originally was going to use a T like everyone does. Thing is I REALLY don't like the design of a sensor hanging at the end of a T, hanging off the block. I got a 1/8" bspt -> 1/8" npt fitting to a T, and ya I'm proly a little nuts but stuff like that bothers me. So, I figured what the hell, why not drill and tap the sandwich plate? Which is what I did. Mishimoto looks like their current sandwich plate has a 1/8" npt fitting tapped in the side but mine doesn't. Easy enough to fix. Fits nicely, and much more secure. Now I will just use a 1/8"bspt->-4an fitting for a straight oil feed line to the turbo.



The R theory mixing manifold came today and it'll be nice to shorten the radiator hose and get it out of the way. Also, this leaves room for a turbo brace to the block. Without a/c or ps and now the water neck for the block out of the way there's plenty of space. I'm planning to use some 3/16" plate steel to make a simple bracket that bolts to two vertical mount holes in the block. The two in the "middle" in the set of 3 on the left.



So for designing a brace for the turbo, are there any design decisions I ought to consider? I'm thinking a simple bracket on the block and turbo, along with an extendable rod with heim joints on the ends. I thought about installing a brace closer to the turbo inlet side on the comp housing but I figure right in the middle is likely better. There are two comp housing bolts I'm planning on using and making the turbo bracket out of 1/8" plate steel. Any thoughts are really appreciated @Midtenn or @emilio700 .

 

With mine, I just did my best to get the turnbuckle as close to vertical as possible, so it was carrying more of the load. I wanted to put the bracket as close to the center of gravity (CG) of the turbo as possible but ended up off to the side because what tapped holes I had access to on the EFR. The holes on your turbo will all you to get closer to the CG than I got.

The block side bracket was a compromise of what material I had handy, tapped holes on the block I could use, and the length of the OTS turnbuckle I bought. I plan on pulling the motor on the winter off season, so I may revise my turbo and downpipe braces when I can access everything easier.

 

This is a sweet build. I’m doing basically the same thing but with an MS. I’m in the process of doing the coolant reroute so your mirror tip is a life saver.