Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery - NA6 mkturbo project
I just heard from Lars that my mkturbo setup will be delivered today, so in that excitement I though it would be helpful to share my journey thus far and document the future.
Like any project, my goals and focus has changed over the years, but I always tried to leverage what everyone here preaches. Successful or not, I found my own path for the Miata while basically copying what has been successful for others over the years. Step 1: Coming Home October 2013 I found a clean 1993 example in red that had just been re-painted (with clear coat) by a body shop owner. Before him, only one owner. ~80,000 miles. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2fa7e93ca7.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...994555759a.jpg Step 2: Refresh Car drove well, but needed TLC. Did a full refresh: radiator, hoses, shifter rebuild, transmission and diff fluid change, timing belt, water pump, cam and crank seals, accessory belts, brake fluid, blah blah blah https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...12249a4a42.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9bee4b4562.jpg Step 3: The Rabbit Hole Opens Now that I had a perfect example of the stock 1.6, I drove it a few times and started throwing money at it. First was suspension I found on cragslist (Koni yellows w/ ground control sleeves 450in/lb front, 300in/lbs rear) that I refreshed (seeing a trend?) https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7d8fb05e29.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a7fcf80de9.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d2d0f251ef.jpg Next came wheels and tires https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8785cb834e.jpg Then a rollbar https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0ab5ea751e.jpg Add some seats and harnesses in because I am a tall person https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bdce998e6f.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...68ec13d65d.jpg Replace some ball joints https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c33e7ede2e.jpg Finally, refresh those nasty brakes https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3985617770.jpg Step 4: Now We Dance After all that, I did a bunch of autocross and went to the track (VIR to be specific) https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...aa47c743b5.jpg Step 5: Analysis Paralysis After all the years of building the car to be a dual-duty street/track car, I decided that I didn't have the balls, money, or time to dedicate to the track. New focus: street car. Fast street car. Step 6: Into the Back Hole I decided that I wanted more power because let's face it, as fun as this car is on the street, it is slower than everything. Started the journey with a DIYPNP built using the trubokitty.com instructions (THANK YOU) https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3c88965408.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c6304cb19f.jpg Add BMW vTPS https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5cc83171ef.jpg Add wideband (14point7), remove AFM, make temporary intake, wire things up. Tune it (THANK YOU SEARCH), drive it. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ea2faa3fd.jpg Add flow force injectors. More tuning, more driving. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2c279caa9c.jpg Step 7: My Block is Ready That basically brings us to today. I should be getting a full MKturbo kit, intercooler kit, and oil line kit hand delivered by the man himself today. Lots to do and lots to order before I can see some positive pressure. More coming as I get time. Final pictures of how she sits right now: https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6d6076dea9.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...366a677fa4.jpg |
Hrrrrrnnnnngggggghhhhhhhh K-1s uuunnnnnnffffffffff
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Nice car! You'll like the MKTurbo stuff. Lars does a great job.
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Looking like a great start so far. Amazing how well things seem to go when you pick the right parts and install them in the correct order.
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Very clean car and it looks like you're doing things the right way.
Nice work. |
Received the delivery last night, but no time to open it all up. Hoping to get some time this weekend.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1396098a56.png |
Originally Posted by bremaine
(Post 1445105)
Received the delivery last night, but no time to open it all up. Hoping to get some time this weekend.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1396098a56.png |
We have basically the same car- I mean almost identical. I finally got done installing my MKTurbo kit a few nights ago, and the results are amazing. You're gonna love it. Check out my build thread for a whole lot of mistakes that you shouldn't repeat.
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Originally Posted by shuiend
(Post 1445114)
It was good to meet you Keith. Hopefully the install goes smoothly and quickly.
Originally Posted by Schroedinger
(Post 1445265)
We have basically the same car- I mean almost identical. I finally got done installing my MKTurbo kit a few nights ago, and the results are amazing. You're gonna love it. Check out my build thread for a whole lot of mistakes that you shouldn't repeat.
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You are gonna love it. And yes, doing everything in the right order with the right parts makes it super easy. I helped a friend put in an MKturbo kit back in the spring (first used one that came up.) And the install went smooth as butter with the car getting right back on the road and tuning up nice.
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Made a little progress this weekend.
Started by doing an initial port to the turbine housing. This is where I ended up when my drill ran out of battery. I think I will try to widen it some more and extend the trough to the flange opening. Took me about an hour of work to get to this point. Initial: https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...14fb399286.jpg After initial porting: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...14e8990249.jpg Also made a little room for the wastegate flapper. Not much range of motion when bolted to the turbo. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...94b1c6ea78.jpg Finally, I got the stock header and downpipe removed. I was able to wrestle the header/downpipe out without having to undo the triangle flange. Still broke off one of the nuts on that attach the downpipe to the cat, but I expected as much. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...078bd6cd5e.jpg I took a minute to beat on the heater core hard pipe as suggested by Lars and managed to break off my dipstick handle. Not sure how much it needs to be massaged, but I will be test fitting and making adjustments later this week hopefully. |
That trough you're cutting won't do much to prevent boost creep; you need to hog out the diameter of the hole from the other side. I didn't port mine enough the first time and had boost creep, had to go back in a 2nd time when it was on the car. It's a lot easier to do on the workbench.
Put a film of grease on the whole wastegate flapper. Bolt the v band/flapper assembly to the turbine body and push the flapper closed. Now take the v band/flapper assembly back off; the grease will have left a circular mark on the face of the turbine where the flapper will close against it. Get a sharpie marker and draw a circle right up to the edge of the grease mark. Now that you know the footprint of your flapper, open up the entire diameter of the wastegate hole until it's 1-2mm inside of the flapper footprint. A carbide cutting dremel bit is really helpful here. |
Mate, That car is beautiful. Super tasteful choices made there, you'll love it even more when the turbo is done -guaranteed.
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Originally Posted by Schroedinger
(Post 1445945)
That trough you're cutting won't do much to prevent boost creep; you need to hog out the diameter of the hole from the other side. I didn't port mine enough the first time and had boost creep, had to go back in a 2nd time when it was on the car. It's a lot easier to do on the workbench.
Put a film of grease on the whole wastegate flapper. Bolt the v band/flapper assembly to the turbine body and push the flapper closed. Now take the v band/flapper assembly back off; the grease will have left a circular mark on the face of the turbine where the flapper will close against it. Get a sharpie marker and draw a circle right up to the edge of the grease mark. Now that you know the footprint of your flapper, open up the entire diameter of the wastegate hole until it's 1-2mm inside of the flapper footprint. A carbide cutting dremel bit is really helpful here. Got most of the prep work out of the way at this point:
I am still worried about heat management, so I am wrapping most of the obvious things in reflective heat shield. I did the underside of the hood as well and ran out of supplies before I got to the brake lines and other small pieces. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...582e1fa081.jpg |
I'm still waiting on my miataturbo.net stickers that I wanted a year ago :sadwavey:
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Originally Posted by Forrest95M
(Post 1447899)
I'm still waiting on my miataturbo.net stickers that I wanted a year ago :sadwavey:
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:bowrofl:
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Finished up most of the install this weekend, but ran into fitment issues with the waste gate actuator lining up with the flapper arm.
I clocked the compressor housing as far as I could and attached what looks to be the correct wga mount, but the rod doesn't really line up with the arm. I shimmed one side of the waste gate to get a better angle, but there rod is still approaching at an angle. Is this OK? Suggestions on how to get a better fit? https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...94b99e16d8.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...eb81fb6d59.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...407f75e75f.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bdb0eaf5d8.jpg |
Not good. You need to clock the compressor housing differently. And you need to keep the actuator squared up on the bracket.
Clock the housing so that the discharge heads more towards the top side of the drivers fender above the frame rail. Try it with the actuator between the compressor discharge and the head. It strange that your wastegate flapper arm opens in the opposite direction from most of the ones I think I've seen, too. |
You have an email.
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I'm sure Lars will get you straightened out. You can check my build thread for some good photos of how I got mine situated. Tips:
- turn the wastegate actuator so the nipples are pointed sideways, not up. The way you have it, they may interfere with the hood and cause your signal line to rupture. As sixshooter said, it needs to be flush to the bracket. - the big square bosses for the compressor bolts can interfere with the actuator bracket, causing it not to line up properly. Check for clearance; you may need to grind them down a bit so that the bracket fits properly to the housing. - see the three metal straps that go between the six compressor bolts? Those hold the compressor housing tightly to the compressor. You don't need the metal strap under the actuator bracket, the bracket replaces it. If you do it the way you're doing it, too few threads are engaged in the aluminum compressor housing and you run the risk of stripping the threads (ask me how I know). Remove one metal strap and position the other two straps between the four bolts that aren't occupied by the actuator bracket. - Once you've done all that, and your compressor housing is clocked correctly, you can tweak the bracket itself in a vice to get the arm pointed to the flapper correctly. It's pretty soft metal- go very gently. Other tips: - get your oil feed line fitting mounted, and your feed and drain lines attached, before you do the turbo stuff. It's a lot harder to do once the turbo and charge piping are situated. - Use some Permatex high-temp thread sealant on all of the threaded connections for the oil feed and drain. |
Originally Posted by sixshooter
(Post 1448628)
Not good. You need to clock the compressor housing differently. And you need to keep the actuator squared up on the bracket.
Clock the housing so that the discharge heads more towards the top side of the drivers fender above the frame rail. Try it with the actuator between the compressor discharge and the head. It strange that your wastegate flapper arm opens in the opposite direction from most of the ones I think I've seen, too. There are others that have this exact setup and seem to make it work (from MKturbo.com): https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ae03179682.jpg
Originally Posted by Schroedinger
(Post 1448650)
I'm sure Lars will get you straightened out. You can check my build thread for some good photos of how I got mine situated. Tips:
- turn the wastegate actuator so the nipples are pointed sideways, not up. The way you have it, they may interfere with the hood and cause your signal line to rupture. As sixshooter said, it needs to be flush to the bracket. - the big square bosses for the compressor bolts can interfere with the actuator bracket, causing it not to line up properly. Check for clearance; you may need to grind them down a bit so that the bracket fits properly to the housing. - see the three metal straps that go between the six compressor bolts? Those hold the compressor housing tightly to the compressor. You don't need the metal strap under the actuator bracket, the bracket replaces it. If you do it the way you're doing it, too few threads are engaged in the aluminum compressor housing and you run the risk of stripping the threads (ask me how I know). Remove one metal strap and position the other two straps between the four bolts that aren't occupied by the actuator bracket. - Once you've done all that, and your compressor housing is clocked correctly, you can tweak the bracket itself in a vice to get the arm pointed to the flapper correctly. It's pretty soft metal- go very gently. Other tips: - get your oil feed line fitting mounted, and your feed and drain lines attached, before you do the turbo stuff. It's a lot harder to do once the turbo and charge piping are situated. - Use some Permatex high-temp thread sealant on all of the threaded connections for the oil feed and drain. One question: from all my reading I am seeing that AN fittings require no thread sealant. Are you only talking about the threaded ends that attach to the drain and feed adapters for the turbo, or both those and the AN fittings for the feed/drain lines? |
I know that -AN fittings aren't supposed to need thread sealant, and that's how I hooked mine up. Sure enough, I was leaking oil around the fittings. Very slow leaks, but enough that it bothered me. I went back and used sealant on both sides of the screw-in connectors (-AN side, and standard thread side that screws into turbo fittings) and it's been tight as a drum ever since.
You may wonder how long to let the thread sealant sit to harden. Seems to me like it never hardens, so feel free to drive it right after. I played it safe and waited 24 hours though. |
Drill some new holes and use a hammer:
https://i.imgur.com/HiZyiDK.jpg |
After some massaging of the bracket I was able to make it line up pretty well.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1df956a75c.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...16110abe6a.jpg I also finished up most of the small things:
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Are you using electronic boost control? If not, you don't need to hook up both ports of the actuator. What do you have those hoses running to?
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Originally Posted by Schroedinger
(Post 1449118)
Are you using electronic boost control? If not, you don't need to hook up both ports of the actuator. What do you have those hoses running to?
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0e43f104c7.jpg |
I think this is incorrect- it should go only to the port closest to the front, leave the port closest to the firewall open. One port is on either side of the diaphragm- if you have the same pressure going to both sides, the diaphragm doesn't move and the wastegate doesn't open.
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Yep
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remove the tee on the wastegate.
just plug line directly into the top line. your wastegate wont open the way you have it plumbed right now. |
Got it, thanks all
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After a minor setback, everything is buttoned up and ready for tuning. I made an intake using various silicone couplers and a K&N filter. The filter looks a little small, but I did the math and this filter should flow enough air for around 200hp at 7000rpm. I have some room to move to a bigger filter if needed.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...73e74bdbd2.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...928cef4ee7.jpg Still need to make the heat shields, but I want to get a rough tune on it before the weather gets to cold. |
That heater hose is awfully close to the downpipe- in one picture it looks like they’re touching. Did you bend the hard pipe backwards before you installed the turbo stuff? I know this probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I wouldn’t run it like that.
I’d go ahead and build a boost leak tester, and test thoroughly. You’re probably going to lose a bunch of boost through the PCV valve, read up on that and the solutions. Take some time and sort out all the mechanical stuff (leaks, wastegate pretension, etc.) before paying money for a dyno tune. You can’t fix mechanical issues with tuning. |
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