kiladonut's turdbo'd minivan slayer
 

I figured I should start a build thread for my 01 se miata as seen in the pictures below:

Attachment 184670
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1411496412
And an older picture before the turbo was installed 100%:
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b794b1b.jpg

I missed having a turbo miata and circumstances changed making it possible to own one again. I have been hunting a 2001 se for some time and I purchased this car sight unseen on ebay last year. I wish I had gotten a PPI because when I took delivery of the car I noticed the pilot bearing was shot, the car had an aftermarket security system that made the windows and door locks operate funky, and there was yellow paint on the soft top.

The car also had some cheesy modifications such as an electronic exhaust cutout (I admit I did play with this a little when I found it :party:), a chrome style bar, a super JDM password tow hook, LEDs around the headlights, and an rpm and battery volts gauges mounted on the a pillar. I am not sure what the wheels are on the car but I assume some budget knockoff JDM wheel judging from the POs taste in other mods. I think they say A-Tech on them. Dunno- I plan to replace with 6uls like everyone else that owns a miata. The miata had copious amounts of ping pong balls hidden throughout. Apparently the PO was a pro table tennis guy which is kinda cool I guess.

The first thing I did was spend all the monies. I bought a set of ID 725's and an MTX-L on this forum, an MS3 basic from rev, and an FM happy meal, and a walbro 190lhp fuel pump. Car put down something like 120hp on the baseline dyno after MS'ed. (This is on a dynocom dyno I assume its similar to a dynojet)

Fast forward to present day: The car now sits with a begi s4 kit with a 2860rs. I also installed a koyo radiator, FM stage 2 airflow kit, MTX-D oil pressure/temp gauge, VDO boost gauge, and 3" artech exhaust with a resonator and cat. Although it has a 7psi garrett actuator I am seeing 10psi with creep to 14psi the last few rpm to redline. Car put down ~250hp/230ft/lbs on the same dynocom dyno. Heres a really crappy dyno sheet. Not sure why there is not much info like AFR/Boost or correction used. RPM was just cut off in the picture. The pull was from 2k-7k RPM
Attachment 184671

Anywho the car is a blast. I know people on this forum hate on the disco potato but coming from a godspeed 3076 this thing spools so much better. Overall I am very satisfied with the cars performance. I just need to get a real roll bar, real wheels, and I will be set.

Feel free to post comments or question or disregard this thread completely. I will update this thread if anything interesting ever happens or just to add media. Thanks for looking!

heres a picture of the engine bay as it sits now
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1411508698

And a short video. Will post more when I get a proper mount and camera.

So you have now owned 2 of my previous setups :party:

good stuff man,

Thanks! I like your used stuff and I am a huge fan https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...kjCuaVD_mvertA


I forgot to mention it but the artech exhaust was damaged in shipping. Abe is awesome though and had insurance on the package. I am still left with a goofy looking bent exhaust tip. See pic:
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...psdd9fd47f.jpg

Any ideas on how to fix this up? I am thinking of buying/renting an exhaust expander like this.

i had the exact same thing happen to my exhaust tip from Abe...

It is easy to fix with an exhaust expanding tool that you can rent from any auto parts store.

Does anything BEGi makes not have boost creep? I get around 3 psi over wastegate spring pressure, with another half psi just before redline, after a dip in boost when my intake manifold butterfly's activate. This is on a 38mm external Tial WG.

Keith

Good to know. I am going to rent ones sometime next week and try it.

I wanted to go the external route but I didn't feel it was necessary for my goals and it would cost a good bit more. I've been under the impression external wastegates don't creep. I guess I don't really know much about them though lol

Honestly, I expected boost creep to be worse on my car. The wastegate flapper doesn't feel like it opens all the way and its on a 3" downpipe/exhaust with the s4 manifold. I am currently sourcing from the compressor housing as well so it is certainly not optimal at the moment.

At what point does preload on the actuator increase boost? I am curious because I have a 7psi actuator and tightened the arm 3 full rotations for proper preload which would make it a 10psi (assuming each turn is 1 psi) which just so happens to be the pressure I see.

Glad to see you're back in a turbo miata. Did you do all the turbo install yourself? Used kit?

...did you actually buy that kit from Vlad? :laugh:

Thanks Ed! Yeah I did buy the kit from Vlad lol. I was looking for a used begi or artech setup and his popped up for sale at the right time for a decent price. One of the main reasons I went for a used begi kit was to avoid dealing with begi directly which unfortunately didn't happen. I had to source a few pieces I was missing from them on multiple occasions. The wait times were very painful and some of the fabrication and quality was questionable but it all worked out in the end and I'm very satisfied with my dealings with begi.

I did install the kit myself. It was a daunting task in the beginning and took awhile (making sure it was done right and waiting on parts):noob:. I have never done anything major to a car before but it turned out to be pretty painless aside from the mental stress of drilling the oil pan. I was certain the car was going to piss out all of its fluids catch on fire and explode when I first started it up. I did find out my radiator had a pinhole leak but once that was fixed it purred like a turbo kitten which was a huge relief and seems extremely reliable. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face after the first time I drove it. So the install ended up being an enjoyable and positive learning experience for me.

Actually here is the video of its first start


BTW Ed, your MSM is coming along nicely

Woot, looks like fun. I like me some '01 SE

Rented an exhaust expander from advance yesterday to fix my exhaust. About 5 seconds of work and the exhaust looks miles better.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412083557

I been meaning to ask: how do you like the bov?
I totally forgot that I re-welded the fitting and replaced the bosch with the piston style on your setup.

How is the sound? Any issues with it? Do you like it?

I like the BOV. The sound is like a baby version of the forge on your older white car. Baby as in not as loud but very similar noise. After adjustment there is a slight sound of compressor surge at very low boost but from reading that's pretty standard on a BB turbo. Overall no issues with it. Are you thinking of picking another one up?

Yep :party:

Thanks for your review. I think that's exactly what I was trying to accomplish, glad it worked out. Bout to order another haha

That's a good looking SE.

So I pulled the car out from winter storage about 2 months ago and added nickel 6uls with yokohoma s.drives (very meh tires BTW) and a Harddog hardcore hardtop roll bar. I also had it aligned at a local shop per 949racing's "street and autocross" setup.

Attachment 235251

A few weeks ago I got into a small accident. I was coming through a dark corner and there was a giant bundle of tree branches in the middle of the road (I assume they fell off the back of a truck). Anyways I didn't see it until it was too late and had to swerve to the right and I made contact with a guard rail. The rear quarter panel got a dent and there was a scratch along length of the passenger side. My insurance company fixed the damages but the body shop stripped the existing rock guard and applied a new coat. The new stuff is much more textured than the OEM stuff and it makes it look matte in color. The shop said there isn't anything they can do aside from redo the drivers side too. That doesn't sound like a solution to me so I am trying to figure out what I should do. Any input is appreciated.

While I wait to see what my options will be with the rock guard issue I took the car to the first autocross of the year. This is the first time autocross with a 6 speed car. The gearing is like my driving - miserable! Here are a few videos:

Just a quick update: Changed the exhaust hangers to standard FM poly hangers and changed the motor mounts to the mazda competition mounts. I wanted to change the exhaust mounts because my exhaust would rattle on some of the bracing occasionally. The FM mounts pulled the exhaust up about 1/4 - 1/2 inch and were simple to install. niiiiccceeee!

The car has ~57,000 miles on it and considering its a 14 year old car I figured motor mounts wouldn't be a terrible idea either. Honestly I wasn't expecting to find anything wrong with the OEM mounts but figured a fresh set certainly wouldn't hurt anything. So I read several walk-throughs on the procedure and felt confident it would be a simple job so I figured I'd plunge in.

First thing I noticed was there are 4 bolts rather than just 3 as all of the guides I read stated. I figured it still wouldn't be difficult and could bang it out in 2 hours with my trusty harbor freight jack under the oil pan. Boy was I in for a treat. Passenger side came out fine. The drivers side mount bolt was just about impossible to get out of the subframe though. By some act of god the bolt randomly popped out of the hole and I thought I was in the clear. Wrong. I couldn't get the mount out of the car or unbolt the mount while still in the area where it sits. Lucky the OEM mount was ripped all the way through and some wiggling popped it out into two pieces. Popped a fresh mount in and was ready for reinstall.

For the reinstall once again the passenger side was simple. The drivers side had to be installed one piece at a time. My first go at this I actually got the manifold support brace wedged behind the mount bracket and had to take everything apart again to free it. I'm a dummy. Once it was settled in lining up the bolt holes sucked big time. Jack goes up jack goes down. Rinse repeat. An hour later- BAM - installed motor mounts. I came out of this learning one thing: next time use an engine hoist. My life would have been made so much easier. Oh also check intercooler pipes when you're done. I separated IC piping lifting the motor and had a boost leak.


tldr: Change engine mounts with a hoist or you'll be miserable and NB2 motor mounts are the devil. Such a simple job and it took me 6+ hours.

Anywho here are all of the floppy useless crud pieces I yanked out of the car
Attachment 235250

The new mounts made shifting a little smoother. No noticeable difference in vibrations really. If you're looking for a very steerable motor mount the mazda comps are probably the way to go.

Went autocrossing at pittrace again. I love going up there you get a million runs when hosted by Pittrace. Here are some videos. It was actually neat because it was the same course I ran last time only in reverse.'




On another note I missed 3rd on two runs because the car wouldnt go into gear. Thats lame because I never had that issue before swapping motor mounts. Oh well it only happened 2 times. Also yoko s.drive still suck for autocross.

Surprisingly I was one of the fastest cars out there that day. From what I could see only a c4 vette on super wide hoosiers was faster (and by 2 seconds... that car was a rocket). Going to these events makes me want to dump money into my car and compete in SSM. But really I go to maybe 4 events a year and I am not serious at all. Street car FTW!

1. Love the turbo kitty sticker
2. Car looks like a lot of fun, and sounds nice
3. So jelly of that autox course. Looks like a blast.
4. street car FTW

Turbo kitty stickers had to go on the helmet haha. I was so excited to put those on.

We met at the Pittrace low-key autox the month before. I skipped this one because I was going to the scca event the next day. Also, I don't know how many more events my tires will tolerate before they cord. If you ever get a chance, you should come to one. There are tons of decent people, you can run in the novice class if you want, and you can get some really good instruction from some fast people.

2015 Schedule | STCsolo.com

-Zach

Hey Stoves its good to see you in here! I will make it out to an SCCA event eventually. I just have a hard time forcing myself because IMO the low key ones at pittrace are just so much more appealing. No working the course, as many runs as you can do, and no egos to contend with. Its just fun which is the whole reason I own the Miata in the first place. That being said, I would love to get serious into autocross so its worth checking out an event or two.

I agree with that. The low key event was great because you get as many runs as you can possibly handle. The cost per run is very favorable at the low key events. I have fun with the SCCA events mostly because there are more people to BS with, they're a good group. I'll try to make it to another low key event or 2.

So my car almost caught fire the other day. Oil supply line decided to give out and squirt oil all over the exhaust. Luckily it just made smoke but I am now shopping for a car fire extinguisher just in case. Seems necessary when you have oil lines near something that gets so hot. Anyways it was a JIC line that failed at the crimp. I assume it was the line that shipped with the begi kit. I found a high pressure hose shop that made me a new line for $14 which is awesome. So $14 and a new pair of pants later the car is running great again. Here is a picture of the leaky line after I switched the connections to see where it was leaking from. Weird that it failed here. Has this happened to anyone else?


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1437494688


Anyways I really want to make this car work on the track. My current concerns, however, are making ~250 on stock bottom end, normal BEGi turbo hardware (I assume), 01 headgasket with no reroute, no ducting aside from plastic undertray, A/C is installed (and its oh so glorious BTW), no catch cans (this will be address regardless), street brake pads, and 37mm radiator with FM shroud (remove shroud and install bigger rad). So really the game plan would be to fix all of that stuff. At the end of the day though I dont know if this is a good route to take or if I should look into a stock s2000 for a track toy. I know consumables would be more but I have to believe it will be way more reliable on the track. Time will tell I guess. Sway my opinion people!

<p>lucky on that oil line, glad it didn't go up in flames.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I can vouch for a stock S2k being an absolute riot on the track.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>But I'm building a turbo Miata for the track, so I'm not going to try to change your mind.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A couple things regarding track prep:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>-the reroute is not as necessary on '01+.</p><p>-turn down the boost some.</p><p>-get better brake pads. You already have the Sport brakes, right?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>that should get you going. S2k's are a lot of fun, but much more complex machines.</p>

And still slower than turbo miatas ;)

From what I've read its ideal to use a 99-00 head gasket with a reroute and I thought I also read that even with the factory 01+ head gasket a reroute would be a good idea. Is that not the case? I actually have an m-tuned coolant reroute sitting in the garage that I was going to throw on next year.

I do have sport brakes so pads would be all I really need.

Are you retaining air conditioning on your car Ed?

Boost is as low as it can go right now. I have a 7psi (I think) wastegate actuator and had to spin the arm to 10psi to fit onto the turbo. There is 4 psi that just happens after that from the wastegate flapper not opening all of the way. Right now this doesn't matter to me because its a street/light autocross car but if I was planning on tracking it I guess I would need to sort that issue out.

I guess I can always try a trackday and see how the car take it. Worst case im out $100-200 to figure out what need improved. Putting the car into a wall is my only other concern but I'd have that with any car lol

<p>Ditching A/C and Power steering on my car, but adding ABS :facepalm:</p><p>yes pads would get you done on the braking front.</p><p>I believe that you're correct on the reroute issue, but that the '01+ cars do better without it than the earlier cars did. Still a good idea, AFAIK.</p>

Pretty sure reroute is a no-no on 01+

I read a thread before I bought the m-tuned reroute where emilio was saying the reroute is needed even for 01+ cars with stock bp6d head gaskets. Ill see if I can dig it up.

edit found it: https://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep...-thread-79930/

<p>I was going to dig that up. specifically:</p><p></span></p>

Background:

Mazda changed the design of the head gasket in the 2001 model in an effort to address the cooling problems of the earlier cars:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ad-gasket.jpg?

In the early design, you can see that the coolant passages are fairly evenly distributed across the gasket. In the '01-'05 design, this has changed radically. The holes are now clustered around the #2 and #3 cylinders, and heavily biased towards the exhaust side. This is a very good compromise design, if we presuppose the necessity of a front-thermostat, rear-heater layout. When the thermostat is open, coolant will flow up through the middle of the engine, and then move both forwards (towards the thermostat) and rearwards (towards the heater core outlet) to exit the engine. Thus, the flow of coolant across the front and rear of the head is fairly even.

I was one of the first to raise a concern about this about 4-5 years ago when we first started seriously discussing the reroute concept in the VVT engine. Specifically, my concern was (and continues to be) that with the front thermostat port blocked off completely, you can clearly see how the area around the #1 cylinder will receive virtually no coolant flow at all, with extremely little flow around the intake side of #2 as well.

Thanks for the illustration Joe Perez. I never really looked at the headgaskets before and your explanation makes complete sense to me. I don't know enough on the subject to argue that Emilio is right and you are wrong or vice versa so I will probably just take the safe route and get a bp4w head gasket before implementing the reroute/tracking the car. That has always been on the need to do list anyways since day one.

That's the problem I have as well. There is some anecdotal evidence from people who have don't rear-thermostat reroutes to VVT engines and not immediately destroyed them, but I'm not aware of anyone who has actually instrumented a VVT head to look at the temperature gradient across it (eg: by drilling a bunch of holes in it and mounting thermocouples along its length) to make a determination as to whether a rear-therm reroute on a VVT head with the stock gasket makes things better or worse than the stock configuration.

From a purely theoretical standpoint, I postulate that it will make things worse, as there will be virtually no coolant flow whatsoever around the #1 cylinder at any time, whether the thermostat is open or closed. In the stock (front thermostat) configuration, there is a small amount of flow around the #1 cylinder (by way of the thermostat bypass) when the thermostat is closed, and there should be very good flow across the entire head when the thermostat is open.