Little car BIG dumpster fire part II
 

So in November of 2016 I decided that Jeeps were no longer my thing. So I sold my 95 Cherokee and bought my current 92 Miata for $700. To start her off, she was pretty rough. She had a botched timing belt job, cam bolts were backed out and rubbing on the cam gears, had a leaky thermostat, and a very bad paint job (she still does).
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6b32bab1a.jpeg
My first order of business was to get her running well and planted on the street. Thankfully the timing belt job had only been done a few hundred miles before me buying it so nothing serious was needed. I set the timing back to it's proper setting, replaced the thermostat, went ahead and replaced all the belts, and got some Falken Azeni RT615K tires on some TRM FF10 wheels. That really settled everything down well.
Also that hardtop is no more. I got it from a buddy but gave it back since it leaked terribly from the window seals. Be wary of Smoothline Hardtops (no money lost on that thankfully).
As she sits now, she got a Hard Dog M2 Sport Double Diagonal roll bar and some Moss Miata Raydot mirrors. DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE! The glass isn't held in place well and rattles terribly. Will be getting something from REV9 in the future.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...379936364.jpeg
Now I've got a MS2PNP on order and will also be picking up some FF 640cc Injectors to compliment them. I also picked up a big treadstone intercooler that I may or may not use, not sure yet. Currently have a cast iron log manifold and a 50 trim T3 turbo that should be delivered on Monday.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...113353ede4.jpgNo shit, this thing is pretty big. 28x7x2.5, maybe too big?
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a902a3ab91.jpgThe t3 trim cast manifold
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d1c295333d.jpgAnd the 50 trim T3 I picked up for $50!
I've also got lots of good stuff planned for the future as well

Interior:
Almost everything will be done through RevLimiter and MiataRoadster. Been thinking about some sort of retro bucket seats.

Exterior and wheels and tires: Needs paint, 15x9 or x10 6uls with 245 RS4's

Suspension and Brakes: WANT XIDAS! No idea on brakes yet, maybe a FM BBK?

Drivetrain: 3.9 torsen, 6 speed maybe?, and a 949 Supermiata clutch.

Interesting, I would def make sure you get all the supporting mods. With more power and the snail you will want better brakes, cooling and ect. I can vouch for the 4 piston wilwood kit from FM. I did all four corners.

I completely forgot to mention that! I'm also debating between the 949 Qmax kit (coolant reroute and their big rad) or a Mishimoto setup and lopro fans. And glad to hear about the brakes! Still keeping my options open.

I wouldn't get a mishimoto radiator. Either get a koyo or pony up for the 949 ish or just get an eBay alu rad

You're the first person to steer me away from the Mishimoto rad. Greg from TheCarPassionChannel recommended it, but 949 is an option and so is Koyo.

Mishimoto is junk. Get the 949 crossflow. $349 and done, keep the factory fans they will be fine. They only cool the car at low speeds anyway. A good radiator and ducting will go a long way. There is a definitive thread on this somewhere here.
http://949racing.com/SuperMiata-Cros...tor-miata.aspx

I upgraded from the Mishimoto to the 949 this summer, and I was able to run four 5-minute sessions before I hit 225f. And that's without ducting and hood vents.

Sell manifold and turbo. Buy MKTurbo DIY setup. Buy my 949 Big Grip Kit from me at the same time. Get all the go fast parts at once. I will even throw in a reroute spacer.

Dude I bought the turbo from said it was from your kit actually. If I could just buy the diy kit minus the turbo I would. Same with your big grip kit, but at thw moment I only have $570 in my bank account

Yeah, the cost differential between koyo and 949 makes the latter a no brainer. Id likely have done that if I had to make the choice now.

The koyo is really nice but... The 949 radiator was designed specifically for this purpose. They also have a CSF radiator that's a bit cheaper IIRC.

Yeah, I like what 949 makes so next month I'll put an order in for their cross flow radiator

I do sell my setups without a turbo if you are seriously interested. Visa and Mastercard are you best friends.

Also skip the 949 radiator and mishimoto. Either buy the cheapest eBay all aluminum radiator, or save up and buy a TSE radiator. I have used well over several dozen eBay aluminum radiators without issues since 2008. The last one I purchased was like $104 shipped and dropped right out without issues.

Oh my...I'll have to see. I would just need the ic piping, MS3PNP, injectors, manifold, and exhaust

Dang, didn't know the TSE was that much better than the 949.

I have not done back to back tests between the two. But I know Savington personally designed the TSE radiator to be track reliable in a boosted environment, where I feel Emilio more tends to design against a naturally aspirated track car. So to me its either go the cheapest route possible, or just man up and buy the best of the best. These are words I live by because in all my miata's I either have the cheapest Ebay radiator, or a TSE one.

Since when was the 949 radiator not the bad ass? I recall Emilio saying that his radiator was special for a few reasons, That's why it took so long to get out to the public.

Running an SPM crossflow in Bullet, 220whp turbo. Stays below 200° even during races on warm days. William has one in his S1 and same results. The Crossflow is optimized for cars with good airflow, which Bullet has. If you have a 300whp turbo street car running pump gas with A/C, only OEM ducting, no hood vents or reroute, huge FMIC blocking the rad you need a mack truck sized rad to make up for the lack of airflow. In such a case its just thermal mass keeping your car from blowing up. A giant radiator cures many ills. The Crossflow is designed for a well setup cooling system, chopped up front end to increase airflow, lotsa hood vents, tight ducting to rad, FMIC set below or at bottom of rad, reroute, not too much antifreeze. In such a case, our high efficiency core works perfectly even with big power.

With an N/A build, it has enough spare capacity that airflow and ducting are less critical. Where high mass rads like the TSE shine is in less optimized systems like street cars with A/C and mostly stock front ends. Our Crossflow would not be happy in Acamas, Andrews 350whp pump gas burning street car with A/C and no hood vents.

Would your crossflow do well in my street car that'll make 220whp adn still have AC?

Airflow. The Crossflow is designed for cars with good airflow. Visit the cooling system thread.

My 37mm Koyo works fine at about that level... now that I have ducted it, bypassed some air around the FMIC, have a coolant re-route, and an oil cooler.

Took it up a mountain yesterday with some sustained full power, uphill pulls. No worries.

So, I would expect 949 would as well. But like Emilio said, it may take some other efforts beyond just installing it.

Unicorn part

Very much so! But would you happen to know what belt I need to get for this bracket?

EDIT: Never mind, just found it on GoMiata

Buy a lotto ticket

Okay guys, I need help. Does this bracket go in place of where the old power steering pump was? I got the belt needed for this bracket so I just need to know where it goes. Haven't been able to find any installs of it anywhere. Thanks!

It has been a while since I have removed one of those, but I think it goes in the place that the power steer pump bracket goes.

correct

Alrighty then, I will be depowering my steering rack tomorrow! Thanks guys!

Lars dropped off a sweet package on Thursday!! But after looking at all the different diagrams for Megasquirt and tuner studio I can't make heads or tails of anything. Is there any help out there for PNP Pro going into a 1.6? My biggest fear is that I don't wire something correctly and two days later, I'll be on the side of the road watching Mia burn to the groundhttps://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...97f650d825.jpg

What exactly is your question? If you bought a brain built unit, his instructions are very good. Have you looked at those?

Lars sent me a PNP Pro, and I'm more so nervous about installing it with my wideband and injectors. Like is the setup and software similar to an MS2? I've watched a few videos on the install and base map, but it's all been on MS2 PNP not PNP Pro

Okay, this build is going to have to be put on hold right now. Army has decided for the third month in a row to pay me half a paycheck, I stripped out a bolt for the driver's seat bracket and all around everything had just been giving me a huge headache.

Hopefully shit should get straight soon and I can start up again.

Haven't updated in a sec. So, I figured that since I don't have a garage I'm gonna need to take Mia to a shop. So, on December 16th I'm taking Mia to Track Minded Performance in Marietta Georgia who will do the install and tune while I'm on HBL and back in California with family. Once everything is said and done I'll then get Mia painted, because she desperately needs it.

Mia goes up to the shop this weekend to start her journey to become a turbo Miata! And oddly enough in NW Florida is decided to snow. Days before that I decided to get rid of my leaky soft top and get a hardtop. Now I no longer have to worry about water damage. I also depowered my steering rack to make more room for IC piping. Lars, you have been a HUGE help throughout this whole journey, thanks again so much!https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9cd361fc1a.pngPO thought plasti dip was a good idea. Mia just doesn't look happy. A paint job is in the future.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dba82072c4.jpgHardtop came in handy. I LIVE IN FLORIDA!!!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5ce61c9232.jpgOh yeah, I also did a little cosmetic thing too

Okay, need advice again. This time on wheels and tires. Being my current setup are 15x7 +30mm offset and 205/50 tires, I'm curious if it would be advantageous of me to get a set of 15x9 wheels and 225/45? I should also mention that I finally depowered my steering rack, as per FM instructions. I'm also down to either getting Advanti Storm S1's or be a cool kid and get some 6ul's. Any input is much appreciated!

Edit: Should also mention this car is going to be 99% street driven

Heres another option:
https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...5&autoModClar=

This is what I run, they hold up really good in wrecks :rofl: They are 15*9 36mm offset. I believe most 9" wide wheels with require some fender rolling. To me it comes down to what you want the car to look like when it is done. I know wide wheels with sticky tires will be a pain in parking lots with a depowered rack but once you get going its no big deal.

That's been another one I've looked at! The weight of the wheels is a bit concerning is all. Looks matter, but not to the point where it will determine what I get.

Where in the US are you located?

Crestview Florida. Southern Alabama basically

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3c26e5eae4.jpg
Only update is that I've dropped Mia off at TMP in Marietta and I'm back home on leave. I also have 2 cats back home. Rocky is the big white cat, and Sophie is the chubby basement cat.

I'm back in FL now and TMP is moving along quite well with Mia! She's getting put back together and will be at the tuner's next week for tuning the TPS and sequential injection! I'm so excited to have her done! (For now:firedevil)
Attachment 229720
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Honestly, for a 26 year old car with 156k miles on the clock, I expected things to be going a little rougher, but apparently everything is going quite well!

So I fucked up and didn't post the most important photo
Attachment 229719
Anyways, seems like much of the engine work is coming to a close. TMP will have ic piping fabbed up on Monday, hopefully Mia will be up and running and get dyno tuned, and my list of desired mods shrinks down.

So far my list includes
Suspension:
Xida GS's to replace the ricelands
Racing Beat sway bars with 949 Endlinks
Energy Suspension bushings

Wheels, Tires, and Brakes:
Option 1: 15x8 Rota Shakotan's with 225/45 R1R's
Option 2: 14x7 RPF1's with either 205/55 R888 or 195/60 RT615K+
Option 3: Just keep my FF10's and run 205/50 Federal 595RS-RR
FM 90-93 Brake upgrade kit

Then there's a whole host of interior stuff I want to do, as well as vinyl wrapping Mia. But yeah, that's basically where I'm at.

Well, it's been a hot minute since anything has happened. And there's really no reason why, other than the shop doing a weeks worth of work in roughly 3 months, and me having to spend a shit load to trailer my car from GA to FL. I recently found out that there's a local shop who does turbo builds and does Miatas, so when come the 28th, I plan on having Mia all finished and on the dyno for tuning.

But in the meantime, I've been trying to sell my motorcycle so I can get a daily. I've got my eyes set on an '03 WRX in Sonic Yellow and will be picking that up next week.

My hope is that I can have everything wrapped up before April so I can take advantage of this unseasonably cool FL weather. Cheers gents, thanks for all the help!

PS. if anyone is in the market for an FZ09, hit me up

Kind of a bittersweet update. While the good folks at ECM were able to run 2.5" piping on both sides, little did I know that Megasquirt send a coolant temp sensor with my ecu rather than an IAT sensor. So that's delaying things, but at least Mia is getting close to being donehttps://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e5485830e2.jpgOnly got one photo, but you get the idea

Btw guys, if any of you would be so generous I could really use some help with tuning the car as well. Thanks!

Anthony from DrunkMan Tuning is gonna do it. He mainly does Subies but he recently did a 10AE that made around 300whp on low boost, running MS3x. I trust him lol

That piping looks tight on the drivers side, at least you get to use hard lines.

There's actually about an inch or so of room on each side.

Must be the angle of the pic.

Circle-jerking Concealer is watching you poop.

:rofl:

I agree, I deserve that. But, an update from ECM, is that their projected finish date is on the 27th and tuning is going to be done on the 1st. Yeah, 6 months without the car for a simple turbo has been quite frustrating. Thanks TrackMindedPerformance...

What does Andrew have to do with this? He doesn't do 1.6 things.

Who's Andrew?

Trackspeed Engineering.

I'm a fucking idiot, and still trying to wake up. TrackMindedPerformance is the shop who fucked everything up

lol he thought you were referring sarcastically about TSE

Nah, from what I've read from everyone here, they make good shit but can be slow with delivery apparently. But at least their product is good. TrackMindedPerformance was utter shit. I had to message them at least four times just to get a response, and then once I called over there, Mike (the owner) seemed pissed that I'd dare ask for an updates on my car that they had for 3 months. Shit, he didn't even hook up the Megasquirt. Given, Megasquirt sent me a coolant temp sensor rather than an IAT sensor, but that shouldn't have delayed much of anything.

Now Mia is at Emerald Coast Motorsports and so far they've done a fantastic job. They also take their time, but at least they have their reasons (building other fun stuff from mild mannered street Miatas, all the way to 900hp Evo's and Subarus)