you can still do the learning, you can still blow the engine even wihtout a turbo...
i say cut to the chase, boost it and learn to tune...watch videos, read read read...and practice...i've been using MS for 5 years and feel conformtable tuning with it...never was i scared.

i don't mean to tell you what to do...it just seems silly to me if you are building from teh ground up to do things twice.
that advise is good for smeone with a running NA stock to learn...

 

Megasquirt then turbo is the right way.

 

i won't argue you.
i could be wrong.

 

Got the taillights installed this weekend.

 

I also got a chance to break in the motor. Man, this thing is fun to drive. I should be street legal with tags by sometime next week.

 

Those are crazy looking tail lights, man! Where did you find those?

 

I searched Google and Amazon for days. Finally settled in on these.

 

Very nice lights. Any chance they are DOT legal?

 

Looking good!

 

DOT molded/stamped on the lenses. I’m assuming that’s enough to get me through inspection.

 

you live in Florida...what inspection?

 

In order to register the car it has to pass inspection by the state. Some people just slap the VIN from the donor Miata on it and run it but these attract a lot of attention from the police and I don't want to deal with their bullshit if/when I get pulled over. It's better for me just to play by the rules (pay the taxes) and get it inspected as a kit car than risk it being impounded by some overzealous cop that wants to be a *****.

It's pretty painless from what I hear. This guy just had his registered last week about a half hour away from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzt...Qq8JXfQWomVfeA

 

ahhhh ****...yea, that makes total sense.

 

Over the weekend I noticed a very small amount of coolant that had collected inside the fins of my Koyo radiator. In the middle of the radiator on the left. Not enough to leave a puddle on the floor but enough that I saw it when working on my nose cone. I decided to run the car for a while tonight to see what's going on and sure enough it's leaking. Looks like a core leak. Dammit. Got it off Craigslist from a guy that races a couple spec racing Miatas around the south circuit. Bad luck maybe. I'd hate to think that he sold me junk on purpose. I've got a new Ebay radiator sitting on the shelf but that would require a teardown with new mounts fabricated and new fans because it's thicker than the Koyo. I'm trying to get this thing registered this week. Should I just bite the bullet and replace the damn thing or try some stopleak solution to get me through inspection? Brand new rebuilt engine so I'm hesitant to add anything to it's pristine innards. Not sure if there's a rebuild or repair option on these things either.

 

Stop leak screws up everything so don't.

It likely won't be a problem for inspection. You will need to fix it eventually so figure out what you want to do

 

ixnay on the stopleak.

 

Remove and carry it to a radiator shop to be repaired. That's what those shops do.

 

So, I found a deal on a new one and I went ahead and pulled the trigger. It won't be here until next week sometime.

I should find out today when I need to show up for inspection. Either way, the leak is so slow it shouldn't prevent me from getting to the DMV and then replace the radiator when it shows up.

 

As expected, Tampa DMV can't figure out how to register a Kit Car even though one breezed through the county below me.. They apparently need more time to "research" the kit and replica verbiage. I'm patient, though, and will see where this goes. As luck would have it, the normal guy who does this is out sick. I told them I will wait until he gets back but they seem to want to do this on the fly so maybe i can do this as a Lotus replica and skip inspection. Doubtful though.

 

I have an appointment set up for Tuesday this week for inspection. I finally got through to the right guy. He says it will be easy so that's a relief.

My wiring tray is a disaster but when it's covered up no one is the wiser. I still need to mount the two outside panels but you get the idea. Eventually, I'll tackle the harness but right now I just want to drive it!