Miata Legacy Build
 

For those of you who didnt see my meet & greet post on the back story to my miata, it was my best friends car who passed away from brain cancer. He had plans of adding a turbo and doing autoX but never had time to do it. About a year after his passing his dad gifted the car to me because it didnt mean much to him and we had a lot of good times in the miata. I enjoy building cars and plan to track this car and have a fun toy for the nice days in the NW

When i got the car it had the following installed

• 1.8 torsen diff
• Jackson intake
• Brain built MS3X
• 2.5 exhaust
• Bride Lowmax
• Hardog rollbar
• Tien Flex
• 14x7 RPF1 set
• 15x7 BBS knock offs
• Braided brake lines
• Front strut brace
• Engine roll brace/damper thing
• Nardi wood grain steering wheel

Included but not installed
-custom turbo kit

Since i have got it i have added

• installed gt2860rs turbo
• full 3" stainless exhaust w/ magnaflow
• 1.125 RB Hollow front swaybar with 949 endling
• Singular hood vents
• Custom heat shield
• Catch can setup
• Bunch of heat shield and heat management stuff
• Good turbo hardware from arp turbo (i know its not inconel)
• Front Splitter w/ tire spats (broke this last weekend though)

And like any other gearhead i have lots of future plans as follows

• Diff bushings
• Suspension Bushings
• Flyin Miata BBK
• 15x9 Advanti Storms wraped in 225/45-15 RS4
• Meth Injection
• Blackbird fabworx spoilerhttps://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a7bb42868b.jpghttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4e6420f054.jpg
  https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e0da4c7a30.jpg
  https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fea0dcb186.jpg
  https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6fe750c80e.jpg
• 1.8 Engine Build
  • 1.8 off CL for 300
  • 1.8 bare block and supertech 83.5 pistons with wiseco xx rings of here
  • 02 VVT head from local junkyard
  • Boundary Engineering oil pump
  • 949 oil baffle
  • Manley H Beam Rods
  • ARP head studs and main studs
  • ACL bearings
  • Supertech Light Double spring kit
  • Gates timing belt kit from 949
  • Water pump from 949
  • Supermiata comp mounts
  • Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump
  • Absurd flow manifold and downpipe
  • Possibly new turbo gt2871rs?

And finally Pictures to come tonight

Looking forward to seeing more of your build.

Clean

Soft top delete a while ago
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...847c9efa71.jpg

Engine bay as it sits now
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0cffd8657d.jpg

My DIY heat shield
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2f0467f91f.jpg

Had to haul some dirt from the house to a job. poor 2500 was struggling with 23k load
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...df740816dd.jpg

Had to clean the garage to make room for a 1.8 motor to build
Left sled had 240hp @ 12psi and right has 180hp na
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7daefe6866.jpg

And a few more to get the thread up to speed

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2a0df14685.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1aff78524a.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b769e6af36.jpg

That heat shield sure does hide the turbo well. At a glance you would miss it.

Works really good I lined the inside with motorcraft heat shielding too

Should get my wheels i ordered a while ago tomorrow. Got the 15x9 Advanti Storms and will order some Hankook RS4's.

Do i order 245/40r15 or 225/45r15 Keep in mine i have AK fenders on the shelf at home

245/40r15 on a 15x9 storm will fit under stock fenders rolled and pulled. With flares they will probably be sunken a bit.

Got some advanti storms s1 wheels in 15x9 for a great deal. Should see some 245/40r15 Hankooks in a couple weeks


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f54cd0ae35.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4b389ca896.jpg

Coolant hit 215 today in driveway and turns out fans didnt kick on. shouldnt the thermo switch kick in at 200ish? If its bad should i run the fans to a manual switch or just replace the thermo switch?

Replace the sensor. If you run manual fans, at some point you will forget them and overheat. I've done it in previous cars.

Ms3 should control the fans.

https://trubokitty.com/#/ms3xassembly

On a Brain built MS3 it looks like the fan output for a 90 should be INJ G. Should be able to use test mode to turn on that output which should turn on the fan. If it doesn't you'll need a DMM to measure the output at the ECU.

Really cool thread. Kinda off topic, but could you tell us how the rear deck speakers sound?

Got the MS3X to contorol the fans and was super easy, cant believe it took me this long to set it up. SpartanSV it was ING G. Viperormiata- the speakers are alright and like everything it is all relative. The speakers are clear but i have to crank it up to hear anything over the exhaust but race car not luxury car. The truck speakers sound way way better but i actually put a good system in it (amps proper build sub box, good speakers, good deck, quality wires)


Do these fan settings look good
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ff02cd7d86.png

Now you have me confused. Was it injector G or ignition G?

The link was to Braineak's site and his diagram which shows injector G as the fan output.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...697e1e1b19.png


From Brain's 97 base map. Looks like he sets it so the fan turns off over 90% throttle which is genius.

Are you using a vTPS?

With your hysteresis setting you will never see your fan turn off. With brain's it will shut off at 190.

Copied your settings and fan works good. Also had to drive at night yesterday and tuned the PWM voltage compensation to account for the headlight draw and if i turn the heater fan on.

Got CL idle to run pretty good just now. Can anyone see any major issues?

Also pulled the trigger on some 245/40r15 Hankook RS4's today should show up Tuesday and was able to get them for $125 a tire.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b8482bc2fd.png

So first is my current CL idle settings that seem to work pretty good right now.

The rest is a 94 1.8 block and a 02 VVT head unknown mileage on both. The guy wants $400 for everything and is across the country but he is about 15 min from one of the equipment yards for work so i can ship for free!!

Is this a good deal worth buying or keep my eyes out longer for a complete VVT engine.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...22bc7c643e.png

Also while im on a roll with bleeding money. right now i have tein flex coilovers with 7/6kg springs (392/280lbs) was thingking of re springing the front to 12kg 728lbs and moving the 7kg 392 springs to the rear. Its only $130 and think it might keep the front from diving so much in corners, especially with splitter

Skip putting any money into tein flex.

Onlins fox or xidas

If you mean ohlin dfv pass on those. If you mean Ohlin TTX then do it for sure.

I'm a xida fan, fox are probably good too.

Come down to Portland and ride on my xidas :) was going to be in Seattle this weekend with the car but had to bring the dog.

That would be sweet. I really want to get a track day in before the snow comes if I can ever get free time

NWAA has a good day at ORP on September 14th? I'm instructing at that one.

All booked up during the week. I usually work 5am-430pm Mon to Fri then EMT training Wed night and all day Saturday and that goes until December. All work and no play recently trying to have money to build the car and sled while getting into the fire department

Sounds like you are in need of a mental health day

The girlfriend refers to those as family days lol and on top of the schedule is our 18 month daughter who runs everywhere now. I'll try to get down there one Sunday for an event though!

Replaced the clutch and slave cylinder. Think the fluid was dirty a little bit.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...667a28970c.jpg
Removed all the pointless junk and put the front splitter back on.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f4abd70de1.jpg

did a mild roll and pull then stuffed some 245/40-15 RS4's on 15x9 Advanti storm s1's
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1e0ca2fd55.jpg

Traded my set of ak 30mm flares for a 1.8 with 115k last night.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...aafe040a30.jpg

That is hilarious.

I saw your thread like 2 hours after I made the trade. I think their site is back up now though

Dropped the block off at a local shop to get machined and rotating assembly balanced, should have it back in about 6 weeks. Is there anyone in the PNW that wants to help assemble the block, never assembled a motor for a car but how hard could it be.

That is the spirit! :likecat:

I'm in the PNW (portland) but not sure you want my help. My motor only lasted 4000 miles :(

If we hit 4001 i guess it would be a winner then!

Dang!

His help is good.

Neet to get a damper ordered tonight so the machine shop can balance the rotating assembly. Can someone spoon feed me a decision because i am to indecisive today to pick


http://miataroadster.com/bhj-dynamics/bhj-dynamics-harmonic-dampers/bhjdmazibbpoec/i-2427395.aspx

http://www.titanmotorsports.com/ati-918522.html

So the more i read the more i go back and forth. everyone says the supermiata one it the damper to have but since its no longer available is it worth getting the bhj or just stick with the tried and true ati? Also do i want a 36-2 trigger wheel? its a 1990 chassis with a 95 block and a 02 VVT head? and as far as sequential fuel is it worth all the effort or just run batch fire?

Get the ati and 36-2. Why not?

Isn't the bhj one more expensive?

Seq is just 2 extra wires on 1.6 cars. Everything else should already be wired for it.

With your 90 chassis you will need to run a couple extra wires for it.

BHJ Dynamics harmonic dampers MAZDA - MiataRoadster - High-performance service...and parts for Mazda Miata Roadsters

Hopefully the link works this time.

the ati is 530 shipped with a 36-2
The bhj damper is 516 with 36-2 supermiata trigger wheel

ATI is tried and true - I'd go with that one. I wasn't aware the Supermiata one was no longer available - what happened there?

The supermiata one had quality control issues from bhj. And emilio was sending too many back to bhj because his quality control was catching issues. But the ones that were shipped from 949 are supposed to be the sweet ones to have.

Why would you want to buy a bhj unit if they had qc issues. I'd presume that they're not up to par outside of the shipped units otherwise they'd be selling them now, right?

If I am ordered to go back to PSNS for another week late Novermber, I can lend a hand with assembly or wiring.

That would be much appreciated! Machine shop should be done with the block but still waiting on them to balance the rotating assembly. Then hopefully catch some black Friday deals on all my head parts

As stated a few times in this forum, we did not ship any bad dampers to the best of our knowledge. We returned a bunch to BHJ for rework or scrap though. The percentage of dampers that failed our QC here was appalling. New issues popping up every other production batch, the old issues resurfacing. Besides the regular delays in getting adequate stock, I was paranoid that we would miss something and have a bunch of bad dampers bolted to expensive engines in the field. So we discontinued the damper altogether. If any BHJ Miata dampers show from another vendor, caveat emptor. And no, we can't coach you on our QC checklist ;)

Thanks for this response Emilio, however, I was referring to dampers that were currently being sold (i.e. by other vendors) after you pulled them for QC issues.

I have heard of no issues with the ATI damper. It's just kinda expensive. On the flipside, it is rebuildable which ours wasn't.

I see another vendor has picked up every variant of BHJ damper we dropped. Judging by the prices, they are not actually stocking them in quantity.

Ugh. Again. I'm trying hard to make sense, but this lack of sleep thing isn't helping.

I was referring to the other variants of the BHJ damper that you dropped. I hope that clears it up. Sorry for the convoluted conversation.

If you are asking a question to me please just state it clear and unambiguous with all pertinent details and context.

Regarding any BHJ dampers, regardless of where they come from, what versiln or what engine they are designed for; caveat emptor. I have seen enough to understand that they have clear problems with process control, actually it was clear with several issues that they have no process control.

I'm not asking a question, I was merely responding to the OP who seemed to be considering a BHJ damper currently being sold by another vendor vs. the ATI. My point was that the models that you sold were good, but you pulled them due to qc issues. If the on the market BHJ dampers met your standards, then you'd be selling them. I was basically issuing a 'caveat emptor' re: the BHJ dampers currently on the market.

To clear things up. I'm currently in possession of a supermiata damper. I have no doubt that it is totally fine because you have said multiple times that anything that shipped met your qc process.

So tldr:

1) If op is considering a new BHJ damper sold by another vendor, I'd reconsider
2) There were no issues with 949 dampers that were sold because they passed in house qc. There are multiple places where this has been addressed on this forum and elsewhere.

I hope that clears things up. I can communicate slightly better with sleep. It's quite remarkable.

Note: Mod can delete my posts if they're cluttering up the thread here and causing some confusion.

Talked with the machine shop today and crank is no good. Does anyone have a crank I can buy and ship early next week

@Shibby

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When i drop off the new to me crank to the shop do they need a damper to balance the rotating assembly too. from the recent engine balancing thread it seems that they only need rods pistons and crank and wont need my clutch, flywheel, and damper. Am i on the right track or a swing and a miss (still in food coma so forgive me if im making a dumb right now)

Call your shop and ask. They will have the best answer.

The shop wants everything but they send it to another shop to have balanced. Also would like to twin disk next summer and then bmw the summer after so clutch and flywheel will change a bit until final configuration

Added a volvo 850 Fan on a custom shroud that is fully sealed to the core. For those who dont know the volvo electric fans run 2500cfm on low and 3500-4000cfm on high.

And still have room for a 25 row setrab oil cooler

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cec4b41a92.jpg
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