My awesome daily project 35mpg/150whp highway donut
 

I'm getting closer to making the daily livable and Emilio's daily thread inspired this. The car is spray-painted Rustoleum white, no sanding, no buffing, and beat to hell. The paint is so nasty and rough that you need a brush to wash it with Simple Green, preferably in the rain. This car will always look like ---- because I park it in Houston overnight, all the time. I also don't care about things like door dings, hail, and if someone violates my parking sovereignty I can use the door to bash their BMW...and not care. It's pretty liberating.

Things I already have:
This white, piece of ----, $1300 daily driver Miata I've had for about 5 years
AST 3000's
RB swaybars
Things in my garage:
2001 VVT engine only driven to and from the mailbox by your grandmother who I dated for a while
6-speed
3.63
torsen (already in the car)
stock 99 clutch from the engine I swapped in the turbo car
LC-1 with gauge
GHB
Gauge cluster thingy from DDM
Things I don't have yet:
Reverant's MS2++^2
VVTuner
Roll bar

Pics of impending glory:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328123377
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328123377
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328123377
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328123377
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328123377
AST made these shocks for me out of old crap specifically for daily driving, they are valved to be super-duper smooth over rough ----. The car still handles like an exotic. Tonight I'm going to make it ride a little higher and possibly install the AWR swaybar mounts since the swaybar is held onto the car with zip-ties right now...yes, zip ties. It also needs a wheel bearing so I'll probably use one of the soft bearings in the track car for this.

More updates later this month or in March when the MS2 comes in.

For those searching for wire-schematics, look here.
I ran the VVT solenoid power from the EGR wiring, then borrowed they yellow/green wire also from EGR and soldered that at the harness behind the seat, to the #8 pin on the VVTuner.

The seats. The carnage.

That's the best part. Not even people from New Orleans would consider stealing this thing. It's pretty liberating. This thing was wrecked and fairly well repaired, but not painted. The front hood/bumper/fenders were dolphin gray, the doors and quarters were dark blue, the trunk was Mariner blue, the top was white...I went with white for the rest of the car.

lol @ you guys freaking out about the seat. :rofl: The pic does it no justice, the bolsters are totally gone too. It feels like balled-up chicken wire in there. The other seat is exploded but not as "flat" as the passenger side. :rofl: I should also note that I let John borrow this car for about 6-months, it's done many standing burnouts and spends more time in drift and traction in the wet. I'm looking forward to some fairly safe drifting with these fancy shocks, it's retarded flat through corners, throwing me through the open window.

It's going to be really funny when this car makes 150whp+ with ASTs and shows up to the track, looking like ----, and crushes some fancy ----.

That car is boss. Power everything. As for the seats you can just buy ebay seat covers and be done.

Boss as ----!
Considering Miatas had one power feature called "power windows"...yes, it has "power everything". Cruise works too btw. :wiggle:

So is it going to end up turblowchorged?

WTF does this mean? Use English.

You forgot power mirrors. Those look like power mirrors!

I know, I said "It has power everything!!!" Do not make me go back and edit my posts, okay? I'm a mod here, don't make me ban you for pointing out my shortcomings as a man who's mother never loved him.

Eventually, after my GF finishes school and I only have to visit Houston for TXMC, this car will get quartered with a plasma and I'll get a fancy Corvette Orange NA roller for this stuff.

I am going to take some pics of my DD's leather seat when I get home so that people stop giving you ----. Mine is so much worth, but I can not justify spending money on a new seat when the shitty one works fine.

Engrish to English translation:
Turblowchorged = Turbocharged

;)

No turbo, just 10:1 compression and VVT with Texas 93-octane. I will also do an 87-octane tune and try to get insane-o fuel economy.

This car is even more beat to ---- when you see it in real life. I put my hand on the hard top trying to get out only to get an unnamed sticky substance on said hand.

My favorite part were the MAF wires that were "lengthened" by twisting together bare conductors and wrapped in electrical tape.....

For the sake of clarity:
I did not do this, I discovered this. Its funny because this car is so miserable and disgusting, yet it has better shocks than what most people put on racecars.

Before getting in a car that looks like that, it's a good idea to inspect it with a UV lamp.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1328137136

heeeeeeyyyyyyy, I could store those ASTs for you since your crapcan doesnt need them. :3

You need some gold fuzzy seat covers and those dingle-ball thingys for the hardtops headliner. And an airhorn.

Why do I love this car? :rofl:

Because you can park it, slam the door with the window open and not look back. And when you return, nothing has happened to it.

I feel the same way about my beater miata. ;)

I can't wait to get a beater miata.

I'm going to start driving mine soon. I can't wait.

I now have 600/400 springs and although a little tighter on the street, it's still smooth and comfy. We had to up the spring rate to get the ride height.

This car with the baller shocks passes the Houston test. I think the highspeed damping is better with the heavier spring for some reason, the ride is smoother the faster I go.

Update:
MS2+ is paid for.

Question:
I have a VVT engine...What should I do about intake plenums and throttle bodies?
I have a 2001 plenum with IAC and t-body
I have a 1999 plenum with no IAC and no t-body
I have a1994 IAC and t-body that does not work.

Right now I'm hoping I can use the 1999 plenum, 2001 T-body, and 2001 IAC valve. Tell me this is possible.

Also, what is the best route to go for a fuel rail on my 1995 car? I have a 99 fuel rail, 2001 fuel rail, and I think the best option will be to buy a dual feed. This way it will be easier to use a real fuel pressure regulator instead of jacking with that fuel damper ----.

Use the 99 intake with the 2001 TB/IAC/TPS.

I use a 99 fuel rail with the flange up front along with the stock 94 fuel pressure regulator. It has been working fine for me. I have seen no reason to change it. On your DD, a dual feed rail sounds way over the top.

This thread is ruining my plans to get a daily with more than 2 seats.

Do you have pics? I am interested in the M-Tuned rail only because I know it will fit (after trimming) and it won't require me to get anything fabbed-up. I'm trying to minimize cost on this car because I just dropped $250 on new window regulators and $100 on a battery.

I need a bigger car but I cannot deny the utility of owning more than one Miata (stocking replacement parts), fuel economy, reliability, agility around town, and fun of tuning another car and getting more fuel economy out of it.

I had the displeasure of renting a larger car last week, and driving around New Orleans with it. The small Miata is better in every way in and out of traffic, parking, and RWD fun-time. It had been a while since I rented a car and had to drive it for a week, the Miata really is significantly better around town.

You can come look at mine... or, if I can find it, I'll post that bit from a '99 head swap writeup I have. The NA regulator swaps over to the NB fuel rail with no fuss.

I had to drive my aunt's Camry this morning and I forgot what a soulless, lazy, vapid, beige appliance it is. It's Idiocracy on four squishy tires.

This thread interests me.

Don't you have the gay "fuel damper" on yours? I'm partially temped, and I mean partially, to doing a Fuelab regulator on my daily, but that's $160 + about $75 in fittings.
Hell yeah, ----------er.

Also, does anyone have a naturally aspirated VVT table? Has anyone determined the "prime" table for VVT on an NA engine? Shouldn't they be the same considering we're all using the same cam? I hope someone on MS3 has already done this (which uses VVTuner "internally") rather than running VEAL on one computer and VVTuner on another with MS2 so I can keep target AFR in check while adjusting cam angle.

I still need a CKP and CMP sensor for the VVT engine. PM me with prices. They're $60 each from Mazdaspeed so keep that in mind.

This will be a handy thread when we put a similarly built FWD BP in my friends daily 2001 protege.

Yeah I've got whatever regulator/damper comes on a '94. It swaps straight over to the '99 rail and it's been working just fine. The main thing is that it's cheap and everything fits and works like stock.

dood, put this and change the title to 65mpg/200whp super commuter.

ooohhhhh there's gonna be a beating tonight :rofl:

Lets talk about reliability problems. I bought this car in 2007 with 86k miles. It looked bad. I've already replaced every hose in the car now this week was rough.
In a span of three days I had some problems:
Broken window regulator
dead battery
dead ignition switch
dead window switch
bad "new" window regulator
tragically leaking rear caliper
and now today, on the way to work, broken header.

I think its time I pulled the engine and swapped-in the swap motor, but money is the problem. Its time to do it right if I'm going to keep it, I cannot afford to buy a nicer car so we're going to keep this one.

I will take pictures tonight of the fuel rail and whatnot.

I had the same bad luck with my DD these past few months. Diff died, then broke rear subframe, then swapped to 1.8 brakes. After dropping far more cash into the car then I wanted it is now running and seems to be reliable again.

Old cars. Crap breaks. You work on the old, broken stuff or you pay big bucks to get newer (hopefully not broken) cars.

Yeah, I know this stuff happens. However, its a bitch to do so much work on such an ugly car. I'm totally out of money now so I can't buy a decent roller. When MS2 gets here I'm going to take a week off from work and probably swap engines then. It will be a new car when I'm done but man, try hitting me at a harder time. So much for tracking my car this year.

Its really funny how I dropped cash on MS2 and then suddenly everything on the car falls apart and the car turns into a huge mess.

Is your DD a miata? If so, I want to know how how this happened.

your parts car needs a parts car

Has anyone ever run a VVT engine on a factory computer off a CAS? I may swap engines as early as this weekend and I do not have a computer yet.

Should run fine, may lose a little torque down low. Make sure you set the static spark advance so that you don't get any pinging from the 10:1 compression ratio.

Does anyone have a wire-wire color list for wiring in the 2001 coils? You are dealing with a full-on retard here. I also need some dwell numbers for the future.

One thing that I did not mention to you in the pm I sent was about the dwell on the 01+ coils. I am not sure what it is or if the 94 ecu can handle it. I will ask the smart man named Y8s.

EDIT.

Here is a link to info on dwell timing and such that Y8s found for me, because I am a lazy ----.

What is the best route to go for spark on the VVt engine in my 1994? I have coils for the VVT engine, but then I don't have a tach. If I get a tach output on the computer, do I have to wire-in the new tach output or can that be taken care-of on the MS2-Miata conversion harness?

Right now I think it would be best to keep the factory coils, but I don't know how or where to mount them. Thoughts?

If you ditch the 94 coils, it is no problem at all with the MS2 adapter harness.

I assume the MS2's that Reverant makes would include the tach-out circuit built in. So it would all be handled by the adapter harness. It is simply hooking up 1 wire from the MS to the white/black wire in the stock harness.

Awesome, let's do that. Thanks for chiming in. I don't know what I don't know (see signature). Are there any variables you need to confirm with me so you can start building my computer? I want to leave no stone unturned.

right, but that means I have to add it to my task-sheet.

A big problem for me is a sad one, I don't really know how to read a wire diagram. I need to figure this out, fast. It's a good thing I bought that 2001 engine harness a few months ago. I don't know how to look at each wire on either wire diagram and know which wire goes where. I have to figure this out for the CAS-CKP/CMP conversion which must take place too. I know you posted that somewhere, I'll find it and add it to this thread.


I read through that thread you linked and I still don't know what my dwell settings should be because I'm reading settings and measurements that I don't understand. I also don't know which amperage number I should use for MS because although I assume MS2 uses the standard 12v number, I'm uncertain.

For later:
This forum and the member's generosity is awesome. I owe you guys so much beer that I'm going to need a loan to pay for my next trip to visit.

Realistically you don't need to add anything to you task-sheet. When you get your MS2 from Reverant you should be able to plug it in and if you are using the 01 coils you should get a tach signal fine. I just do not know if he adds in that wire by default on the ones he builds for 94's.


The biggest issue with dwell that will have to be investigated is if the stock 94 ecu will run the 01 coils fine. I know for Toyota cops you are supposed to use a dwell reducer circuit if you are on the stock ecu, I just don't know if something like that would be required for 01 coils. Once you get the MS2 in then setting dwell should be easy and trivial.

The tach circuit is built on ALL the MS2s I build, as I use the tach signal with my expansion board.

Having said that, I don't wire the output on the 90-95.5, unless I have reasons to, like with Trey's unit.

Thanks guys. It looks like I only have one unknown yet and that's the wire conversion for the coils. If anyone has this data, I'd love to know which wire goes where.

thanks for building my car for me.

I figured you would build it into them all and then just not actually wire the output, I just have never looked at one of your MS2's to know for sure.

Do you have any clue what would happen if you wired the tach-out output up to a car that also has the coils driving the tach?

I will figure it out for you tonight. If you promise me a double dutch rudder and pay for the round trip plane ticket I will even fly out and wire it all up for you.

Either a synchronicity event or a resonance cascade. Just a matter of luck really.

Meaning that you can either get a non-working tacho, a proper working one or get double RPMs, VTEC yo.

If I was not afraid of blowing up my ms3x, I would say I would try just to find out.