After watching my wideband this morning I believe its more pressure (or volume?) on the low end. After about 4k~ the ARFs seem to be about the same. Plus I forgot my laptop this morning. :facepalm:

Though I must say, its liberating to think I don't NEED to carry around my laptop on a daily basis just in case something goes screwy with the MS3. The base config is so dialed in on this thing its stupid.

More props for MSLabs :bigtu:

While I'm on the subject, I've been considering screwing around some more with my fuel system. I don't like the "returnless" fuel system on the NB simply out of principal. I scavenged another NB fuel line out of a friends car who is doing an engine swap so that I could set up a return system, but never followed through. I'm starting to think maybe I do want to do that now. I really REALLY like what Soviet did with his car. Even though I don't think I'll ever NEED 400+hp worth of fuel in my car, his setup is exactly what I see in my head as an "ideal" fuel system. I could do the same thing but with my DW200 and have more fuel than I'll probably ever need. Probably.

The only thing that's really stopping me at the moment is finding OEM style socket connectors that will work with AN lines. I can't cut the ends off my fuel lines because I will need to go back to stock eventually. If anyone has any leads, I'm open to recommendations.

Don't you put that evil on me!

Ok, so back to the fuel line stuff. I did a bit of snooping around the interwebs and I found this little guy:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1398216487
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-640863

This looks kinda like exactly what I want, except its discontinued. It sounds like the "domestic" crowd couldn't figure out how to install these correctly and burned down a bunch of cars.

This is the replacement:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1398216487
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-644113

The male threaded part goes under the retainer groove in the line and threads into the female part that seals internally with O-Rings.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1398216487
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-611273

Its also available with incredibly convenient 90° fittings. They are twice the price but when you consider you would need a -6F to -6M 90° to go with the straight adapter, it ends up as a wash.

Unfortunately I'm going to need about 8 of these bastards:

• 2 90° fittings for underhood hardlines (feed and return)
• 2 for the top of the tank (feed and return)
• 2 for the "other ends" of the hardline under the rear of the vehicle
• 2 for the fuel filter (assuming I continue to use the stock filter)

That's about $150 worth of just hardline adapters, and that's assuming I can get away with only using the 2 90° ones under the hood. I had considered cutting the fittings out of the OEM lines and installing them with hose and clamps but then I remembered I can actually do things right once in a while. :rofl: I might consider doing this on the return side simply because once fuel passes the regulator under the hood, its all free flow low pressure from the regulator back to the tank.

Anyone know the 5/16" ones will fit a NB Miata fuel line, and if these things are rated for 60~80+psi? I can't find a pressure rating anywhere so I may call Russell and ask about the pressure thing.

Edit: Oh, look what I found https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...fitting-65687/

Good. Life would just be too easy and predictable if parts were actually unscrewupable!


How are you liking the MS3 basic? When are the FICs going in?

That would certainly make for less of a challenge. Of course, I would do well to stop getting involved with challenges I don't need :facepalm:

MS3-Basic is glorious. I don't know if its the base configuration or the customized firmware or what, but everything is exactly as it should be. My previous DIYPNP seemed to be a mess of unconfigured settings that I beat my head against trying to find any kind of range that might be appropriate to even start from. In contrast, the MS3-Basic started on the second crank. I thought I was smarter than the config and started screwing with things and jacked up my idle, but Rev set me straight and I was off and tuning my fuel table and warmup. Booyeah. Highly recommended.

I actually signed up and paid for the MS3 Pro/Enhanced 14 months ago before the hardware was completely finalized and tested. Rev and I were in touch every couple of months and it was my decision to continue to wait. When I made the decision to move to the MS3-Basic, Rev had no issues with making the change. I ended up asking myself "Am I actually going to use the rest of these features?" Ultimately the answer was no, and I wanted to get my project rolling again.

As for the FIC 650's, they have been installed since the MS3 went in. Also highly recommended. I made the car idle at 16:1 just to see if I could do it. :rofl:

Some goodies showed up while I was in Florida on vacation:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1399353070

• M-Tuned Fuel Rail (I've owned this one for years)
• Fuelab 53501-1 Fuel Pressure Regulator
• Fuelab FPR gauge
• GM E85 Sensor (just in case)

I followed a page from Soviet's build thread and I'm basically copying his fuel system. The Fuelab "mini" regulators (535/545) are good to like 500hp worth of flow so WAY more fuel than I'll ever need. I'll block one of the inlets with a plug and then I won't have to deal with the upside-down regulator mounting scheme :giggle:

Next step is to map out where I want to put everything under the hood and then put together a Mocal hose and fittings order from BatInc. Thanks (again) to Soviets (and also I'm guessing Hustler?) recommendations I've got a pretty solid parts list for the fuel system so reorders should be minimal.

Quick shout-out about the folks at Fuelab: These guys are great to work with. I exchanged several emails with them regarding regulator selection and not only did they reply in minutes, but also tolerated my stupid questions and treated me like a human. I love doing business with these types of people :)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1399353074
So tiny! (Apparently I have no thumb)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1399353074
damn gauge is almost as big as the regulator!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1399353074
Here thar be part numbas!

The E85 sensor is kinda just for kicks and giggles right now. My MS3-Basic is wired for it so I figured while I was pulling things apart, there was no reason NOT to add E85 compatibility. Someday maybe we'll get corn fed out here :facepalm:

On the recommendation of a coworker I stopped by a body shop today to get another quote for paint. While discussing particulars we were quite rudely interrupted by the sounds of a smallblock Chevy running out to about 6,000rpm on open pipes through the wall from next door. Cursory inspection has revealed a Dynojet chassis dyno no more than 10 minutes from my front door! I was out of time at the moment but I did get their card and I'll be stopping by for more infos shortly. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Begi update: Cover made it to them on Monday 28th and the refund landed in my Paypal account today. Thus far I'm out about $40 for both times I mailed it to Texas, plus the frustration. Waiting to hear back about when I should expect the replacement cover to show up.

I'm liking my M-tuned rail, I just hated having how much grinding has to be done to fit a BP4W head.

Fuelab is good people and i will give them my business many more times in the future. Them and Turbosmart are standouts to me in the last couple years of building stupid shit.


Oh, and spoon feed me: Tell me what threads all the ports on the M-Tuned rail are. I need to replace the fuel lines on our car and figured i'd throw an AFPR and ditch the rubber lines while i was at it.

Yeah, that was not a surprise I was expecting. FUEL ERRYWHER! Do you by chance have pics of how much you ended up grinding off the rail to make it fit?

Yeah buddy! I've got a Turbosmart IWG75 from a Protege that will be put to use once I figure out a bracket. I bought it used but it looks like its never been mounted. Will also be using a Turbosmart plumb-back BOV :bigtu:

3/8NPT on the ends or the -6 male to 3/8NPT male adapters I bought are going to be worthless :loser: I think the port in the top is 1/4 NPT but I don't have it in front of me at the moment so don't quote me.

Oh wait... is ours different?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1399399626

Yeah, I dunno what you've got there :rofl:

It's probably the same rail. It looks like you might have a 90° fitting in the end of the rail, then the brass FPR adapter?

https://www.prospecautosport.com/upl...0_i1_w500.jpeg

Google image search of "m tuned fuel rail" turned up this gem:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1399401638

Looks like I've got some more grinding to do :hahano:

Oh.... you think the FPR isn't bolted directly on the rail? That would make sense and be awesome.

Yep, that's what it looks like to me anyway. I'm guessing there is a 3/8NPT street ell and maybe a bushing adapter to the FPR adapter? FWIW that brass adapter should screw directly into the blocked port on the rail in your pic and thus act as a return. I guess if you aren't running dual feed it does not matter.

I'll be running dual feed when i re-do it i think. :)

If you are not going AN, I have the M-Tuned plumbing kit to go with the rail that I won't be using that I'd be happy to sell.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1399404386

No hose but mine has a legit "Y" adapter rather than the galvanized pipe "T" they used to ship :rofl:

PM me with price. Even if i don't use it now, that stuff looks handy. :rofl:

I've got access to the machine shop at work now, Send me your things and I'll poke at them over lunch :)

Are you aloud to tell me what magical machines this shop contains? If I can remember how to write G-Code in Notepad++ will that be helpful at all? :rofl:

Also: Random email notification showed up in my inbox this afternoon with tracking from UPS that says there is a box on its way to me from BEGI. w00t!

I ground mine back a little further because I wanted to be able to remove the valve cover without scratching it.

Good point. I'll probably wait until I get my valve cover finalized and go from there. Speaking of valve covers, the replacement should be here Monday from BEGI. For whatever reason they are returning the baffles and hardware I removed for the old cover before sending it in for coating, but included in the package when I returned it for exchange. Not sure what's up with that. They probably pulled the baffles out of the one they were going to send me, assuming I wasn't going to include the originals? Meh. I'd end up pulling them anyway to inspect and clean so no skin off my nose, just kinda strange.

In other news: I've got an appointment for paint. I am cautiously optimistic, god I hope this turns out :x:

In prep for paint, I pulled everything out of the car last night except the jack, spare, registration and insurance card, including the stereo. Not that I don't trust the bodyshop, but I also don't want to tempt people. I have no soft top so while the hard top is getting painted, its just going to be open.

Something I picked up years ago that I've been lusting over for a long time is also finally being painted and installed on the car. Back when I pulled off the guppy mouth 99/00 nose in favor of the 01/05 nose and massively improved MSM headlights, I lost the 99/00 specific "Sport Package" mini lip as seen in my sig pic image:

https://www.miataturbo.net/signature...pic15208_1.gif

I always loved that lip. It just seems to complete the nose of the car and it perfectly matches the lines of the rest of the factory small tupperware. Without it, the NB nose just looks soft and flabby and and meh. I pulled the lip off the old 99/00 nose and used some burly 3M double stick automotive trim adhesive tape to see if I could make it sit correctly on the 01/05 nose, but the contours are just different enough that it never lined up properly and looked like ass. No lip for me. Sad panda :(

Then I found this gem:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1399566872
"99 Factory Style Front Sport Package Lip Spoiler for Mazda Miata MX-5 2001-2005"
Its now discontinued so you can't actually browse to it on their website, but I saved the direct link to it years ago: RSpeed: 99 Style Front Lip Spoiler Miata MX-5 and they have very limited stock, but the part can still be ordered. The part number is NB2-40405. Yes it was godawful expensive, but its a really nice part and it gets me exactly what I want: 99/00 Sport Package lip that actually fits correctly on my 01/05 nose! w00t! Hopefully I can not trash it too badly on diveways and such :crx:

Well, that is interesting. They told me that I got the last one when I bought one of those 1.5 years ago. In case something happens, I have one you could buy.