patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

True, mostly. But the trans/driveshaft/diff/axles are probably the least-stressed of any miata running this kind of power, certainly for a BP powered miata. The motor, that's another story. Would need some expensive and kinda crazy mods to bring the BP reliability up to what the drivetrain should do.


Yeah, pretty much. Never made a pass over 400whp before.

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

I was looking at the pictures thinking, "What the hell is going on with those couplers..." Then it finally hit me, ohh ****. I guess that's how you know you've finally exceeded ALLOFIT.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

Agreed, you have changed out all the Previously Over-stressed items now, and are turning down the Rev Limit to preserve the bearings in the engine. But, first you diligently worked hard to find all those limits. Hats off.

thumpetto007

iTrader: (15)

Usually you dont need them until 80-100psi. Below that level, you use weld beads around the ends of your hard pipes, and hairspray, or texturing the pipes as well, and t-bolt clamps. Not sure why patrick had difficulty with "only" 40psi.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Because real world.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

In a perfect world, sure.
Unfortunately none of us live in a perfect world, and this is a very practical solution to basically never needing to worry.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Pretty much!

Thanks! I may increase the RPM limit up a bit in the future, we will see. Those bearings that failed saw 9K RPMs a few times, and 8500-8800 hundreds of times. Previous motors where I ran OEM mazda bearings saw 8500-8700 (lower I admit) but they never showed any wear.


As above, I could get them to work for a while, but eventually things would pop loose. When I lift off the gas, the big turbo blows into the front one and pressure spikes really high momentarily, and that's almost always when they would pop off. If the pipes get a tiny amount of oil on them, the friction coefficient between the coupler/pipe goes down a ton and friction was previously the only thing that held it together. I think the bracing should be the "set it and forget it" solution so I did it so I can hopefully never have a coupler pop off again. Math says 40 PSI on a 2.5" pipe is 200lbs of force trying to pull the coupler off. Add in temp/vibration/pressure spikes from rear turbo on liftoff/oil film on surfaces, etc, stuff happened.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

The alternative would be something like the vibrant vanjen clamps, but those are T$$xas

ridethecliche

iTrader: (2)

So I guess Tony Montana will be getting some huh!?

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

That, and I read you just crack pipes with V-bands unless you have absolutely welded, solid motor mounts to prevent things from moving. Most guys that run the v-bands for IC pipes use 1 rubber connection on each side near the motor so it can flex there.

Car is really close to done. I'm finishing up the ducting now, it is by far better than any ducting I've done before. Once it's done, and I reinstall the pipes and connections and all that, I'll take some pics and post them up. It's gonna look a lot better and should work better than before.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Update with PICS!

I got the ducting finished. Finally. I had to make the side pieces out of corrugated plastic as I ran out of aluminum, but both bottom pieces and top pieces are all aluminum and bolted in. I'll do the sides in AL once i get some more and have it apart again.

Turbo fittings and pipes are all hooked up. Still gotta do wastegate/BOV vacuum hoses, and put charge pipes in. Plan to finish it up tomorrow and do an oil change or two on it to clean the oil out from the failed turbo, then drive it.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Yay, 3M duct tape! Function > form

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

I made a curved piece of sheet metal that goes between the plastic crash thingy and the chassis, but I decided to tape the edges for a better seal. Almost all of that goes under the bumper cover so it will be out of sight anyway. I just wanted this to work as well as it could.

nigelt

iTrader: (10)

Really nicely done. It looks like you aren't plugging the ends of the piping when you paint it. Are you worried at all about flaking inside?
Also, with all the work you do to make it look sweet, you could definitely sharpy over the UPGR8! It's the only high contrast logo in your whole engine bay, so it really pops.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

I actually did spray paint on the insides on purpose. I did this in 2008 when I turbo'd the car, and I still have those old pipes and the paint inside is ok. I found if you don't do that, the pipes rust inside. Even if the paint flakes, probably better to have paint flakes in the motor vs rust. I cleaned the inside and outside with isopropyl alcohol before painting them.

Good catch on the UPGR8 logo, fixed as suggested! Definitely looks better blacked out.

Car still isn't finished, but very close. Putting things together, doing intercooler pipes right now.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Pat the vanjen clamps or however you spell them kind of look like v bands but distinctly arent and they allow flex the silicone couplers but not quite as much.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Oh I see. Well, they are 100 each... I'd need several, and couldn't use them with the MAF anyway. Design looks... OK. Seems like the o-rings would fail as they are sliding/moving to allow it to flex. I'm happy with what I built if it last. Just got all the pipes back on. Got a few small things left. Dang the details of trying to make things fit just right, and not cut any corners takes forever.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Runs! Had all the fittings on the water cooling for the EFR leak, had to re tighten all of them but they're fine now. I verified oil is draining/flowing through turbo. I let it idle a bit, then did an oil change to flush out the old oil. Gonna drive it a bit then do another oil change.

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but when the front turbo died, of course there was oil everywhere as the front seal on it dumped oil. But the rear turbo also had oil coming out it on the turbine side. All signs pointed to the rear oil pump failure. Sure enough, that pump is acting up. I hit the key and it didn't turn on, then tapped on the pump and it spun up to life. So... Gotta either replace the pump with another, or try to find some bombproof pump for it.

But, it runs! And all the V-bands are so far not leaking, which is nice. I put the bumper back on, forgot to take pics of that.

Gonna look into changing the muffler to something louder. Funny I'm saying that, fought forever to make it quiet, now want more exhaust sound.... But it's quieter than stock right now.

ninerwfo

Hi Pat, many thanks for sharing your mind-mending build! Hey, that really thick blue gasket that you have cut for the throttle body to intake plenum - is that for megaboost reasons, or are you hoping it will also perform like a vibration damper to reduce the changes of a cracked tb axle?
Cheers

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

I broke a throttle blade a while back, so I put the isolator there to help dampen vibration. There are also black rubber washers between the bolt heads and the throttle body as well. Yes, it's to reduce vibration so I won't break another throttle body. So far, so good.