Project Little Cousin - 91' NA White
 

Well I guess it is time to start a build thread.

Back Story: I had a built 09 WRX that I purchased new. I realized it was not a good idea to keep dumping money into a car that I DD in Minnesota winters... rust is a bitch. LINK to FS Ad/Mods on WRX My cousin has owned a 92 Blue NA for about 14 years now. I was living with him when he picked up the car and have always had a special place in my heart for the NA Miata. Granted his is the cleanest NA I have ever seen in my life. Well this spring I sold the WRX to get myself into the NA game. I picked up a 05 LGT Limited for my DD. With the left over money I picked up a very clean 91' White NA. The PO was a friend that helps us with driving schools at the local track. He used the car to race AutoX Nationals. He had his heart set on a BRZ so he put the NA up for sale. Prior to him it was a one owner garage queen. I was happy to pick up a clean car from someone who I know takes care of their cars (he has a few). Additional money from the sale of the WRX went to purchased some of the parts off of my cousin's current build on his turbo NA. His current setup is 14 years in the making and I believe this is his 4th engine build. He is currently building a Turbo LS for his 92' so all of his 1.6 parts are useless. We plan to swap his goodies in over the next few months from his 92' to my 91' while we tear down for his car for the V8 setup. He has some great parts, but instead of spoiling the fun of what I will be adding... I will just update this thread as we wrench away.

As she sits currently.


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1991 Miata B Package Clean title, no accidents, no rust

Engine:
Stock - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Koyo 55mm radiator - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Transmission:
Mazdaspeed 6 speed transmission 30k miles - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Stainless steel clutch lines - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
VlSD rear diff - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Suspension:
Tein Street advance coil overs with NB Tophats - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Racing beat hollow front sway bar - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Energy Suspension Master Bushing kit Rear - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Energy Suspension Master Bushing kit Rear Diff (Not Installed Yet) - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Energy Suspension Master Bushing kit Front (Not Installed Yet) - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Brakes:
Stainless steel brake lines - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Hawk hp plus front pads - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
DTC 30 rears - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Exhaust:
Jackson racing cat-back exhaust - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Exterior:
Harddog roll bar - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Konig wide open 15x8 wheels - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Dunlop Star spec 205-50-15 (Currently Mounted) - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Nitto NT01 tires 225-45-15 (Track Only) - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Miata OEM R package front lip - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Miata OEM R package front lip painted white - (7/21/2014)
Driver's Side Mirror replaced/fixed - (6/18/2014)

Interior:
Sparco pro2000 seats - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Drivers Seat 6 Point Harness - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)
Water Temp Gauge - Purchased with car (5/18/2014)

Other:
Removed AC
Removed Power steering
Removed Cruise control



And one crappy cell phone pic of my epic parking spot at work.

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Well I had a little free time this weekend so I decided to pull my R Lip and repaint/dip it. The PO had it dipped black, the OEM color was red. Where the lip had scrapped the ground it was showing red. It was hard to see being so low to the ground, but I knew it was there. I had a can of white dip that was pretty full so I decided to try out a white lip seeing as how I already had the supplies.


I forgot to shoot a pic of it black and scrapped, but here is the red after some cleaning.

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And here is the R Lip after a little more cleaning an a lot of light coats of dip. Sorry white tends to wash out and I am no pro @ photography.

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I was really not a fan of the hardware used (not stainless) and the condition of some of it. RUST?!?!?! :vash: I am torn on what to do. Order flange hex stainless bolts from fastenal online (none in stock) or just do stainless hex + washer setup from ACE Hardware. I will update with pics when I make up my mind. I really want flange stainless, but not sure if I want to pay $9 to ship them.

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Stopped by GrimmSpeed on my way home from work and picked up this guy. I have always used their EBCS for my subies (LGT and WRX). It will be interesting to swap over to the MBC

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Ok picked up some stainless M6 bolts and 2 screws. Put the lip on, I am very happy with the white lip. Now I have to take care of the OEM bumper issues....

Oh I also picked up a gold MAZDA vinyl for the front bumper. I was missing mine.

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My MS3PNP is built and will be shipped soon. :yippee:


The final part that I had to order for the swap showed up at my buddies house today... he owns the Subie shop and I ordered through the vendor account. I called him when I was leaving work to ask if he got the FedEX, expecting to drop by on my way home. He asked if I was at home or work, I said work, he told me it had not come yet. I told him I would check the tracking when I got home to figure out the new ETA. When I got home I went to grab the mail and homeboy had slid the box into my mailbox. He knew I was sitting in traffic and he had a good hour to swing by my house and pull a fast one on me.... Ninja style.

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Got a package from across the pond today. I am excited to see what this thing can do. The potential and things I have seen others do has me excited.

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Looks pretty good so far man solid parts collection. You should probably use the electronic boost control that megasquirt comes with it makes a difference in spool.

Interesting, I didn't realize MS3 had a boost controller. I still need to read up on the manual, I am not up to speed on what the MS3 can do. I wonder if there will be a benefit to running both. I picked up a MBC because that is what is currently on the engine setup we are swapping over in the next few weeks. I didn't even think to look into the differences between the MS1 he has and the MS3 I picked up for boost control.

Thanks for the heads up

What's the extra wiring bundle for?

That is a great question. I didn't really look into it. I took the pics and packed it back up. I figured I had a manual to read to educate myself on the MS3 unit. I will shoot a PM to Reverant to see why he tossed it in there.

Reverant Edit: "The wires are to wire-in accessories (wideband, EBC, switches) that don't go through the stock harness."

Well my cousin got married this past weekend, which means time to schedule some weekends for the swap. I am getting excited!

The new AEM Wideband with the 4.9 sensor just arrived today. Our vendor just got them in at the end of last week. I am pretty excited to have the final gauge that I wanted for the swap. I also still have funds left over for the dyno... lets hope nothing pops up during the swap to gobble up those funds.

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Inside of the box was ripped but the seal was still there so it must have been on the AEM side. The interior wires were wrapped differently than the 4.2 gauge that we installed on my WRX a few months back. I wonder why they changed their process? Also I should have taken a pic. I will remember when I start the install.

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I did also do a little side project the other weekend while I was on-call (and locked down to my pager and laptop).


My windows were very slow when I acquired the car. I noticed they seemed to be getting worse as summer progressed. So I did some research and this is very common. Seeing as how my grease on the guides is 23 years old, I figured I should pull the guides and give them a little TLC.

First I noticed 23 years of dust that had never been cleaned.

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While taking off the window stops I ended up dropping the back nut/washer on both sides of the car. It was easy to grab after the window was out. You just need to have the right tools.

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Here is how they go together.

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Here is my window guide on my driver's side. As you can see 23 years of ownership = ZERO nylon guide remaining on your bolt. I was shocked to find the nylon 100% missing on this side.

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I was able to find it on the passenger side.... however, it was not on the bolt. Instead it was glued to the 23 year old grease below the bolt.

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At this point I was very happy I took the time to look into this window speed issue.

Time to get all JEFF on these parts and do some cleaning. Lots of rubbing alcohol, brake cleaner, wire wheel and wire bush action on these parts. I also found (per one of the forum posts) that a ziptie is the ultimate cleaning tool for grease and window guides. It saved me a lot of time and worked really well!

Passenger Side

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Driver's Side

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Here is one of them after a little cleaning. I actually spent some more time on them after taking the pics.

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Dirty Passenger's Side Regulator

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Clean Driver's Side Regulator




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Clean Driver's vs Dirty Passenger's

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Clean Driver's Regulator vs Passenger's Regulator

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After a ton of cleaning and finding out that I needed new guides... which allowed for more cleaning... I order some parts and got this stuff in the mail.

The guides are Teflon from a Miata.Net vendor (although I hear he is soon going to ebay sales only). If you need his contact info hit me up (or see the pic). It was $26 for only the guides shipped.

The grease is what the cool kids say are the BEE'S KNEES! I have a few friends that are Honda techs so I got the grease about $10 below retail. Which was still hella expensive.... but now I have enough for a very long time!

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Overall the window are very quick. I bet they are 3 or 4 times faster than they were before. They seem like normal windows. However, I did notice after driving to work yesterday that the driver's side needs to be adjusted. There was a portion of the window that did not seat against the weather stripping on my soft top. I am not sure what I need to adjust, but I am going to start by loosening the regulator from the door and seeing how tweaking that goes. I believe if I tighten it down correctly this should help. Worst case I pull and adjust the window from the actual regulator. I am thinking this will happen tomorrow night. Tonight it is time to watch some Breaking Bad with the wife! :party:

Last night we start the swap. I am very excited to start wrenching on this car. I expect the timeline to be...
- Pull Engine
- Swap Engine and Run for a few weeks N/A
- Swap Turbo setup + new parts
- Put turbo LS in blue car

Blue 92' - my new motor setup.

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My cousin has had this car for 14+ years. Today we found a gift from the previous owner. This was the first time he has pulled the fenders to drop an engine. Mostly it was due to the space needed for the V8 conversion.

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How would you like to have a rusty blade bumping about your rust free car?

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Fenders off. I love how the jackstands look like buck teeth.

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Headlights out and starting to pull hoses and connectors.

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Do you even lift bro? We pulled the transmission out with the motor because it has to be replaced anyways. I did not buy the transmission because my MS 6MT is very low miles (40K) and just as strong as what he was running.

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Now some engine and parts porn. I cannot wait to use this 949 clutch. It is pretty much brand new.

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Also a huge fan of his power coating choices. Even the intercooler piping and turbo are coated the same.

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Ugh sh*t is so clean

Wow man, I'm genuinely impressed. Glad to see so much mazda love here, this is awesome.

What are the deets on the motor? Is it built? I would give you shit for the 1.6, but it looks like you came up on this whole setup and I wouldn't complain.

Thanks guys. I hope to only continue my cousin's quality and functionality with this build. It is easy to see how his car made me love the NA so much. I am glad i was at a point in my life to take advantage of these parts while he swaps to a turbo LS setup.


My new engine is....
8.5:1 +1mm forged pistons/ rods, head + main studs.
The head is ported, gasket matched, some combustion chamber shaping.
T3/T4 57 trim .48 hot side, .60 cold side.
38mm wastegate
Not sure about the intercooler size. Its something like a 20"x9"x2.5" core.


There are lots of other goodies as well. I will take pics as we are swapping stuff over. I hope to pull my stock engine next week. We will see what his schedule allows.

I just re-read this thread, and did not see mention of a torsen 1.8 swap (i could have missed it). With a built engine and a decent sized t3 turbo, you WILL need this, so make sure to budget accordingly!

Already covered. Also part pf what i am swapping over.

3.63 Torsen Diff, Axles, Driveshaft
4.3 Speedo Gear
949 Twin Disc Ceramic Clutch
Fidanza Flywheel
Mazdaspeed 6 speed transmission 30k miles

Very nice! Look forward to seeing the motor go into your car!

Nice man. Should be solid. Make sure to get a good tune on it, and get us some vidyas!

Dropped her off last night at her new home for the next few weeks. Driving the Subie back over tonight to start the engine pull and swap process.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1410875222

The speedo gear will be the proper 3.63:1 btw. It just has to be swapped out of my 6sp and into yours.

1st post since you joined in 2011. I feel honored. I guess i will just have to bring cold beer when I show up tonight.

Btw....This setup made 271 whp at 17 psi with 600ccs and pump gas. It should be a blast when we can crank it up on corn.

(have been sick so the photos were delayed)

Got around to pulling my stock 1.6 out of my car on Tuesday night. The process was painless and went pretty fast. I think the only PITA was the Jackson Racing Exhaust bolts. The good news is that the exhaust won't be used with the turbo setup. Instead of putting it back on when I run NA for a few weeks on the built engine, I picked up a OEM exhaust on CL for $30. Picking that up tonight and will follow up with pics. It looked very clean.

Ok onto Tuesday Night's activities.

My cousin's 92' looked badass so I had to snap a pic.
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Moved the 92' back and pulled in my 91' to work on for the night.
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Starting work. We decided to leave on my fenders and bumper for this work.

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This was the point in the night where my cousin got to work on my Jackson Racing exhausts bolts. They were not friendly. It was also the point in the night where he realized that installing his lift in the garage would make this a lot easier. The exhaust came out, but it was a PITA. I felt it was a good point to take a swig of beer and snap a picture so he could relive this awesomeness forever.

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Time to get yanking.

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At this point i decided to delay the engine swap a few days. I figure i might as well take a day next week to paint my engine bay. I was going to do it between phase 1 (turbo 1.6) and phase 2 (V8 swap) but I had a change of heart. His engine / turbo setup is so clean, it would be sin to not have an equally clean engine bay. I am going to pick up some paint later today.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1411139145

Added something to my wish list. Looking at the difference between my power steering rack and his manual steering rack. I need to pick up a used manual steering rack this winter. I don't have any power steering left in this car, so I might as well swap the rack over too.

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Everything in place for storage. Next week I will start by painting my engine bay. Then we will start swapping parts from the stock 1.6 to the built 1.6. It will be nice to be able to start selling off some parts to fund this project.

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Well I forgot to bring my good camera so we will have to deal with cell phone pics today. I decided to paint my engine bay. I was thinking this would be a one day process... it took a little longer. 1st night was 4 hours of cleaning and removing more parts. 2nd night was 6 hours of cleaning and taping. However, I finally got it prepped and painted.

Before cleaning
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Cleaned
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Taped up
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Wrapped up
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Coat #1
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Coat #2
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Coat #3 - Final Coat
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Rolled back into place to rest until next week when the motor is dropped back in.
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Damn, almost a month without updates. Life happened.

Did some work last week, but didn't have enough time to drop the motor in. Pulling all that tape was a bitch... but not as bad as doing the actual taping.
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Putting wires back, trying to make sense of the baggies I put the hardware in... other fun things. Which led me to the decision that once the car is in storage, lots of these parts are getting pulled, painted or replaced.

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And there she sit, waiting for me to put an engine in her tomorrow night.

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freshly sprayed shiny engine bay - awesome

nice job

Thanks, I really miss my car. I need to get it back from my cousin's garage for a few weeks so I can drive it before winter comes. Already in the 40's here.

The clean engine bay really made me realized all the not clean things in my car. The fuse box stuff is going to get painted this winter. I hope to put some SS bolts in place there too. It all depends on how much money my side job (snowboarding) brings this year.

Well got some work done last night. Tonight we are going to get back at it and I hope fire this beast up and start to drive her again. Then it is just 5 to 6 months till nice weather again and the turbo kit going back onto this engine.

On the lift and ready for a clutch
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I can't get enough of the powerder coat that he picked for this engine. It is just sexy.
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And speaking of sexy, this clutch! I may cheat on my wife with this clutch and it's sexy goodness.
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Transmission on (it made us work for it) and ready to go in my car.
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Engine and transmission in. Time to get under the car and hook up the drive shaft then get those motor mounts cranked down.
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Engine is in. Time to connect stuff
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Tonight we connect everything else. Had to call it around midnight, with my 45 min drive home + waking up @ 5am (and a few time between with my toddler) it was important to try and get a little sleep before doing it again.

Nice work! I just went through all that myself lol. Hope its running soon!

Thanks! I am really excited to get it on the road again. Now that I sold the subie and picked up a Edge, driving a small car is the best thing in the world! Tonight I hope is the night to fire her up and take her for a spin!!!

I have fresh oil, tranny fluid and diff fluid. Need to pick up coolant and brake fluid .... my brake boost/master cylinder seems to be leaking. My fluid turned dark while it has been sitting. Also the obvious rust coming down from the master cylinder/brake booster connection. So that is top of the list for parts to buy this winter.

I love driving the miata (Especially now that my turbo set-up is in there) But I gotta say... I have an Escape for a daily now and some days its just so nice to jump in that thing and go into auto-pilot mode on the drive to work... No cares about potholes, setting up the laptop for Tunerstudio (This eventually wont be an every day thing but for now I use it every time).. The escape is just so comfortable its insane lol. Also Sync is nice.. I just hit a button if my phone rings and start talking.

My clutch master fluid turns dark almost instantly even after cleaning the reservoir and flushing the fluid out of the lines.. I never understood that but I've heard multiple people say the same thing. I think my brake fluid is clear though...

Yeah I picked up a used 11' Edge Sport. My wife owns a 11" Explorer so I knew the features I was looking for. I wanted the sync like she has. I was lucky to find a sport in my price range with all the bells and whistles. It has been awesome.


I will check this out. Either way, I'll drop $15 on new DOT4 just to freshen it up for the few times I have left to drive this year. It looks like an OEM brake booster and maybe a Flying Miata MC are in my future. Unless someone has a better suggestion for a Master Cylinder.

Flyin' Miata : Chassis : Brakes : 1990-97 brake master cylinder

Once again I forgot my actual camera so here are some iPhone Pics


Engine bay is being put together, more ugly stuff going in next to the clean engine and freshly painted engine bay. I am really going to have to get all JEFF on these parts over the winter.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1415196307


Picked up an OEM exhaust to run while the car is N/A. Took off my Jackson Racing exhaust. Will have it up for sale soon. The previous owner of the OEM exhaust cut it for shipping/selling purposes.... so we had to tack it in place then weld it. (We = My cousin)

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Well I am a true believer in AMSoil after pulling apart my WRX engine after 60K. So the miata will be running AMSoil Dominator for the rest of it's life. This stuff is AWESOME! It really feels like I am putting good car blood into this car. That feeling was amplified when I realized the oil was red!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1415196307

My cousin gave me shit for taking this pic vs knuckling down and getting the engine put back together. However, I had to snap a pic of the red oil.

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Some transmission and diff fluid. Hope to get the transmission sorted out next and then have this beast on the road... for a day... to put in storage.

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To be continued...... (Next week?)

I like amsoil too, but why 15w50?

Protection. That is all it comes down to. With the build and everything that has gone into this engine I am running what my cousin suggested for oil. This line of AMSoil is pretty great stuff. He was running a similar oil made by castrol for BMW M cars (only available at BWM dealerships). I used to run the castrol in my WRX on track days. The AMSoil is just easier for me to source and costs the same amount of money.

I just have to wait to really get on the car until the oil is up to temp. So another gauge is in my future and winter TOBUY list.

No I was curious about the weight/viscosity, 15w50.

Is there speacial reason to run so thick?

Protection for the internals.

Oh I see. I didn't know thicker oil protects better.

Dude...

BROTECTION

Get it through your head

Note to self... This is not your tranny fluid level plug. If you happen to make the same mistake that I did, the following will happen.

F*ck this plug and the extra hours it caused me. (Funny note, I feel less stupid after seeing the Mazda tech bulletins about this. Knowing that enough trained techs have made the same mistake made me feel a little bit better. Also I got to learn some new stuff about transmissions.)
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Reading materials are helpful.
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Back out of the car. This time we dropped it from the bottom.
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Cracked her open.
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Putting that stupid peice back into place then getting the shaft back into the center of it was a PITA. It took a few attempts before we figured out a good method. I really wish I would have taken a picture of how it is engineered. It seems like such a stupid design. However, it got fixed and all is well.

Making sure it worked and I now have 5th and Reverse back.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1416229178

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I am hoping to get it put back into the car soon and then wait for a day with dry roads and drive her home to rest for the winter.

Well it almost took a month to get 2 snap rings for that transmission, but we got them! So last night I tossed them on the 6speed and we mounted her back up.

And then.....




SHE IS ALIVE!!!! And N/A until spring. :(


Tonight we are going to button up a few things, make her road worthy... Then I will drive her home sometime in Janurary when the roads are free of snow, ice and water. The Star Specs don't like negative temps and frozen slippery surfaces. I have some wheel dollies and plan to do a few small jobs while I have her in storage. I am guessing it will be April before I get to drive her again.

:P

I dont even have a 6-sp but know not to touch that plug.

sucks.

Lesson learned the hard way I guess

If [or more likely when] I get a 6 speed, I'll be sure to remember this thread before I go unbolting random fasteners. Glad you got it back together though.

To be fair. This is common enough that Mazda has a few Tech Bulletins about Techs doing this too. So I feel less stupid that a trained tech has done the same thing. The bolt looks similar to the plugs on my past subies. Either way, lesson learned.


Headlights and hood went back on last night. Interior snapped back together. Timing adjusted. Mini-burnouts in my cousins garage to test the new clutch. Waiting for a dry day to drive it home.

I am looking forward to spring and hooking the turbo back up.

I hear ya, I just personally don't have the breadth of Miata-specific wisdom like I do with other marques, so nevertheless your experience is helpful for me and likely others.

Congrats on getting the car running!

I feel like taking a piece of cardboard with a circle cut in it and spraying that plug in a very "DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH" color of red.

Yeah something like that would have been very useful. When i drove it home something didn't sound right in 4th gear at high RPMs. So I will be cracking the transmission again first thing come spring. This time I will have a lift, air tools and a transmission jack for the job.



Got the car in full winter mode. Added some lights to the garage and put the car up on wheel casters. Now I can move it out to the middle of the garage and move it back when I am done working for the day.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1423148552

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1423148552

Well the first part of my brake upgrade showed up today. I am looking forward to putting it all together soon. However, I have to make some adjustments to my transmission and clutch this spring before I swap brakes... so this part will go in the closet for a month or two.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424202749

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424202749

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"A large heavy box arrived for you from FedEX" - This is the best text my wife can send me while I am at work! So the good news is that I have more of my brake overhaul today. The bad news is that after taking some pictures they are going into my closet to collect dust. I need to make sure my transmission is wrapped up before I redo my whole brake system. Since I had some time I figured I would use the Wife's light box and take some pics of my new goodies. I left out the rear rotors (1.8 9.9" upgraded blanks) because they were bagged and had shipping oil on them.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424318237

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424318237

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More parts arrived from Planet Miata today. A new to me Brake Booster. It is -11* outside + a windchill today so quick cell phone snaps in the sunlight (in shorts) and then back inside.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424367464

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New Parts Tuesday! Got my harnesses and pads in today. I am going to help my cousin finish up his garage upgrade this week... But maybe this weekend or early next week I can pull my seats and swap in the new belts.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1425437627

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1425437627

Well this week I finally got all the required parts to start some projects on the Miata. First order of business, remove the Airbag of Death!

1. Personal Limited Edition Kingston Wheel 330mm
2. Daikai Hub
3. NRG 2.0 CF Quick Release
4. NRG Locking Hub

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426873548

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426873548

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426873548


The TODO list / Parts I own and need to install

1. Steering Wheel Swap
2. Harness Swap
3. Check Transmission Noise
4. Brake Swap (MC, Booster and BBK)
5. Gauges
6. Turbo, ECU, Fuel, Axels, Diff... ect
7. Dyno
8. Tierods (still need to source)
9. Rear End Bushings

Let the projects begin!

So tonight I got some time in the garage and made the most out of it. First order of business was to get rid of the Airbag of Death. I only say that because I don't trust 24/25 year old Airbag technology. Also, I am running a 6pt harness. So I am running an Airbag with a non-airbag seat and seatbelt. To each their own but I don't trust it.

Out with the old!
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

The removal of the explosive device. Don't worry my battery is sitting in my basement.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

I went with the DaiKei Hub. I was sold on the plug and play (no cutting) mounting system. As well it was nice to get the Airbag Light delete and horn wires.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

Next I installed the NRG QR Hub. I went with the 2.0 Carbon / Black QR. I am very happy with the quality.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922493

Old Vs New

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922554


I am very happy with the Wheel I ended up with.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922554

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922554

I also picked up a hub lock for the QR setup. This was one of the reasons I went with the QR setup. I really wanted to add another level of security to the car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922554

So, I wasn't really tired... maybe due to the fact that I got paged in the middle of my wheel install and had to work. Don't they know I am working on my Miata. I don't have time for my real job. Jerks.... no one wants OT on a Friday Night.

Anyways, after I cleaned up the mess at work. I decided to get back to the garage and make some progress on swapping in the new harnesses.

Current Setup

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922600

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922600

Driver's seat out

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922600

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922600

Passenger's seat out

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426922600

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Last night I started to take my roll bar off. Then I decided that I should limit my projects to steering wheel and harnesses this weekend. However, it turns out that to remove my passenger side 3pt harness I have to remove the roll bar anyways. So I am going to touch up the paint on the roll bar this weekend before I install the harnesses.

I couldn't get this part of the 3pt around the roll bar

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

Removed this plate and the trunk mounts for the roll bar. After repeating this step on the other side, I realized there was mounts for the roll bar under the carpet. So I had to jack up both sides again.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

To get the roll bar out I had to remove some metal and carpet

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

Removed the bolts, this is the driver's side bar mount in the trunk

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

Passenger side trunk mounts

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

Roll Bar is out!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979089

The car looks weird without a Roll Bar.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979155

I was not too happy with the surface rust on these plates. In the process of cleaning them up. I didn't get them 100% clean for paint (my daughter woke up from her nap) but it is getting there. I hope to have it ready for paint or start paint tonight.

Out of the car

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979155

A bit of prep

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979155

I was also not happy with the state of some of the hardware for my roll bar. So NEW HARDWARE!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979155

Oh... and to top it off, dropped my phone when I came inside.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426979155