Yessir, doing this with the engine in the car.

I do want to relocate the oil filter (esp for oil cooler when the time comes), but it's not a priority. I'm guessing a plate wouldn't let me use a larger/longer filter right? I guess that's the least of my worries though. I'll look through some posts here and see what folks like for the sandwich plates. I've seen some that have sealing/leaking issues which don't sound like a good time.

On a different note, is the gtx 323 pcv valve necessary for the NB as well? All the posts I saw for it were old. I mean, it's a cheap part so whatever, but I'm just trying to figure out if that was mostly an NA thing.

The car's up on jack stands for the weekend. May the flying spaghetti monster and his noodly appendage have mercy on my soul...

Routing intercooler piping is my least favorite thing.

Bytevenom and 96moarboost (I think that's his username here?) stopped by to help and we got a solid amount done for the amount of time we had today.

We got the turbo manifold and intercooler mounted and swapped out for mazdaspeed mounts... so we made progress with a bunch of stuff. Had to clock the turbo, so I guess I learned how to do that today!

Thirdgen had included his intercooler piping setup and we spent a bunch of time trying to get that to work to little avail. I think I'm going to talk to him tomorrow to see if we can figure it out, otherwise we're just going to cut up the stuff we have and route it ourselves. The issue may partially have to do with the fact that I didn't order enough 90* bends... Dammit.

Also, I'll own up to it... we cut the shelf a bit, and then hammered it back because we didn't want to cut through everything. So we essentially bent the lip back. I've read mixed things about this (and thirdgen yelled at me for doing it) but it was in the FM manual! That said, there's a good chance I'm going to have to have some exhaust work done on my car to route the ewg back to the downpipe. When I have that done, I can have the shop weld the lip back. I honestly didn't think the lip was structural, but apparently it is?

Regarding clocking the turbo, I really want to try to have the hot side piping go straight under the bay, but it looks like this won't work due to the PS and AC stuff there. I'm going to try to look up some pictures to see how it's been done and hopefully try to replicate that or just take the easy way out.

After a decade of being on this site I still get a kick out of "clocking the turbo". Everybody makes it sound like it's some difficult procedure that needs to be done by a certified professional. In your case,ClicheRider, this is another reason why an external wastegate set up is superior. You don't have anything mounted to the compressor that you need to move, all you have to do is loosen the snap ring and turn the compressor any direction you want.
As far as the intercooler plumbing...I would use the piece that connects to the throttlebody that has the IAT sensor and the blow off valve. Then I would throw the rest of it in the trash, but keep the clamps and the couplings. Then use your own creative way to run new plumbing from compressor to intercooler, and intercooler to throttle body inlet pipe.
I think when Chris picked up that setup, my silverspoon fell out of my truck, because I can't seem to find it.
That being said, what you want to search for is routing where the compressor points towards the hood and then it 90s off of that goes towards the radiator and down in front of the AC compressor. That's probably going to be your best bet. eBay for the pipe.

Btw...did you drill your pan yet?

Because my new phone is awesome and stupidly fast, here:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b9d5e75b25.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ffdcb29e8e.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f1a7edd29a.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e0df8a5786.png

I'm pretty sure I'd have a lot more food all over my face at that age tbh.

Yeah, no comment.

Still has food all over his face huh?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2e1d4082e1.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5c217e3cda.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e76086e8c3.jpg

EFR is really easy to clock. :giggle:

Why do you need an oil cooler? the stock one should be more than sufficient for a street car.
The 323 gtx pcv in my experience is good for a street car, I had lots of oil going through when I started hot lapping the car at ADSI, which is why I upgraded to a catch can

Whose Damn car is that? Those wheels are hideous.

SO. CLOSE. TO. BEING. DONE.

It was a pretty rough day though... My subaru refused to start in the morning, so I couldn't go out and get a few of the things we needed. Friends came over to help with the miata and we had to roll with things. Chris knows subarus well and worked on figuring that out (thanks again!) and Byte and I went to town on the miata. We figured out that the starter on the subie was dead so we grabbed a replacement while getting other things that we needed.

Bytevenom and I powered through last night till wayyyy too late and things are coming together well.
Chris drilled the oil pan while I figured out oil and coolant drain line routing. Meanwhile, byte was making me a lower EGR valve blockoff plate from a piece of aluminum because I only bought the upper one (dammit RTC!). I bought it from Hawley and didn't realize that the upper and lower were different. His lower one has a fitting for a FPR or such.

Everything is plugged together. Just need to clean up, do fluids, put the bumper on, and dot my I's and cross my T's.

There's no way in hell I would have felt even the least bit confident doing this shit myself, so it was awesome to have the help. Thirdgen's been fantastic as well. His aftermarket support might be better than FM's :p

I owe him a beer or 10!

Oh, his coolant line idea was actually pretty solid. He used compression fittings to attach AN lines instead of using the FM stuff. The hardest part was cutting off the fittings on the front coolant housing and the other one down further down on the block. Couldn't get straight cuts on them, so I had to do a lot of sanding. I should have used a dremel cutting bit instead of the metal cutting discs. I nicked one of my accessory belts so I'm going to have to keep an eye on it for a bit till I get a chance to change it. It's teeny tiny, so it should be fine, but it's obviously not worth any risk.

Knock on wood, the car will be driven tonight.

Oh and if you were wondering about the subie starter....Long story short, turns out that the starter was probably fine. The issue was with the neutral safety switch. It decided to shit itself overnight. Thanks subie...

Lol @ neutral safety switch. That's why wire nuts were invented. Aka, neutral safety switch bypass.

So when can I help you with the clutch?

Much excite. I'll pay you to do my clutch.

OH MY FUCKING GOD THE NOISES.

TODD YOU FREAKING MANIAC/GENIUS!!!!

I'm really in the hole right now re:time. Have to do a shit ton of studying from now till my exam. I'm not going to be doing much if anything miata related other than auto tuning

Photo dump!

Bytevenom helping out. He did a lot of this over the weekend. Thanks again man!

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fc1b0e6132.jpg

Look! I'm doing something!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1b03b07ed2.jpgLook! I'm doing something!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fa94b399d1.jpg
Stuff in the engine bay. I might have gotten a bit carried away with the hammer...
Should have clocked the turbo closer to 12 o clock. This way is a bit harder, but it works...
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3843d833c8.jpg

So this is a nifty thing about todd/thirdgens setup that I bought. Everything uses compression fittings. You have to cut a few things for coolant, but it works really well.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3f44c8ae6e.jpgChris said a few hail mary's and tapped the pan!


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7652a4cd0a.jpg
That's where I want the intake filter to go


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8e22b97233.jpgThis is all I could manage today. I need a smaller filter... I.e. a more cylindrical one maybe. This is where clocking the turbo at a weird angle led to issues.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d23d18bf1d.jpgWhile finishing up I noticed these two bolts missing. Does anyone know what size they are? They're missing on both sides. I think I should probably do this....asap.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...13cc37128a.jpg

What a damn mess...



https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...687eb1bd90.jpg

First start! Car fired right up and started puking oil from the one fitting I forgot to tighten. Goddamit! I reallyyyy got a bit too carried away with the hammer. I'm guessing I should seal this and/or have it welded? After doing this, Todd told me to just use a pry bar and tilt the engine. Ugh.

Also, mazda comp motor mounts are in. They're fantastic. Mine didn't look too bad coming out @ 105k miles, but the shifter feel is totally different. It doesn't vibrate as much either which probably makes it much more happy.

We tapped the pan with the oil still in it thinking that any flakes would come out when we drained the oil right afterwards. Stefanst convinced me to drain the oil, use cheap oil for 100 miles, then go back to whatever I want to use. Thought it to flush the system in case any nubbins of stuff are left. We didn't have an air compressor so figured doing things with the oil left in was enough. Better safe then sorry, right? I'll probably just have a shop change the oil, at least the first time. I don't really want to have to put the car up on stands 2-3x more this week. I just don't have the time.

We had a bit of a hiccup when we thought they koyorad was leaking, but it turned out okay. I have tap water in the radiator right now to test it. I'll switch back to coolant when I have the first oil change done.

Drove it for the first time tonight. Turbo flutter noises make me giggle.

fluttering turbos should make you concerned.

I think he's talking about this sound: