This is similar to what I theorised was the best radiator hose routing for the MSM:

If you modify the the mixing manifold outlet so that the rear barb angles downward 45* (ie. cut, rotate and weld), the hose can run diagonally behind the AC unit, under it and straight to the radiator barb since there is enough room for the hose behind the AC which this photo demonstrates.
This is how it SHOULD have been routed in the first place, much more direct.

 

Update from last week and today coming shortly. I just had it all typed up and hit backspace on accident and I lost it all. Short story is that I got everything hooked up and tried starting it. Oil pressure, check. Fuel Pressure, check. No Spark.....Then I realized that I never hooked up the cam sensor because I need to extend the wires on the plug or cut them out of the stock harness and route them to the back to the head where the vvt sensor is located.

 

I never updated from the work I did last weekend because I almost rage quit and killed it with fire. The car should have easily been able to be started last week but I had a huge ******* fail. However, everything is all better now and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I began by installing my catch can setup which I am extremely pleased with by the way.





I then finished hooking up the coolant reroute (Sorry no pictures). This left only the downpipe and dump tube left. I thought this would be cake and I would be able to start the car up with no problems. Boy was I ******* wrong. I could not for the life of me get it to line up even close to correctly even with the help of both my Dad and brother.




I decided to take a look at Abe’s pictures again because something just didn’t seem right. This is when I realized that I had the turbo angled completely wrong on the manifold……
I should have noticed this before as I had looked at Abe’s photos multiple times but due to the angle of the pictures it wasn’t as obvious as you would have thought. I had oriented the turbo pretty much completely straight and parallel with the block like you would expect and it fit just fine. However, I forgot that Abe mocked it up with a normal AC compressor, which is bigger than an MSM compressor. He had to angle the turbo slightly so that it was clear the compressor. Sounds like no big deal right? Well it was a problem. Once I angled the turbo the downpipe lined right up without any problem. Rejoice!



Then I realized I had designed all of my oil/water lines and intercooler piping around how I had originally oriented the turbo. At this point I became visibly angry and wanted to throw the turbo down the driveway. After I collected my thoughts and relooked at everything I was able to just reclock the center section of the turbo which allowed the water lines and most importantly the SS oil feed line to still work. I just needed to redo the oil drain line and the intercooler piping right before the turbo.
I was able to get everything I needed during the week and I began work again early this morning. I redid the hot side intercooler piping a little and the new path is actually much better. I also got the oil drain line hooked up. I put the downpipe on and then the dump tube decided to be a HUGE ******* PITA which took me almost 2 hours to get on correctly. Hooked the battery up and pulled the fuel pump relay. Before I did anything else I doubled checked everything I could think to make sure I had hooked up all the lines correctly and such. I then put a little oil in the turbo to prime it, put oil in the engine, and coolant in the radiator. I ended up having to hook the miata battery up to the sequoia while I turned it over to prime the oil pump because it was weak. I got oil pressure after four cycles of about 10 seconds. Plugged the fuel pump relay in and then primed the fuel pump about 20 times to fill the lines back up. Then it was time for the moment of truth……no dice. I had no spark. I tried switching out the coils. Still no dice. I noticed I also have no RPM signal on tuner studio. It was getting dark so I decided to wrap it up and took a shower. Shower thoughts are always the best. I never hooked up the cam sensor because it is located on the back of the vvt valve cover but on the front of the MSM valve cover and I hadn’t extended the wires to reach. I will do this first thing tomorrow and hopefully it starts right up.

 

Might I recommend a shower beer next time around?

Sounds like progress! Its always the little things that end up screwing you and making you insane, but it sounds like you've got it well in hand.

 

Shower beer ftw!

Good progress ... almost there.

 

That's some patience right there. I ended up finishing my engine swap at 3:45 in the morning because I kept saying "almost there, one more thing"

 

That's also how you end up with two kids

 

People who have never done an install with a bunch of brand new parts always learn a lot during the process. The biggest lesson I learned was that the big parts go together mostly but the little pieces, parts, fittings, hoses, angles all make it a big PITA. It always seems to take a few extra days (or weeks) to get the right small parts to finish.

 

I rewired the cam sensor this morning but there doesn't seem to be adequate spark. Occasionally I will get a backfire during cranking. There is a relevant log attached in the following thread:

https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...7/#post1204114

Any help would be greatly appreciate as Sixshooter and I are stumped. We are going to try using a better battery as we noticed the voltage seems a little low.

 

I got the same thing, backfire, bad spark. New plugs fixed it. Which is weird because it ran fine. Then sat for a week then needed new plugs. Throwin out ideas.

 

Plugs are brand new. Rev says the engine is not getting a proper cam signal so I am going to look at the wiring this week to make sure I didn't mess something up.

 

Generally back fires indicated timing related issues. If you're confident about your timing belt job, then start looking at which channel is firing which injector, same for spark. I just did a '03 VVT swap in a '93 with a '05 wiring harness and a MSPNP Pro. Ended up having to swap injectors 3 and 4.

 

I'll look into this but that would be surprising as I am using the stock msm harness and it is wired up the same way it was before. I think the backfires are due to excess fuel in the cylinders from no spark and then having one or two random spark events while cranking that cause a backfire. The backfires are not eve close to regular. I might crank it 3 times with no backfire and then get one or two the next time. This makes me think it is a wiring issue with the cam sensor like rev suggested. One or more of the connections is probably messed up.

 

By now we are usually telling people to look at the OEM 4 tooth timing wheel and make sure its not installed backwards, but you are using something else correct?

 

No, I am using the stock wheel.

 

Didn't see the other thread, sorry about that. Derp

If Rev says is not seeing cam signal and to check the wiring, then yeah, check the wiring. Do you have another cam sensor you can throw at it?

 

I have a spare I can test but I don't think it is the sensor. The simplest conclusion is that I fucked up the wiring when I extended them. There are 6 total connections of which I only needed to mess up one. I will try the other sensor first though since it would involve the least amount of work.

 

If anyone can go back into the thread I linked above and offer some help, I have included an update. I appear to be getting crank and cam signal. After more research it even looks that it may be correct. Still no spark and I am at a loss.

 

I'm about ready to either pay someone ungodly amounts of money to get my car running or just set it on first and roll it into a lake. This is absolutely infuriating. Tried everything and it just will not start.

 

Has mechanical timing been verified? Have coils and injectors been tested in test mode?