One more piece of information about aux and ignition outputs: In the NB plugin all ignition outputs are PWM capable, but not all aux outputs are as you found out with Aux 12. Check the matrix on the docs for a full list, but there are so many available that you can always find a solution by re-assigning pins. This is not true for other plugin ECUs because sometimes they add extra circuits to drive OEM components, so always check the docs.

I already have the expansion harness on the board and the wires are just coiled up out of the way in my footwell. Unless I can find an existing ignition signal then I'll likely just use those.

Ordered the pigtails from Ballenger and am going to order these grommets from Amazon. They look like they should be just a bit better than the ones I was using in the POC. $2 a piece is more than I wanted to spend on grommets but these seem like they should work really well assuming they fit like I expect. There's also one for a 15/16" drill hole, so I might go for those. The spark plug tubes seem to be just about 1". It is Amazon, so I suppose I can always return them if one doesn't fit quite right.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1bfbfaadc0.png



Links if anyone's interested

Does your local library printing service have TPU?
Just an idea ;)

I just checked and they do. Interesting idea, although I'm always concerned about 3d printed components in an engine bay. If that melts it's going do drip down onto my spark plugs and I imagine that would be a nightmare to clean up.

I have a 3d printed hood prop holder on my Subaru, and that's held up (Nylon I think). With all the additional heat of the turbo and summer days getting to 40 C (104 F) around here I feel like it would melt. Sounds like TPU is only good to around 100 C (212 F).

Do you have any experience with TPU in an engine bay? I'm sure a lot of people use it, I just personally have no experience.

I printed TPU gaskets for my previous cars Toyota COP.
Autoxed it plenty of times with exposed 4-1 header in the engine bay (not as much heat as turbo, but still), gaskets looked just as the day I printed with ~10k miles and a couple years autox on them.

And think about it... if your valve cover is at 100c.... you might have a bigger problem. Coolant at 110c is one thing, coming out of the block right near the cylinders.
6" further away, much closer to the external of the engine and fresh air closeby. I don't really see getting that high. Though I could easily be wrong with the snail in there.

Cat for the real world experience. That reminded me that when I painted my hood vents I was wondering how hot they would get. I think the paint was supposed to be baked if you exceeded a specific temp. Those are right above the turbo and they measured around 69 C (156 F) after driving around in August.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...45add61ef6.jpg
Older photo from August 2024


I suppose I could also print up a test piece and leave it in that general area for a week or two and see how it holds up before committing to the full bit.

Well I drew up those gaskets/seals for the spark plug tubes but I guess the library is overwhelmed and isn't accepting 3d print requests right now. I'll probably end up getting my own printer here soon, but that'll take a bit more research before I'm ready to pull the trigger.

Regardless, I got the coils wired up today. Didn't expect to, but I saw the pigtails were getting here today so I decided that was the project. Not too difficult really, but I screwed a few things up along the way. Got the trigger and ground signals backward at first, then realized my cylinders 3/4 trigger signals were backward (still not sure if that was a documentation issue on link's part). Thankfully I didn't blow up the ECU by trying to ground the coils through the trigger signals. Maybe they have protection diodes on the board or something. I promise I was trying to be thorough.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7e1989fb07.jpg
I labeled everything and somehow still got everything wrong.


I'm surprised how cracked the VW harness was. The wire insulation was cracked in multiple places on both the main ground and power wires.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...eebfe725e1.jpg

I did wrap the whole ground wire in electrical tape to make sure it wasn't going to short out on things. I also covered up the cracks in the power wire.

Took me a bit to diagnose everything. At first I thought all 4 coils were dead, but that seemed unlikely. Again, having the test modes on the ECU is super useful. Pulling a coil/plug and running the test mode made it super obvious what was going on, especially when it was working. In the end though I think it turned out to be a pretty good effort. The reason I'll end up redoing the harness is because I lost a cylinder on the test drive and had to pull over. Thankfully I was able to jiggle all the connections and didn't have an issue for the rest of the drive. I don't think it's going to hold up to autocross or track use though. To be fair I broke 3 of the 4 connectors on the VW harness when I was originally removing the coils. That wiring bit was $5 at the junkyard, so not a huge loss.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...02076c0436.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bf5bbfa189.jpg

I'll do a standalone writeup for this, but overall I'm going to say it was a win. I'm about $65 all in right now not including the heat shrink, tape, etc... that I had already. Still need to figure out the spark plug seals and redo the harness, but it's working for now. The extra space on the rear of the head is great and I'm pretty sure I shaved a couple pounds ditching the coil packs.

Also, my closing present came in from my realtor. She got me the same shop lights her and her husband have shining down on their turbo NA. This is 3 of the 6 bars I have. The other 3 will go in the area above the car. Forgive the mess, the garage is still a WIP.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cee10f5998.jpg

Close to christmas, so many people printing dumb things like ornaments etc.
Message me the file and I could probably knock it out for you


Looking at your butt connector splices... you need to pick yourself up a set of proper crimpers and a bunch of bare connectors, you already have the shrink tubing.
insulated butt connectors are just.... junk in my opinion. can't ever KNOW that they have and will keep good connection on every wire they have.
Doesn't need to be spendy. I have these and they do me OK (not great, but inspect the crimp and recrimp if needed)

engine bay stuff it's nice to get the double wall shrink tubing (adhesive and shrink) to make sure you're not corroding wires due to the elements.

Yeah... I've started looking at Deutsch connectors since they seem to be the standard at this point. Just a bit hard to swallow since most kits seem to be $100 plus. I got Dupont connectors a while back thinking they'd be a good option but have realized that's probably not the case. I have an HPA course on motorsports wiring, I guess it's time to actually sit down and study that.

I did go back to the junkyard today and pulled 5 intact coil pack pigtails. I also pulled a random 2 wire VW connector for the cylinder 3/4 triggers, unfortunately I wasn't paying too close of attention and grabbed a connector with a broken locking tab. Someday I'll learn to be thorough.

Rewired everything and it's working now. The 2 wire connector seems to be secure enough. I'll probably throw a bit of tape on it and maybe I'll redo it when I figure out a sensible replacement.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b7eaa6ba69.jpg

I ran over to home depot and found that they sell the grommets that I was hacking up for spark plug tube seals in packs of 3 for ~$2.50. Grabbed one of those for the car and a plunger for the house.
Gardner Bender 3/4" Grommet Pack

Along with the connectors, I grabbed some Jeep Commander vents. I wanted to grab these last time I was at the yard but didn't have the hex keys to remove them. Pretty easy to remove once I got all the hex bolts out of the Jeep's dash. The eyeball vents in the Miata were pretty worn out. I'd snugged them up with electrical tape in the past but it didn't really work. These "fit" without modification. They don't really clip in, but they don't feel like they're going to fall out. Certainly a step in the right direction, but I might modify them a bit in the future.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...abdb24c9e3.jpg
5 of each. I've broken enough things in the past that spares worthwhile

No photos of the vents installed, but I'm sure they'll pop up soon enough. For $20 for the vents and the pigtails I'd say it was worth it. Overall still just $75 for the COP conversion and $10 for the vents.

Still playing with tuning as well. I've ended up using the IAT fuel correction to keep my AFRs in line as the car warms up. These FF640's seem to flow way more fuel when cold. I'm pulling a decent amount of fuel at low IATs right now to keep AFRs in line. Seems like a bandaid but it's working pretty well. It's also backwards from the way I'd expect a IAT correction to work in theory.

I've been using a combination of the following tools for around 95% of my wiring, and they've been working pretty well.

Hozan P-706 for small open barrel terminals and wire seals
Aptiv 12085271 for the TE open barrel splices
TE HDT-48-000 for all Deutsch solid pins
Tool-Aid 18915 for Metripack 280 form factor stuff
Ideal Stripmaster wire strippers

I'll keep those in mind when I'm doing my research. I'm realizing that I need to actually learn about wiring. I've got HPA's intro course on it, so I probably just need to sit down for an evening or two and get pointed in the right direction.

I bought the HPA club-level course when I built my harness, and it really helped condense all the information on the Internet into a single starting point. Highly recommend those courses for beginners like me.

No real updates today, although I've got a evap solenoid and check valve showing up so I can finally fill up my gas tank like a normal person.

It's starting to get pretty cold here. Most days for the next week have a high below 5 C (~40 F). I also conveniently left my door ajar when getting groceries out of the Miata and killed the battery. I think it would have been fine through the winter if I hadn't, but it seems to be struggling now.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b24704c5c3.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...36d45700aa.jpg
Noticed this buildup after a drive home on the freeway in particularly humid air.

Got more lighting in the garage and some new tools. Been doing a lot of shop vac'ing and it's starting to clean up.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...24cfbed198.jpg


Now it's time for me to ask for some advice. With the weather turning and my battery being questionable, the car's likely going to be put up for a bit. I have a handful of projects that I've wanted to tackle for a while now and (spoiler alert) with the Kraken kit ordered I think that's going to be the best time to address a lot of this. If anyone has tackled similar projects please chime in. I'm not committed fully to anything yet, and need to do more research for most of these, but if you feel like you can point me in the right direction then please do.

First thing is a fuel pump.
Shooting for an eventual ~350 WHP. I don't have immediate plans for E85, but figure I might as well future proof. It looks like a DW200 would be enough pump on the stock NB system. I'd rather not tackle adding a standalone fuel relay/wiring if I can help it, which is why I'd rather go with the 200 than the 300. I will be installing 1050cc injectors soon, but will be limited by my 5 speed so there's no immediate need to upgrade the pump.

Knock Sensor
The Speeduino I was running previously had no knock capabilities, so I got a standalone Knock Detective which has a headphone jack and an ECU output. With the link, I'd like to get the knock sensor setup. I am debating if I should pull the knock gauge and run only the ECU knock detection. If I keep the gauge, then I will need to either add another expansion harness to the Link (already need to do this to get more inputs), or possibly splice the knock sensor output between the gauge and the ECU via the factory harness. Using the factory harness would simplify things greatly, but the headphone output has been handy when tuning my ignition map.
Another option would be to tune my ignition map with the gauge and remove it after the table is dialed in, and then run the signal to the ECU.

Turbo Oil Feed
Currently I'm running a brass tee off the block with the turbo feed line and an oil pressure sensor. I know this has been criticized in the past as a point of failure if the brass tee cracks. I've been thinking I'll run an adapter for the BSP threads in the block to a stainless line somewhere in the engine bay (possibly firewall or frame), mount a tee there and then run the line to the turbo.
Is this a valid solution still? Would something like a sandwich plate be a better option?

Accessory Relay
I have 3 gauges right now in the car. Knock, Oil pressure and AFR. This has led to me using a few fuse taps. In my haste I've made it more of a mess than it needs to be. I figured adding a relay from the battery to a small auxiliary fuse block would be a cleaner and more serviceable solution. I've never installed a relay, but the concept seems simple enough. Not sure where the relay or fuse block would live, but if there's a good spot (maybe behind the radio panel or passenger seat?) or another solution I'd be interested to hear it.

1. Knock sensor - I was close to getting the FWLR kit as well. I ended up wiring the knock sensor (2 wires) right to my ecu (BMM) since it offers that capability. Setting up the knock sensor and tuning it was a big learning curve, but having it in TS made it better. Not sure how smooth the Link works with a generic Bosch sensor... If the KnockLink for $200 is what your looking at, I would do that and see if you can resell the FWLR. The link kit looks like it would incorporate perfectly with your ecu. A lot of the knock data input, such as hz and bore size need to be exactly right for TS (at least w bmm)

2. Turbo Oil Feed - I think this depends on if you plan to run oil cooler down the road. The Glowshift GS-FA-05 steel bsp to npt & bsp works well. If oil cooler is in your future, I'm sure someone will recommend a sandwich feed w ports.

Have you seen the Link Can Gauge? I love the looks of that thing. Would solve some cleanliness and wiring issues.

Accessory relay.
If you do decide to do this. BE SURE TO ADD A FUSE to the high current feed.
I've seen people just willynilly add a wire from the battery, drag it through the body (and firewall) without abrasion protection, and then light their car on fire because they didn't fuse at the battery.

You're an NB, go big with the fuel pump, unless you plan on changing to a return setup with a boost referenced FPR. And absolutely do the fuel pump relay, you've got way more electronics relying on a shitter relay than an NA, it's a huge help to the rest of your electrical system if you take the fuel pump load off it.

Yo, nice night shot of the car! And the garage lighting is looking bitchin' too.

Curly beat me to it, but I was under the impression that even with the DW200, it was prudent to put the fuel pump on its own circuit with a beefier relay. I did that before upgrading the fuel pump on my NA for peace of mind at least.

In regards to the gauges, I don't think a relay would be necessary. They can't be pulling more than a few amps combined. I ran four gauges off of a manually-switched standalone fuse block via a 10 amp fuse no problem. The switch was actually really nice because you could turn the gauges all the way off and get the light out of your face when cruising through dark areas at night. I suppose the real proper way to do it would be to run an ammeter with all of the gauges running and size the fuse accordingly, but regardless I don't think a relay would be needed.

Wow, thanks for the feedback everyone, I wasn't expecting as many people to chime in. Might have to ask for tips more often.

Based on what I've seen in the wiring diagrams, the stock knock sensor and wiring should be compatible with the Link. I haven't looked into it. I figured if it was wired directly in instead of going through the Knock Detective first it would give a cleaner signal. I also think that the only knock input for the board is wired to the stock plug, so unless I hacked my stock harness up, which I'd rather avoid, I'd have to run the output signal from the gauge back into the engine bay which seems ridiculous.

I actually got one of those steel tee's but my oil pressure sensor is NPT not BSP. I wish they just made those both NPT and got rid of the BSP altogether. I thought about it a bit more, and it seems like getting the feed from the stock pressure sensor location and getting a sandwich plate for pressure would be a decent way to go, plus I could add a temp sensor to that easily as well.

Will do. I learned a decent amount about that kind of stuff when I was into competitive car audio. I never competed, but I read a ton. At one point I had 0 gauge welding cable running through my Ford Escort to power my sub. I didn't understand that my likely 80 amp alternator wasn't going to produce 1500 watts of power for the sub at that point though. I have a fused lead and a small fuse block that I got from a friend, so I'll make sure to utilize those.

Note taken. Looks like I'm learning to install relays soon. I know the pressure goes down in boost, but with less pressure the pumps are all spec'd to flow more LPH. That was confusing me, as the DW200 seemed like it would flow more in boost, but that seemed backward to me. Is it just that the lack of fuel pressure causes the spray pattern to be worse or something? Something I need to do some research on I guess.

The relay/fuse block idea is more to clean things up than anything. I just figured that a relay would be the most seamless way to enable it and the fuse block would allow me to clean up wiring and have easy expansion going forward.

Only problem with the switch for me is that I'll likely have all of these gauges feeding into the ECU and if I killed the gauges I assume my ECU would trigger oil pressure or AFR protections when I've got them setup. Without that then the switch is just another step each time I have to drive the car.


I'll keep mulling all of this over. I appreciate the pointers. All these problems seem to have been solved by someone at some point, but finding that small tip you're looking for in a sea of build threads is tough.

You know what just crossed my mind is that I've already got the cigarette lighter circuit powering the AFR gauge. It looks like that's good for 20 Amps based on the wiring diagrams, so I might just run that power into the fuse block and run the gauges off of that. I think my fusible link was blown when I got the car anyway, so that would be a perfect repurposing of that circuit.