As to the bushings, I didn't think my Miata rode roughly at all and it has every single bushing replaced with poly. As long as you do Zerk fittings when you do them it takes the maintenance pain/anguish issue out of the equation.

Then again I may be slightly spoiled with the "Mythical unicorn tear SD Bilsteins". The car rode better than my Jetta in some cases.

 

I've got 10-12kg monoflex (depending on which springs I end up running) ... NHV is not a concern.

I'm more concerned about missing out on significant handling improvements.

-Zach

 

Should be, just take it easy. It's where a lot of us started.

I'd ground to where the OEM ECU grounds. That would be on a bolt near the back, passenger side of the engine. Should be a 10mm bolt there with a bunch of grounds going to it.

Watch out for Error 8. Current LC-1 software will kick this error even if nothing is wrong. Read this: https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...-lc-1-a-58873/

It will give you that last ounce of performance at the expense of added maintenance.

On my rides, Silver has rubber, Red is getting poly. Different missions (Silver has a radio too).

 

The LC-1, based on everything which I've read including your own posts, is a huge concern of mine. The good news is I had Abe weld two bungs onto my DP, which allows me to input the LC-1 to the MSPNP and run an AEM sensor/gauge (which should be very accurate). If they don't jive, then I at least know something is 'off'.

I'm also generally paranoid about reassembly now that my father has sold his '90 1.6 (which sat conveniently next to my project) ... it was my assembly reference. Having it there also caused me to get a bit lazy about documentation since he quote, "would never sell the '90". Well, he sold it.

-Zach

 

Well, just give a shout-out when you need reference pictures.

 

A minor, and rather uninteresting, update.

Finished assembling the breather tank/BOV lines. I ended up using Summit fittings for non-critical lines since their cheap and I has Summit bucks to burn. I'll use Goodridge PTFE for fuel/oil. Assembly was simple enough (far easier than older Earl's lines).



In other news, it occurred to me that I tossed my OEM washer tank (along with the pump) years ago. Being older, lazier and burdened by additional bureaucracy, I wished to have a car which can easily acquire an inspection sticker ... this meant I needed a washer tank (which I'll likely never use).

So, after realizing I mounted my coolant tank to the OEM washer tank mounting point, I began seeking a plan B. Cappucino and BEGI tanks were too $$$ and held far more fluid then I'd ever need or want on a weekend toy.

I ended up finding some small tanks which worked @ U.S. Plastic Corp (The McMaster of plastic containers, with a shittier interface and a heaping of Jesus). Bought an OEM pump through RockAuto which came with a new rubber seal. 5 minutes with a dremel and boom ... leak-free vented washer tank with a new pump for <$25.

Bottle link, if interested: .50 Quart 3.8H X 5.5313W X 3D | U.S. Plastic Corp.

I plan on mounting it to the back side off the firewall behind the booster. I didn't want to add additional holes to my already holey firewall so I picked up some SS elevator bolts off McMaster-Carr which I'll epoxy to the wall with some 3m dp-420 epoxy (metal epoxy with super high shear strength). I'll post picks once completed.



...and the local welder said the tank is ready to go, so I'll be picking that up today and slapping it on. Pics to come.



Audi5k - Zach

 

OMG I rub ru wong time for that plastics place. I needed a new coolant reservoir and a catch tank for my new air oil seperator, I just found the place, no more crystal geezer water bottles.

Now to find a tank with a top entry that goes to the bottom for proper use as a coolant overflow.

 

Be prepared to receive a prayer pamphlet with your order

How a huge company catering to lab sciences remains overtly anti-secular in 2014 is beyond me.

-Zach

 

I blame the south.

 

Alright, here's some low-light, high noise, poorly composed pictures of the breather tank.

I need to tweak the lines some and fixture the BOV line; however, I'll worry about that once it's running. I'm thinking about powder coating the breather tank wrinkle black to match the cam cover, but again, I'll worry about that later.




-Zach

 

Maybe I missed it but how the hell did you hide your wiring so well?

Looks good! I'd leave the catch can raw like that. Really pops as is.

 

Holy Cow!! Are you planning to run without piston rings? LOL.

Looks great though.

 

I didn't ... the harness resides in the oversprayed grocery bags currently draped over the firewall.

Once I add the remaining fuel/oil lines and wiring harness, the car will no longer be CR friendly (gotta tuck it, bro). I thought about doing a 'tuck' but then I reminded myself that function>form on this project.

-Zach

 

Wire tucks are stupid/impossible on miata's anyways, at least traditional ones that put the wire in the fenderwell are.

 

I know ... it looks huge in the pics. It's not that big in reality, at least volumetrically, due to the internal baffles/filter. Perhaps I should powdercoat it with slimming vertical stripes.

-Zach

 

Agreed. I'm just going to mount the bulk of the harness under the chassis fender mounting flange and call it "done".

-Zach

 

The worse part is the cluster **** behind the intake manifold. Its not noticeable from the front of the car, but when you're working on the car its just terrible.

 

Everytime I consider pulling apart the electrical tape and redoing it I pull a Homer. There is just no easy way of making it look like someone didn't vomit wires into that spot.

 

There is, but it requires re-doing the entire engine bay harness, and If I'm going to do that I'm switching the car to having a seperate engine harness with 3-4 points of disconnection (one for low power, one for high power, two grounds. Using Milspec/motosports connectors. To do it right (my way) is like a $500 project.

 

I'd also add the cluster**** behind the IM is where all the reliability problems are with our harnesses. I've seen rub-throughs there on almost every older harness I've seen.