Tanro's Diddlyicous MSM Log
 

So I grabbed this MSM. I will be clear up front, I was just looking for another miata. I was addicted to boost for years with DSMs, so I know about the turbocharging side of FI. But I had sworn them off because DSMs are either boring, or money pits. No middle ground. So I shopped on craigslist for a while.

Was gonna grab a 10th AE with a salvage title needing an engine. But, Alabama is a pita to get a rebuilt title unless you were the owner when it was salvaged.

Then I found a running 10th ae with bolt-ons. But it was a pile crap.

So I found this MSM, did some researches on what made them different. Decided worse comes to worse, I can drive it till the 220k FI engine pops, and then stick a 1.8 VVT engine in it.
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Go and check it out. Body is 9/10. Interior is 8/10. Engine is clean enough to eat off of. And it has good compression, drives good, pulls hard (then harder past 5k).

I decided to pull the trigger. Guys pops on 4.5k. Damn I should have lowballed him more.. He was asking 5k.

Polished up driver's headlight. Passenger is new.
Before :
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Toothpaste step
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Done
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New Plugs. NGK Iridiums
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De-Chroming it.
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Did the antenna bezel and deck plates too... I'm not a fan of shiny metal on my sports cars. Muscle Cars, trucks, and old sedans sure...

Hmm. I may need to resize my pictures and reupload. A bit big for my screen and I am 1920x1080 sooo..

Anyways few more pics for giggs and what not.

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Just have to say, I love the car. I love the MPG, power, and handling. Also love the slightly more aggresive body, and the projectors... AMG the NA had shit headlights, these are great.

Hory shet. You stole that thing.

Nice find.

Make sure you make a thread about the RX8 too please. Kthxbye

Oh the RX8 is a piece of crap.

I stole that too, but Im probably gonna get rid of it put my 5.3 ls engine in my truck.

If I can get the trans in my truck fixed underwarranty I will swap the rx8.. But if I need a new one, the rx8 is going bye-bye, and I will have a better truck.

Course you stole the RX8. It's not worth anything anyway :laugh: Still like them though, and I've always thought that an RX8 with an LS swap would make for the most perfect daily ever.

This is why/how I stole the rx8

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Massive fuckton of hail damage... Got cold before I could finish body work. Still needs body work. But now also needs a clutch, and probably ign coils. Rotary is about shot.

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Car had some gangsta wheels on it, so I stuck my set of evo viii track wheels on it.

Payed a transmission shop to put a new 700r4 in my truck, 4k miles on it, and it won't shift out of 2nd, and slips like hell.

ah, that's hideous. lol

If I were to do a V8 swap I'd have to pick up an RX8 that is super clean aside from a bad motor... ideally. Otherwise steal it and beat on it.

Interior is clean, I can do body work. I pulled as much as I could and did a light body fill.

I payed 2250 for the rx8. I offered that, but he wouldn't take it. Called me a month later, and said to come get it for 2250. Sold the gangsta wheels, and I figure if I can get 2400 for it with evo rims I will be breaking even pretty much.

Ah wow. That's the cheapness.

Enjoy the MSM, great car.

I am so far, but my back and neck aren't. Got used to cushy rx8, with less sideways g

And lots of the needed stuff already done. Wheels, metal elbow at throttle body. Looks nice. Interior looks great for 220K.

Welcome

Currently I plan to swap the gears for 3.636 rear, and then Cloth top, then a tuning device.

Either MS PnP, Hydra, or DSM link. Not sure I want to figure out how to run Link on the MSM engine.

So used to a 9k readline in the rx8, I will be getting on it in the MSM, and bounce off the redline in 1st.

Reverent at MS Labs (in vendor's section) makes a nice ECU for your MSM that will free up a bunch of power and get rid of that dead spot in the rev range.

Welcome.

I assume you are refering to the 2 stage boost effect? Like the power seens to come on nicely as it crosses boost threshold, then it seems to jump again @ 5K?

I was aware of the asinine engine managment of the MSM. Just not sure about what engine management I want to use.

Hydra seems nice with the Autotune feature.

MS seems nice because other than autotune it does the same things, for way cheaper.

DSM link seems nice because I know how to tune it, and it would be the cheapest, good standalone. (Link is basically a full standalone that runs inside a Mitsubishi PCM and lets you tune like a full standalone, with launch control, antilag, and some other real nice features I wouldn't use on a mx5)

But DSM link would be the most work. I would have to get the injector to play nice, would have to get a CAS that works with link, would need to get coils or COPs that work with mitsubishi stuff. Then I would need to build a patch harness. Big can of worms. Might be easier to learn MS.

the 2stage boost "effect" is the crappy ecu pulling timing like crazy and leaning out the car

hydra is for people that hate money and love to throw it away

MS does autotune.

If you're budget minded I'd suggest just keeping an eye out in the classifieds. Within the last 3 months there have been at least 3 or 4 MS2extras, PNP for the MSM, come up in the classifieds and all were less than $700 shipped.

That'd do very, very nicely.

The MS autotune is a wonderful time saving feature. It works very well.

The MS is the most widely used ECU for the first and second generation Miata platforms.

The only thing putting me off Megasquirt, was the fact my first turbo car was a saturn, and really all there was back at that time was Megasquirt,,, V2. You know, the aweful circuit, which you had to modify to run coils, and mpfi. And it was a bitch to tune.

Glad to see DIYautotune has come a lonnnnnnnnng way in the past decade.

A decade ago flip phones were new.

Nice kitty, by the way. That's a fluffy one.

Yeah yeah, but you know how it is. I hate X product by company Y, company Y and all its products are crap, and will always be crap.

Well I managed to slip in My RX-8 Leather Weighted gear shift knob today before work. Not pretty, but very functional. Feels great in my hand, and the weight helps with shift effort/feel.
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Also snaped a pic of the de-chrome on the rear. Next up is getting rid of the rest of the woodgrain. Sadly I had to damage the Nardi Knob getting it off. Someone would have liked it.
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Getting plates in a couple hours when I go to lunch.

Wow that's a ridiculous steal! That's probably one of the highest mileage msm's I've seen. I've got 104k on mine and it still works great.

If you need any msm-specific related insight feel free to pm me. Also maybe check out mazda-speed.com. Lots of good info on our cars there.

Been lurking over there, but Its such a small community, and I have not encountered any issues that are over my head (or googling ability) so far.

But thank you.

Bet you can get $200+ out of that steering wheel on Miata.net.

Yeah I'd settle for a direct trade something less aweful....

I wouldn't. Sell that thing, it's from an SE (also where the bezel and shift knob came from) and they'll pay real money for it.

Then grab a standard NB wheel or something.

I am gonna try. Probably sell the trim, grab an ebay wheel, sell the steering wheel, get something that is actually safe (stock nb wheel, or something) and sell the ebay wheel to a ricer.

Took the wife on a road trip to Savannah GA. ~450 miles on way. Car is running perfect. So yes a 220k mile MSM can be reliable.

Every car is reliable til it isn't.

Except for DSMs and Wankel based mazdas....

So my job sent me out of state temporarily. Back, got the car out of storage, cranked right and drove it home no problems. Looking forward to working on it some more in the near future.

Plans include :
New Top (Window started to split while in storage)
Brakes (Rears started dragging in the last few miles so I plan to replace all the hardware, and new rotors/pads all the way around)
Shifter rebuild.

Then I can get some engine managment and start doing actual mods.

Over a month later and finally I got my shifter rebuilt. Adulting sucks sometimes. Work has been busy as hell. I've had 3 days off in the past month and a half today being the 3rd.

Shifter Rebuild time.

Tools needed:
Knife
10mm Socket
Wobble Expentsion
Shorty or Regular Length Ratchet
WD-40 (Liquid Wrench etc)
Hammer
Roll Punch
Vise Grips
Phillips Screwdriver
Magnetic Parts Tray

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440922468


The vape is Mad Alchemist dragon's breath if you are wondering.

Procedure consisted of removing shift knob, 4 screws to get center console out. 4 10mm bolts for the outer boot. 3 10mm bolts for the inner boot.

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Then surprise there was no bushing at all on the tip. Supposed to be a plastic bushing. Good thing I opted for a 5x Racing bronze bushing.



At that point you need to remove the remains of the inner boot, the old wave washer, and old plastic bearing. replace with new delrin bushing, new wave washer, and install the inner boot with generous amounts of liquid wrench. Its all slip fit.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440922468

I had to file the widest point of the shifter a bit to get the new washer on without messing it up to much.

Next up, use a roll punch and a good ball peen dead blow to knock one roll pin flush.
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Then remove the bottom bushing and wave washer. Use a pair of vise grips to mash the pin back into place.


Install is reverse of removal of course. The website I purchased all of this from has an excellent pdf if you need step by step.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440922468

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Oh make sure you tighten the shifter turret bolts with a 12mm wrench while you are in there. Mine were loose.

​


Well thats all for this edition. We are going back to 5 day weeks in a week or two so maybe I can get on those brakes next. Yeah I know maintenance is boring, but hey this is my daily driver, and got more pressing bills at the momment. But getting out from under them. Maybe some go fast bits before christmas.

Time for more maintenace. Long weekend coming up. So I'm knocking out the Oil changes in my car, and the corolla.

As well as brakepads, rotors, and a hardware kit for my car (rears). Purchased the turbo manifold gasket. Pieceing that project together. Gonna have source a good bit of it at the dealer or online.

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Looks like I will be doing an o2 housing and downpipe while fixing the exhaust leak. I have to remove the entire turbocharger assy. Might as well get some go-fast while I am it yeah?

So its still to damn hot in Alabama to be doing brake jobs and oil changes in the day... But I decide to brave the heat and wash/wax the MSM.

Crappy pics before my camera died.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441475644

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The pics don't do it justice. The mica and flake are simply amazing right now. Thing shines like a diamond in a goat's ass.

Anyways, spent this week working on some paint corrections. Learned to do this stuff at work. Surprisingly enjoyable. Got most of the scratches out of the car. Also worked on removing tire sling. This stuff is horrible, and tire shine really should be outlawed, at least the liquid solvent kind. Do others a favor and quit using it on your tires. They don't appreciate getting bits of rubber harder than diamond on their paint. Use the gel that doesn't dissolve your sidewall.

1st Big area to be sanded (1500, 3000) and them compounded using 3m compound and 3m orange pad.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442195953



Sanded with 1500 and 3000.

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Compounded it out. No more scratches.
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There were 3 more areas like this where it looked like someone use a pot scrubber to clean the car. Got all of them fixed.

Tire sling, you can tell I spend most of my time in the fast lane. Probably 150-200 of these black specs on the passenger door, fender, and side of the hood. Less than 20 total on the driver's side.
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I tried several methods to get rid of this stuff. I found Turtle wax bug and tar remover to be the best method. Just remember to let it set up for at least a minute, then lots of elbow grease. Doesn't hurt to clay bar the panel afterwards.
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Not pictured. I was working the trunk area, and ended up get some sort of seed caught in my microfiber towel without noticing it, and scratched the fuck out of the trunk. Ended up sanding through clear trying to get it out. So much rage. Decided I am gonna use some 3M Di-Noc CF pattern and wrap the trunk lid and spoiler until I get ready to paint the entire car.

Don't have time to fix the rest of the pics to work on this forum before work. Will fix them tomorrow when I get home.

Edit:
Actually forget about, with the page tearing issues and the new image manager on this forum, I think I will just host my build thread only on DSMpurity.com and the mazdaspeed miata forum. Site is just to aggravating to view on my pc.