The Turbo Diaries, Starring Anne Hathaway.
 

Hi everyone, been reading MT.net for a couple of years now. I really like the no BS style of communication on here, and I think I'm about ready to jump in and say hi.

I won't bore anyone with anything non-turbo related about my car. The short story is that I bought an NA8 a year ago after having an NB8B for 18months, and I've been making it pretty:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463276271

Attachment 231842

On the engine front, I'm running and Adaptronic 440d (Yes I'm Australian) and an LC-1 wideband. Here's a pic of the temporary intake I make whilst I organise the turbo:
Attachment 231843

Yes, the Wideband controller is tucked up under the left wing there, and yes, I know this is not good. I will be moving it to the PPF when the new exhaust gets made. The cable is annoyingly short, and it makes it very hard to work with the stock exhaust O2 bung.

Here's a list of what I have to go on the car:
Mani and dump, of Nitro Dann origin supposedly. It's very good quality so I have no reason to doubt the seller.
Generic intercooler, BOV and piping
GT2554R baby turbo
Rx8 yellow injectors (with new rubber rings, of course)
Braided oil feed, standard rubber return
Silicone water lines and banjo barb fittings

The goal:
150rwkw, or just a hair over 200rwhp.
That will make me happy, and I can go from there if I feel the need.

Now, on to the questioning:
I'm having trouble putting the massive (if anything about the GT2554R is massive) turbo compressor circlip back in after clocking. I'm using a modified pair of 45deg angled needle nose pliers. Does anyone have any tips?
Should I be feeding one side of the ring in first and then compressing it or something like that?
Or should I just be sensible and by some heavy duty circlip pliers?

are you rebuilding the turbo or just trying to clock it?

Just trying to clock the bloody thing. I'm wishing that I rotated the housing whilst compressing the ring instead of popping it out.

Sad morning. Tried to re-route the upper rad hose (Cadillac) to make way for the intercooler piping:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463814808
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463814808

But there is zero room to shoot the intake straight down. I'm now investigating over-the-rad style set-ups using a v-mount cooler and 2" piping.

Mine goes down right there. It can be done.

I used the OEM 1.6 upper rad hose and flipped it so it points towards the passenger's side instead of the driver's side. I think it has a tighter elbow in it than the caddy hose you have. Also, can you trim any material off of the elbow where it mates the TB? It looks like you could gain an inch or two by effectively moving the vertical intake pipe closer to the motor.

This is my reroute recycling the upper 1.6 rad hose:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463842584

Cut about an inch off the intake hose at the throttle body. If that's not enough, cut another half inch.

Edit: you could also shorten the neck coming off the radiator a bit, though you'd want to have a way to make a lip on the neck again. Even so, that'd be much easier than the other idea you presented.

Cheers guys.
Here's how much I cut the TB reducer:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463873227


And here's the rad hose bends I tried (and failed with):
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463873227

Turbofan, I did some heavy post digging on here about the over the rad pipes, have been turned off that idea now. Cutting the water neck would basically solve all my problems, but I don't have a plan to bead the neck afterwards. Otherwise 949, make a rad with the outlet further over on the cold side of the bay, but I'd rather not spend that money right now.
Before I re-investigate the rad hose (for the third time)I'll try and see if I can make something like this work:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463873227
With the TB pipe shooting out at 45deg before doing a 90deg turn down into the red hole. Something something joke about a red hole.

Put your location in your info stuffs so we know where you are. 949's rad is currently sold out anyways so not much help.

There are bead roller tools but you can also make a little tool to create a bead. It's way less work than building a vmount setup :)

Thanks, Turbofan. Will do some Investigatory googling, I've seen some DIY tools using vice-grips and an exhaust clamp for intercooler piping.

Yup, Aidan built one and it works just fine.