NA6C-Guy

iTrader: (1)

Good to see the picture linking fixed. I'm following this, curious to see how it all works out.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Didn't get much done today my buddy had a party today where I'm working on the car and there was a ton of guys there that are all into cars. Got some good ideas one of the guys works at AMS in chicago and just got done putting a Gt2871 on a 1.6 miata. Well I did get the engine bay cleaned up used simple green and a small pressure washer. Removed the water pump pulley, alternator, thermostat housing, and coils from the 1.6. Installed the coils on the 1.8 and began removing valve cover and timing belt cover to switch thermostat housing. Will have to get a new o-ring for the t housing that sucker looked terrible.

Tomorrow will be Jb welding the hole on the right side of the intake manifold. Installing the TB adaptore for 1.6 TB. Changing all other necessary engine components which includes all electrical parts such as oil pressure sensor, injector wiring harness, and will be moving RC440s over to 1.8. Does anyone know if there is a difference between the 1.6 and 1.8 fuel rail. Didnt look really today but will look closer tomorrow. Have some 680cc injectors to but dont believe I will need them for awhile. Hopefully will atleast get 1.8 mounted in the car tomorrow. Also plan to paint the block tomorrow.

Also have to order a aluminum adaptor for Tial 50mm BOV. Just a note from what I found. I thought that my old downpipe was going to be rusted to bits due to everyone on the forums saying that if it is wrapped it will rust really bad. I actually found that the parts that were wrapped were in the best condition than the other parts that were exposed. Well I took some pics and will have to upload tomorrow due to fact forgot to bring the camera home.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Those wheels are 17X7 ARD GTspoke they are very rare 3piece wheel with 205/40/17 tires. I dont really recommend running a wheel that big on a Miata due to the fact they are sensitive to to much unsprung weight. Those wheels were on the car when I got it and I just love them and cant seem to make myself get rid of them. The tires are Toyo Proxes if I remember correctly they need to be replaced due to dry rotting 2 of them have been on the car since 1998. They are in bad shape. I want to run a wider tire. We are going to test fit some different size tires on the car and see what will fit without to much massaging. I will probably have to roll the fenders. I am going to try and weight the tire and wheel once I take them off. I have to get the rotors turned that are in pretty bad shape. Anyone know the weight of a stock wheel tire combo.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Today turned out ok. Got the subframe cleaned up and painted. Painted the block replaced the rear main seal. Removed the injectors and rails from 1.6. Pulled the crank pulley from 1.6 with 1/2" impact. The 1.8 crank pulley laughed at me had to bust out the 18" breaker bar on that bad boy. Went ahead and removed the thermostat housing off the 1.8. I will have to pickup a new oring for the front and gasket for the rear. I am currently waiting on my timing belt kit to come in have the 1.8 broken down to that point. When I was attempting to put on the TB adapter to put the 1.6 Tb on the Intake manifold I followed FM instruction and placed the TB adapter on the studs and used it as a guide to drill the new holes. Well once attempted to put the bolts in they were a bit wider and everything didnt line up. Should have just used the bolts to line up everything and not the studs. Will see if I can get it to work without rewelding and trueing up the surface. Didnt get very many pics today.

Also painted bracket for main fuses, couple other brackets, and wiper arms. They all looked terrible.

Here are a couple pics.
New motor before doing any manintenance

Old motor sad to see her go. Will probably pull forged rods for 1.8 and get old shot peened rods and rebuild and sell but will be awhile.

Dirty engine bay
Clean engine bay


Man that engine bay is a mess to many wires and vacuum hoses everywhere will try to straighten it up and get rid of the blue vacuum hose. Would like to do a wire tuck but dont have the time.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Where do you guys get your turbo oil feed line for the 1.8 and t fitting?

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Ordered oil feed line and fittings for turbo today from fast turbo. Also ordered the oring for the thermostat housing and gasket for rear water neck on head. No aftermarket parts places around here could find them. Should be able to do a good bit of work on the car on friday.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Well unfortunately this weekend was messed up for working on the Miata. The buddies house I am working on the car needed my help due to the fact the person that was renting his old house left and needed to get it ready to rent again. So I only got to work on the car a very little while waiting on him. Installed the water thermostat, rear water housing, flywheel and clutch, and begi manifold. It will probably be 2 weeks before I get to dive in now due to school is in last 2 weeks and very busy, but will have two weeks off and should be able to do lots of stuff to the car. Was able to get the old manifold bead blasted and cleaned up this weekend for free. Looks pretty good but not as good as the new Begi manifold. Hopefully my next post will be more interesting and contain some good pics.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Well I have been looking at the garret t3/t4 and it seems to have some side to side play in the compressor wheel but is not hitting the housing yet but is pretty close. Have any you guys rebuilt these turbos and if so what kind of experience did u have and how long has it lasted. Just looking for some opinions.

Will be getting back to working on this project just finished finals this week and have a couple weeks of from school cant wait to get back to work on the Miata and it back on the road.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Well it's been awhile since I have posted. There has been some progress. I have installed the motor in the car. Hooked up the fuel lines, temporarily mounted the turbo, drilled and tapped the oil pan. That was all last week.

Bought a set of used tires with some sorry wheels. The wheels will make good aluminum scrap. The tires were 2 kuhmos and 2 bf goodrich g sports. I got the set for $150 and look brand new. Dropped of the wheels at a shop and was getting them mounted and balanced for lunch. Then got a call that one of the Bfgs was bad. Well the guy I got the wheels from said he would give me back $40. So all in all I will have $200 in the set of tires installed.
Went by the salvage yard I got the motor from due to the fact the water line from the heater core to the mixing manifold did not come with my motor but they had 2 more miatas and was able to pull one. Then went to my buddies performance shop to see if he could tig my intercooler piping this week and see his new performance shop tdc. He said could weld it anytime this week for about $25. Got the cold side fabbed up but couldnt fab the hot side due to need a 2.5-2" 90 reduecer off the turbo. Ordered from siliconeintakes.com. Hopefully tomorrow will get some pics and have more to show u guys.

SKMetalworks

iTrader: (7)

Awsome. I definetly want some pics! btw do you still have that shorty manifold?

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Did not get as much done today as I hoped. Completed the coldside fabbing took piping to a buddies shop Top Dead Center here locally to have the intercooler piping welded together and weld a bead aroung the ends with his tig. Also had to shorten the upper water neck on the radiator due to it being to long it was 2" 1/4. Cut 3/4 of an inch offto allow room for the 90 of the tb this gave it plenty of room. He is going to bead it as well and weld on my flange for my tial 50mm valve. Should be ready for me to pickup in the morning

Then I went and picked up my wheels with 3 used tires that look almost new and one new tire. I got a set of 205/40/17 tires and sorry aluminum wheels for $150, but one of the tires was bad on the inside from being driven on flat. So had to get another tire my friend at the tire shop that mounted and balanced the tires for lunch from McDonalds got me another Kuhmo all in all I have $207 in the tires mounted and balanced which is not bad. Wasnt really my tire of choice wanted the falken azenxis but couldnt pass up this deal. The buddy that sold me the tires gave me back $40 due to the bad tire. He may also build me a 3" straight thru muffler like he did on his LS1 powered 240. Would be pretty cool to help build my own muffler. He said he used preforated ss then wrapped with insulation and wrapped with a sheet of ss the capped both ends and added a tip, but his muffler is 3.5" Will post a couple of pics of the engine as it sits now and the difference in the water mixing pipe from the heater core on a 1.6 and 1.8 once i get home. Got that pipe installed today as well which took a little bit of grinding. Hopefully i will get my wheels cleaned up tonight because they are pretty dirty.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Here a few pics I took today.

This is how I left the engine at the end of the day.


Clearance between the turbo compressore housing and frame rail is just barely enough room after doing a couple of tweaks. That t3/t4e does not fit so well with the begi manifold but is doable. The ETD manifold puts it on an angle up so it is no problem.


This is the one of three pipes on the hot side. Will be a total of three connectors once I get finished am just waiting for 90 reducer from 2.5-2".

Will post some more pics later of the hot side which should be done getting welded and beaded.

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

Is your turbo sitting on the shelf?

kww502

iTrader: (3)

It only has about 1/4 to 3/8 between the shelf and turbo compressor housing. It is a little tight for my liking and have talked about switching from the t4e compressor housing to a t4b or just changing the whole compressor side to a t3 so there is more room.
Picked up my coldside intercooler piping which welded two pieces together the flange for my tial bov and Iac hose and Iat sensor. Also welded some strips on the piping for the clamps to grab on too. Will post up pics later. My buddy did an ok job welding the pipes but definitely is not art.
Here is a pic of the coldside intercooler piping

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Well have got a couple of other things done on the car. I finished hooking up the knock sensor. Hooked up the coldside intercooler piping. Fabbed up the hotside intercooler piping and dropped it off to be welded. Hooked up fan on driver side. Will have to put two fans on the passenger side one small one as a puller and a larger one on the other side as pusher due to the stock fan will not fit due to the intercooler piping. I do have a couple ideas dont think it will be an issue due to not planning on tracking the car but may have to redo intercooler piping later if i have any issues.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Well after putting the miata on the back burner I have started working on the miata again today. I installed the air filter today and ordered a new water temp sensor and connector. Still have to reloom alot of wiring from when trying to determine why the miata wouldnt start. Fix water leak on heater core lines, install wideband, and make a test pipe to hook up the exhuast until I can get some more money for a 3" exhaust. Looking forward to getting the miata back on the road.

kww502

iTrader: (3)

Finished relooming the wiring for the injectors, installed the second fan, put the water sensor in. Well hopefully this weekend will get the test pipe made and hook up the lc-1 so I can start tuning the car and have a little fun in it. Will get some pics of the engine bay once it is finished.