Just got my 300zx inconel studs in on friday. Its looking like they are a little shorter than anticipated...is it ok to loctite one end of the stud into the manifold and put an m8 nut on the other end? Or will the loctite loosen up under high heat?

Some pictures to better illustrate what im saying above..I'm thinking it may be more sense to just weld them in. They are only 4 bucks a piece so its not a huge loss to buy 4 new ones when the manifold goes.

I accomplished quite a bit in the last week. The exhaust is done. I did have to add in a flex joint yesterday and ended up cutting the flex joint off my spare megan racing downpipe to make it work. I had to shorten the manifold since it was too long to fit the turbo in...even with it shortened I had to grind down a good bit of the sheet metal inside the engine bay to get it to work. Working on the downpipe now...I ended up welding in two o2 bungs. One o2 bung will be used to pressure test the exhaust using the new compressor I just got in over the weekend. How critical is it to resolve all your exhaust leaks? I'm mainly concerned about the manifold and everything else pre-02...I'm not sure of an effect leaks after the o2 sensor will have. I will use the same strategy to test the intake side and all the intercooler piping before startup via one of the vacuum ports on the intake.

Off topic but do you guys have any opinions on volvo turbos..specifially those from the s40 and s80? Saw quite a few of those in pull a part this weekend. Are they sized properly to run on a miata? Flanges look a bit odd (maybe a td04 or 13g) but that shouldn't matter anyways since I'd make my own downpipe if I chose to run one in the future.

Anyone know how to get these ******* axle nuts off? I broke two breaker bars in the process of swapping over to a torsen and do not want to break a third. Maybe its just easier to take off the whole assembly with rotors. Im not trying to save the axles so I dont really care if I destroy them.

On a side note I did end up remaking the entire manifold. It ended up being too much work to get it to fit. Its looking much better so far.

And yes I did unstake the axle nut in case anyone asks. Remember this being way easier on my integra.

Good progress George!

Many of the Volvos use td04's in various sizes.. 12t's, 13t's 15g's 19t's etc.
The 12t is small but could be ok in a 1.6. The rest should be a good match.
The flanges are a unusual but the turbos can be fitted without clocking on mx5's.
This is a set up for a 19t on a 1.6.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1398030440

There are also twin scroll versions of these turbos used on the S40 etc which sound interesting other than they are hard to come by and can suffer from cracked housings. I would still like to try though..

Thanks man appreciate the info. Ill be on the lookout for anything at pull a part. Ended up rebuilding my sr20 turbo anyways so it should be a while before I need a replacement.

I bit the bullet and got a 3/4 breaker bar and sockets and those axle nuts popped right off. I had to use an air hammer to get the right side out of the spline but the left side will not budge. Ended up drilling a hole in the center to see if that would loosen up the area around the splines but that doesnt appear to be working so far.

2 years later..... How's this build going? I think we're about in the same boat. Trying to mig a manifold, live in bama (how bout the national championship), and having not done a bunch of fab work before.

Roll damn tide!! Lol. I had issues with the megasquirt I built and ended up parting out. Manifold is not bad the downpipe is what is going to give you trouble. Though maybe that is because I used all straight tubing. What are you doing for you exhaust? You don't want to make one on your garage floor. Trust me, it sucks. I've done three. If you have access to a lift that may be a different story. I would recommend a v band on the turbo too that is easier than trying to get a flange to fit up. And plus you have to run a gasket if you use flanges and gaskets can blow. Where are you located in alabama I may be able to help out.