NA Turbo Build soon - Build/Questions
 

I'll post my build here, since it's happening next week, just need some seasoned members to lend a little guidance

I'm hoping to get turbo install 1.0 done next week over Spring Break, and still deathly afraid I'm going to blow something up. Like... immediately. But, I bought a 1.6 NA with just about an entire (albeit bandaided) turbo setup from the PO.

6-ish lb/appropriate HP gain initial goal, looking for reliable DD, hope to play in the future.

Parts List (came with car):

- 170K unmolested 1.6
- GT2871? (Brain helped with identifying, from pics in a prev thread)
- Turbo Manifold
- DP
- 1.8 and 460cc injectors
- BEGI AFPR
- Bipes
- Steel braided coolant/oil lines
- new (Exedy - stock?) clutch kit
- spare Jap 1.6 and 5spd, but with refreshed stock head (should I swap heads now?)
- unidentified coilovers, slightly lower
- 0 offset, originally stanced 002's. (cranked the rears back North/South, currently looking to trade and/or sell these off to get something back under the car. rolled fenders for now, but they're WAY out there, and the only thing on CL is a Civic guy with 15x7 6UL's with 225/50's.)

Bare needs:
- Piping and filter, into turbo, across to intake (I assume size is just "measure and get what you need"?)
- fittings (source?)

Soon: found a guy with a 1.8 diff (4.10 open i believe) rear to swap (with drive line, axles, carrier), hopefully next week as well.

Since I assume I can get this wrapped up with nothing but piping and fittings... I'm going to run the bandaid for now, and save up asap.

So questions:
- where do I get fittings?
- How do I approach DIY fabbing all that piping? I'm a noob searcher, but I/C piping is all I've found
- rebuilt stock head - mine is original - is there any reason to crack the motor open to install the clean head?
- injectors - it looks like via Brain's DIYFAQ sticky that the 1.8's are sufficient for my goals - am I right? Or do I need to take down my 460cc sales ad?

Anything I'm overlooking?

Thanks guys - I know all this is below a lot of your levels, I appreciate the help!

I built my intake from I/C piping. Works great. Good pictures of what I did in my build thread.


Unless you have a compression problem traced to valve, your original head should be OK.

If you are using an AFPR bandaid, those injectors will be OK. When you step up to Megasquirt (which you should do soon -- perhaps do that as an interim step instead of installing the turbo kit?), you'll need bigger injectors appropriately sized for your desired HP based upon stock fuel pressure.

You also don't NEED to install the rear-end at this power level. But it sure won't hurt anything.

That 2871 on the 1.6 should spool by 6,000 rpm... It's got headroom though, in case you ever want to upgrade it with a 3.0L Engine... :)

Good job finding a rear-end swap - also, if you can find/afford one, a used 1.8L long block is a cheap upgrade now, especially if you're considering flipping out engine parts anyways. The refreshed head will seal oil much better than the 175k head if you're going to stick with the 1.6.

It might be a good idea to get a smaller turbo if you can find one - I would expect that such a big turbo might get frustrating in the boost threshold department, and I would hate to lose you to the droves of people that think turbos are plagued by lag.

Sell these.

Get megasquirt ASAP. You won't regret it.

I knew this was coming... And... You're right. I just got too damn excited to get boost, that I talked myself into installing what I had. :noob:

Does anyone have a link to brain's DIY how-to? If I'm going to tackle this... I have to go this route. I'm a student on an extremely low budget.

Forgot to mention in my "must gets"... Heat shielding!

https://www.miataturbo.net/useful-saved-posts-8/how-make-install-your-own-diy-megasquirt-13676/

I was the EXACT same way a few months ago and did everything at once(turbo and MS). But my car has been nothing but headaches since I changed so much ---- at once. Its hard to trouble shoot what problems are ECU related and what is mechanically related. Tuning is much more forgiving on a naturally aspirated car. I learned this the hard way by blowing my first VVT motor... And a MS can really bring a N/A miata alive! It'll make it a lot more fun to drive. You will see progress and have fun.

Also, having someone build your MS for you if you are not really comfortable soldering small electronics is about a $200-$300 difference from parts alone. IMO, its worth getting it built. But I don't know your background or anything. Just my .02