Hey all,

Just starting a thread on the list of upgrades that I am about to put my old car through (with pics).

My car is a vintage 1990 MX5 (english RHD) and the changes/upgrades to be done are as follows:

Swap the original 1.6 (152K miles) engine with a JDM 1.8 with about 50K miles on it.

Replace clutch and flywheel (Flyin Miata happy meal)

Replace the eManage with a megasquirt PNP system.

Upgrade the brakes to handle extra horsepower.

Once this is all done then a full tune and dyno and we should have a hot little car.

Here are pics of the work so far

Mark

 

i see no mention of forced induction my freind.

 

you don't see the turbo hanging off in the first pic?

 

Yeah budget racer you are correct it is a Begi GT 25.

Just left out any turbo comments to see who was paying attention

Hope to get up to about 280 rwhp when I am done.

Also will be taking the engine out this winter and rebuilding / making a little bigger (like around 2.0L)

Woo hoo

 

Hey Everyone,

Here is a little update on the engine swap etc.

The original engine (151K, 1.6) is being stripped for some parts.

The new(er) JDM 1.8 engine is now being assembled before we put it back in the car and hook it up.

Hoping to get the car running tonight with the original emanage just to check that the install is running ok.

Mark

 

What turbo manifold are you going to use?

 

Hi Dustin,

Originally I was going to use a Flyin Miata manifold but they were outta stock with no delivery in sight (I believe that the machine they use was broken or something).

So with that in mind I ordered a manifold from BEGI (as the turbo is a BEGI).

It fits nicely

Hoping to hear that turbo whining again soon

 

Hey all,

So the 1.8 is in but still quite a lot of work to do.

Took a while to get the engine to fit into the engine bay (turbo catching on the body).

Anyway here are a few pictures to show you all the progress made.

IMG 1430 - where the hell is the engine ?
IMG 1470 - flushing the oil sump with mineral spirits
IMG 1475 - nearly in ....should we leave it like that
IMG 1477 - Woohoo after a lot of messing around the engine is on the engine mounts

I hope to have the engine running and dyno it with the megasquirt this weekend

Later

Mark

 

Looks like it is coming along nicely. Should be fun

 

Thanks Dustin,

I am excited for the weekend, hopefully if we can get the megasquirt in with a base AFR map.

I will go crazy and post the dyno runs when I do it.

M

 

Ok everyone,

The eManage is out and the Megasquirt is in.
A few things still left to complete (temp sensor in the intercooler pipes).

We got the vacuum pipes and other pipes all tidied up.

IMG_1490.jpg is the engine pre pipes clean up
IMG_1494.jpg is after they are cleaned up .....wow you can see the color of the engine bay LOL.

Looking to Dyno it this week......

Mark

 

That IC seems unnecessarily large.

Nice car, I wanna see it

 

Thanks Rider384 whereabouts in the twin cities are you? I'm in the south metro area.

Ran into a snag today with the last stages of getting her ready and we were removing a very tight oil filter when we saw a spark.

I think we shorted something out ....actually we blew a 30a fuse.

Now when the engine is running and I turn on the lights, the engine dies. There seems to be a lot of clicking too.....
Anyone got any ideas about this ?
I am due to take the car to the dyno next wed so it needs to be together.

If anyone has any thoughts please let me know.

Thanks

Mark

 

So I replaced the blown 30A fuse and it seems to be fine again....

woo hoo dyno day is rapidly approaching

 

Are you going to MAP?

I'm semi-close to there, I'm a bit east of Rockford.

 

Interesting coolant reroute. How do you shield it from the heat from the turbo?

 

Used to be copper tubing.

 

Hi Rider. Yes I will be going to map next Wednesday at noon.

Hey bruce indeed with the copper but the bigger turbo / engine got in the way. Need to look at heat shields.

 

Here is the latest pic of the engine bay with the improvised heat shield.

What does everyone think?

On Wednesday, I will tune the car for 17lbs of boost and hopefully get around 270/280 rwhp Woo Hoo

I may still need to replace the exhaust system and will be getting her a good cleaning but she is basically complete.

Mark

 

Figure out how to get a pipe back in there or take the large hose up around by the fender.