Wanker's Clever Build Thread Title...(56k come crash your computer)
 

So today on my way home from class I got hustled up a freeway on-ramp by something i'd rather not admit being hustled by. :bang: This car is just too damn slow, especially with the map scaled for boost...i'm not running nearly enough timing up top for being N/A.

So I thought about it, thought some more. I'm only missing a few smallish pieces that I can run and get at the parts store down the street when the time comes. I've got til tuesday to get this thing back on the road or i'll be taking the bus to school :mad:

My setup is mostly in my sig, if you want to know anything more specific just ask.

So enough chit-chat, lets make with the pictures.

As it sat when I pulled it into the garage. Dont mind the ghettofied TPS hanging off the throttle body...will fix in due time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/DSC00821.jpg

First things first, get that old header off:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/DSC00825.jpg

Took me awhile but I knew I remembered being able to get that bastard out in one piece.
The old and the new (thesnowboarder misses his SSSGDP):
Attachment 207628

Best tool in the garage in my opinion. Makes quick work of twisting out mile long bolts without the obnoxiousness of the air ratchet:
Attachment 207629

Turbo not hit block?
Attachment 207630

I'll tell you, i really hated this outlet adapter for this turbo. I knew i'd hate it but bought it anyway, I should have just gone with my gut and purchased the ATP adapter. After putting the turbo on, taking it off, clocking it, putting it back on, taking it back off, clocking it again, omg I thought it'd never end. Finally figured out a setup that will work alright, going to have to re-route that lower radiator hose somehow.

Here is my turbo clocker:
Attachment 207631

Here are a couple shots of what I think ended up being my final alignment:
Attachment 207632
Attachment 207633

I learned while test fitting the turbo to the BEGI mani out of the car that I had to clearance the turbine housing a little bit to actually be able to twist the nut on. Went to town with the dremel:
Attachment 207634

Here is a shot of my bosch bypass valve that will be VTA on my application. Not sure which end is in and which is out but here is how I have it for now:
Attachment 207635

After a long frustrating afternoon/evening I had to give up. While I was trying to fit the turbo to the mani/dp I realized that I needed to remove the lower front stud to get it to fit. While trying to get it out I stripped the two nuts I was double-nutting to get it out. That just seemed like as good of a time as any to hang it up for the night and have some beers.

Here is how she sits in the garage, cold and lonely:
Attachment 207636

So, the to-do for tomorrow, if possible (its a lot):

-Finish mounting turbo
-Get some missing hardware (long bolt for the DP, new turbo hardware etc)
-Mock up intercooler piping
-Mount intercooler
-Sort out the oil feed/drain
-Relocate the lower radiator hose out of the turbo's way
-Figure out where i'm going to run a vac line to the WGA
-Redo LC-1 wiring to work with the turbo
-Perhaps clean up my nasty rats nest megasquirt wiring under the passenger foot well

I'm sure there is plenty more that i'm not thinking about right now. Thanks for looking!

Turbo outlet not hit block.

great so far...keep it up man:)

You already have MS in and running so there's a big hurdle down. Good luck getting everything done man, you're going to have an ear-to-ear grin when you start boosting!!

Yea, i've been systematically moving the process along one step at a time, first the LC1, then MS, then the 550s, now time for the turbo.

Thanks guys :)

Good work so far bro!

+2, having MS out of the way is a definate leg-up. Thats whats stopping me from being out on the road now:crx:

Once you get the turbo bolted to the manifold and downpipe the rest is all down hill. Keep it up!

Awesome progress.

I hope to be doing this next week or over spring break.

I guess the hardest part is just jumping into it.

Absolutely that is the hardest part. Just jump in and before you know it you're past the point of no return.

And John, I hope you're right about it all being downhill once the turbo is mounted =P

looks like another useful post!! keep it up

I've got a few updates guys. Here they are...I'm drunk so go fuck yourself if my grammar sucks:

I had a friend come help me tonight. He pulled the bumper off to mount the intercooler while I finished mounting up the manifold/turbo/downpipe. I still didn't figure that shit out. What special tool do you need to get to the bottom right nut? What a pain in the ass...

Fabbing up the intercooler piping has been daunting. I was really expecting more of a pain in the ass. Its difficult to explain while drunk, but we only connected one pipe to the throttle body inlet pipe and 2 90 degree couplers to make it to intercooler. Here is a couple of pictures to help with the explanation:
Attachment 207612
Attachment 207613

For the hot side, we used one 90* pipe with part of the stock intake piping to get it to the intercooler. Here are some pictures of what we did here:
Attachment 207614
Attachment 207615
Attachment 207616

So i've never taken the bumper off. My buddy helped me with that cause he dealt with front end damage not too long ago (by the sound of it). I didnt pay much attention to what he was doing so now I have a bag full of parts and a bumper that is chillin in the corner of my garage. He doesn't have time to come help me put it back on tomorrow so this will be interesting.

I still havent bought what I need to do the lower radiator hose stuff. Will do that tomorrow for sure. I'm pretty sure a flex hose will do just fine there.

Here is how it sits tonight:
Attachment 207617

Will have more tomorrow, i'm too drunk to add anymore tonight...

good progress man!

Man in that one pic your IC looks really low, will you be running it that low?

Does look pretty low (doesn't look attached either, so maybe it's just that low because it's hanging?) - also looks like part of the stock intake has been recycled, which I'm sure is a temporary solution, right?

Attachment 207609

Si and si. The intercooler isn't attached right now, was just hanging by the piping in that picture. I'm lacking 2 90* couplers so in lieu of that I recycled that piece of intake.

I actually do not have that much to get done today. I still need to figure out how i'm going to tighten the rear lower mani-turbo stud. Go to lowes to find something to mount that IC with. JB weld my IAT sensor bung somewhere. Drill/tap the pan. I bought a tap set with the wrong sized tap for my drain fitting. Also need to finish up the oil feed. Will be moving the LC-1 around today. A couple of other things. Uninteresting info, sorry guys, it helps to type it out though so I know what to remember :)

I got myself really drunk last night and as a result i'm very hungover this morning. This is not how I want to be when finishing up my car...ugh. Also i'm noticing on my computer clock that we lost an hour last night :mad: I'm going to drink some water, smoke a bowl (#1 hangover remedy) and go sleep this off.

Alright for pics!

I am pretty sure I can find some time monday night to come over and help reinstall the bumper. It may not be until 7-8 if it works, but bumper really isn't that hard if you feel ambitious. Shoot me a text and let me know

If you use that accordion piece from the stock intake, it will expand in boost. I good temporary and cheap remedy is to put some zip ties around the root of the accordion piece so it won't expand as much.

The bumper's not terrible, 6-8 bolts along the top (you'll need the lights up for the outside ones) two inside the fender on each side, and then the support bars on the inside of the fender as well. Then it connects to the bottom through the radiator shroud (I think) and uses a bunch of cheezy plastic connectors. I replaced some of them with a metal nut and bolt and some washers. Its much stronger and I don't have to be so damned worried about breaking the cheap plastic bits.

Edit: just noticed you're in Bellingham. Another NW turbo miata! Go us.

This is how I moved the bottom hose, I plugged the heater return with a welch plug, cut off the throttle body return and replaced it with a brass tail for the water through the turbo, and turned it upside-down. The hose is then just a single 90* and further forward. The heater now returns into the top of the na6 thermostat housing via a banjo to 5/8 hose tail as the thermofan switch is redundant because the MS controls the fan.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6818/spa0009.jpghttp://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1780/spa0010.jpg

Here is another update for everyone. Its not a significant update but its something. It is pretty cold out today and the little space heater I have in my garage just cant keep up. Its only 8 degrees warmer in the garage than it is outside.
Attachment 207547

I lost the whole day yesterday due to an epic hangover. Dont you love hearing about all the things you did/said the night before that you dont remember at all? Eat before you drink kids...drinking on an empty stomach is a mistake that i never seem to learn from. I didn't even realize I made my last update saturday night. Yesterday I went to type it up and saw that it was already there. Its like time travel lol.

So today I got back to the build. I have to come to realize that my initial goal of getting done by today was completely realistic even if I had worked on it all day yesterday.

Today I mounted up the intercooler to make sure my initial IC pipe routing would work. Well, it didn't. I finagled the cold side into place pretty much how it was, the the hot side was way off. I'm wishing I had some of those couplers with the hump in them. Here is a shot from the front:
Attachment 207548

The brackets I made (they suck, go easy on me):
Attachment 207549

Here is the revised hot side piping. Notice the lack of the accordian piece. I cut it off of the stock intake piece...still used the other half of the stock intake as a 90* coupler:
Attachment 207550

Here is the cold side piping again. Can you guys tell if my piping is hanging too low? I'm worried about ground clearance but i'm not sure how I could make them hang any higher at all.
Attachment 207551

Turbo water lines in place:
Attachment 207552

My messy ass work bench:
Attachment 207553

I managed to get a ride to class tomorrow from a friend, so no bus for me :)

So lets try that setting goals thing for tomorrow. I have a long day tomorrow so I wont have time to get a whole lot done but I figure I can:
-Finish all the cuts for all the plastic in the way of the IC (under tray etc)
-Replace a stripped turbo-manifold nut so I can finally tighten it down for good and leave it
-Finish removing A/C lines

If I have time to do more maybe I will...we'll see.

Is that water heater strap holding you IC on?

no idea what it is so that is a possibility. It is pretty sturdy with the pipes connected at each end though.

So, how's the build going? Any updates?

Omg a civic driving smelly hippy is among us!

Nothing worth posting. I worked yesterday for an hour just getting the rear lower exhaust nut on and as tight as I can get it. I lack dexterity.

Started putting the bumper back on. I need to get the right sized drill bit/tap for the pan but cannot find it at lowes or napa or schucks. Mostly just reassembly at this point.

Here is the bumper starting to go back on:
Attachment 207496

Here is the hole I dremeled in a cold side pipe for my AIT:
Attachment 207497

Here is the bung being JB welded:
Attachment 207498

JB weld is gangster...

your build is progressing exactly as mine is!!! im just too lazy to document it.

Ya we have pretty much all the same parts goin in our cars haha. Yours is a 1.8 i think that is the only difference.

Oh that and you're totally awesome WGA adapter you had made. I just drilled and tapped right into the compressor housing for mine =P

and i have PS to work around....

Just wait till i post up pics of my hotside piping. im finishing it 2morro. It reminds me of this:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nBriBnEcbk...s400/Straw.jpg

haha -Way to call out the honda fanboy -Thanks for that! Your build is looking fucking awesome though -I'm getting jealous man... Still look like this weekend is a realistic deadline?

Just a little motivation to keep you on track with your build buddy!

http://www.dragtimes.com/images/9081...olet-Astro.jpg

http://www.turbovan.net/bryburn2.jpg

Nice mani and dp man! Im truly missing mine, the 1.8 one i got from begi doesn't fit like that one did :(

My buddy came back and put my bumper back on today. It seems to me like a huge step forward, but it really isn't. I've still got a few things to figure out and a couple questions.

First for the oil feed. I'm having a BITCH of a time figuring out how to get the oil pressure sender off to put my tuner toys oil feed in. Is there a trick i'm missing? It doesn't seem like there is any room to fit an open end wrench in there. I threaded the 1/8 bspt feed into my spare block a little bit at the traditional 1.6 oil feed location and it seems to fit slightly. Could I pull this off as a one-time thing? Like, thread it in, let it cross thread or whatever and just not remove it?

I'll post a couple pics a little later, nothin special. Just the same car but with a bumper this time.

A couple of updates.

Here is how I re-routed my lower radiator hose finally. I used all of the stock pieces to get this where I wanted it. I used the hose originally connected to the radiator to run into the block, and vice versa. I cut the 45* portion of the hardline off to connect the two. You can also see my drain line in place as I drilled/tapped the pan today:
Attachment 207465

Started wrapping the heatercore lines:
Attachment 207466

So at this point I need to only do a few things before the start up:
-Fix a coolant leak at the back of the head
-Move my LC1 and re-wire it
-Make a couple of cuts and put my under tray back on
-Figure out how in the fucking hell i'm going to get oil to this turbo...

I cannot for the life of me get the oil pressure sender off the block with the engine in the car. If I had known this would be this huge of a PITA, i would have put my oil Tee in while the engine was out. Omg its seriously impossible, there is no way to get a wrench on the nut behind the sender unit and actually have room to move the wrench to loosen it. I'm thinking about either picking up an oil filter sandwich plate or figuring out how to make the oil port on the hotside work with my -3AN oil feed hose.

Heres the bitch:
Attachment 207467

i took mine off last week so that i knew it would be pretty easy to throw on when i put the turbo on. Then again, i have the 1.8 pressure sensor which is much smaller.


P.S. i am one 90* silicone coupler away from being boosted. I am coming home from college friday to install everything.

Am i going to beat you to boost???? lol

Oh lord, you may if I have to order something that takes longer than a week...or if I decide to pull my intake manifold to get this fucking thing off. I guess it depends on how motivated I am tomorrow =P

If I could find a place like anpluming.com locally i'd be set.

Why get behind the sensor? Why not just screw it off from the top of the sensor?

The housing spins but it does not loosen at the block. I can only imagine that by spinning it as such is destroying the wiring inside.

If you decide to go with an oil filter sandwich plate, I have a brand new one sitting in my garage I can sell you

How much (out of curiosity)?

To be honest I dont know what to charge for it, I will go take some pictures and post it up. I got it from Urbansoot when I bought my turbo from him.

Well i'll have to make up my mind soon as I need that shit in the mail like 2 days ago if I end up buying it from you. I also have no idea what they're worth...new or used.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...437/lol012.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...437/lol013.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...437/lol014.jpg

Looks to have 3 ports for tapping for oil. One has a fitting on it and the other two are plugged. Let me know what you think.

Cheap ebay style go for 25-30 new and nice Greddy onces go for $75.

I just had to buy a sandwhich plate for my build and it ended up being $40 bucks for a nice greddy one locally.

That should help with the pricing.

Thats what I was affraid of, for less than 20 I can get the correct fitting I need and just do it right the first time.

If its in the sub $50 range, I've got dibs on it if Wayne Curr doesn't want it, I need an oil cooler bad.

Ya its all yours man, i feel like this is going to present even more problems for me if I go that route.

sweeeeeeet, good luck with your build. Tell me if you need any help, I'm only about 5 hours south of you, lols.

Lol, yes i need help TODAY! I cannot get this fuckin thing off! Out in the garage right now...i think its seriously on there for good at this point.

You're still fighting with the oil pressure sender? It shouldn't be on there with much force, although you might be fighting some 18 year old locktite. Holy shit girls born when your car was made are old enough to have sex with, scary thought.

Anywho try some heat with a butane torch or something similar, plumbers pliers work great too, expand them so you can grip it with one hand and start prying.

Oh, and don't forget, righty tighty, lefty loosy.

Thanks for the tips. I figured something else out on the hotside oil feed. Now i'm just figuring out what to do with 3ft of extra ss braided oil feed line lol.

Omg its about ready to start...i cant believe it. My asshole is going to be puckered so tight when I turn that key...

No start :( At first I was getting no tach signal in Megatune, found something loose in my LC1 wiring and crimped it down...now I have tach but no start still. I'm sure i'm getting fuel cause the LC1 reading is changing as if raw fuel is getting dumped into the exhaust. I'm done working on it today though, i'm ready to relax and drink beer. I just hope its not my coils since I gave my extra coils to a friend.

Here is a couple of pictures of how it sits now:
Attachment 207409
Attachment 207410

And my rats nest of wiring. If I cant get it started with regular troubleshooting tomorrow then i'm going to remove all the crimp connectors and solder all this like it should be.
Attachment 207411

Did you seriously drill a hole into the compressor housing for a self-tapping screw?


edit: oh god crimp connectors

no, I drilled a hole, then tapped it, then used a bolt. Solid.

So, any results after straightening out the wiring?

not done yet. almost done though. got rid of all the crimp connectors, looks much more tidy now. tonight is about drinking though so no working on the car today.

It runs! It drives!

It goes ssshhhhhhhSSSHHHHHH-PSSSSHHHH!
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

What a hoot!

Have an exhaust leak from the DP to the cat. There isn't a gasket in there so it doesn't surprise me. Getting tons of resets now on my MS which is bullshit cause I just added more grounds and soldered everything. Maybe I need to re-gap my plugs.

Congrats on getting it started! I'm on the same build (close) and working slowly to get this finished so I can hear my BOV again haha. Though I'm not looking forward to tuning the E-Manage. I have absolutely no idea on how to operate this thinger, but I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later.

But yeah, this build thread answered a few questions I had and verified it with pics...Thanks!!

I see I'm too late, but there's a how-to starting on post #7. 1-6 is good for a little laugh too.
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/t4775/

thanks but the problem is actually that the deep socket doesn't work and there is no way to get behind the sender to get to the little nut to loosen it. I basically just put the tuner toys T in the block feed on the exhaust side with a washer...no leaks.