aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Haha, oh I agree that it causes less headaches, but if you are in it for the learning experience then its different. If someone shows up and says I want a painless 300hp turbo setup that I don't have to work on ever, its different that if someone asks I wan't to learn as much as I can and want to do everything myself.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Basically the older you get the less you want to experiment and learn and the more you just want to enjoy your car
At least that's true for me lol

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

I believe it.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

That is why I built the engine myself in 2010, to learn and to save money. 5 years later I am still not driving the car regularly. Now I miss having a running driving car all the time, so the money spent to have it done once the first time would be worth it. I will say getting the car back to running perfectly has not been at the top of my to do list for the last several years, so I have not dedicated a ton of time to it.

nigelt

iTrader: (10)

For me, I think it comes down to deciding what I want to learn on and when. There are loads of stuff on my to do list at the moment, all of which are great learning experiences. Given all the quality advice in this thread, building an engine is not going to get added to that list. Same goes for fabbing up my own manifold and DP, which I had originally considered. Maybe the next build if it isn't my daily.

Thanks for setting me straight folks!

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

What I try and do is budget at least 1.5 times if not twice as much when doing something for the first time. Keeps me from getting too pissed off when I screw something up because I had already budgeted for that.

cyotani

iTrader: (8)

I'm with you on wanting to learn more and be able to diagnose and fix issues that arise better since I put the engine together myself and will understand it more by doing so. However, I'm not confident to do it all based off just reading and videos so I found a local community college that teaches a class. The class is cheaper than the cost you would pay a machine shop for the work and you have access to all of their equipment and an experience teacher to show you the ropes. Even then I'm still crossing my finger I don't mess up something small and blow it up within the first 100 miles.

I'm sure there will come a time in my life when an off the shelf 949 engine makes more sense but for now I'm more interested in the learning experience.

nigelt

iTrader: (10)

Same! For me, that's for body work though. Gives me access to a frame rack, all the body work tools, and a painting booth. Pretty good value for $100/semester.

codrus

If you want to build the bottom end, by all means do it. I've done it a couple times now (second time after motor died due to throttle body screw breakage -- nothing wrong with my first build), and it's fun. Most recent build in my build thread here: Ian's 99 post-TB screw re-rebuild. - Miata Turbo Forum - Turbo Kitten is watching you test compression.

Don't do it to save money, because even if you don't have to buy parts again you'll probably eat up all of the assembly labor savings buying new tools. Don't do it to save time either, because even if a shop's delivery times seem enormous it'll probably take you twice as long doing it on the weekends. Do it because you enjoy wrenching on cars, want to take it to the next level, and don't mind investing some time and risk into learning to build the bottom end.

I like Carrillo A-beams, 25% lighter than the Eagles! Not cheap though.

--Ian