Thanks man. I had an elbow welded onto the comp housing, in addition to moving the wg actuator mounts and clocking the housing. Cutting a j pipe would probably net you the same result if you find one that points the right direction. I can toss up a better shot of the housing of you are interested.

Please. I have two j pipes one bends to the side a it and the other one is pretty straight. I can't tell if it will clear the manifold until it arrives but they look pretty close.

Ok I'll dig something up when I get home.

Here are a few pics. This one shows an elbow that's welded on like mine, but this is not the housing I'm using...just test fitting with one here.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1322453369

This one shows how much my housing is clocked, and where the alternate wga bolt point needed to be. It was really close to the two bolt flange.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1322452936

This one shows you from underneath where the 90* silicone elbow off the comp housing points.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1322452936

FM Level 1 clutch kit just walked in the door today. Also picked up the rear main and tranny input/output seals, and cover gasket. Now to find time to actually install all of it.

Attachment 186435

Picked up a stock '94 flywheel for $25 and had it surfaced and lightened for $75. Not uber light but shed 3-4 pounds and should help rev a little more freely. Hope to have it in all the car by the middle of February.

Attachment 186108

Attachment 186109

---- I want that color

---- I want your avatar on my face.

Still don't have the clutch in...5psi is boring as ---- but hopefully in the next month or so.

Couple of pics to add. I picked up an R-pkg lip from jayc72 and finally installed it, also a decent shot of the engine bay with the newish valve cover. Needs moar wire tuck and I need to ditch that chrome breather tube-to-nowhere and set up a catchcan, but I'm relatively happy with it overall.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1331315761

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1331315761

Clutch went in today! Months of low psi boredom are 500 498 miles from evaporating. Never done it before on the Miata, and tackled it today at the shop with some help from my friend Jack. We R&R'd the trans in 3hrs, and I had another hour or so on each end dealing with some small bits and finally adjusting the clutch play. Hard to believe that the pedal effort is so slight with this FM1...excited to get through the break in mileage and throw it some abuse.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335069317

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335069317

The break in period sucks. I need to do my clutch as well. That's the weakest link in my setup right now.

Nice car, man.

Looks great Matthew!

Thanks guys. Work in progress as is everyone else's car, and got more small stuff done this weekend. Best part was this time I smoked a 3lb pork loin while I was wrenching :)

Sealed up some gaps and repaired my radiator ducting after a run in with a parking curb. Worked on some ducting for the front brakes but ended up tearing it all out later as I was not happy with it. Also wired in a pair of horns I grabbed off a Grand Wagoneer last time I was at the pull n pay, dual tone nautilus shaped ones, not discs. Had no idea how they'd sound but figured it would be louder than the shitty stock horn and was willing to risk the $5 lol. They fit (snugly) between the radiator support and IC core and bolted in at factory points, and are definitely louder. New catch can too with DIY bracket, currently vented but will eventually route back into intake. Or not. Thanks Lars!

Best part of the weekend...I rolled over 500 miles on the FM1 and turned the boost back up :D Currently around 10psi, going to log and recheck the tune and go for 15ish. Then to the rollers for some numbers.

Horns, one mounted like this on each side.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1337115687
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1337115687

Catch can
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1337115687

That radiator is living on borrowed time.

Bump for a sweet car. Checked this car out in person, it's really well put together. Drove it as well, here's my impressions.

1) DSM ecu is tuned spot on. Throttle response off idle is great, much better than my car. I need to work on my tune, bad. After driving his car.

2) you need to fix your brakes, we bailed quickly after driving each others cars - but I totally agree the brakes are spongy. Did you notice mine were firmer when you drove my car? I feel like the pedal had a good 1/8 inch of movement before the brakes did squat.

3) Totally clean car, interiors perfect, exterior is at least a 7/10. Nice ass car.

4) I like my suspension more, but I also think my suspension is harsher over bumps. Mine had less body roll for sure, not certain on the difference in feel over bumps.

5) The shrouding. I didn't see any pics in this thread, but Matthew has some great shrouding going on with that stock rad. Apparently works well.

6) performance. Mine makes torque quicker it seemed, Matts definitely had top end on me. That turbo pulls well.

I'll just leave this here..

rleete, radiator looks OK in person...you seeing something I'm not? Or just b/c it's a stocker on a turbo car?

Thanks for that Nate. It was fun to swap cars for a bit. I did end up bleeding my brakes the following week but the pedal feels the same afterwards. Maybe I'll actually pay some place to "power bleed" them and see if that does it. Pads are nowhere near spent so that's not it. No leaks out the back of the master. Maybe a leaky booster line, as I seem to have more pedal on hard decel.

A couple weeks ago I picked up a '94 B package car with 104K for $700 for the Torsen, and finally got it out today. Not a huge pain but would have been easier if my driveway was not gravel. Only thing left to do is get the driver side axle out...fucker is in there for keeps. Thinking I'll need to pull the hub assembly and have it pressed out if the PB Blaster does not do anything over the next few days. Or just stop being cheap and buy a new one.

Can't decide whether to part it or toss the 1.6 open rear in it and sell it as a runner.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1345511116

When the top part turns color like that, it means they're getting old. The plastic becomes brittle.

It'll either crack and leak, and you'll make it home to replace it, or the top part will suddenly let go and leave you stranded.

Damn man, good steal. Want to sell me the motor? Haha. I found a car locally that I'm trying to buy, but the owner is so damn shady about me going to check it out. Its a wrecked (totaled) 50k mile car and he wants 1k for it. I'm going to offer him 700 and see how that goes.

For the stuck axle, you could always swap the entire hub. I may or may not have done that on my torsen swap. In my defense the hub the axle was stuck in seemed nicer than mine and had lower miles, so why not.

Roger that, Roger.

If I part it you can have it cheap! I'm sticking with the mosquito motor for a while. Good solution on the axle...but now that I've mushroomed the end over so much I can't get the nut back on that ship has sailed lol.

LOL, mine was mushroomed over so bad the nut would never have fit back on it. About 5 minutes with my grider solved that issue though, axle/hub worked great. Just be careful with the threads and you're good.

Oh and I may or may not be picking up a 1996 miata with 50k on it this weekend. Its wrecked, but low mileage. I'm going to run the motor and do a wet/dry compression test before I buy it , so we'll see how that goes.

Well.. that "95 parts car" i drove 2 hours with a trailer and borrowed truck to pick up ended up being a goddamn 1991. Whatever. Needless to say I didn't buy it. I'd certainly be interested in that 1.8 if you DO decide to part it out. let me know if you come across any motors in the meantime. its a little bit of a trip up there, but I'm going to be up there for snowboarding at least a few times this year ( assuming you guys have better snow than me this year, last year i didn't even make the trip due to CO being weaksauce) .

Anyways sorry to fill your thread with blabber. :P

Damn that sucks man. I hate that shit...sellers need to get a clue before they try to sell something. There's a '93 LE for sale here now that's listed as a '94 :facepalm: Only the most recognizable "factory custom" Miata made lol.

I'll definitely let you know if I part it. My neighbor actually expressed interest in it as a whole the other day. I'll have to see if I can/feel like getting it back together after the Torsen swap. I finally did get the driver axle out, but had to take the knuckle with it. Even that was a huge pain in the ass though. The lower bolt was frozen (nut came right off :jerkit: ), and even after soaking it for days with PB, hitting it with a huge Snap-On impact and beating the shit out of it for 30 minutes it wouldn't budge. I broke my 3/8" breaker bar trying to unstick it, finally got it loose with a 1/2" bar and a 4' cheater on the end of that. Goddamn. For giggles I took the knuckle/axle to work last night and put it in the 20 ton press to try to get it apart. Set it up and cranked more pressure on it than I ever have put through that press, sprayed it with more PB, left it overnight. Still wouldn't let go :rofl:

Wow man, that's almost impressive.

Yeah, get the most out of that thing if you can! If it comes to parting though count me in for the motor and rear brake brackets.

Will do.

Installed my Torsen rear diff on Monday since there was an open lift at work. I decided to take the easy way out on the axles, since I had such a hard time with the donor car, and just pull the knuckles/axles as a whole and swap them out that way. One donor axle needed some TLC to get the nut back on since I had pretty well smashed the end while trying to extract it, but overall it went pretty smoothly. Had all the 1.6 parts out of my car and the new stuff bolted up in about 4 1/2 hours.

Have not had a chance to beat on it much, but it seems like low speed/throttle-on creates oversteer, and medium-high speed/throttle-on creates a little understeer. But I could just be imagining all that.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1346896845

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1346896845

Badass! The torsen was in my opinion one of the best drivability mods i've done. Mine seems to always oversteer, and only really understeers when I drive it like an idiot (which i occasionally do). If i'm driving it proper its mostly neutral with a hint of oversteer when i power into it.

Now with more GReddy! Thanks to this ^^^ guy. I'll post pics once it looks pretty, but we all know what these look like anyway. Needs a new tune but feels pretty good at 15psi right now :D

16g is out awaiting a new manifold and downpipe. Or not, depending on how much the GReddy stuff grows on me while I drag my feet on fabbing something.

Virtual Dyno graph of the old 16g (blue) at ~ 13.5psi vs. new-to-me Greddy 15g (red) at ~16psi, after playing with the fuel a little. No timing tweaks yet.

Intake temp was 50* less tonight as opposed to when the 16g was logged but I don't think that would account for this much difference.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1355038625

Looking good, like the car, clean setup.

I am thinking on buying a 96-97, but for now I am hooked on sport quads. That will be my resolution for new year, je je...

I bet that extra mid makes it feel much better on the street, amirite?

Yar. More of what I wanted my car to be over the last couple of years...less top end and more mid-range paunch punch.

Dude, this thing is super clean. I'm trying to get rid of a 90 talon tsi awd, i'll trade you straight up. lol

Woo hoo! Happy to see you got some gains from it at least. Here's a virtual dyno on one of the last pulls i did before yanking that setup for you.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1355782334

Just looked at that log, and this was peaking at 187kpa(16psi at my altitude) and dropping to 162kpa(12.5psi) by redline.

Edit: SPOOLS way better on your car, not just looking at peak boost, but under the curve there. Your car makes 150tq at 3700 rpms and mines barely making 100 at that point. That may say something about the condition of my old 1.6, lol.

Looking at this dyno sheet, i cannot wait to get my 99 1.8 with a t25 in. My car has no torque.

Weird that there's that much difference in power from yours to mine. And your compression didn't seem to be that bad overall given the altitude. Either way, I'm satisfied with the purchase :D May not go back to the 16g! I love being able to break loose in 2nd at will, and the better response has me wetting my pants. I pulled a Mazdaspeed3 by a couple lengths twice the other day...it had an exhaust and a "bigger turbo", whatever that means. Owner was really surprised to see the Hairdresser Hotrod's taillights lol.

Hahaha, awesome. I pulled on a brand new 5.0 as well with that turbo kit, he was ashamed that my gay blue car pulled away from him. Altitude is a bitch, even more so for NA cars ;) In the cold I too was losing traction in 2nd. Feels good, cant wait for my new setup and tons of torque.

What does your timing map look like? I can't help but wonder if something else wasn't at play here, although the car did burn oil so maybe the rings weren't holding the best. I STILL suspect valve guide seals were my issue with the 1.6 though.

Here's the 100% uncorrected results of that turbo kit on the dyno. (corrected was 240whp, LOL altitude..)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1356040163

So that setup was an honest 200whp. Boost spiked around 15psi and settles around 12. My new setup i'm aiming for 250whp UNCORRECTED, so i'm looking for about 50 more whp and tons of torque.

Not to trash your build thread with dynos from my car, but this turbo kit is on your car at this point anyways lol. Here's SAE corrected for reference.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...o-dynoruns-jpg

Pictars no worky

Ooops. Fixed. :fael:

I'll post up my timing map when I get a chance but here's an overview of WOT: at cruise I'm around 30*, starts dropping at ~2psi fairly linearly to 12* right before peak boost, then I hit peak boost/4200rpm and it drops down to 11* at highest load through about 4700rpm, rising back to 15* by redline. Not really a lot of timing when I look at other maps here, but my knock sensor goes nuts with any more. Still need to figure out if it's phantom or real knock.

My boost is also spiking and dropping like it did on your car...didn't have that issue with the 16g. I pressure sourced the wga before the IC (come at me), and IIRC yours was after. I have not had time to play with it that much, but will be trying to eliminate as much of that as possible.

Once I'm happy with it I'll take it to the DynoDynamics where I did my pre-turbo baseline and post up the results.

Timing map. Highest load factor I ever hit is 1.8 so I trimmed the map roughly there...has 5 more rows of resolution that my stock bottom end can't handle lol. You can see that I don't even stress the system that much on this pull...only sees 1.4.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1356068397

Screen cap of a 3rd gear pull, vertical marker at peak boost/lowest timing.

Edit: Lowest timing is actually 11*...marker is off a hair and indicates 12*.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1356068397

GReddy now at 19psi peak, tapering to 14psi at redline. Going to work on the taper this weekend and try to get it to hold 15-16 across the board without such a big spike.

And start saving for pistons/rods lol.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359042316

If you really want that turbo to hold boost to redline, look into getting a new WGA. I had a "helper spring" on that kit for a bit, and it DID work, right up until 200 miles down the road the springs tension was lost due to heat cycling.

Virtual dyno looks awesome.

I've acquired some more parts for my 1.8 recently, i'm sure i'll see you this year when i go to pikes peak :D.

Had not thought of the helper spring. Looks like it would have been short lived anyway.

I played around with the tune again and got it to a place where I'm actually happy to leave it. Can't believe I'm saying that. Rejigged timing and fuel, dropped peak boost to 17psi, tapers to 15 now, and the virtual dyno shows 243/211. Time to hit the DynoDynamics around the corner and get an actual number before things go boom.

Also, I picked up a Vibrant #1793 (18"x4") resonator for $45 shipped and installed it last weekend in the stock cat location. Peak noise didn't drop as much as I'd hoped, but it did move the annoying 4K rpm resonance down to 3K, which means I can have a normal conversation at 70-80mph, and is a win in my book.

Picked up some bnib FM sways a couple weekends ago for $160 and put them in last Thursday after work. It's the most I can afford to do with the suspension for a while (really, REALLY want new springs/shocks), and then without any testing/reconfiguring entered my first SCCA Solo event lol. Turns out that the FM suggested soft front/middle rear setting feels good on the car, very neutral to barely pushing at the limit. I may take both bars up to the tightest setting, but I'm inclined to leave it as-is for a while.

Was able to get out and hit some familiar canyons yesterday. The car corners much flatter than with the stock bars (duh), I can feel what the tires are doing more clearly now, as opposed to being clouded by the body roll/momentum changes, and I'm carrying more speed into and out of corners as a result. Really excited to get on a real track (read: Solo was pretty boring) and see how it feels.

I've been considering sways as well. Do you think this would be a good mod for my car? I was thinking something like wheels/tires first, then sways, then aligning and cornerbalancing the car to at least get the most from what I have.

Neat update.

Yeah, I'd say go for it. I put sways on my last Talon, and it even helped to tame that fat pig lol. Just driving around town I find myself pushing the car harder to see what it'll take.

What's your gripe with your wheels? Aesthetics? Weight? Size...16's, right? If they aren't boat anchors and you can get good tires for them in that diameter, then I'd probably go sways. I remember that you said my car felt like it had more body roll than yours, now I think you'd be surprised at how flat it is.

If you are still on the fence you can drive it if you make it up for Pikes Peak again this year. Up until now my mantra has been "horsepower, not handling", but I really feel like this is a mod I ought to have done earlier on now that I have them installed. Fairly inexpensive even at full retail, and totally worth it.

All of the above. Really this is what I have going on.. The wheels are shittay honda boy wheels from probably the late 90's. I very much regret buying them in the first place, let alone buying tires for them. At this point the tires are about 4 seasons old and suck anyways, the wheels are fugly/heavy/bent/etc. and I hate them. I really want some of these new konig 15x8 wheels in the 12lb range, and get some decent tires for them. That is my plan at least.

Sway bars in comparison are cheap though, so i may just do both. I'd really like to go with a nice suspension, but that just isn't going to happen. Not that I really hate my setup personally, considering my driving skill is nowhere near the limit of the car now even.

Braided steel brake lines and Motul fluid from 949 went in yesterday in an attempt to further improve brake feel. Test drive proved inconclusive, may need to bleed the master.

PRO TIP, and I almost discovered this the hard way having never changed brake lines before. Pull the hub to full opposite lock before you tighten everything down on the front lines or you are going to make a :mad:

Yeah, had the same deal when I installed my braided lines. make sure they clear everything and fit properly. Did you do the clutch "curly q" line too? Going to a braided line on that one makes a huge difference if you have a heavy clutch.

Oh yeah, so is this thing still running well?

Nope, no curly-Q line replacement, but I've got the shorty braided one that replaces the rubber portion in the garage lol. I have an FM1 so clutch action is cake.

Brakes feel better after another drive, pedal is a little higher than before, and pretty firm. Have not beaten on it yet, though.

Got sucked into working on this instead: taking my spare hood down to raw aluminum. Was thinking of going polished for a long time, but now a brushed finish sounds more appealing. Top spot was about 8min by hand, bottom was about 4min with random orbit sander. Just got back from Ace with a shitload of pads :D

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1369693076

So just spent about an hour-fifteen on the hood. If Chaste White is the shittiest of all Miata colors, Brilliant Black must be the stoutest. This is where I got after all that time with 60 grit paper...only through the paint. Still have two layers of primer to go through, but they are looking much thinner than the paint itself. Obviously have some low spots, but we've got a PDR kit at work that I'm going to try out. Plus leaving it a matte finish will help hide my ameteurish bodywork lol.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1369701006

Bueno. Loving it. Gonna do a timing belt soon and install an adjustable cam gear on at least the intake to try to get a little more spool and midrange out of it. But otherwise it's peachy.

Picked up a 6 speed today! Got it for a song, claimed to be from an MSM, will be calling Mazda tomorrow to verify through the VIN (tag is still on the case). It is super clean and looks like it's been opened up in the past, but the input shaft spins freely and it shifted into every gear. I'm going to make an adapter for the input shaft and spin it up/row through it before installing it in, but it seems to be ok. Guy I bought it from had it as backup for his race car so I'm ass-uming it's good to go.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1370201644

-1 for ricer hood, +2 for 6 speed goodness!

J/k, brushed will certainly look better than the polished look I've seen everyone else do. I really like the solid blue look, but it looks like your keeping the oem blue hood so that's good.

Yeah, the jury is still out on the hood until I install it. I made more progress on it today, sanded through the second primer coat and about halfway through the first, and all the way to bare metal on about 20% of it. I still think it'll look good brushed/matte. If it looks ghey I've at least got it stripped for more blue. My current hood looks like a golf ball haha and after some PDR love this one will be pretty smooth.

What rear end are you going to run with that 6 speed?

In for super low gearing, lol.

4.1 that came with my Torsen. From what I've read not a horrible combo, will bump me back up to the RPMs area at cruise where my 5spd/4.3 was. I can live with it until something taller comes along.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1370746632


:fawk:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1370746632

Haha cool to know you can fit a gearbox in the passenger seat spot!

I put a BP block on its end inside a plastic crate and it fit on the passenger seat nicely. Made sure as hell the seatbelt had it secured properly!

Yeah for sure. I even belt my grocery bags in place haha. Apparently a trans will fit crossways in the trunk as well, but I didn't want to get to the guys house and find out otherwise.

I need more pics of the car to determine how the hood looks, does not look half bad in that picture though.

What wheels are those?