cowboys647

So I loved driving my miata. I had just done suspension upgrades and it was a blast to drive. After wanting to go turbo'd for so long, I finally bought a megasquirt and a shanghai-s kit. So far my cars been down for about two months and i've just had problem after problem. It seems like when I fix something, something else stops working. I'm at the point now where I wish I just sold my car and bought an sti or something like that. Maybe i've just had terrible luck but I don't know if I could recommend turboing a miata anymore :( Anyone else have any terrible stories that turned into success?

matthewdesigns

iTrader: (8)

Dude you just need to stick with it and address each issue one at a time. My car was down for over 4 months and I felt the same way...I just wanted to drive the ------- thing stock again. I swapped in an entire new engine harness and ecu from a completely different car and it was a nightmare for a while. But TOTALLY worth it in the long run.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

If parts are breaking they're either overdue for replacement, are bad parts to begin with, or you're doing something wrong.

My second turbo setup was 300% less painful than my first because I learned what NOT to do at that point, and had goals, a game plan, and used correct parts.

Turboing a car that was not so from the factory is a lot more involving than most people think or hear about. Doing it as your first project without much experience doesn't help either. Stick through it, no matter how long or how hard, trust me its worth it in the end.

Pen2_the_penguin

iTrader: (4)

lol.

is that it?

Try going through multiple engines... I have had my miata for 7 years, idiotically started like a moron and got an ebay exhaust kit and junkyard T2 turbo @ a stupidly set 10psi, yet I still made it work for about 3 months before I detonated, then got smart and started adjusting my fuel and timing on the second engine... had it for about a year or two, cracked the ebay manifold... then bought another one (lol), and that second 100 dollar manifold was made by someone who cared in the sweatshop, and a mallory AFPR since it has lasted me all the way to now. A year after that I overheated in the summer while driving in the mountains, thus cracking and warping a head, so I spliced the head from my first blown engine to this engine and made it run again on its band-aid setup... then mil bonus came in and I fixed everything right, by buying a MSPNP, Garrett T2580 and rebuild kit, MTX wideband, 460cc injectors w/ diy harness, and maintenance crap. All the way up to this point I have spent 3k, when 1k of it could have been avoided if I did more research. Most of the price was due to my lack of a proper transmission, I have an automatic, that I spent 1k alone getting it performancely built by level10

After 5 years of turbo, the valve seals and headgasket gave way at idle at an intersection. I needed money at that time so I sold my parts. Now I turbo-ing again, and back to square one with retarded timing, rich-ish fuel mixture, ugly exhaust charge piping, and T2 turbo.


I also bought a 91' Supra turbo. Trust me, once you go boost in a tiny little car like the miata, its like it should have been factory standard as a turbo.




btw, ask failflora about sawzall mods. Also ask leatherface about crank pulleys.

cowboys647

Alright so mine problems are probably mute in comparison. Still sucks though. I thought I would stay away from bandaids and not waste money and time. Its not as much about me breaking things as much as things breaking around me. I'm sure it will be worth it when I finally get it running well but until then its a b*****. Hopefully all I need now is an na alternator, new actuator, and a good boost gauge and i'll be ok.

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

Most people think its as easy as clicking an install turbo button on Need for speed...even less know you actually have to tune the thing.

cowboys647

I knew that I would have to tune it but it was a lot more in depth than I thought it would be. I guess thats a good thing because you can go so much farther into the settings to make it run better. Or screw it up if you don't know what your doing. I think i've read and re read the megamanual and a few of the faqs here at least twenty times over. Knowledge ftw

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

If need for speed had a standalone tunning simulation most people would still be on the first race.

Pen2_the_penguin

iTrader: (4)

lol that would be awesome to see via online...


Some punk kid losing the race due to poor tune and blown motor.

skidude

iTrader: (3)

There are always problems. I had an old '94 with 160k miles that I decided to turbo. I made a lot of mistakes on that car, and swore at it frequently. When I turbo'd my '02, I knew what I was doing and made far fewer mistakes. I have still screwed some things up, but I got the whole turbo installed and runnind in 4 days.

Stick with it, you'll be glad you did.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

If you start thumbing through build threads, you'll see that most of us have been through it - it definitely sucks some days.

Trust me when I say this: The day you wake up, get in your car, start it up, and know that you've got all the problems sorted out, you'll look back on all the trouble you had, and all the missteps, and you'll think to yourself: "It was worth it"

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

Like everyone said, just stick with it. Every car I've modded has turned into a complete nightmare at some point. Eventually you'll get past the "everything is breaking" period. I went about a year with enough tools in my trunk to take my entire car apart. It's down to a jack and lug wrench now.

chpmnsws6

iTrader: (12)

And then the next day it won't start.

skidude

iTrader: (3)

Shh, you'll scare him away!

Don't you have a chevy product in your engine bay? I thought those things were even more reliable than the mazda engine...

Opti

Unless it equipped with an optispark haha. Im going through this right now, I quit taking care of it and its biting me in the ***. So i finally decided to sell it but I told myself I wouldnt get rid of it until I fixed everything, so every day off I have I have to do something to the car.

Tomorrow is a complete A/C system.

Slowly as it comes back from near death I am beginning to enjoy it again.

Have Shocks and springs, carpet, sound deadener, tons of stainless hardware, seats interior panels, dashpad, speakers, tailights, tons and tons of wire loom and wire, and window regulators waiting for their turn to go in, with more parts on the way.

I went from wanting to replace on headache (Z28) with another (turbo miata) now I think Ill have both

chpmnsws6

iTrader: (12)

They are. It always starts...... But getting the rest of the car 100% has been a challenge.

Stein

iTrader: (46)

Stick with it. Mine was a complete DIY job including fabbing my own manifold and downpipe, then I was the very first in the country to ever use Adaptronic for an ECU. If I can do it, you can do it.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Consider that you are totally readdressing and essentially redesigning every piece of a ~20 year old car. These kinds of things happen. If you had the STI and you're anything like me, you'd wish you had the lack of payments and purity in spirit of the Miata. When you get there, it will be worth it. If you want to see pain, read the first 30-pages of my build thread. I wiped my *** with thousands of dollars to get it right the 2nd time.

What do you need help with right now?