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I guess I will introduce myself. I have been reading lots of racecar and ecotec swap threads on here in preparation for a build I am starting. I have done about 30 endurance races, mostly 24 Hours of Lemons, but also 4 Lucky Dog races. For the past 20 races I raced a '85 Volvo 740 wagon, 2.3L turbo. At the end of November, after our last race in Sonoma, I sold the Volvo to a team member so that I can build a Miata. I know 24 HoL likes to pick on Miatas and BMWs, but I just want to race and have fun. I also am not too worried about $500 my a$$.
My friend had a NA roller that used to be raced by the OPL team in California. It has a cage, a fuel cell, and four wheels. Thats about it. It was a turbo ecotec before and my plans are a 2.4L ecotec with no turbo. After 20 races trying to keep a turbo car alive, I am going to stick with NA for a while.
Car and some spares that came with it in my trailer.
It's gonna need parts, lots of parts. I have ordered an ecotec racer kit, I have a couple of 1.8L transmissions, and I am going engine shopping. Open to suggestions as long as it does not involve turbos.
Anyways, I am in San Clemente, CA. Good to meet everyone.
Welcome. You're going to want to put in a 6-speed, that's my biggest recommendation. Having broken many 5-speeds with a LE-5, it's not worth the hassle. Ecotec Miata is under new ownership, and he's redesigning all the parts, so hopefully you'll benefit from the changes. 1-piece 1.8 flywheels, better/serviceable pan, stronger mounts, etc.
Welcome. You're going to want to put in a 6-speed, that's my biggest recommendation. Having broken many 5-speeds with a LE-5, it's not worth the hassle. Ecotec Miata is under new ownership, and he's redesigning all the parts, so hopefully you'll benefit from the changes. 1-piece 1.8 flywheels, better/serviceable pan, stronger mounts, etc.
Thanks for the advice on the transmission. I have two 5-speeds, a '95 with a broken shifter housing and rod, and a '99 from another team with a bad synchro. I will look for a 6-speed.
I ordered after the new ownership, so looking forward to testing the new stuff.
The NB 5-speeds like your '99 are supposedly a little stronger than NA 5-speeds, I don't think we ever had a chance to try one though. We had a Walter Motorsports 5-speed for a while (maybe that was an NB?), and it did last the longest of them all. We had a couple of really fast drivers, were making 175-180hp and tq, lots of aero, fighting for overall wins and/or A podiums in LD. So if your plan is no aero, C-class (slower times), etc, then the 5-speeds may survive.
Here's a shitty build thread of our car with a few pics and stories:
The NB 5-speeds like your '99 are supposedly a little stronger than NA 5-speeds, I don't think we ever had a chance to try one though. We had a Walter Motorsports 5-speed for a while (maybe that was an NB?), and it did last the longest of them all. We had a couple of really fast drivers, were making 175-180hp and tq, lots of aero, fighting for overall wins and/or A podiums in LD. So if your plan is no aero, C-class (slower times), etc, then the 5-speeds may survive.
Here's a shitty build thread of our car with a few pics and stories:
I'm curious about the trying to keep a turbo car alive after 20 races. Is there a typical failure or something different every time?
So many problems, they probably aren't all Miata problems. I ran a Garrett t3/t4 and some clones:
- Manifold to hot side studs broke, stretched, came loose. Safety wire didn't help. Inconel, resbond, nordlocks fixed.
- Hot side to ATP Ultimate 3" wastegate studs broke, stretched, came out. Stainless, resbond, nordlocks, copper crushed nuts fixed.
- Overboosting after installing above wastegate, had to port the heck out of the hot side.
- Hot side cracked at manifold multiple times. Wear item?
- Wastegate arm stud to attach actuator arm broke off. No fix yet, happened 3+ times
- Actuator bracket came loose, actuator wore through oil return AN fitting, loss of oil pressure. Safety wired actuator bracket bolts
- Kinugawa Adjustable Turbo Internal Wastegate Actuator diaphram split, no boost control. Wear item?
- Clone $200 ebay t3/t4 with AN oil in adapter did not have enough oiling. Turbo disintegrated after 2 laps.
At some point I just started carrying two complete manifold and hotside setups I could just drop in Saturday night.
Thanks for explaining how things failed. After seeing videos of different accounts of " I wont do a turbo again" type of thing it helps to have an idea of what can go wrong.
On the hot side manifold cracking, was that cast or tube type? I ask wondering if the FM/Kraken cast manifolds might crack.
Cast. Broke a couple at the manifold flange. We certainly overheated it. For example we raced an entire weekend, 14 hours, with a burnt valve. We were burning fuel in the exhaust manifold, amazing way to decrease turbo lag. Again, I don't know if it is a problem with Miatas, this was an '80s Volvo.
Endurance Racer
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