Hello, My name is Connor and currently am the owner of a 92 classic red Miata. Originally bought off of a kid that intended to use it for drifting. ( No power modifications, wheels cambered to hell, severely abused) and I decided that I would completely overhaul the car. So as of today I have redone 90% of the body work. Rebuilt the engine (103k miles, forged internals) and have done some much needed maintenance all around. recently, have just purchased a turbo from a friend that came out of a saab 9000 aero. So, eventually once i get the engine back into time and get it running properly I will run forced induction, the parts list is still coming along, but the over all project is going pretty well. I study Automotive Technologies, and that is what I plan on going into as a career, so you could say that I know my way around a car pretty well. Lots of good info on this forum and I hope to learn more as far as just how much power these little 1.6 BPs can make. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

 

The 1.6 is a B6. The 1.8 is a BP.

Welcome to The Forum. The 89 through 93 cars we're all 1.6's and had very weak differentials that often fail at stock power. Switching to the 94 through 05 rear diff and axles will solve the problem.

You would in many ways be better off to switch to the 1.8 engine prior to adding a turbo. In addition to the obvious displacement difference, they use different throttle position sensors and the 1.6 version does not send a variable signal. Many of the 1.6 cars were equipped with the short nose crank shaft which often times had keyway problems where the balancer mounts. There just wasn't much metal there. Perhaps your 92 has the long nose crankshaft.

As long as you are junk yard shopping for parts you might as well upgrade the 1.6 brakes to the larger 1.8 brakes all the way around. The one 1.8 cars had a fuel tank that holds more as well. Look for chassis bracing on the later cars that might be added to yours to reduce flexibility.