New guy from Portland, OR - Turbo on the way!!
 

Hey y'all!
My name is Zach, Helicopter pilot from Portland. been driving Miata's since I was about 18 (23 now). Bought my own last December, and have been fixing it up and generally pouring all my spare time and money in to it, quite happily.

For me the Miata is the embodiment of what a sports car should be. I have a pretty extensive motorcycle background, and am a pretty slender guy myself, so the nimbleness and agility of this car totally aligns with what I like. now I want to make it scary fast and too loud for my neighbors. :)

A bit about the car-
its a red base model 1990, set up for short circuit (suspension etc.) before it made its way in to my family. the 16" BBS's are the last guys fault I promise (though they don't look too bad to me.. :P) motor was totally shot in it after the PO, so it got a rebuilt 1991 motor about 30k miles ago. Car is around 190k. - Wishing I had done a 1.8 swap when the opportunity was ripe! :facepalm:

Anyway, Right now it has an MSPNP2 in it, which I've been having a blast stumbling my way around. and this morning I put 50% down for an FMII no elec kit! going with the 2560, and their 2.5"/3" hybrid exhaust. clutch will come shortly, but I'm planning to ease my way in to the boost.

I've been lurking for several months, and have been posting in forum.miata a bit (to be honest, when I first started forum crawling, they seemed less scary than you guys haha). But just haven't been able to get all the info I am needing over there, and this place has been a fantastic resource so far.

- posting from mobile right now, so can't get any pics in just yet, I'll post some up soon.

look forward to joining in the talk!

Welcome!

Start saving for a 1.8 rear end now!

forgot to mention that, but yeah its definitely on the radar. even the extra torque I got from the ms spark table is enough to make the open rear dif a bit of a hindrance in the tight corners

No I mean when you add boost, you're going to blow that thing to smithereens.

Welcome local.

There's another local with a 4.1 Torsen for sale. Just source some axles and a driveshaft.

If you're on the stock clutch, you won't be able to run any boost at all before it slips. If you've read anywhere that you can, it's because they're referring to the 1.8 stock clutch, which is a much different beast. When you do upgrade clutches, do yourself a favor and get a 1.8 flywheel (there's another local I can refer you to that has one available) so you can run a 1.8 clutch. The 1.6 units are about as rare as unicorns, and if you ever need a replacement disc, plan on waiting a few months. Not to mention you'll probably have to wait for it initially anyways.

Any plans for tracking? There's a big group of us that track our Miatas, 8 of us were at PIR today.

wow this is good and new info!
I may look in to that local torsen, do u know if its listed in a for sale section?
The clutch is only 30k old right now, i'm hoping I can get a little time out of it.. :/ at least at say 150-180 whp with some serious mechanical sympathy.
How much will the 1.8 clutch hold, do you think? mainly curiosity on that, as I was just planning on picking up an FM clutch and not worrying about it, and probably their light flywheel at the same time. :P
I am extremely interested in tracking, not sure if it will be too feasible for me, just cost wise. I know thats kinda funny since I'm dumping some pretty serious money in to this car. but most of the turbo cash is coming from the sale of a truck I had. Being a pilot is a blast, but not always well paid lol. I went kart racing tonight, the speeds are a bit different though haha.

Welcome, EpicOtter!

You had me at "Helicopter pilot". :drool: Welcome to the site. I look forward to photos.

Sykarts? That place is awesome.

The 1.8 clutch will hold 150-180. Maybe. 4th and 5th will start to slip towards the top of that range.

The 1.6 might hold 120-150? No one really tries before replacing it.

I'll ask about the Torsen, I don't think it's on any forums.

Here she is in all her big rollin' glory!
[IMG]https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401824669[/IMG]
:slap:

ok but seriously..
 

Juuuust kidding. found that rolling on 18" rims at my local Freddie's lol.
but now when you all see my 16's, you won't think they are so bad ;)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401825399
Yes those are sleepy eyes. gimme a break I'm 23. :D this is a bit of an old pic, the license plate is now off to the right side, out of the inlet there.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401825399
Miata family! 2013 NC touring in the background there. PRHT is a pretty nice thing:drool:

These are my gauges, just finished installing them a few days ago, very happy with how it turned out :) apparently innovate gauges have wider bezels than most. took a bit of work to get them all to fit in there lol.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401825399

She needs a clear coat for sure, and is a bit dirty, but DD's are supposed to be that way, right? ^^

:facepalm: Nice move.. I was waiting for the MT response on that one. :giggle:

I like those gauges more than i thought i would. What's your impressions?


Also: Props for old school understated Sony headunit.

Haha thanks. I like the Sony, one of those little things that reminds me the car was built the same year I was :D
about the gauges, I like them a lot. A bit difficult to read them with the top down in direct sunlight. I find myself shielding them with my hand sometimes to check oil temp. its mostly an issue with the LED bars on the outside, when they aren't moving rapidly. AFR bar moves around enough its easy to track, but oil temp obviously doesn't. The digits are never too terribly hard to read. Aside from that, its fun having that much info packed in to just a couple gauges, and they look stellar at night. I might take a video tonight of all the pretty lights lol.
to fit them all three above the radio (used a DDM radio surround) I had to do a significant amount of grinding on the gauge bezels, which fortunately doesn't show almost at all now that they are sandwiched in there, but I can't really move them to different places without the sides looking funny.

Also the signal wire on the AFR gauge going to the ms runs right past my radio antenna, and has started a war on just one frequency, which happens to be 102.3, my favorite station. :facepalm: Thats why it needs a turbo exhaust, so I will stop thinking about listening to the radio :naughty:
I imagine that would be an issue with any gauge I stuck in there though.

And yeah SyKarts :)
starting to make a habit of going every monday night around 8 with a bunch of guys. more the merrier if you wanna come out sometime! :P