Oooh Gavin you misqouth me!

"You don't make a slow car fast. Just buy a fast car." Tisk. Tisk.

Its all the same Phil :P

Don't know if anyone cares but plans changed for the car. I plan on either buying a mp45 supercharger or piecing together a basic turbo set up. They will run using a FPR and MSD box. I might just slap on a little intercooler also. It simple, easy and will run forever.

FPR and msd=gay.

trubo and MS3x FTW

But turbo for under 1300 bucks that runs! D:

If I have learned one thing in my month or so here, it is this:

Do it right, or don't do it. If you try to do it cheaply, it will cost more than if you did it right.

If you can't afford an MS3, don't go FI.

First off, its cheap but its good parts. Its a FM turbo kit with turbo, DP and Mani (all from FM) along with piping, intercooler and O2 sensor. I'll need oil cooling lines, a 1.6 mani (comes with a 1.8) and fuel management.

Is MS awesome? Yes, yes it is. Do I want to tune and deal with a bunch of new learning curves on a car that will run 5-6psi? Nope. I'll get something that does its job right, every time and no questions asked.

Everyone acts like its MS or bust. You know how many people in the 90's ran a basic SC or turbo set up with a FPR and just retarding the timing? In fact, a friend of my drives a SC LE with 15k miles. You know what his fuel management is? A damn FPR.

So where does "doing it right" come into question?

O2 clamp.

You wouldn't happen to be ther person that sold Chris the set up would you?

Hey, man, you can do whatever you want. But in one month I have seen several people come on this forum asking for advice on their poorly running band-aided system only to be told that they blew up their motor. Do what you want, it's your car. But these guys are right more often than they are wrong.

Come on man, don't go bandaid route!!

MegaSquirt-I Programmable EFI System PCB2.2 - Kit w/ BLACK CASE DIYAutoTune.com

Innovate LC-1 LC1 Lambda Cable O2 Wideband SENSOR 3769 | eBay

Megasquirt 2.2 kit: $157.00
Used 550cc injectors: $150.00
LC-1: $141.95

$448.95 for some proper fuel and spark control when buying the MSD 6BTM alone new is $375.00 and a good RRFPR is another $100.00.


Do what you want, but a static boost timing retard and higher fuel pressure != "doing it right" no matter how many million people did it in the 90s anymore than a 5th, 7th, or 9th injector was "doing it right." I'd just really hate to see such a nice car end up with another hackjob turbo install.

See, thats a better way of putting it. Now you have me interested in it. Question, why should I up the injectors? Won't they be enough to handle the 5 pounds? I'm not trying to be cheap, I'm trying to keep it simple/fun.

Once again, thanks for the actual help. Not just spewing shit after being on a website for a month.

Typing my post I totally forgot about the 5psi reference...


Stock 1.8 injectors (Tan Top's) are 265cc/min and should handle ~ 180hp @ 85% duty with 32psi fuel pressure (According to Holley's math). I've got several sets of these laying around and could part with 4 of them if you're interested and need.

Keep in mind, the megasquirt I linked you to is only a kit and needs to be assembled. Don't let that or tuning shy you away, it's really not that difficult once past the learning curve and MT.net is a great resource of information on that.

You may want a simple Plug-n-Play solution to interface megasquirt to your factory harness and this might come in handy:
64 pin Miata - Honda - Toyota - etc ECU connector DIYAutoTune.com

I saw that it was a kit, and I'm well aware you can build them for cheap and learn how to tune. I'm honestly thinking of buying a POS car to daily while I have the Miata is a weekend toy. Thus, I can learn how to tune.

Then again, I want simple and daily drive a turbo and laugh at everyone.


Btw, my car is not nice. Its a 500 dollar Maaco paintjob, I got rust holes the size of my fist, and it burns oil.

I DD'd a Miata for about 14 months, even through a winter and personally think it sucks for a DD. Owning several more cars now my miata is basically a toy. My experience is you'll have more fun working on and building the car if you don't rely on it for transportation.


Welcome to the club:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1348087874
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1348087874

It's actually FAR worse than you can see in that picture, Both sides. When I jack up the car from the pinch weld, more pieces of rust fall out of those holes. :facepalm:

Wow, your rust is MUCH worse then mine. Mine are under the floorboards and can be fixed, rocker panels are fine. (very lucky)

I really want to buy this turbo kit, buy this cheap escort gt for sale and DD that with a turbo :P

I know I am new to the turbo game, so correct me if I am wrong.

I think you are misunderstanding "simple" means.

Simple is not using a MSD and a FPR. Those are complex, you have to trick your ECU into keeping the car running.

Full standalone is the simplest you can get. There are no hacks, no tricks. You just get a new ECU that does what you tell it to do. Need more fuel? Tell the ECU to inject more fuel. Simple.

Tuning is not simple, at all. It has a learning curve that takes time. You have to realize, the stock ECu is VERY well refined. Countless hours into testing in tuning by many people before being put into the car. When you tune a car, you have to do it constantly. In the cold, hot, lights up, lights down, ac, heat, etc. So no, its not simple.

And learning how to use fuel maps scares the piss out of me. I would rather "trick" my ecu then take on a whole new adventure in a car that is my DD. you can't just click a button to make things happen (or maybe you can, I don't know. Seems too easy)

Yeah my rust is really bad, it's actually worse than it looks. Made the mistake of letting my car sit outside untouched for about 2 years (midwest) and the god damn rain rail drain tubes clogged up. Water doesn't get into the car when that happens, it just drains down into the body and rots it from the inside out. Actually super pissed at myself for letting that happen, but I think a replacement has come along..


Once I figured out (thanks to Brain and everyone @ MT.net) all the settings in MS and got the car running, figuring out the tuning was pretty easy. You're right about how well refined the stock ECU is, but you can get a miata running pretty darn good with a MS none the less.

I'm sorry to hear about your rust D:
But there are a million miatas out there to replace it



And I do want to take on the adventure of tuning, just don't know if I want it in my DD. Haven't decided yet, still need a lot of time to think of what I want to do.