New to turbo miatas
 

Hello my name is Ben and I am in the process of buying a NA miata with a 60 trim turbo. This is my first ever miata but this seems to be a good deal. Once I buy it I will make a build thread. The car has the motor pulled so I would have to put it back in but it comes with a 60 trim turbo. They want 1200 bucks and i would still need to buy some things to get it running. To my knowledge it needs a driveshaft, radiator, fmic and piping, clutch, tuning and ecu and maybe some other small things. Is this a good deal?

This is a 1991 1.6l btw

sounds like a bad deal

the fact that you don't know the actual turbo name/specs is also disturbing.

I'll find all of that out when I can. Maybe I shouldn't get this..

do yourself a favor and post up detailed ad and pictures of the car. the community here is very very good at picking apart crappy builds.

a torn apart old 1.6 with missing parts and who knows what else for 1600 is actually not a good deal at all.

If you end up purchasing the project I have a 1.6 driveshaft for you.

There is no ad actually. It's a friend of a friend who got the car from a roommate that used it as payment when he couldn't pay rent. I will get all the details soon. Sorry for the lack of info

Pm me please

I was told he pulled the motor to do a motor swap. I believe it was an Sr20 but I'm not sure.

An incomplete car is rarely a good deal. If it were that simple to get it all sorted, the guy would get it sorted before selling it.

Sounds like it's a pile of parts. Offer him scrap price.

Better off buying an unmolested 94+...

I can find them reliably for 2200-3500.

Unless you're dying to burn time and money. The rear end on the 1.6's are ok... they are prone to failure above stock power. Also if it's a short-nose crank then that's a loose cannon. Maybe good maybe not... Bigger brakes on the 94+ etc... I bought a 90 and now have a 90 with a 99 motor and 2003 rear end. blah blah blah. Not a platform I'd like to start with unless It was practically given to me for free.

Right now my budget is right around 2 grand. I was hoping to get this car for 1000 and get it running for right around another thousand. My goal is a turbo miata that will be driven on the track and random nice sunny days.

That's not happening for 2 grand.

I feel like it could be done with this car because it basically has everything. Down the road I will have more money but I just bought a house and need to put this new garage to work (;

That's more than $1k. Lets say $700 for the ECU and $300 for fleabay IC and clutch, and you still don't have a rad or driveshaft. Factor in another $1k for those 'other small things' while you're at it.

Not trying to be a hater (ok maybe a little) just pointing out the obvious.

I feel like you're a complete and utter noob and have not even a pubic hair worth of knowledge or experience on this subject, and are in for a very rude awakening.

Unless your idea of "track" is driving to the local hardware store.

Just getting a beat to crap turbo miata like that up to date on maintenance and more or less ready to drive onto a track, will run you close to another 1k

Its your money and time though.

I don't have experience on miatas but have a general knowledge of cars and turbos and feel with what parts are needed the majority of getting it to run can be under 2 grand

This is word for word what every single n00b says, and about 99% of them fail miserably or end up spending at least 4x what they thought they'd need to.

But I guess you're the exception to the rule huh?

LOL

Good luck.

I don't know much about Miatas, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

Pretty much the same thing.

I guess I'll just find out

You're delusional and a pathological liar if you think 2k will not be a paperweight in your driveway.

Even if you are ridiculously thrifty and master fabricator.

Have fun.

I can understand delusional but how does thinking something make me a liar? I don't think I can make a super awesome track car with 2000 but I think I can get this car running for 2000.if I end up getting the car for 800 then I would have 1200 to spends. radiator $75 fmic $200 driveshaft $100 clutch <$500 ecu $3-400.
How far off are my numbers?

lol

turbo manifold that wont crack the second time you start the car: $400

That's just one measley hunk of metal, and it's 20% of your budget.

I already have one

I'll bet you don't.

he said one that wont crack.

I'm sure it will be fine for a while

:rofl:

It should definitely last until the next time the engine is out of the car...

:rofl:

oh absolutely, you would know too because we're all noobs and you've done this before

:giggle:

Why so pessimistic ?

because we have people EXACTLY like you, join every week, picking up pieces of junk JUST like yours, having goals JUST like you, and a budget JUST like you, as well as optimistic it can be done properly for cheap, JUST like you.

I'm not even exaggerating here....

Once all the BS settles, the amount of them that actually pull it off is just sad. like 1 out of every 100.

The best part? They ALL think they're special, JUST like you.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1395961500

OP impressing his friends with his $2,000 turbo Miata.
http://a.fod4.com/misc/Escalator%20Drunk%20Smile.gif

What would you suggest?

Either keeping it stock, or doubling the budget at the very least.

you have 2 grand right? get the cleanest most unmodded and unmolested one you can find, do all the maint on it and get it reliable and tip top condition, and save up until you can afford to properly turbo it.

I plan on putting more into it but right now if I spend more than 2 grand my wife will flip shit cause we just got a house. I was hoping to get it running with the 2 grand. Then later on get the roll bar and sway vars and all those bits

Probably 1 out of 3 of them are people that "have done this before with other cars"

They are the most stubborn of them all.

They get mad, yell at us, call us names, tell us we're morons, and then they leave.

Guess what. They fail too.

18psi's advice is spot on. Find a car in running condition for under $2k. Drive it.

If you are budget conscious, a project car is not up your alley, and a turbo Miata DEFINITELY is not up your alley.

Trust us. We really ARE trying to help.

The turbo is a Garrett super 60.

Just do it, so I'll have another funny fail thread to read thru while I'm at work.

Did you hire a home inspector before you bought the house?

You should be grateful for the free vehicle inspection you're getting here. Most peoples abandoned projects should stay abandoned.

These guys are all haters. Don't listen to them.

Go buy it. It couldn't possibly be that bad.

Just keep us updated with everything that breaks and what you spend. Don't spare the details. :drama:

Even though this screams sarcasm I'm probably going to buy it anyways. We will see what happens

Hope in one hand.

Hold your other hand beneath my anus.

I just ate dinner. A huge bowl of tortellini with a spicy arriabata sauce.

I like where this is going

A thread with over 40 replies, not a single one of them saying this was a good idea or possible with your budget. And you make the wrong decision anyways.


Admit it. You didn't really want our input.

You just wanted to hear your opinion in a voice that doesn't lithp.

Where it's going is that you're going to have a huge steaming pile of shit on your hands.

What's lithp? I did want yall opinions but no one gave me any substantial evidence supporting their opinions. I gave parts it needed and price numbers beside and to me they seem logical. All I got was an "lol". If someone was to give me what the numbers actually are than I might be more swayed in that direction.

Thenuge gave you numbers.


But really we're all just telling you it's a bad idea because we're all just huge jokers and love trolling.

Or are we?

Doesn't matter either way. We're just trying to keep you away from all the excellent free information that exists on this site by keeping you guessing as to what we really think about this idea in this thread.

How about this instead:

You're the only one that thinks this will happen.

Please list all the parts you think you'll need with prices. Be specific. Links would be good.

driveshaft - $40+ship used from BTDT
radiator - $255+ship 37mm Mishimoto from Goodwin
fmic and piping - $200++ used piecemeal diy from MT classifieds (if you're patient)
clutch - $300+ used (if you're patient)
tuning and ecu - $600 diypnp from MT members

$1,395 so far, being very generous and neglecting all work and misc. gaskets, fluids, belts, hoses, etc. just to get the thing running again. Of course, this also ignores any tires, suspension, and brake upgrades that will keep you on the road and alive.

New tires - budget blown
New brakes and brake lines - budget blown
New shocks and springs - budget blown
Rollbar - budget blown
Hardtop - budget blown

Fuel injectors/pump, motor mounts you'd be stupid to not replace while the motor was out, gaskets, miscellaneous hardware and little parts along the way....

And then a new turbo when you figure out that Super 60 is going to be Super Awful on a 1.6.
And a manifold that doesnt gargle balls for sport. And a variable tps, and and and and and and and

:facepalm: how did I forget those! Tack up another $400.

$1,395+400=1795

Ooops forgot I need gas: 1795+50=1845

Tax title license....fuck. Out of money.

The pre 94 cars had smaller brakes, fragile rear diffs that fail at stock power, no variable TPS, smaller clutch, and a host of other things. Knock yourself out.

I love his determination to fail :laugh:

All the while assuming the engine is in good condition and was runing with the turbo no ECU, no tune ... (Not likely)...

Welcome, 1.6turbokid!

So I should probably just find a bone stock miata then turbo it later..

You wanted our input, but you specifically wanted our input as a basis to justify the the poor decision that you were planning to make anyways.

Asking for someone's opinion and then ignoring it is a feminine trait.

Wife: "Should I wear the blue one or the white one?"

Me: "I think you should wear the white one."

Wife: "I like the blue one better. I'm going to wear the blue one."

Yes!!!

A 94-up is preferable unless you want to make a longer list of expensive and time consuming modifications than is required on the later cars. There is a long list on the later cars too, by the way. You are looking at a minimum of $2k above the price of the 94-up car if using used parts. More if 89-93.

<This guy is a cheapskate and did it with mostly used/Chinese parts, so he knows.