Noob from St. Louis, MO
 

Hello everyone. I've been reading this forum for a while, but I have not decided what I will be doing to my car. I have a 2002 miata LS (my username :o ). I am just gathering ideas of what I can do and I don't know if I want to go the DIY route or a prefab kit. I am not very mechanical, but I can follow instructions, so I am thinking prefab. On the other hand, from the posts I read, DIY is supposedly less expensive :dunno: I also don't see many posts from 2002 owners, and I am not sure how interchangeable the ideas are between one year and the next.
At this point, I still don't have space in my garage to start the project either. I have crappy neighbors too. I installed a Hard Dog roll bar (1st project on this car) a few weeks ago and had to do it in my driveway because my garage is too small. The neighbors complained to the 'condo association' and I had to deal with bs :fawk:
So, after moving to bigger place, bigger garage... etc, I will start my project... hopefully a few months. In the mean time, I am just trying to get ideas... and de-noob myself :)

Welcome and post wisely...

The fundamental concepts of turbocharging are highly interchangeable among all Miatas, and for that matter, among all modern EFI-equipped cars. The NBs have a few quirks that separate them from the NAs- returnless fuel system, different sensors, weirdness in the intake cam and manifold, but the differences are much smaller than the similarities. From a mechanical standpoint, they're all pretty much identical. Engine management is really where the model-year differences creep in.

Do they have plug-in OBDII emissions testing in St. Louis?

Thanks Joe. Yes, we have emissions testing, but I'm not sure how it's performed. I had the car tested a couple of months ago for the license plate renewal. Does that complicate things with turbocharging?

Hey man im a noob too. I only live about 20 min North of you . :) But i have a 91 miata. Old School

Have you started doing anything on your car? Old school is good. In fact after looking at the amount of info on this forum on old school vs. newer models, I'd say your 91 would have a lot more things to read about in here. A lot of people seem to have NAs on here. I'm in Maryland Heights, MO, where are you?

i havent done anything accept new head unit And a small 10 in the trunk.
I had to fix a water outlet. so i tore some stuff off the motor To get to it.
Nothing yet tho but if you even need another wrench or some help let me know.

Was thinking about a turbo. But i have my attention on another car at the moment.

If the test is performed by plugging a computer into the OBD-II port (as is increasingly common with '96+ cars) then it limits your engine management choices somewhat. If it's performed the old-school way by running the car on rollers and sniffing the tailpipe, then your options are greater.

OK, an update. First, I could not wait to move out of the condo, so I am using my girlfriend's garage to work on the car. I had never done anything on a car besides an oil change before, and changing a flat tire, but I tackled the clutch/flywheel change as my first project. Probably not the best choice, but it worked out OK. I purchased several things from Flying Miata. The Clutch/Flywheel Happy Meal, The big brake kit, the reinforcement rail for under the car... yes, I went a little crazy. Anyway, I ran into a few snags, but the worst one was cross-threading the starter housing and breaking off the corner on the starter housing in the process. I had to buy a new starter and guess what.... cross threaded the new housing too! The Service Manual said to torque the bolts, but with the soft housing metal, it's not possible, unless my torque wrench was messed up. I blame it on being not mechanically apt at this point. I re-tapped the threads on the new housing for a slightly larger bolt and all was well at that point. In the mean time, I also ordered the BEGi S5 system. With my lack of knowledge, I felt a kit would work better for me. Since I took the exhaust manifold off for the clutch/flywheel change, I kept everything off and started reading the instructions for the turbo. I removed and modified the required parts at the beginning of the instructions, and waited. Finally, the turbo is here! I can't start on that for a few days, but I can't wait. My work keeps me very busy and I am working on this solo, so getting things done will take quite a while. After I finish the turbo installation, I will tackle the brakes and the reinforcement rail.

nice progress....wish I could just buy from fm like that...they are expensive

I know another guy in St. Louis with a turbo 1.6 running MS...I helped him road tune it. Cool dude, you gays should hook up.

St. Louis NooB
 

Hey guys, nooB here as of July 09. Just bought a '96 miata this month, I'm from Overland. I'm about to come back from an internship in kentucky and can't wait to work on the car! What's up?