Obligatory "N00B" post!
 

Hey everyone! My name is Dalton, and I am the proud new owner of a '91 MX-5 Miata! I am located in Springfield, MO. I am beyond excited to get started on my project! She needs some work, but she has a lot of potential. I'll post a picture below, and I'll follow up with some more detailed photos once I get a chance to bust out the camera!

My starting budget is around $3600, but I will spend more as I can. I don't expect to meet all of my goals with this small of a budget.
My goals are as follows:
-New clutch. (There is a pretty prominent whine when I accelerate. I think I have it narrowed down to the pilot bearing, but I can't be sure until the tranny is off. The whine happens in every gear but fourth, where I believe the gearing is 1 to 1. I could be totally wrong about that though.) I would like to go with a performance clutch to support forced induction.

-Power increase via forced induction. (As well as supporting mods... Intake, exhaust, etc.) My goal here is 200 WHP.

-Suspension. My shocks are blown, and the stock springs are pretty rusted. The result is a rough ride and poor response. I am leaning towards a strut/spring combo, but I'm not opposed to coilovers either.

-Paint! I'm thinking of doing a White/Blue color scheme, with black accents and interior. (Subject to change.)

-Other small, but pressing fixes include: A replacement gauge cluster hood (mine is missing ATM), a new head unit (stock is not working), valve cover gasket.

I am planning on replacing fluids and spark plugs, as well as doing a compression test, sometime this week. I'll post the results when I'm finished for those of you playing at home!



Here she is!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441691820

Have you given any thought to swapping in a 1.8? A lot more forced-induction support for that engine, as well as much better performance.

That's a good point. I'll have to do a little research to figure out costs and such, but it could be a good thing to look into!

I'm a college student on a college budget, but if I can make it happen reasonably... I might just do it.

A VVT longblock in my area is $1,200 from a junkyard on the high end. Another $1000 for an MS3 (which you will want anyway for future turbo build), and say $500 for a 1.8 Torsen and you should have roughly 140 to the wheels, with a good foundation for future turbocharging.

If you turbo the 1.6 and later decide you want a 1.8, a lot of the parts won't swap over. The only exception I know of is the MKTurbo kit, where you only need to swap manifolds. It is a budget system, but he's having a group buy right now.

https://www.miataturbo.net/miata-par...w-going-82059/

Thanks for the info! I'll keep all of that in mind.

Welcome to the site D_Breezy, thanks for joining up!