Shoutout from Boston
 

wassup guys? been driving my 92 miata for a little while now, thought id join up on the forum.

ive taken the time since i bought the car to give it a full tune up and get some seat time in. changed the diff oil, tranny fluid, engine oil + a can of engine restorer, new filter, plugs and wires, and have been faithfully running 93 octane with octane booster(for shits).

Since i bought the car with 197k mi ive put on about 3000 miles, i noticed some changes in the accel after that work was done. its very responsive yet still skips when the pedal is tapped a bit, no big deal. im just waiting for the new b6!!

im enrolled to attend Ben franklin inst. of tech this september to start my auto career. im going to have a dyno and unlimited shop time so basically im set on getting all of the maintenance done now, and buying a clean b6ze motor/tranny and a stage 2 clutch+ lightweight flywheel. then i can drop a turbo setup in september, have it up and running beginning of november

i do have a question though. i noticed that some saab's and volvo's utilize a garrett turbo and i was thinking maybe it would be a decent t25 turbo to use for my miats. anyone have any opinions on the turbo? does it seem like a good idea? i was thinking it would be good for my budget considering it can be had for a little more than 50 bucks at my junkyard...i dunno. i have read that it spools up around 1,700rpm but thats all i know.

my suspension setup is going to remain basic for now; only touching the bushings, shocks and springs, and adding front and rear braces. nothing too low until i go somewhere without craters in the roads :vash:

thanks in advance for your help, maybe i can meet with a few of you guys up here in the NE at some point.

welcome:)

heh, have it up in running just in time for winter :o

Welcome. :D

haha i knew it wasnt long until someone would've caught on to that. :laugh:

my brothers "EASY" sr20 swap on his 240 lasted a year and some change...

anyway, do you think the saab turbo would be a good idea? know of anyone running a similar setup?

I personally have no experience. I would suggest doing a search about the topic. If nothing comes up maybe start a thread in the DIY section. Who knows, you may be the first.

Dude buy a used kit. Almost everyone and there mother uses some form of a T25 on here. I've had a Gt2560 and now a Gt2554, and a Td04-15G "Greddy kit".

You will be Dollars ahead with a used kit. And you can install it in a weekend. Otherwise be prepared to waste alot of dough figuring everything out. And not to mention time , $$$, time, $$$ and frustration.

Good Luck with the build.

And don't even THINK ABOUT A STUPI EBAY OBX MANIFOLD!!!!!!

Some have had luck with the cast ebay manifold. It uses a T3. They have a combo with the T3 and cast mani and wategate for best offer or $299 buy now.

If you go that way. Don't use the oil lines or mounting hardware. Spool will probably be late, but it should move.
That will be my next project.

does this include ecu tuning? not being sarcastic, because to be honest i know nothing about ecu's :noob: (i do know how to do everything else on a car but ecu's are a mystery)

ive read on the flyin miata kits that they come with a tuned ecu or something. is there a need to go tune it more if you dont have anything else done to the motor but the turbo setup? if i do buy a kit with ecu programming id expect it to work. lol

bare with me, if i dont learn now i never will. and im going to school for this so id hope to learn a little.

i did some research about the saab turbos on miatas, finally getting around to it. https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/t33740/


i would just take my brothers t25 from his sr20 once he drops in his disco this september...but his spools at 2,500 while the saab turbo apparently spools at 1,500.

if i were to have the same size turbo for both options, id think everyone would go with the quicker spooling turbo right? then again idk..

It all comes down to what you want.


Spool....
You have to decide what hp range you want.

usually higher hp turbos spool later. Where smallerturbo's spool earlier.

I have a 2554 right now. It spools super quick. Fast out of the hole. But a little less power than the 2560 when it gets going. But it supports up to 230hp. If you don't plan on going higher use that.

But when the 2560 comes in. It is alot noticably more powerful. Mine came in right after 3200 rpms. it was a beast. And is all around a great turbo. And leaves room for growth.

And you barely get the car moving and your full boost anyway.

Tuning,,,,,,,

You can pick up bandaids cheap.
YOU NEED A wideband O2 sensor and gauge.
You can get a bipes or msd for your timming.
And a Afpr for fuel.

It is fairly simple. Set it up and it only changes things during boost.

Now if you want over 200hp I would go electronic. MS, EMU, etc. etc. And they usually control timing too.

I have been down both roads. Learning to tune electronic can be learned. And is definately the way to get more power.

But you better be careful either way.

And If you want to start with bandaids go used. You can sell them later for the same price you bought them.

Have fun.

ok and one last question, for people that source out their own kits, what seems to be the most common setup? include manifold and tuning options.

also, how come people dont use the bp-t engine? i saw a scion tc drift car (the rsr tc) it utilizes the bp-t engine, with a toyota tranny or something.

thanks for your help guys, on a bunch of forums ive been to the past two years i feel that im actually getting somewhere lol.

Welcome to the forum:)

Man I don't know what engine that is.

The miata's came with the 323 turbo motor from the factory. It can support 250hp safely. And some have pushed 300hp on stock.

Why change it.

250hp in a miata is crazy fast. My last one was insane. I never got to dyno it. But at 14psi the 440cc injectors would start to run lean.

Now I'm back to bandaids and never want to tune a computer again. I'll just run a safe setup. I only want around 200hp.

If your going to swap anything, swap in a V8. It is just sexy and seducing.

The BPT is the turbo motor from the 323/Familia GTX. There isn't really any point to find one of these motors unless you really want the sodium filled valves (I don't know if they all had these). The miata rods/pistons have replaced the BPT part numbers. If you've got one of the earlier miata motors you still have the piston oil squirters and oil/coolant ports in the block.

well put, thank you! and yea i got the 92 1.6L

a jdm b6-ze is definitely first on my list to change over before i get into school this september...then its tokico shocks and tanabe springs, 15x7.5 TRM c1 lightweight rims with some used tires, (im going to be using this car as a weekend drifter/daily driver, might transfer to scca solo 1 next summer,) rear sway bar, front under brace, energy bushings, and then i can get the process going on the turbo setup.

i am very ambitious about getting this car up to where i want it to be. money wont be that much of an option i hope, and shop time is unlimited, hopefully my scholarship overpays my school :giggle:

thanks again guys

Thanks.

Just curious why are you sticking with a 1.6? You could do a 99/00 motor fairly easily. The VICS wouldn't require a different ecu like the VVT motors. After watching a 99 put down +30hp (with an intake and exhaust) more than I did, at the same dyno day, I've been wanting a 1.8. :D

It is just to easy to turn the boost up. But different strokes for different folks.

haha well honestly i havent been researching the 1.8 motor as well as i should be, ive just been told how easy it is to turbo a 1.6, but ive also heard how much of a pita it can be, nothing of the 1.8 swap...:hustler:

all i really have on the 1.8 swap (which i just found out) is that you theoretically could use the 92 ecu for it, but it wont run the VICS. id have to install a MSD RPM switch (#8950) to activate it. thats seems like the best option since everyones doing it lol.

I'm not trying to talk you out of turboing the 1.6, I'm about to do it. :D

Just figured if you were going to be swapping motors already, why not, if you can pick one up for a decent price. Turboing a 1.6 or 1.8 is about the same $$$.

oh, i know that. when i said 'it seems like the best option' i was referring to using an rpm switch (or even megasquirt pnp i believe) as means to run vics.

so instead of getting a jdm b6 i should just get a 1.8 (they are called bp's right?) and the rpm switch. are the 1.8's good with boost? i know absolutely nothing about them. and i suppose the b6 tranny mounts to the 1.8 motor?

just wanna know so i can compare pros and cons of both motors :)

Yeah all the 1.8s are BPs. Some of them have different compression ratios, I can't remember what they are. You can probably find it on here somewhere. There are lots of example of boosted 1.8s and 1.6 around, it is the turbo miata forum. :D

Transmissions all swap, the newer ones have a slightly different starter mount, but you can get around that. If you end up swapping difs you'll need the 1.8 driveline and axles.

(I have my first trip to Boston this week!)

welcome to the forums fellow new englander! lol

i was in your same position a year ago
i bought a 90 that needed some love and my goal was to turbo it

found an amazing deal on a clean, low milage 91 so i got it
then i still wanted to turbo the 1.6

then i found a 1.8 with a fm manifold and gt30r turbo for cheap
so i got it

and its been sitting around for a couple weeks now collecting dust
but since i missed the midnight run that we do up here last year i was very determined to get it done by june 6th for the next run.

well needless to say i spend almost $5000 yesterday for parts for my motor alone
and i still need and intercooler and exhaust set up...

and since it seems you just graduated high school and are about to go to college
id personally say move your completion date to spring next year and enjoy your youth lol

if you want to meet up sometime im in the saugus area alot which aint to far from boston

i was eventually hoping for a welded diff or the guts from a tII rx7 to swap in. i wouldnt wanna change that much over, just sticking to basic essentials for now lol. im cheap :2cents:

wassup bayside blue! its good to see that im not the only one in the MA area here hahah.

well, my last day is may 26th, but finals that whole week :crx:
then i gotta wait till june 6th for graduation.

i would love to move my completion date to next spring, but i wanna get my swap/turbo setup done in less time than it took for my brothers SR swap, we have a sorta sibling rivalry going on :D and i will have the funds to hopefully get all this shit done within a couple months. he spends 5k and a full year on an upgraded sr20 that he had to replace...im going to spend 3-4k within a month or two, lets see if i can do it :laugh:


that would be kinda sick. specifically i live in braintree, 15 minutes away from boston on a good day...

u guys want some pics of my car or my girl? choose wisely...haha

On the 1.6 dif its the gears that are weak, and if you want to use the rx7 guts those go in the 1.8 housing.

so ur saying that i would need to swap the 1.8 axles and housing in order to use the TII lsd?

and thanks for all your help turboroach, toddcod, anyone else that have helped me out here.


anyways, ill probably start sourcing the parts out in a couple weeks. just gotta find the TII diff, shouldnt have a problem finding the 1.8 miata housing and axles though. (any new englanders know of junkyards that consistently carry miatas? everetts in brockton only had ONE NA miata...) then i gotta start working on my suspension, and finally get rid of my damn snow tires :crx:

I'm a little confused.

Did you buy a car with a blowed motor?

Or have you bought one yet?

Here is the breakdown.

If you have a running 1.6L FORGET SWAPPING ALL THE CRAP! Just get a complete kit.

If you are broke like I was in HS and college. Just get a used greddy kit.

Forget the upgrade crap{MS. etc etc}. The stock kit is plenty and the biggest bang for your buck! Bolt it up in one day, and have an extra 60hp to the ground with 6 psi.
I don't know of any other car you can get 40-60hp for $500. And you don't wait a year, or hate the car from everything not lining up right ,or taking forever and costing a million $

And you can always sell the bandaids as you get cash to upgrade if you choose.

If you want to be special, add USED 1.8L injectors a USED "Msd or bipes", a $12.00 nxs boost controller. Run 8-9 psi with a wbo2, ebay intercooler. The car will be crazy fast compared to stock.

$$$ for $$$ it isn't worth the 1.8l swap for the hp. Now if you have to buy a motor anyways and you have no kit. That is different. Or if you are deciding on a car.

But if you are having to gather parts, or don't plan on completely building the internals. Either motor is good for 250hp. They have the same rods. Some guys push the envelope and tune madly. But...... Either motor can have ringland failure after 250hp.


But I wouldn't swap rearends till it blows. I got a yr out of mine.

Now if you have free abundant cash, or find a good deal on a fm or begi mani and downpipe, that is what I would go with.

But it is too easy to just bolt up a kit than to build everything. Unless you just have made skills and all the equipment in a garage.

Trust me, I am a good mechanic and have been both routes. The cost goes crazy.

I just use USED prebuilt kits now.

I have also saved forever to get ms before turbo and all that crap. I should of just turbo'ed and then save for the mspnp I bought. I could of been driving turbo 6 months earlier.

Remember if the budget isn't capable of doing it all at once, and you have to wait a yr. Screw it. Craw before you walk.
Get low boost and work from there. Otherwise it will take forever, you hate the car and lose intrest. And have a bunch of extra parts in the garage you try to sell. If you don't belive me. Check the parts for sale for "Major PART SALE" LOL. It happens everyday.

If you have a boosted car and add something everyonce in a while for power. You stay enthuzed, and love it.

Good Luck!

Yup, the rx7 and 1.8 use a 7 inch ring gear and the 1.6 is only 6 inch. There is bound to be a thread somewhere around here that has more of the details for you.

Todd's right. My car was a lot of fun with the base greddy kit and a bipes.

ya that sums it up head on, ive been looking at my miata for a year now and rather then drive it ive been saving to buy the best parts i can.

and here i am almost a year later and still aint driving the car(well i should be in about a week)

the car has 200k miles on it and its starting to leak some oil. im thinking its from multiple places but if i cared about the motor, id try my best to get it to stop, but the guy who owned this car before me was the biggest street racer ever :loser: and who knows what the dude did with the motor other than this:

he rewired the MAF for some unknown reason, theres a hole in the exhaust probably coming from the 'welded on' test pipe, diy ram air intake made out of playground tubing or something...im sure the MAF is reading things ALL wrong :vash: took out the cruise control, and "other thigns that didnt really need to be there"

i want to get a clean motor and maybe a new engine harness and start stock. thats basically the reason i need a swap.

im still going to stick with a new 1.6. only reason why i considered the 1.8 was because it had a bigger displacement and it looked to me that it would provide more substantial numbers and be easier to do. i dont really need more than 250hp though so i dont think that swap is right for me.

theres many swaps i considered. the 80 % complete sr20 in my garage with wiring and tranny (gt2860rs) tII rotary, a rb20det needing one valve...

ill pick one of these swaps to do once the 1.6 blows or something happens.

i plan on swapping the rods out with some arp rods anyways, but thats later...i might always want to turbo the boost up at some point ;) but as far as right now goes, im only worried about getting the turbo kit, and making it run. im envious of my brothers 240.

eh, my diff is making knocks and what not. it doesnt seem like its gonna hold up much longer. probably gonna join the rx7 forum and see if i can find me a cheap tII diff. i would want to change my axles too.

i wish i had abundant cash. LOL. if i have some of the accident money im getting left, ill remember to get those two.

haha i believe it. where can you guess that i got the sr20 from? it started off as a 'running', tuned sr20 with a 2860. my brother was going for 300hp in his first turbo car. ends up the motor was heavily used by the guy selling it (if anyone knows Russ at JNR motorsports in NH, thats the guy) it had a blown head gasket, oil sitting on top of the pistons, a messed up ecu, and a broken shifter, etc...i mean he only had 3 bolts connecting the trans to the engine, come on. the dudes still trying to say it was my brothers fault since he didnt let him finish (Russ said it would be done initially in two months. took a year.)

well, now my brother has a stock sr20, and loves it, got it done in two weeks. he couldve gone that way at first and saved 5,00 dollars :giggle: i mentioned this before i believe.

i might save the busted sr20 and build it back up. or ill just take my friends rb20 and get a valve for it and fix that. either way one of these motors are gonna find their way into the miata eventually.

anyways, my plan is to do everything by steps like you mentioned. that way im not focused on a large goal for a short time and short money.