brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Man, my car has been down for so long b/c a blown diff and other "troubles" that I felt at one point that it would never run again, but I am almost there....so I decided to take some pics and post...

Pic #1 - Tony's bigger DP with lower o2 sensor location. I could only test it out briefly, but made a noticable improvement in spool.

Pic #2 - Clocked turbo thanks to lots of help from Stripes. I couldn't bend my stock oil return flange enough so I ended up ordering a replacement flange and routing the oil return straight down to the tapped pan. Now the oil return line is less than 18 inches long.

Pic #3 - A teaser pic of Stripes' IC piping. Another reason to remove your AC/PS. Biggest bummer is that I haven't had a chance to test out the limits of the new IC b/c of other snafus related to the bigger DP/clocking/etc...

olderguy

iTrader: (19)

Looking Good.

Mach929

iTrader: (3)

how's everything coming along Tom? Get that oil drain fixed?

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Oil drain problem solved. Will probably be running by the end of the week, and I'll get a chance to really see how the new DP and IC work...

I'll post more pics of the IC setup later.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

my intercooler piping is routed like that WITH a/c and p/s, so ha! Looks good so far!

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Oh yeah, well my car is about 30# lighter so HA! :gay:

firedog25

I've actually been thinking about bagging my A/C, it's not blowing cold anymore anyways.

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

Im thinking about taking away my a/c also.... is it worth it, can you fit the pipe with only removing the A/C not the P/S?

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

actually can someone take a picture of how much more space you have when you take the a/c out? Anyone have before/after pics mainly because now that I have 2 cars the miata is just a weekend fun car so I dont really need ac and that would make my ic install a lot easier... im still tring to decide if its worth it, but i definately want to keep power steerting

turbotony

Those ic pipes look good . Can I copy them J/K . What intercooler did you use on your car. Before you clocked the turbo is the wastegate actuator that far out or is that the stock location.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I don't have before pictures, but here are two shots from my '92 after last week's A/C removal.

On the left (exhaust) side, I have enough space to comfortably pass a 2.25" pipe between the fan and the power steering pump. I could probably have fit a 2.5" pipe in there if it weren't for the aftermarket sway bar, but I'm not giving that up.

On the other side, the space freed up by removing the two hardlines from the firewall to the condensor / drier will allow me to run a 2.5" pipe straight down from the throttle body and around the side of the radiator. (try to imagine the crossover pipe not being there).

I plan to leave the compressor housing in the stock orientation in order to simplify removing the I/C piping and re-installing the stock plastic pipe for the bi-annual smog inspection.

firedog25

If you're a big time weight hater, then yes it's worth it. I've also thought about recharging my system... but then my wife said she hopes she never has to drive the Miata again because of the seats and steering wheel.

Fergus

Anyone know where there may be pic-by-pic instructions on removing the AC ?
I've been thinking of ripping mine out for a while now and would like to seriously start researching it.
How does the car handle/feel without the PS by the way ?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

There's really not much to it. Here's what I did:

1- Go to NAPA and buy a power steering belt.

2- Have a shop evacuate the system (they'll often do it for free since they can keep whatever freon they took out)

3- I removed the whole nose of the car. In case any of you were wondering why my avatar picture is of the nose of a Miata sitting on the ground, that's when I took that pic. You might be able to just remove the undertray and oval-shaped mouthpiece.

4- Disconnect the fittings at the drier (aluminum cylinder next to the horn) and then remove the drier

5- Disconnect the fittings to the condenser (the big radiator in front of the radiator) and remove the condenser.

6- Remove the PS/AC belt.

7- Disconnect the rubber hoses from the compressor and the hardline and remove them.

8- Detach the electrical wire that runs to the compressor. The other end of it is up near the headlight.

9- Remove the compressor by taking out the four long bolts run sideways through it.

10- Remove the compressor mounting block from the engine by removing the four or five short bolts holding it in.

11- Detach the wires from the pressure switch in the hardline behind the right headlight.

12- Disconnect the fittings at the firewall, remove a few clips, and pull out the hardline.

13- Plug the two pipes now hanging through the firewall.

That's pretty much it. Took me about three hours, of which a large portion involved the drinking of beer.

I can't say that I've really noticed any difference at all in the feel of the car. I did it to free up under-hood space.

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

IC was off ebay. Because I removed my AC dryer, I could fit a huge IC. Probably bigger than I really need. IIRC it is 3" deep and 25" long and 12" high. Can you say bling, bling...:gay:

The wastegate actuator got pushed out when I clocked the turbo and had to relocate the wastegate with a bracket extender. I guess it could be pulled in a little.

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

The car is a third car that only comes out for fun so I didn't mind removing the AC and PS for weight/performance reasons. If it was a daily driver, it would probably be a different story. For a fun only/performance car, it was worth it for me in terms of weight reduction (around 40+ pounds), steering feedback (from removing the PS), and room to work (not necessary, but it made lots of jobs such as tapping the oil pan, routing IC piping, etc... much easier. YMMV.

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

so you have to remove PS when you remove the AC? I dont mind the a/c, like brgracer my miata it just a car i take out ocasionally and have some fun in. Being that that is what I use the car for, how do you guys feel about PS? I mean how does the car feel without it? brgracer, and others what are the pros and cons of doing it? ---sorry for the hijack---

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

You do not have to remove the PS when you remove the AC, you just need to get the PS only pulley bracket to keep the PS.

As for the PS, it's a matter of taste. I love the extra steering feedback, and anything over 5 mph there is not much difference in steering effort compared to PS. Some people don't like it. (*cough* Stripes *cough* ) What made me consider it was that my PS/AC belt was looking pretty ragged so I decided to cut if off and see what life without AC/PS was like. Two weeks later, I realized that I didn't miss either so I just took the rest out and sold a bunch of the parts. Still don't miss them. You could always just remove the belt to get a taste of what it is like. YMMV.

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

okay if i remove the ac, i have to get a new belt for just the ps right? if I do then I will cut it and see what its like because I will definately be removing my ac

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

You only need a new PS-only belt to remove A/C and keep PS.

If you were going the other way (remove PS, keep A/C) then you would need an idler pulley (which is what I think bgracer was trying to say). The reason is that the tension adjustment for the belt is all in the P/S pulley, so if you were to remove that altogether there would be no way to tension the A/C belt. Miata with A/C only actually use the same belt as A/C & PS miatas, because of the idler pulley which takes up the same space as the PS pump.

But in your case, you'll be just fine.