GReddy kit and Bipes is here!!!
 

Hi guys,

Well... I went and picked up the GReddy kit on Sunday. It's used with about 5000 miles on it. It already has the relief cuts made which saves me a little time and effort and I am getting the the Bipes with it too. I have been reading Miata.net and here for some time and read the FAQ's, etc.

After reading the crappy instructions that come with the kit it seem like a pretty straight forward installation. I know a lot has been said about a lot of the components on the kit, but coming form a guy who designs ductwork and pollution control systems for a living, you really have to be impressed with the way the original designers of the kit utilized a great many of the stock parts and incorporated them into the kit. This simplified the installation and kept the cost down. Anyway... on to the questions...

I have bought some ceramic coating that needs to be baked at various temperatures and cured. I want to coat the exhaust manifold and downpipe before the installation. Is this a good idea? It seem to me that it would reduce underhood temps.

I don't want to drill a hole in my oil pan at this time. Will it be OK to run the oil line to the location outlined in the instructions until our next Miata tech day when I can get it on a lift? I know I need to make sure it slopes correctly, and I will.

Any other tips? I will take my time on the installation this week after work. I have two other Miatas to drive around. :)

Thanks in advance for any tips.

I have 25K+ on my oil return done the GReddy way with no problems. Sharp bends where it starts to crimp on the supplied hose can be rectified with a hose clamp to round it back out. The end by the turbo will become embrittled; I have a short metal coupler near there so I can replace the brittle section when needed(twice now). A larger diameter heater hose tywrapped to the fan housings at the right angle gets it past most everything else that could wear on it.

Depending upon the quality/temp rating of ceramic coating, this has been done and does lower underhood temps. I don't know what ceramic coating you are using, but quite a few folk have sent their stuff to JetHot, Swain, etc... for what sounds like pretty much the same thing. Just be sure that if it could flake off at high temps that you don't get any on the inside part of the manifold by accident.

Like olderguy and many others, I also had my oil return like this for almost 10K miles without any problems. As has been said, make sure it has a downward slope at all times, use hose clamps at tight bends to prevent kinks, and use zip ties to make sure it doesn't rub against any belts/fan/pulleys/etc...

You probably have read this elsewhere, but repetition never hurts:
1) Spray down all the bolts the night before to make removal easier.
2) When putting the turbo manifold on, make sure that the bracket attached to a water line (somewhere in the area of the second bottom bolt from the firewall IIRC) is between the manifold and the nut, NOT between the manifold and engine block. You may also want to grind this bracket down a bit for better fitment.
3) Don't overtighten the oil supply banjo bolt on the turbo. It just has to fit snug against the copper washers. A few have broken this bolt by applying too much torque.
4) Easiest access to the lower stock DP bolts is thru the front driver side wheel well.
5) You might want to install the Bipes first and make sure all that wiring is good to go before even adding the turbo to have less to troubleshoot in case of problems.

Enjoy! This is just the beginning of a long addiction....just wait....:)

If I install the Bipes first...
 

If I install the Bipes first what settings do I use? It seems to me that all of the settings retard the timing to some degree.

I'd set it to pull the least timing (2 degrees I think) at the highest temp and RPM range. That way you would only be pulling 2 degrees only when the AFM was practically wide open. That would allow you to drive around under most normal conditions without pulling any timing. You might pull some timing at high rpm at WOT, but even then, that is where the newer bipes units were starting to add back in timing that was pulled so you might be okay. If the car was running fine then you wouldn't have to track down any wiring issues.

Cool... Than that's what I'll do first then.

1. I'll install the Bipes at the minimal timing retard settings.
2. Add some Toulene to the tank.
3. Coat the manifold and downpipe with ceramic and bake it.
4. Spray all of the bolts down again
5. Begin installation after I make sure everything is still working OK.