When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I think the AN touching the coupler is fine, assuming you can get a clamp on there. That all moves together so shouldn't really be a problem assuming you can get it all to fit. If it doesn't fit, look into clocking the turbo, I run mine 180* out from where you have it, which works surprisingly well with FM silicone pipes (with some modification).
You might flush some cheap oil through the drain, the mineral spirits is kinda thin to carry shavings away. Probably worth it to just dump some cheap oil in through the drain and let it flush anything it might find in there. Otherwise you are probably fine, TBH, even without that.
Looking good, this is always the exciting part of a build!
Thanks for the tips, I am definitely planning to dump some cheap oil through it before I run it just incase. I was very meticulous with keeping the drill and tap clean during the process, probably cleaning and regreasing each one like 5+ times once I breached the pan while I was going.
I also ended up ordering some tight 90 forged fittings from amazon incase I decide its a big enough problem so I don't have to wait for a shipment at the last minute. I can always return them if I don't use them.
Some day I might switch to FM silicone pipes and re-clock the turbo but I'm going to give kraken's routing and piping a shot for now.
Well the car is finally up and running! After dialing in the VE table for a while to get it to around 11.8 the car runs great! I'm only making about 5 psi right now since I am on wastegate and referencing the boost off the compressor outlet directly for simplicity and since I'm going to set up EBC anyways later. I also added some timing to my map because I originally had it only running 16 or 17 degrees of total timing at 5 psi and it was obviously lazy. I landed at a peak at redline of 22* at 5 psi and the car shows no sign of knock and the knock sensor is reading baseline input values.
BIG DISCLAIMER: I don't think this is a great timing table. It runs well on my car for now and seems pretty safe on 93 octane. Please do feel free to let me know if you think im running a little to much at 5 psi or not though. I do plan to seek out a dyno tuner this summer if possible. Let me know if any of you know of any good ones around Grand Rapids, MI. I know I will probably have to make the drive to chicago or detroit for one... Sakura Garage is in chicago and is on the facebook page for MS tuning miatas, anyone have any experience with them?
Here's a VD graph compared to my old N/A numbers
Here's some more pictures
I did end up having to run the turbo oil splitter fitting in another revolution after things got hot but that was pretty much my only issue after the first drive. This was a real PITA though since I had everything now in place again... at least I was doing an oil change anyways so I had the filter and intake brace back off already.
Oh, I almost forgot. I wrapped my downpipe like this before I read all the stuff about not wrapping downpipes... I couldn't bring myself to unwrap it because it was kind of a PITA to get right weirdly enough. I may unwrap it once I move home in a few weeks but I'd like some input from people. I rarely drive this thing in the rain so that's not much of a concern for me. Do y'all really think this will ruin it by overheating it to the point of getting real brittle and cracking? I also wrapped the elbow and put a blanket on the turbo but those are staying. This isn't a track car, its a fair weather road car so I'm not too concerned about roasting the turbo on a like 100* F track day with a turbo blanket.
FWIW, I've never had an issue with a wrapped downpipe (or header). That said, I live in the desert with no humidity or salt. But, if you are garaging the car and driving it on weekends I doubt you'd ever have an issue, even in MI.
Congrats on getting the car running so quickly. Timing map looks sane to me at first glance, maybe a little aggressive at 140kpa but it probably doesn't matter. I still would pull that back a few degs to be safe. It feels so good to finally drive your project car after so much work, and the rewards of a turbo setup are unrivaled!
FWIW, I've never had an issue with a wrapped downpipe (or header). That said, I live in the desert with no humidity or salt. But, if you are garaging the car and driving it on weekends I doubt you'd ever have an issue, even in MI.
Congrats on getting the car running so quickly. Timing map looks sane to me at first glance, maybe a little aggressive at 140kpa but it probably doesn't matter. I still would pull that back a few degs to be safe. It feels so good to finally drive your project car after so much work, and the rewards of a turbo setup are unrivaled!
Yeah it's great to drive so far, It almost doesn't feel real after I've been planning this all for so long. You know its funny, I was originally going to J32a2 swap this car because I had an Acura CL Type S 6 speed that I loved when I was 17 but the more I learned about the BP the more I wanted to keep the car pure. Also the J swap was going to be much more of a PITA and more of a compromise with kit quality from minitec aparently being questionable.
1. https://www.classicdaily.net/ - He knows Tuner Studio and has a dyno. In Midland/Bay City area
2. Force Engineering in Plainwell/Kalamazoo - These are Coyote guys but also do Megasquirt/Dyno.
3. ZZP is on 28th st, but have not inquired if they know Tuner Studio.have dyno.
4. Jem-Sport in Jackson. They're Link guys, but could see what they're capable of. have dyno.
-I made some calls in the area a year or two back, and didn't find much.
Im not a tuner but your timing at/under 100kpa looks low - might be why its lazy.
1. https://www.classicdaily.net/ - He knows Tuner Studio and has a dyno. In Midland/Bay City area
2. Force Engineering in Plainwell/Kalamazoo - These are Coyote guys but also do Megasquirt/Dyno.
3. ZZP is on 28th st, but have not inquired if they know Tuner Studio.have dyno.
4. Jem-Sport in Jackson. They're Link guys, but could see what they're capable of. have dyno.
-I made some calls in the area a year or two back, and didn't find much.
Im not a tuner but your timing at/under 100kpa looks low - might be why its lazy.
I have a stainless steel undertray from Moss Miata that I could not longer mount because I had to delete the factory plastic bumper duct, so I got some flat bar from menards and made some brackets to hold it from the intercooler. It's SUPER solid. I still have to duct the sides but it already gets good airflow, I have no overheating issues at all in 80* F weather (based on one nice day lol). I'll duct the sides better later. Yesterday it was like 45* out and my coolant temps were actually dropping down to 171* with a 180* thermostat when I was going like 60 mph on a back road.
Also, I wouldn't say the car feels lazy. It spools as soon as I touch the gas. It's just only on 5 psi because I have the wastegate referenced off of the compressor outlet so I'm probably getting 1-2 psi loss through the intercooler. But yes, I do agree that based on what I've seen I am probably real low on timing in vacuum. Ehh it drives really nice so I'm probably going to leave it up to a tuner on a load holding dyno.
Oh yeah lastly, I signed up for Furrin' Group so maybe I'll see you out there this summer!
Great write up. Bet driving it is super rewarding. I'm working towards getting a similar Kraken kit fitted up to my 1.8 swapped '91. Would you mind sharing more photos (if you have any) of the oil lines and water lines? I'm struggling a little bit to find consistent information on where to mount everything up on a NB1 motor. Might just be my lack of confidence. Nonetheless, great work. TIA
Great write up. Bet driving it is super rewarding. I'm working towards getting a similar Kraken kit fitted up to my 1.8 swapped '91. Would you mind sharing more photos (if you have any) of the oil lines and water lines? I'm struggling a little bit to find consistent information on where to mount everything up on a NB1 motor. Might just be my lack of confidence. Nonetheless, great work. TIA
Yeah for sure, I will post more detailed pics about my setup as soon as I get some time. In short though, I used the traditional water line routing from the water neck on the front of the head, to the turbo, then returning to the mixing manifold. I used some 1" heatshield sleeves from thermal zero to protect the one under the turbo manifold, and to protect the heater hoses. This is the same company I bought the turbo blanket and header wrap from. It was really affordable, apparently made in ohio, and also apparently is the same "Lava Rock/Titanium" stuff as DEI for a better price. Some guy on the Miata Reddit informed me about them. The oil line on the bp4w has to come from the oil pressure switch port under the intake manifold right below the knock sensor boss and is kind of a pain with the intake mani installed. I would take the manifold off if I were you but that's a pain in itself. I drilled the oil return to the pan in the normal spot in the corner of the oil pan right under the A/C compressor (making sure that you have space for the fitting and hose to be installed without hitting the compressor). I used basically just the stuff I got from Kraken for hoses/lines except for the catch can which was done using a cheap kit off of amazon and works great. My catch can has literally nothing in it too after a few hundred miles installed, with about 100 of those being turbo'd.
Yeah for sure, I will post more detailed pics about my setup as soon as I get some time. In short though, I used the traditional water line routing from the water neck on the front of the head, to the turbo, then returning to the mixing manifold. I used some 1" heatshield sleeves from thermal zero to protect the one under the turbo manifold, and to protect the heater hoses. This is the same company I bought the turbo blanket and header wrap from. It was really affordable, apparently made in ohio, and also apparently is the same "Lava Rock/Titanium" stuff as DEI for a better price. Some guy on the Miata Reddit informed me about them. The oil line on the bp4w has to come from the oil pressure switch port under the intake manifold right below the knock sensor boss and is kind of a pain with the intake mani installed. I would take the manifold off if I were you but that's a pain in itself. I drilled the oil return to the pan in the normal spot in the corner of the oil pan right under the A/C compressor (making sure that you have space for the fitting and hose to be installed without hitting the compressor). I used basically just the stuff I got from Kraken for hoses/lines except for the catch can which was done using a cheap kit off of amazon and works great. My catch can has literally nothing in it too after a few hundred miles installed, with about 100 of those being turbo'd.
Fantastic, thank you for this info. I think I'm all set on oil feed and return, everything makes sense there. Do you know where I can find pictures of the "traditional" water line routing? I looked in the wiki here and a few threads and it seems maybe an image is offline/missing from the sticky threads. Many people reference this but I can't find the original or a good pic to help me understand
Fantastic, thank you for this info. I think I'm all set on oil feed and return, everything makes sense there. Do you know where I can find pictures of the "traditional" water line routing? I looked in the wiki here and a few threads and it seems maybe an image is offline/missing from the sticky threads. Many people reference this but I can't find the original or a good pic to help me understand
Did a little messing around with EBC, gonna up the DC at 7000 a bit to carry the torque but it pulls great and is fun as hell. It's a little hard to get good virtual dyno logs here in WV. In 2 weeks I'll be back in Michigan with unlimited straight and flat roads.
Last edited by Riley8425; Apr 21, 2025 at 09:59 AM.
Fantastic, thank you for this info. I think I'm all set on oil feed and return, everything makes sense there. Do you know where I can find pictures of the "traditional" water line routing? I looked in the wiki here and a few threads and it seems maybe an image is offline/missing from the sticky threads. Many people reference this but I can't find the original or a good pic to help me understand
Sorry I got real busy for a bit and forgot, I'll try to do this for you today.
Little Update, Car is still running great. Haven't done much to it since my last post with it just having fun for now at ~9 psi. Auto-crossed it for the first time last weekend and ran a 52.7 when the fastest Miatas were running 49.5 ish on stickier tires with stiffer suspension setups, had alot of fun and rode in a built-motor supercharged NB on slicks. I have plans to build a forged piston and rod short block to swap in this winter so I can turn the boost up a bit more.
0
