A $125 turbo manifold.

Oh boy.

The car only cost me $3k in the first place so I'm saving the "nice" stuff for the eventual 1.8 (besides the turbo which is being re-used of course).

oh yeah that argument is sound. pay twice to save money

Paying a couple hundreds bucks to have an engine I can learn to tune my MSPNP2 on is fine with me. I'm used to paying $1800 just for long tube headers on the vette and $3500 for a set of heads so I'm loving it so far!

Well at least you're good at justifying bad decisions. :)

Have you considered reading the massive amount of info on this site before making bad decisions?

NAH BRO

he's got it all figured out. we're here to learn from him

he's a corvette owner ™

I'm seriously confused at the hostility at this point. I'm literally buying a $125 manifold to get this turbo to mount correctly so I can dick around with a worthless 1.6 engine until I actually do the swap and you're acting like I'm throwing thousands down the drain. Am I missing something here?

Mostly that you don't seem to have any concept of wasting money/time on something that will suck, likely be unreliable, and will be unable to use nearly as much as you think you will when you swap to a 1.8 anyways in the end.

Swap 1.8. Learn to drive. Then learn to tune an n/a 1.8. Then add turbo.

You're literally following the playbook of "what does every noob do wrong after being an askhole on MT.net" exactly (other than actually using a MS instead of band-AIDS). You've asked for advice, haven't done any research on your own, and then ignored all advice given.

We've seen this a thousand times. We're not going to be ecstatic about it happening again. You can carry on your way with thick skin and deal with the ribbing you deserve, or you can do this the right way and not need to be confused about "hostility." (This is a pretty friendly thread.)

That makes sense and I appreciate the frank explanation. I feel like that would be applicable to my situation if I were actually wasting money but once again, the car was already built for a turbo and the only time/money I'm "wasting" is and hour $125 at this point. I am not building this car from the ground up and I am literally taking your suggestions of swapping to 1.8 by buying a GT2560R instead of something smaller (despite knowing that it won't perform great on a 1.6). I'm also used to tracking a 600whp car and don't care if I can't drive a NA 1.8 at 10/10ths right off the bat, I'm just looking to have fun. If you guys are going to freak out over me buying a 1.6l exhaust manifold and then a 1.8l exhaust manifold later then so be it I guess.

In more recent build threads, most cars heading to the track are now using the BorgWarner EFR turbo. same spool, way more reliable power.

but really,

swap to 1.8- learn to tune.

turbo 1.8 cuz now you can tune.

The point i'm trying to hammer home is that there's more than a $125 manifold that will be different. Thinking otherwise is pure hubris.

I'm not a 1.6 hater. If you have a "built" 1.6 already, then run that. Who cares. But if you're going to do it, do it with good parts. Rather than going through the time/effort/money to do it with crap parts, then changing pretty much everything for good stuff when you put the better motor in.

Ok I'm gonna try to cut through OPs well I don't care and reason our Mods advise for OP so instead of hostile he realises what is going on.

1.8 transplant is cheapest and best power option you can get. There is no arguments that have not played out on here and all of them end up the same.

The 1.6 is a suitable starter especially to learn but at no point believe that this is the cheap option.
If you pay $125 for an ebay manifold you will learn in a couple of minutes why everyone here is telling you don't do it.
You will have to buy it 6-7 times over, adding bracing, cuts and all sorts to get it to survive a WOT track session let alone a day worth.
Get a proper cast one for $500 and be done with it.

Turbo sizing is both personal and situation specific.
So without knowing more trying to help is not possible.
For a bog 1.6
2554 is quick spooling and a nice thud of power
TD04 13t is quick spooling but has additional headroom
Everything else is bigger and not going to provide you with a pleasurable drive.

Most people hit 200+, many hit 300+, quite a few hit 400+, the cat masters are hitting 500+ these are the people you are not listening to.
Despite being moody with answers their heart and their brains are in the right place.
Continue down the "I saw this on ebay" route and you will only get four words.
Believe me many have ignored, tried to prove they were right. It allows ends the same apart from the wallet backing it gets hurt by varying degrees.
Do it right once rather than cheap.

We are a very helpful bunch, seriously. The 1.6 has serious head and intake breathing restrictions but I understand that it is already in your car.

I catch and pass Z06's occasionally on the track but I can honestly say my driving is significantly worse at over 300whp than at under 200whp because it has made me lazy when it comes to driving line and getting everything out of each corner. But that's my own problem.

acutal lol @ "reliable turbo" and "$125 manifold" mentioned in the same thread

​​​LS down the straight so damn fast
But parked in turns it feels like I'm last,
Driving finesse, is just not my best,
I'll mash the throttle not to get passed.

Instructors suggested I learn,
In a small car designed for the turns,
No driving aids, or big horsepower plays,
Back with a Miata, to the track I'll return.

But Dunning Kruger not on my mind,
The best turbos all I want to find.
Attach to my one six, won't ever need to fix,
Contrary advice, a waste of my time.

Still, a hundred hp's too weak
I don't want to look like a freak,
Strap a turbo here, shit, I cracked a weld there,
Two laps in and I've got an oil leak.

Ok please, tell me what size
Your penis (I mean turbo) is when a-rise.
I go really hard, oh I mean with my car,
Please let me just blow you, cool guys.

:rofl:

That's brilliant.

this post wins the thread :bowrofl:

This is hilarious. I think I will be permanent member of this forum thanks to this work of art.

Thanks six/rrj for the direct information. I think I fully understand the risks and backward-ness of the entire situation at this point. I should have just phrased my original post better - my hybrid start of having a 1.6 already turbo'd and my not-giving-a-shit about what happens to the current engine is leading me down this path of not caring what happens at the 1.6 stage. The $125 cast manifold (absolutely not steel) I'm planning on will definitely have some relief cuts made and if it takes out my 1.6, all the better because then the 1.8 swap will happen. Honestly even if it cracks I'll probably just throw in the towel and just prep for the 1.8 swap anyway. If it can get to the car to the safety inspection and back I'll chalk it up to a success.

I am fully aware of some money being wasted here, and that's fine with me. Incompatible parts look like to be in the $300-500 range which isn't a big deal to me.

Also learned something new about those EFR turbo's being used for modern tracking which have higher reliability - something I could not find through my searches. Overall, I'm glad people care enough about my wallet and future with the car to voice their opinions in such a manner, thanks for all the input.

If you're just doing some HPDE stuff get a decent cast manifold and an SR20 GT25. I have the Kraken manifold on mine and so far zero issues with it. This is on 14ish lbs and a pretty aggressive timing map. If you pop it you could probably get 50-70% of the cost back. The turbos are cheap and easy to rebuild, not to mention the T2 footprint supports a few other turbos as well, so 2554r, 2650 if you want more power.

The 1.6L is fine for tooling around in but it does have a lower ceiling for power. You're just doing HPDE stuff, it really doesn't amount to anything except how much fun you have in the end. I choose a turbo over nice suspension in my car and have loved it, both on track and on the street. If I was building something class specific I wouldn't be touching FI, but for some street miles, autocross and a few hours on track every year, it's hard not to enjoy a sub 2000lb ~200hp miata. They punch well above their weight.