Lets get this thread started. To start things off:


I have never turbo'd a car before. I have never done more to a car than a change the oil, swap suspension, and replace a radiator. But as you can see, I have been here for quite a while and am always learning. This build will be less about awesome turbo, and more about miserable fails.

I am actually not for sure when I will be turboing my car, but I'm bored and decided to start my build for when I finally do.

I have a 1995 Chaste white NA with 70k miles. This car has lived a very confused life. It started in Phoenix, AZ by i would assume is a middle aged male struggling with his sexuality and looking for an outlet while hiding his secret from his wife and 3 kids. It was then purchased by a what can only be assumed was a mouth breathing waste on society who thought it was a good idea to lower the car on junk coilovers, throw stupid offset wheels, and roll the fenders with a meth head's mouth. Fortunately, like many of these trend seeking kids, it was only in his posession for a short period of time and the damage was kept to a minimum. The 3rd owner was a Porsche dealer mechanic and started the conversion to auto-x machine, but quickly realized it is a losing proposition with a 1.8NA. Now it is with me, confused and scared about its future. It has been a beard, a trend, and then a thorough letdown. Every aspect of its life much different from the last with a future equally unpredictable.

So this leaves us with where I am now. I have a miata, I have a box of turbo parts and I have some ideas. The problem? I'm still trying to gather funds to finish out my parts list. So this could happen in the next 3-6 months, 1-2 years, or I could end up selling/trading this car since it is on the market even as I type this.

The box of parts and what I have (all used):
- Chinese T28 floating bearing turbo (I will eventually downgrade, or upgrade depending on how you look at it, to a t25)
- FM Manifold
- Custom Downpipe (I will have to post picture of this thing, it is rough)
- Custom exhaust (Equally as rough as above downpipe)
- Wideband (its sad I can't even remember what brand this thing is)
- Boost gauge
- BOV
- CXRacing Intercooler with FM piping
- walbro 255 fuel pump

What I have to get before I start my build:
- ECU (depending on funds and used market, either used MS2 or new MS3)
- Oil and water lines

What I may get before I start my build:
- clutch
- injectors

What is currently on my car:
Engine:
- blue oil cap
- Aluminum radiator

Chassis/Suspension:
- FM Vmaxx xxtreme track pack
- Stainless brake and clutch lines
- slotted rotors up front

Wheels/Tires:
- I did have 15x9 6ul's but those are pending sale because the car is up for winter and I need the cash more than a set of wheels with bald tires that will sit for 7 months. I plan on replacing with something in the 15x8 range since I don't see myself running 225's anymore.

PICTURES:
On the Tail of the Dragon






Box of parts!

 

Good write-up. You, that dog, and I have a lot in common. The car looks quite clean in the pictures. MySpace angles?

 

I used to be in your shoes, I found the best way to quickly learn and get confidence is to help someone that knows what they are doing.

 

Whoooh, in for progress.

Glad i could help fund this build.

 

It is a very clean car. Especially from even as close as 3ft. But it has the dents and dings any 19 year old car would have.

You really can't tell the damage done by the slam kid until you really start to look close. I knew when he rolled the fenders he didn't take enough care to protect the paint, but I didn't know he was even fail at his wannabe hellaflush fitment. I noticed both of the front fenders have tire rub markes inside the fender roll that rubbed completely through the cracked paint and it now has some surface rust. I have some touchup paint and por15, so as soon as it goes back in the garage I will be taking care of that.

Thanks. Unfortunately that isn't much of an option. I have faith that I can do it. The biggest thing is after finding money, is finding time. It is a second car, so it can be off the road for months and not bother me too much.

 

I take it you didn't get any offers to trade for or buy this car?

 

Couple, but nothing serious. If I don't get together the money for the ecu this winter, it may be back on the chopping block in the spring. I had lots of interest at m.net, but every time I told them it didn't have AC, they disappeared

I'm always wafering back and forth if I want to sell it, keep it, trade it etc. As you can see from my sig, I can't keep a miata. Part of the reason for selling it was ideas for a different miata project and getting a new DD. But since my current DD won't sell and we are in to winter and I have had to pull it off the market, there isn't the urgency to sell this.

The new project I would sell this for would be to build a custom exocet style miata. Somewhere between these 2 is what I was thinking.

Wouldn't go this far:


Wouldn't go this ricey:


Just something about a stripped out tube car makes me happy.

 

Had to give props for the first post and dog pic.

Good luck.

 

I considered contacting you about a trade but never did...

Now that I know you're car was owned by a hard-parking douchebagatron, that scares me a little bit...

P.S. - My wife, first born child, and myself were stranded in Beckley a couple summer's ago after the "Derecho" came through and sent WV back to the dark ages (late June, early July 2012 I think). We were on our way to Hilton Head, SC for vacation and just happened to be driving through WV when the sh*t was seriously hitting the fan and we were out of gas. It was bad....

 

I've seen the car in person. He's being pretty harsh towards the actual condition.

 

It was crazy. No one in 100 miles in any direction had power. I saw all kinds of people stranded here because they didn't have gas. I was VERY fortunate. I lived in a part of town that kept power. We lost power for maybe 4-5hrs. We had 2 gas stations and a tiny grocery store open. There were lines 4-5hrs long at the gas station. I spent those 2 days when everything was black sitting on my back porch, enjoying the sprinkler, drinking cold beer. My wife went with her family for the outer banks, they didn't find a gas station without 2-3hrs lines until almost Richmond.

Feel free to PM me any questions you might have about the car. I have nothing to hide and will answer completely honestly. And fortunately, it was very short lived as a swag mobile. (The frame rails are still straight)

EDIT: Miata + cash for miata + forester

 

This would still have been a better decision than the ones you've made in your build thread to date.

Aren't you the guy trying to tune 20+ year old FWD turbo cars with HKS and Apexi dancing light piggybacks? No one here respects your opinion on aesthetics.

 

I'm not judging aesthetics. I'm judging condition. The car is in great shape.

You don't want my opinion on the aesthetics side of things concerning a stock body NA.

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Forester is already pending sale so I probably shouldn't consider this offer.

Back to Post Apocalyptic West Virginia, we were at 0 miles on our car's fuel range when we got to Tamarack. The police had shut down the exit for Tamarack, apparently people were getting in fist fights over the last few gallons of gas. Tamarack had power, which meant they were out of gas in just a few hours.

We started looking for gas before even Charleston and every place was either out of gas, or had no power. We were hoping Tamarack would have gas, but we were SOL. We went a few exits down into Beckley and sat at a Shell station that apparently had gas but no power. We were like -15 miles on the fuel range. Our son was 15 months old at the time and it was hot as ***** that day. We couldn't run the car to use the A/C so we just sat in the shade at the Shell station for a couple hours, hoping something would happen. The gas station was full of people in the same situation as us, just driving through the state and ran out of gas. It was insane. The people sitting at the shell station would have happily paid $20/gallon for gas at that time, everyone was desperate.

We sat at that gas station for an hour or two. We were trying to get a hold of some distant relatives that live in Princeton that have a large fuel drum on their property... eventually we heard that Tamarack had fuel so we risked running out of gas and drove back to Tamarack. One tanker of low octane gasoline had shown up, when we got there the line was pretty long but not too bad. I think we waited in line for like 90 minutes. They would only sell people 10 gallons.

We filled up with the 10 gallons and headed south. Once crossing into NC it was like nothing had happened. It was one of the wildest experiences of my life. Less than 12 hours after a storm rolled through the area it seemed like society was falling apart. People were going crazy over gasoline, people were stranded on the side of the interstate, etc. etc. Friggen wild...

You shut your mouth when you're talking to ME!

 

 

WE HAVE PROGRESS!!!!

I couldn't take the thought of not getting this build moving so I sold my ar-15 in order to finish out the parts needed to turbo it. (ms2 and injectors)

I hope to get started this weekend or next pulling parts off the car. I am going with a new Rev built ms2 basic. While I always love the newest and greatest, I don't ever see myself getting the full benefit of a ms3 over a ms2. Again, with the tight budget, the ms2 is saving me a chunk of cash that will allow me to get injectors and tires. That seems to be the good thing about MS right now, they don't lose a lot of value on the used market, so even if I decide to upgrade next year, it won't be a major loss.

My next steps:
1. Rough in manifold/turbo and see where the current lines I have fall. Depending on results, I will be ordering just bungs or all new hoses.
2. Clean and refinish manifold and exhaust. I purchased some por15 manifold paint and por20 exhaust paint. Both are very popular with hot rod guys.
3. INSTALL ALL THE PARTS!!! BEND ALL THE RODS!

My target goal for getting all this done is May. Lets see how many times I can fail before then.

SOON!

 

This is gonna be gay like 4 pistons bending 5 rods.

 

Two rods, one piston?

In for someone making progress, I'm certainly not making any

 

Rev MS2 basic ordered.
425cc injectors ordered



And thanks to Concealer being a jerk, i'm ordering a clutch also. (actually it has nothing to do with him being a jerk and everything with him convincing me I would regret it if I didn't get one and do it now). I'm either going with a used MSM or 949 SuperMiata organic sport clutch. Don't really have $300 for a clutch, but do I dare pull the motor and everything to install a used part?

 

It's cool, he's a jerk.

Simple solution: sell your body for a new clutch