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Hey everyone,
About a year ago I purchased my 1999 Silver NB Cal-spec with 150k miles, and it was completely stock. I bought this car to learn on and to do track days, and have spent the last year doing exactly that.
Here's the current state of the car, pre-turbo project:
Konig 15x8 wheels with 225 Continental ExtremeContact Sports
I've done a few track days now and I'm really hooked. I'm hoping to do a lot more this summer. I loved keeping up with all the faster cars in the corner, but it was frustrating pointing everyone by in the straights. I was able to get a ride in a ebay-setup 1.6, and was blown away. If that is what it could do with that setup, I figured the 2560/1.8 must be pretty good.
Well I moved out of California (probably permanently) and back to the Northeast so I had some winter time and needed a winter project.... so turbo. I went back and forth deciding whether to go mkturbo/kraken/cxracing etc., get a flyin' miata kit, or go full custom and piece it together. I was very close to buying the Flyin' Miata Stage 1 kit but the $5 timing wheel was out of stock and they couldn't break up the kit. So I spoke to them on the phone and we talked though the custom spec and I pulled the trigger on that. So my setup is basically a FM Stage 1 kit minus all the ecu/timing tricks. I ordered an AEM wideband and a MS3Pro PNP at the same time. I had purchased the other turbo pre-requisites prior to this from SuperMiata.
Turbo project parts:
Garrett 2560r
FM header and 2.5" downpipe (sorry)
FM Intercooler
FM blow off valve, air intake, etc.
Deatschwerks 550cc EV-14 injectors
AEM Wideband
MS3 Pro PNP ECU
SuperMiata lightweight clutch and flywheel
SuperMiata Clutch cylinder rebuild kit
SuperMiata Coolant Reroute
SuperMiata Crossflow Radiator
Mazda Competition Motor Mounts
This setup is pretty by-the-books, which is what I wanted. I want to be able to drive this car to and from track days without worrying about it and having issues. So I paid the premium for some parts but I'm hoping the reliability is worth it. Getting all of the FM stuff and knowing how plug-and-play it is and being able to follow their guide is really nice. One point of contention will be the 2.5" downpipe. But I just didn't want to deal with also buying an exhaust right now, and I can always upgrade later. We'll see how it is. Also, I need suspension work, I think at the minimum new swaybars and maybe some lowering springs. Lastly, I still have to figure out fitting in this car. I'm 6'1" and while the buckets gave me enough leg room, it made it so I didn't want to drive the car on weekends. I'm thinking I'll get some NB2 seats for the weekends (the original ones are gone now) and a new steering wheel, and maybe swap in the buckets for the track (though it's very difficult, there's no room at all).