I know, not a Miata

This project got started a few months ago because I wanted a cheap platform for experimentation. This, combined with the teal color of my '94 coupe, lead to me naming this "Project Gemini".
I am exactly like NASA, except I have no budget and no idea what Im doing.

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Here is the car when I first bought it for $700







Complete with ricer clear corner lights, factory mud flaps (notorious "awesome" to drag on the ground when youre slammed), steel wheels with the lip painted red, JDM fog lights, a "woodgrain" steering wheel, a hood painted flat black, no interior, and of course an engine that wont run.

After getting it home and doing some exploration I found some more interesting **** under the surface.

It was lowered on high quality racing suspension courtesy of China.





The bushings were all looking pretty worn, and there was some dodgey **** going on. The front brake lines, while connected, were not attached to their proper mounting points, and were perfectly ready to get pinched, torn, etc.
Most of the nuts were not tight and one of the ball joints didnt even have a castle nut, and the other castle nuts on the ball joints and steering tie-rod ends didnt have cotter pins.

Oh, I found some free chips in the driver side door pocket!



I later read them (after straightening the pins) and found they all contained some shitty looking turbo maps.

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I immediately pulled the D15B7 engine after finding it had zero compression on several cylinders.



I pulled the head and found it had chipped exhaust valves.



I dont know how, but I dont care. The bottom end looked otherwise fine, and the pistons showed no signs of contact. Luckily my buddy had a good condition head from a D16Z6 that he gave me. I also bought a Skunk2 intake manifold from another buddy and tossed that on there.



This is a common hybrid that has been around something like 15 years. Putting a VTEC D16 head on a non-vtec D156 bottom end. The result is ~10.5:1 CR and a better cam/head. The only real downfall of this setup is that the rods in the D15 are very skinny and dont take to boost well. Most say 180-200hp is about all you can throw at the rods before the bend/break.

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The engines mounts were in good condition, but are notorious for tearing even with moderate power. There are lots of fancy aftermarket mounts available, but they cost upwards of $200. The cheaper solution is to fill the stock mounts with polyurethane.







I think they came out pretty nice.

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Engine back in the car. Now equipped with a VTEC head, ARP head studs, an eBay 6 puck sprung clutch, and a new flywheel.



Started mocking up the turbo setup. Im using a used cast T25 manifold I bought from a guy who does hill climb racing, and a BEGi T25/T28 chinacharger. The turbo had been sitting for years, ever since I parted out my old NB.



Push-lock -8 AN drain line



On to the fuel system. In true MTnet fashion I went with Bosch EV14 injectors (550cc).



and I fixed that fuel feed, which had the swaggin JDM fuel filter delete done by the previous owner. No ******* idea what that asshat was thinking. So I had to improvise.





Shortly after this, I got it running (shitty video, dont bother watching).

I rigged up some super ghetto charge pipes so that I could limp it 30 miles to my friends shop so he could TIG up a downpipe and charge pipes.





This is what the car was looking like at this point

 

Setting up intercooler and charge pipes



and downpipe







The final product













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I needed a place to put a couple gauges, and the a-pillar pod was out of the question. I wanted something that would not be that visible from the outside of the car.
The only place I could really figure out where to put the gauges would be where the center air vent is. The problem is that its a weird, leaned-back, concave surface. So to make it happen, I would have to do something I had no experience with. Fiberglass.

My first attempt was so bad I through it in the garbage. I dont think I even took a pic.

The second attempt was only mildly shitty.





another coat of resit after sanding, plus filling in some gaps



more sanding



I then put a coat of "Rondo" on it. I had never heard of this, but I read about it on the replica prop forum. It is a 50/50 mix of bondo and resin. Its basically a thick mixture you can paint on, which fills in everything and makes a smooth surface.
What I didnt know until I tried it is that it takes an eternity to cure (even out in the sun), and even then it always felt kinda tacky. After sanding through the tack the results were pretty good though.

After a coat of satin paint

 

So we are finally caught up.

The car has been up and running in its current state for a couple weeks.

The details

Engine:
D15B7/Z6 "mini me" engine, 10.5:1 CR
Bosch EV14 550cc injectors
GM 3 bar MAP
Running on CROME Gold software on a chipped ECU
Skunk2 intake manifold
Cast chinese manifold
ISIS/BEGi/Chinese T25/T28 turbo (seems to be burning oil at idle off and on)
CXRacing FMIC
2.5" cold side piping
2" to 2.5" hot side piping
No BOV
Knock-off Tial 38mm v-band wastegate, vented to atmosphere
Stainless downpipe 2" flared to 3", currently running to right behind the firewall
3" aluminized exhaust kit (not installed)

Suspension/Brakes:
Blown bushings everywhere
KYB GR-2 shocks
ebay ~400# springs and threaded sleeves
Ground control 340# springs and sleeves (not installed)
Stock sway bars
Acura Integra brake upgrade, including rear disk

Interior now has carpet and seats from a 99-00 Civic Si

Last Sunday I took a few photos of the car. This time I used a camera that was more valuable than the car instead of just using my camera phone like a pleb.










Finally, as customary, here is a couple little street pulls

 

just builds a car with horrible torque steer...drives limp-wristed, with one hand so he can waste all his time and effort into a guardrail.






nice work none-the-less.

 

One of these days... with the knowledge i didn't have back then, i will build one last Honda. I just don't know if it'll be an EG coupe or an EK hatch.

 

would it be louder than your current dickmobile?

 

Possibly. More power typically means more louder in an n/a application.

 

What's on the floppy disk?

 

EK

Or at least that's what I would want

Nice build OP you've done exactly what I've always wanted to do with a D series motor

 

Its mostly bump steer. The alignment is pretty fucked.
Kinda feels like a death trap. Keep me in your prayers.

I think Ive seen your posts on Honda-Tech, way back when?

Its actually a coaster




I like the Dirty D. Cheap, light, decent torque.


More to come guys

 

$15 for 6 coasters? Pfft. I have BOXES of floppy disks. I should start a business.

 

Yeah, but the condensation just soaks into them and they get all nasty.

 

I also have a **** ton, no idea what to do with them.....until now

 

Holy crap that wastegate placement actually works?

 

I had an employee come into my office about a year ago complaining that her desk legs were uneven and made her desk wobble. I gave her a stack of 10 or so 3.5" floppy disks and told her to use as many as needed. Pretty sure she's still using them.

 

why wouldnt that work?

 

I've been tempted to do something like this just because how easy those cars are to boost, and how many cheap parts are available, and how easily hawnduhhs take to boost.

That video confirmed why I've never done it lolz

 

I was trying to find a datalog, but I cant at the moment.
The boost control is fantastic. I dont think it varies by half a PSI from when it hits 6 all the way to redline. Quite a bit different to the creeping beast it was on IWG, back when it was on my Miata.

Ill have it running with electronic boost control soon enough. A couple more PSI, plus more WG sealing for spool.

Its a hoot to drive. Talk about cheap, this whole car has cost me less than my Shanghai-S kit costed me.

I cant wait to get the suspension sorted. There is a local corvette club that sets up an autocross event down in St. Augustine. Its awesome because you get lost of runs, as many as you want.


So right now Im dealing with a smoking problem.
When the car is fully warmed up, it will intermittently smoke at idle. It doesnt always happen, but about one out of every 3 stoplights Ill see smoke pouring out from under the car.
The plugs all look fine, and I even pulled the wastegate off and swabbed my finger into the runner and found no oily residue. It was dry, black soot. So Im pretty sure its coming from the exhaust side of the turbo.

Do you guys think the oil seal could have gone bad from sitting? or, does it sound more like drain line/crank ventilation?
The latter I would think would not be a problem at idle or when warmed up because the oil pressure is lower then, but Im not sure.

Ive been trying to find a SR20 T28, but havent had too much luck. I did find an SR20 T25, but Id like to go bigger for when I get a stronger bottom end in this thing.

 

Nothing wrong with that wastegate placement. Works just fine. I have similar on my MX6, rock solid boost control from wastegate pressure (even back when i was running a 7psi spring) all the way to 30psi with two stacked springs and a controller on top.

 

3rd gear datalog from tonight. Its so nice and cool out. 70 degrees according to intellicast.

That puts IAT about 15 degrees above ambient, which seems pretty excellent considering that these cars actually have the IAT sensor mounted in the intake manifold. Lots of heat soak I would imagine.