First off, this is my first turbo build ever so of course I would like all the help I can. I've been researching for months now but I still don't know everything there is to turbocharging. Just a little.
Anyways, I have a Garrett AiResearch t3 turbo from an old pontiac I believe? An ebay cast iron turbo manifold because it was so cheap and cast iron I figured I would give it a try. I plan on ordering an intercooler soon with tubing, a bov, having a relative weld me a custom downpipe and what not but thats not my concern. My main concern is engine management. What do you think would be the best option for me? I don't want to blow up my car obviously and I don't want to resort to just using an fmu. I would like megasquirt but from the information i've gathered here all the older stuff is crap even though its still pretty pricey. After I've finished acquiring all the parts I need I'll be left with about $300 and even mspnp2 is like $800. I'm just a college student so it would take me a good amount of time to even afford that. What are my options and what do you guys think I should do? Again, i'm still a turbo n00b so don't be too harsh

 

I think your options are to sell everything you have bought so far, save up $1000, then buy a MS3X and wideband. You can't afford to turbo your car.

 

Dang so salty! I just want an inexpensive setup for my inexpensive car. Spending more on a turbo kit than what the car is worth doesn't seem logical to me.

 

It's not salty at all. He gave you the best honest and practical advice you're gonna get.

You will understand that after you waste a ton of money on crappy parts and be left over with a piece of junk that doesn't run right and isn't reliable.

If you're too poor to do it right, at least somewhat, don't do it at all.

If you have JUST enough money to ghetto-turbo a car, it would be beyond idiotic to assume that nothing will ever go wrong or break or require a bunch more money in the near future.

Don't be a moron

 

You're a college student. Smarten up.

Oh and take your time. Don't be like all your stupid friends living in the "right now".

 

Rofl if you think I was being salty. I am going to be salty when I get done working in my garage in a little bit. Then I will come back and give you a real response.

 

THe " I don't want to spend more than I paid for the car" statement. I bet most reliable turbo set ups, cost 4 to 10 times the cost of the car.

Emilio explained to me a long time ago, that the price of the car has nothing to do with the equation. What you want out of the car, has everything to do with it.

 

If you're looking for logical, throwing aftermarket parts on an old car will rarely qualify. Like spending half your paycheck at the bar, souping up your old car is not a financially reasonable endeavor. You do it because you want to and can afford it. Otherwise, don't.

For what it's worth, I work full time, make decent enough money that buying a brand new Miata wouldn't be out of the question for me, have spent years reading and learning here, and still haven't been able to justify the cost to turbo my car to myself ($5,000 easy, to end up with a reliable car that works well, and not resort to scouring junkyards and having to do things twice and/or blowing a motor because of trial-and-error).

Forget what your car cost; the parts to do it right cost what they cost, unless you're ok with ending up with an inexpensive car that no longer runs. There is no "I'm a poor student" discount, so either pick up some extra shifts or find a more productive use of your limited funds. At this point in your life, I suggest doing the latter.

 

Everything has been said, and having gone through a complete motor rebuild & turbo kit refresh on my vehicle. I'd rather have a fast car that I don't have to mod to make fast. A working car is worlds better.

Gotta pay to play

 

Going to echo what everyone else has said. You can do an DIY PNP2 as about the cheapest right way to do it.

It is possible to make a reliable ghetocharged miata, I have seen it done for lemons. But two of the people on the team desigbed turbo systems for a living and had access to the test equiptment to dial everything in and make sure the bandaids werw actually working/tuned correctly.

To get all the measurment equiptment you need to make a car with bandaids (and enough bandaids to run right) ends up costing more than an MS would

 

It is very possible to do it very cheaply. You just have to have a ton of knowledge about every part of the system. I could boost a miata semi reliably for under $1000 if I wanted to. I know how to fab, can build a cheap MS1 from scratch, and find everything used. It took me 10 years to get to that point though. The problem is 98% of the people who come here wanting to do it that cheaply don't have the knowledge or skills to do it, and don't understand that.

 

Exactly. That is why I mentioned the people doing it deisgn turbo systems for a living and recomended the cheapest reasonable way is to use a DIY PNP. Still going to have about $600 into the ecu and wideband to do that though. Doing it any other way would just not be reasonable without the knoledge of how to actually do it