201k mile turbo?
#1
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I recently purchased a Miata with 199k miles on it. I have since put 2k miles on it and it runs excellent. Only owned by 2 people prior to me and was maintained to a T. (only reason I bought such a high mileage car) I had thoughts of building a turbo Miata once I purchased the car but it was more so a back burner thought, that is until my friend's engine blew in his Volvo and hes giving me all his turbo components. Now a diy turbo kit doesn't sound too bad. Is this too dangerous? Is 201k too much? Should I rebuild? How can I check to see if the engine won't blow right after I put the turbo in?
I forgot to mention its a 1994 1.8l.
Woo! First post!!
I forgot to mention its a 1994 1.8l.
Woo! First post!!
#3
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Basing any build around a free or cheap turbo isn't usually a great idea. Picking a turbo related to the goals of your build is a great idea. Turbos are cheap. Choose correctly and you will be happy. Choose incorrectly and it wastes time and money on the wrong parts for inferior results that will require being upgraded later anyway.
That being said, it may be a good turbo for the application. Do you even know what the model and specifications for the turbo are?
That being said, it may be a good turbo for the application. Do you even know what the model and specifications for the turbo are?
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Do it, but do it right. By right, I mean no bandaids. Run that turbo, run stock injectors, but get a better fuel pump and definately get a megasquirt. The most important thing you need is good air fuel/ timing control.
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You're going to kick yourself in the *** if you spend all this time and money slapping some horrible bullshit together only to realize 6 months later that it all sucks and you need to upgrade it all.
Do it right the first time, do some research, figure out what is good and what isn't.
With that being said, you can totally DIY it and i'm sure if the compression numbers are good that engine should hold out for a little while.
Do it right the first time, do some research, figure out what is good and what isn't.
With that being said, you can totally DIY it and i'm sure if the compression numbers are good that engine should hold out for a little while.
#11
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You're going to kick yourself in the *** if you spend all this time and money slapping some horrible bullshit together only to realize 6 months later that it all sucks and you need to upgrade it all.
Do it right the first time, do some research, figure out what is good and what isn't.
With that being said, you can totally DIY it and i'm sure if the compression numbers are good that engine should hold out for a little while.
Do it right the first time, do some research, figure out what is good and what isn't.
With that being said, you can totally DIY it and i'm sure if the compression numbers are good that engine should hold out for a little while.
Last edited by Ryan57596; 08-25-2014 at 05:17 PM.
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If you don't have the money right now for a good setup, just maximize its NA potential with things that you'll need down the road anyway. Invest in a lightweight flywheel and a good clutch, upgrade to some decent injectors, a megasquirt, and maybe a cat-back exhaust.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
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I'm aware of that. I don't have the money to do a full turbo setup right now with new injectors, ecu, pump, intercooler etc. Any ideas of something I could start out small with low boost and work up? example stock injectors, small boost new ecu, then later add an intercooler bigger injectors etc. I'm fairly new to building a turbo setup. I've worked on turbo cars but have never had to build a setup all on my own. I'm just thankfully this community is available!
If you don't have the money, sell the miata, buy a shitbox civic and put an ebay turbo kit on it.
Rome wasn't built overnight and i can assure you, it wasn't cheap.
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If you don't have the money right now for a good setup, just maximize its NA potential with things that you'll need down the road anyway. Invest in a lightweight flywheel and a good clutch, upgrade to some decent injectors, a megasquirt, and maybe a cat-back exhaust.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
#16
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If you don't have the money right now for a good setup, just maximize its NA potential with things that you'll need down the road anyway. Invest in a lightweight flywheel and a good clutch, upgrade to some decent injectors, a megasquirt, and maybe a cat-back exhaust.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
The flywheel and megasquirt alone will make a huge difference in how your car feels.
You don't necessarily need boost to be fast in a miata. Hornetball is proof of that.
^This. Install a Megasquirt and learn to tune it before the turbo is added. You can pick up quite a few horses just by changing to a Megasquirt and eliminating the intake metering obstructions. You will need a stronger clutch before the turbo and changing to a lightweight flywheel while you are in there makes a notable improvement in acceleration.
I just recently picked up a FM supersize Happy Meal with lvl 2 clutch. First initial thoughts were "Wow, this is a mountain to move.... but the new pickup is nice!"
2.5 weeks later I'm starting to love it after breaking it in, the speed increase and no tax on my fuel econ is very desirable
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