Hello Everyone, here's another turbo Miata build thread. As you can see I am new here, and you can find my introduction and a little bit about me here: https://www.miataturbo.net/meet-gree...1/#post1283311

The short story of this car is this: I like boost and I want to learn more about limit performance driving without destroying my DD. The easiest way to do this was clearly a miata! I bought this 1991 NA Red Miata w/ VLSD with 83K on the clock for $2,400.

Mechanically it's perfect minus a little play in the shifter. It has no rust at all (something very rare in the snow-belt). Other issues include a dirty rear soft-top window, little bit of shifter play, and small body damage on the rear quarter panel. I can't wait to get wrenching on it this winter, and track it hard in the summer. (Yes, it will be turbo and yes it will be 1.8L). It is not going to be full track car but it won't be a DD. I am shooting for 240 wheel HP on 93 octane. If I can't make that number I will go to E85 and/or Meth. I'm just looking to build a fun weekend car that is capable of AutoX, HPDE, and maybe one or two drift events for fun.

Plan:
1.8L Motor (Purchased)
Megasquirt 3
550cc RX7 injectors (Purchased)
GT2560R
Ebay/Bell Turbo manifold w/ external wastegate
Tial 38MM external wastegate
Custom 3inch Exhaust
1.8L Diff and LSD
Flyin Miata Stage 2.5 Suspension
Enkei RPF1 15x8
Hankook RS3 V2 225's
More chassis stiffening
Delrin door bushing (Installed)
Hardtop
Roll-bar
NB Sport brakes (Purchased)
NB Rear brakes (Purchased)
NB Master Cylinder (Purchased)
ATE super 200 (Purchased)

Anyways enough talk. Here is the car when I bought it...





Nasty Soft top...


The damage...


Surprisingly clean engine:


She's a dirty girl...


Step: 1 The clean car mod. Looks good as new.




Extra daily Driver pic: (2007 gti, Full bolt-ons, K04 turbo, 93 octane, ~320whp).


More to come.

 

Reserved

 

After hours and hours and waxing and polishing. Looks MILES better.

Here is the before/after. Left is before, right is after...














Here's the shifter rebuild from Moss Miata ($85). It uses all oem parts to make the shifter feel new again. I used upgraded Red Line synthetic gear fluid which made a big difference imo.



Install was fairly easy. Here's what I did:

1. Removed 2 Phillips screws


2. One in the center tray


3. Two in the center console


4. Unscrew shift ****


5. Just pull up and take off the center piece


6. 4 10mm bolts


7. 3 10mm bolts


8.


Once its off you just reinstall the new hardware. It felt GREAT after the install. Felt just like new. More to come...

 

Garage Star Shifter Bushing Install/Review:

Introduction: I bought these for $65 on Flyin Miata. They have great reviews, an easy install and they are nice and cheap.

Here is the install: (Tools Needed- 10mm Rachet.)




Just remove the two bolts, take old one out, put new one in and tighten the provided bolts.


Initial Impressions: They feel great. Door closes with an audible "clunk". Honestly I have put less than 500 miles on the car since I bought it so I don't have too much experience without them but it overall feels much better. Less flex, nothing like a roll-bar would provide but it feels good. Some of the shakes and rattles are gone and it feels a good bit more solid. An extra is the door speakers sound a tad bit better.

Rating? 10/10. It's cheap and provides a good performance increase. I would buy these again and/or recommend it to a friend. Cheers!

 

Wow clean car. your build plan looks a lot similar what to what i want to attempt but I'm still just lurking around learning.

Awesome documentation. will follow your build closely!

the door becomes like a crossbar for the chassis when it has a solid fit.

 

Yep, that's exactly how it feels like. It feels like instead of this:

-o------o-

It now has some support so it feels more like this:
_______
-o-----o-

Key: - = chassis, o = wheels

Like it doesn't want to flex much over the X-axis. In other news the guy selling the 1.8L backed out. I'm still looking for a 1.8L and I think junkyard motors are the next step. I found one for $899 with 73K and I think I am going to jump on it.

 

Seriously consider E85. There is plenty of it around here.
Does the 1.8 come with the trans?

 

I will definitely do so. I was actually one of the first to run it on my GTI when I was on stock turbo. There is literally a station maybe ~1 minute from me. I've already bought some 550CC injectors for $50 shipped from Lars. It was too good of a deal to pass up but now I'm thinking I limited myself to pump gas based on the extra flow needed for E85.

The 1.8L seller actually backed out of the deal so I am back on the market again. Hindsight is 20/20 but there was actually a 94 Miata for sale in royal oak for $2000 asking price. The body was beaten up and I'm confident that I could have gotten it for ~$1,800 since it's been for sale for a while. It had the T/LSD, 1.8L motor with 96K, and a Harddog Rollbar. I think buying that and stripping the part would have been a great deal but hindsight is 20/20 and it sold last week :/

P.S. What would I have to do to bum a ride off you? I'm in West Bloomfield.

 

Probably be best to wait until spring. I've already put the winter storage wheels and tires on the car so it probably wouldn't be very safe.
I'll be out on WW next year I'm sure, just need to get together.

 

can I reply now?

 

Okay... sorry, I was unable to reply and the website deleted all of my typing

I just got a 96 miata by $1600, 13K miles, was red, but some one ^&*@@#$ly painted it to black by spray paint can, WTF

I probably will just go following you, lol

trying to save up again for the seat and harness as the beginning

 

question：

you said you will use Megasquirt 3, hum.... do you really know how to use that on miata?

I read the introduction on their web, not understand all of them, but seems like it is super advanced.... and it has so many things

I probably will just go with DIYPnP 2

 

What?

 

nothing... just omit this

I just started learning about megasquirt, still in confusion

 

Hey you learn by asking questions, nothing wrong with that. Thanks for following.

Yeah we'll get together sometime when it's back warm again.


AS far as the thread goes, I actually threw a rod today cruising steady at 70mph on my GTI at 125K miles. Unfortunately long blocks are 2.5K+ for those cars so replacement is a much more costly task than with miatas This could set the miata build back a lot -.-

 

I posted and asked what a MS3 really looks like then finally understood what I need to buy

I have a slight different plan to yours. I would like to get my seat first and keep driving it daily and saving up. Once I got enough in my account, I will just blow them out for all of the parts. Very good feeling, lol

 

Any progress made?

 

Hahaha well yes and no. Mostly no and here's why...

My daily driver threw a rod at over ~35K miles >320 whp.

Back of the block :(


It was cheaper to part-out and sell than to pay $3,000 for a shortblock so I said my goodbye's :(


Here's my replacement DD (2016 GTI S 6MT)


Old and new


That's why the Miata build has taken the backseat. Getting a reliable daily to get me to and from work was the priority and this whole event cost me a TON of money I wasn't planning to spend. But what's done is done, the new MK7's are every bit car of the year that the magazines say. It's excellent. My Dad did 20 years in Vehicle dynamics and was the head of several SRT projects and he describes it as "perfect". Anyways, tune, springs and downpipe are coming this week and that should be good for ~300whp and ~350wtq. After that point all money will be going to the Miata since the dust has just about settled

 

Nice pickup on the Mk7. I bought one to daily last year. They really are pretty perfect! Too much a wimp to tune mine while its in warranty though.

 

Yeah as just an everyday car not much can top it honestly. It has all the comforts and feels like a 40K car with lots of space, fantastic build quality, and a great post-dieselgate price too. The engine Oh the engine. It's fantastic and a great fit to the really long gears that come with the manual. I ended up going with the BMS JB1 (Same concept as the JB4 for all the BMW's). It's a plug and play unit, which means it's completely removable so when you want to take it into the dealership, there is no way they would ever know it has been tuned. I'll tell you how I like it after this weekend. I think I'm gonna do the Miata brake swap soon too, just have to decide what pad I want for Medium autocross and track use as well as some street time.