Greetings from (at least at the moment) sunny South Carolina. I'm a mechanical engineering student that has somehow decided boosting his DD ('00 LS) while in college is a good idea. I plan on taking things slow, and trying to piece together everything on a lowish budget with time not really being much of a factor.

So far, I have only purchased a manifold (pictures below). A fmic from an eclipse was donated to the cause (haven't even picked it up, don't believe it was oem), but has yet to be test-fit to see if it will even work. If it does, I will probably upgrade later, but starting out with something free at least in the early stages seems like a solid idea. If it doesn't, I wasted 20 minutes of finagling and learned a lesson.

My next move will be played here in the coming weeks. I plan on purchasing a wide-band (mtx-l) and megasquirt (MS3(MS330-K)+MapDaddy)) unassembled. I have access to a simulator to test it as well. I'll spend most of the summer learning to tune the megasquirt proficiently so I won't be learning to tune when forced induction is added. All the while however, keeping an eye out on forums etc. for used parts.

I am also currently learning to tig, so hopefully I will be able to fabricate as much as possible myself. Not just to save costs, but I enjoy the design side of things.

So, I guess I'll wrap things up with a few things I'm hoping to achieve with my build, and then follow that with a few pictures:

• A/C stays. SC is hot.
• I am going to try and make the megasquirt as plug and play as possible (in the sense of wires and plugs, not tuning), so that if after college if I move somewhere with emissions it is no big deal to swap back to the stock ecu for a day or two.
• Power wise, end goal is around 200whp. I would like to stay under the threshold of the tranny and motor, at least for now. I am more focused on having torque throughout the power band than having 400whp spooling at 9k rpm.
• I was hoping to go with an external wastegate, but I got a good deal on this manifold, and she's so pretty... I've considered welding on an adapter (welding to avoid adding more gaskets), but the further I push the turbo and wastegate down the exhaust, the more boost creep i'd be susceptible to. The collector is close to the flange, I don't think a wastegate flange could simply be tacked on. So odds are I'm probably going to be stuck with an internal wastegate for now at least.
• I have not yet decided on a turbo. Still doing research on spool times and things of that nature.
• In the interest of funds, the racing beat Power Pulse exhaust I have on the car now may stay for a little while. At 2.375-inch it's not super ideal for a turbo setup, but I think in the beginning it should be low on the list of things holding me back.
• Car needs a rollbar. Has as style bar that was on when I bought it, and will probably be listed in the for sale section soon.
• Injectors and Clutch will be done preemptively when the turbo is installed. Might as well get those two out of the way early while the car is already down for the time being.

Feel free to ask any questions, and/or offer any advice.

Manifold:


Obligatory miata picture:

 

I assume that manifold is AC compatible? If you're learning to TIG, fabbing yourself a 3" exhaust should be pretty cheap.

 

I did some clearance checks with a engine at a spec miata shop (not in a car), to see how much room I had with the oem coolant setup without doing a re-reoute, and just tried to imagine where the A/C components would be. It seemed like it would be close but SHOULD fit. I will know more when I actually take off my headers (california car (i think is what they are classified as) with the additional cat) and test fit it in an actual car with A/C. If it doesn't, I will likely consider selling the manifold and buying another before I consider removing A/C.

 

Your title is totally misleading.
"Sorry I thought your name is DICK, cause you look like a Dick to me".
Turbo choices?
SR20,2554,2560
Fab 3" downpipe to maximize spoolishesness.

 

3" downpipe seems to be the way to go. I definitely like the 2560 the best out of what I've seen so far. Good spool times in the power range I'm aiming for. Prices on used ones don't seem to be too bad when they show up either.

 

Welcome to the site Schuyler, thanks for joining up!