Let's try this again.
I wrote an amusing (to me) introduction on Saturday morning, around 2:00AM and cannot find where it went. So here are the CliffsNotes

Me: From Connecticut, over 45; not a mechanic, work in office 9 - 5 but do my own wrenching, unless fixing my transmission with duct tape fails.
Used to be Datsun/Nissan for many years but my garage is currently Zoom Zoom dominated by the Miata and wife's CX5, and the 2012 JKU that sleeps outside most of the time.
Finally in 2017 sold my 2008 Yamaha and purchased a Miata.
Car: 2002 SE stock - Except for an ISR Exhaust
Goals: No LS/K/Eco/etc. swap
Homework: Lurked since 2016, read, read, squinted and cursed at the confusion, read again and said "ahhhh ok"
Current status: Purchased ebay t25 log mani, churbo, ebay intercooler/piping kit, pieced together oil/water lines.
Ordered FM Turbo outlet and downpipe.
Next: I'm still debating whether to buy a PNP or a kit and glue it together
FF ev14 injectors
and only makes sense to upgrade fuel pump.

I've been moonlighting as a DJ for over 35 years and I'm not stranger to servicing and building audio power amplifiers/passive crossovers
and could relate to the same attention to detail that will be needed to assemble the MS, so I'm 51% inclined to doing it myself

If you can suggest/recommend anything I completely forgot or left out, please be kind or feel free to be a d!(k and point it out.
So... Hi!

 

Welcome. You'll need a clutch as well.

Braineak's guides on megasquirt assembly are fantastic. https://trubokitty.com/

Which turbo are you running exactly?

 

Hey SpartanSV, thank you. See! Thank you for reminding me, but yes definitely a clutch. I read Braineak's guide and got some of it, but of course, much of it will make more sense once I have the pieces IFO me.
this is the Churbo I got
maXpeedingrods

 

I'm running the same turbo. Not a great pick for a stock engine, but it's really hard to argue with the price

 

Yeah I feel the same way. I know I'm going to end up doing a lite build on this engine (or on another one if I annihilate this one) but for the time being, this will do. Seems like generally most people with this Churbo are happy with it's performance, including in Miata applications...

 

No need to spend the money on a fuel pump right now. You will likely not exceed the stock pump's capacity on a stock engine unless you run E85.

 

Even better then , I'll just redirect funds. Thanks for the reply

 

Welcome welcome.

I too was debating on building an ms3x per brain's instructions vs spending the extra money and getting a PNP. I bought the MS3PNP.

My reasoning was that when diving into this tuning thing headfirst, the last thing I want on my mind when addressing an issue is "maybe I soldered something in wrong?" I may be a rare case, but when I plugged in the PNP, everything just... worked. Set base timing, tweaked fuel in the idle range and went for an auto tune drive.

 

Absolutely! You just validated every concern i had. Even while it is a considerable difference in price, it'll pay off in peace of mind.
i just ordered an AEM wideband today and all I'll have left to get is the MS and injectors. Ironically, those are the ones I'm thinking of installing first, then boost...