Hey there, thanks for stopping by. I have a 1991 and my goal is 200-220 reliable whp. I understand that power and reliability comes at the cost of price and I have budgeted 7 grand. My car has an NB 5 speed trans and a 4.10 Torsen NB diff. The following is a parts list I intend on buying

Megasquirt pnp 2
FM 1.6 turbo kit with atmospheric blow off valve and manual boost controller
FM coolant reroute
FM stage 1 clutch+flywheel happy meal kit
AEM wideband

Some questions I have are: What kind of injectors will I need for my desired hp? What kind of spark setup will I need? Is the manual boost controller good enough? What kind of problems should I expect? What else do I need to buy that I haven't thought of?
The car will not be a daily driver, just a weekend car. If I can do this cheaper with no loss in reliability or power and with the tradeoff that I won't get FM's customer support, I'd love to hear your comments, criticism, etc.
Thanks

 

You have a decent amount in your budget for some maintenance, so make sure you do that first. If you have the original water pump, radiator, timing belt, plugs, wires, change on all that. It will help in the long run. I don't believe that kit comes with a full exhaust like some other kits, you'll need to consider this.

Are you running E85? Probably don't need to with your power goals. 600cc is a safe bet. There are plenty of brands out there and a quick search of this forum should point you in the proper direction. Stock coils should be good at that power. MBC is fine, hook it up properly. You'll need a GM IAT, i don't think the no electronics kit comes with one of those either. Depending on exhaust size and the turbo you buy, you may want to consider porting the internal wastegate. Ditch the flywheel, just get your stock one resurfaced. Unless it's fully cooked.

Here:
https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo...b-miata-93402/

and here is a little outdated, but still has all the relevant info you'll need:
https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo...big-post-4288/

 

If you've got the money and time, and don't have to emissions (you don't with an OBD1 91 in TX), I would certainly recommend grabbing a 1.8 motor to prep (like all the items Erat so kindly pointed out) and swapping that in once you're done. Generally in these parts boosting a 1.6 is anathema.

That said in terms of kits, while FM is well known for excellent customer support, there's nothing particularly unique or special with their kit to hit your reliability goals beyond just a cast manifold vs. a welded one (cast is more reliable). There are some miatas running around Austin/RR with MKTurbo Kits, Trackspeed Kits, and FM kits, reliability is much more about the time you put in to doing all the little ancillary details correctly and getting a proper tune.

In my opinion, however, the Kraken setups are the best bang-for-your buck option these days: https://kraken-mx5.eu/ , and you can get them with a nice 3 in exhaust and all the oil/coolant lines you need to make it work. There are some guys on the forum running EFR 6258s with the kraken kits and easily making 300+, but for your goals/stock rods any cast manifold + a gt2560r is probably going to be your sweet spot.

Also like Erat mentioned, manual boost control will generally be more reliable than EBC, but regardless if you've got the budget something like an MS3 or a Haltech Elite will certainly have more advanced/comprehensive engine protection than an MS2. And while you don't need corn juice to hit your power goals, it does keep things running a little cooler and increase your saftey margin with detonation on those hot texas summer days, something to consider given that its $2.05 a gallon for ~E80 at HEB last I checked.

Just my 2cents

 

Thanks yall, I can tell you're helpful around here. Unfortunately I cant use my 1.6 flywheel with FMs clutch. I'll consider corn juice and an ms3. I've heard 230 boosted hp in a miata is "nothing short of magical" so I'm excited to empty the wallet to get there.

 

I have been sitting pretty at 200rwhp for right about 10k miles on my '90 and have litterally done nothing but an oil change so far. I spent a lot of time doing things one step at a time abd slowly working up to put the turbo on though. That had a lot to do with how trouble free this setup has been.

You have a good list. Do all the basic maintinance and swap to a 1.8 flywheel and get the FM or SuperMiata clutch. The 1.8 flywheels bolt right up. No need to touch the spark setup. Flow Force 640CC for the injectors. I am going to reccomend adding the extra wires to run sequential fuel (1.6s, except the 93 CA model, are all wired for batch).

That and some 93 octane and you will hit 220-230 no problem.

I am running a Kraken manifold, Subaru TD04L-13T, FF injectors, MS3x, ebay rad, kia water neck rerout, FM Happy meal, AEM UEGO, generic intercooler piping and ebay intercooler, ebay rad, and whatever 2" ebay exhaust was on the car when I got it. I have zero issues just hopping in and knocking out a couple hundred miles in a day in this car.