JCH13 - Turbo Miata Rehab Thread

[Black2na]

We will take better pictures once we finish the paint job it looks incomplete(aka crappy) with the red ass. That wasnt part of how i wanted it soon probly in may ill finish the job

 

[manimal]

We will take better pictures once we finish the paint job it looks incomplete(aka crappy) with the red ass. That wasnt part of how i wanted it soon probly in may ill finish the job

Gonna go different color with the rear?


If you go a different color yellow would be cool in the back too.


Car reminds me of this car

good company!

 

[JCH13]

Right Quarter Panel Gunmetal
Left Quarter panel Bright Green
Rear Deck Strip Green (Jetta)

Though the rear deck strip and the bumper being different types of dark green is up for debate, now that I look at it again.

 

[Zargon]

must stay away from thead. is making me shop miatas for cheap turbo or 302 conversion.....

 

[JCH13]

must stay away from thead. is making me shop miatas for cheap turbo or 302 conversion.....

Did I mention how much fun it is to have a 220whp/2100lb convertible?

I took it for a long drive yesterday, lots of staring and a few thumbs up.

The FM frame rails are awesome, the really stiffen up the chassis a lot, and the FM springs are awesome as always. I'm very happy with chassis dynamics currently, though I need an alignment because of the spring install.

HIDs and fogs are going to get setup soon I think...

 

[Zargon]

I used to have a 85 200sx turbo running about 20PSI. I know.

I've driven a little T25'd miata around as well. went up to chicago with a friend to help him haul it home, got it for literally 200 dollars. he then randomly CL'd it 6 months later without telling me and I was PISSED since I had spent all day helping him haul it and worked on it a ton.


I can get another car, but only if I sell my Aprilia. 220whp/2100lbs instead of ~130whp/45lbs



wife said truck, car, 2 bikes, is too much

it would be nice to a have a toy she will ride in, but shes such a sissy I can freak her out in the xterra

 

[JCH13]

Haha, that would be a tough choice, but you'd have a much easier time going to HPDE and AutoX events with the car :biggrin:

 

[Zargon]

Haha, that would be a tough choice, but you'd have a much easier time going to HPDE and AutoX events with the car :biggrin:

bike track days are easy to come by near me, 3 tracks within 3 hours

Putnam Park is a nice facility and its ~2ish hours, maybe a little more

I wouldnt mind another 200sx turbo either

 

[JCH13]

bike track days are easy to come by near me, 3 tracks within 3 hours

Putnam Park is a nice facility and its ~2ish hours, maybe a little more

I wouldnt mind another 200sx turbo either

That's a pretty good deal, can't really do too much wrong!

 

[RavenSEAL]

Haha, love the color scheme

 

[manimal]

bike track days are easy to come by near me, 3 tracks within 3 hours

Putnam Park is a nice facility and its ~2ish hours, maybe a little more

I wouldnt mind another 200sx turbo either

Ill meet up with anyone at putnam! Its close!

 

[JCH13]

Haha, love the color scheme

Thanks! It's been growing on me... I think I like it more every time I walk by it.

 

[JCH13]

Decided to do some datalogs last night and to try and dial up boost again. First couple datalogs showed about 170whp at 7.5psi. That includes power loss from aero drag too. As I was doing a couple more runs to get the boost dialed up a police officer rolled by and asked if everything was okay, so I decided to not push my luck and went home. Hopefully I'll get it dialed up to 12psi again soon.

Worked a bit on putting HID lights in the clear turn signal housings, which was really easy. However, without projectors the HIDs might be a little blinding for other drivers, but there might be a couple things to help adjust that. Halogen fog lights and pigtails are on order, which would be a good supplement to the HID turn signal lights.

 

[JCH13]

Took apart the turn signal housing, sanded and painted the bottom of the turn signal lens flat black, and put it back together. This should minimize glare for oncoming drivers. Still in process: LED turn signal mounts and possible heat ventilation.

I heated up the lens in my oven at 250F for 15 minutes on top of a soaked kitchen towel and it popped apart pretty easily. I repeated the heating process to reassemble the housing, worked like a charm.

I then masked off everything but the bottom surface of the housing, sanded it lightly with 220 grit (probably would do 300 grit if I was to do it again). I then sprayed it with two coats of chassis/roll bar paint because I had it, and it's rated for somewhat high temperatures and the HID bulb will certainly heat up the lens housing.

Lens is masked and sanded.

Painted housing with lens removed.

HID mounted in the reassembled housing.

I simply pulled the socket and wiring out of the original turn-signal plug, spun a step drill by hand to make it snugly fit the HID lamp, and just squeezed the HID lamp in place. Works like a charm. Here are the various stages.

 

[manimal]

Took apart the turn signal housing, sanded and painted the bottom of the turn signal lens flat black, and put it back together. This should minimize glare for oncoming drivers. Still in process: LED turn signal mounts and possible heat ventilation.

I heated up the lens in my oven at 250F for 15 minutes on top of a soaked kitchen towel and it popped apart pretty easily. I repeated the heating process to reassemble the housing, worked like a charm.

I then masked off everything but the bottom surface of the housing, sanded it lightly with 220 grit (probably would do 300 grit if I was to do it again). I then sprayed it with two coats of chassis/roll bar paint because I had it, and it's rated for somewhat high temperatures and the HID bulb will certainly heat up the lens housing.

Lens is masked and sanded.

Painted housing with lens removed.

HID mounted in the reassembled housing.

I simply pulled the socket and wiring out of the original turn-signal plug, spun a step drill by hand to make it snugly fit the HID lamp, and just squeezed the HID lamp in place. Works like a charm. Here are the various stages.

Drove up on a boosted miata yesterday and thought of you JCH. Ended up talking to guy and discussed his build. Ive been trying to talk myself into a boosted miata vs a e30 for my next project for months because of cost.

 

[JCH13]

Drove up on a boosted miata yesterday and thought of you JCH. Ended up talking to guy and discussed his build. Ive been trying to talk myself into a boosted miata vs a e30 for my next project for months because of cost.

Do it!

There are a lot of things I think I'd do differently if I were going to build another turbo Miata, if you decide to pull the trigger I'd be more than happy to offer some guidance.

 

[exdeath]

Still trying to look up the color code for "Legos"

Should paint the rear bumper hot pink to throw salt in the wound of people who laugh at you since thats what they get to see.

 

[JCH13]

Black2NA thinks I should get "TRBOLGO" as my license plate... tempting.

Any thoughts?

 

[roguerower]

Pretty awesome paint job! Not that I know what I'm looking at, but it looks awesome.

 

[JCH13]

I made a copper bracket to solder to the turn signal bulbs. Drilled a hole in the middle of the scribed pattern, then cut out the two brackets with a hack saw. Filed the edges smooth, then used some 3M body tape to hold the bulbs in place. I used a step drill to poke out a hole for the turn signal bulb.

Copper tabs being cut out.

Copper tab soldered onto bulb.

Turn signal bulb taped in place.

Both lamp assemblies put together.

35W HIDs and 45W halogen fogs. Throws a good bit of light!

 

[bbs lm-r]

I went for a drive in a friend's new (to him) miata yesterday.

All I can say is I understand now His is pretty stock I think and it had some balls winding through the backroads here. I can only imagine what yours is like

Like the paintjob too :thumbsup:

 

[JCH13]

I went for a drive in a friend's new (to him) miata yesterday.

All I can say is I understand now His is pretty stock I think and it had some balls winding through the backroads here. I can only imagine what yours is like

Like the paintjob too :thumbsup:

Awesome!

And thanks! It's quite a wild ride

 

[JCH13]

Dialed up the boost last week, to 12psi where I was running last year, engine went *poof*. Blew out the rings or melted a small hole through one or more pistons, thinking bad rings are most likely. Either way I have an engine/transmission to drop in and get me through this season so I can rebuild the engine that's coming out.

Hopefully I can do the whole R&R this weekend... I was really hoping to get the body work done with Black2NA, but the car is un-drivable right now.

The dying motor has almost 167k miles on it and is entirely stock. The previous owner ran up to 15psi of boost during the three years he raced it and drove it. It overheated on me four times due to dumb failures (water pump drive belt tensioner bolt came loose, then the intake gasket developed a small leak). I drag-raced it when timing was fixed at 10deg, got the turbo and manifold glowing red in the process. I have (unintentionally) raced it until the engine oil burned off the dip stick. I plumbed the waste gate actuator incorrectly and pushed it to 22psi of boost once or twice. The poor little engine owes me nothing.

 

[manimal]

Dialed up the boost last week, to 12psi where I was running last year, engine went *poof*. Blew out the rings or melted a small hole through one or more pistons, thinking bad rings are most likely. Either way I have an engine/transmission to drop in and get me through this season so I can rebuild the engine that's coming out.

Hopefully I can do the whole R&R this weekend... I was really hoping to get the body work done with Black2NA, but the car is un-drivable right now.

The dying motor has almost 167k miles on it and is entirely stock. The previous owner ran up to 15psi of boost during the three years he raced it and drove it. It overheated on me four times due to dumb failures (water pump drive belt tensioner bolt came loose, then the intake gasket developed a small leak). I drag-raced it when timing was fixed at 10deg, got the turbo and manifold glowing red in the process. I have (unintentionally) raced it until the engine oil burned off the dip stick. I plumbed the waste gate actuator incorrectly and pushed it to 22psi of boost once or twice. The poor little engine owes me nothing.

That sucks man, glad you have a backup plan.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

The poor little engine owes me nothing.

lol!
That sucks man, but that engine has a good story to tell in car heaven.

Engine rebuild thread you say??