punkoutnz Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Okay so back in March I bought this sweet little turbo MX5. Original downside was it was auto, but it was turbo, looked tidy, drove nicely and all that, but puffed a bit of smoke. Also had tein suspension, fully certed, and came with a nice pair of scissors for my new job as a hairdresser. Drove it for a little while but problems started to rear their ugly heads and the inevitable happened... Along came fail number 1. Fudged turbo. So I got given a new turbo. Bolted that in. Turbo number 2 failed (had had a dodgy rebuild in the past we think, and had been sitting for years). So then I thought "ah bugger it" and the project began, and since then it's been sitting in my garage in various states of undress. So here I give you, one British racing green Miata... I ditched that spoiler, was really a love it/hate it thing and I decided I hated it. Original turbo was a TD04L, ditched that and went to a bit of a hybrid VJ14 with which died, now I'm going to run a T25 from a silvia that seems to be in good nick. The old oil return was dodgy, so that's kind of why I've pulled it all apart, proper dash lines, a proper oil return, proper water feeds, etc. Also doing a manual conversion while it's off the road. Here's the second turbo setup I ran. Note the dodgy oil return line running all the way across the engine bay. Yeah nah that was crap... All gone now, here's the new setup as it sits ready to have the IC piping and downpipe all made up... I've got the next few days off work with the plan of getting as much done as I can, got a sweet Toda flywheel to go in, will be taking an old clutch in to autoclutch to be rebuilt, picking up some more fittings tomorrow and pulling the engine and box out on friday so it's all on the stand and easy to work on. Been 4 months or so of annoyance, but hopefully it'll be plain sailing when it's all back together! Pleny more pics, etc to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixmasterlex Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Sweet colour. Wheels are pretty choice. I'm amazed someone turboed an auto?! What ECU is it running? Standard internals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 looks like the mx5 is coming back into fashion.... i do like that colour on these....turbo rwd in a light mx5....fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted July 7, 2011 Author Share Posted July 7, 2011 Sweet colour. Wheels are pretty choice. I'm amazed someone turboed an auto?! What ECU is it running? Standard internals? Yeah dunno why he kept it auto, although the gearbox seems to have held up fine. Far too rev happy for a turbo though! It's running an Autronic ecu, and yeah, standard internals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karmagedon Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I do actually dig that spoiler you have on there. are you still trying to sell this on TM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted July 7, 2011 Author Share Posted July 7, 2011 Nah I ditched that spoiler aye, it's now on Zac's MX5 which he's just posted a thread on too. It suits his red car, I didn't like it on mine. Something about tan leather, luxury green and a T wing didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karmagedon Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I see your point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 So spent a bit of time on it today, lifted the engine and gearbox out (leaving a HUGE puddle of oil from the gearbox... WHOOPS!). So going to pull the sump off this week and get a new oil return -10 fitting welded on, bolt my new 2000lb carbon/kevlar clutch kit on and then bolt the gearbox on and put the lot back in the car next weekend (if all goes to plan!). Still got much to do, but moving in the right direction... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakesae101 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 did you buy this from wellington by any chance? my motorsport club president had one in british racing green with the what i can remember was a apexi turbo kit on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Nope I bought this from a guy I've known for years. Was his mother's car before he inherited it and it spent far too long sitting in a paddock before I took delivery to restore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Another weekend of messing around has left me with the oil return welded onto the sump which is now reattached to the block, the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate are bolted up and the gearbox is bolted onto the engine. Basically ready to install back into the car now. Just gotta replace the reverse switch on the gearbox cos this one is broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock-Lee Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 All the early reverse switches dick out. I had to replace mine for Wof. 40odd bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 did you buy this from wellington by any chance? my motorsport club president had one in british racing green with the what i can remember was a apexi turbo kit on it Leon's was manual wasnt it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakesae101 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 yes just remembered that its hard to keep track of his cars he goes through quite a few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well most engine bits are in. Still need to build a down pipe and the hot side IC piping to the turbo. Also need a filter that'll bolt to the front of the turbo which I think Pro Wholesale sell. On the interior side of things, everything's bolted back in, there's a gear shifter poking through the centre console and today I bought a leather boot from repco, and seeing I couldn't find a way to attach it nicely, I figured I'd bolt it... So I'll fit that back in tonight. I need to make a trip to MX5mart for the boots that seal around the gear shifter under the centre console, a new hazard/popup light switch as mine has been buggered since I got it. I figure I might as well get the 1.8L brakes while I'm down there as well as a new throttle cable seeing I managed to stretch mine when pulling the motor out. I knew there was something I hadn't seen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 So tonight I put oils in the engine and box, finished properly fitting the turbo and thought ah why not. Lets start the thing up! No exhaust yet, so she's loud. Still bits and bobs to do but there's no leaks or anything so I'm happy. Clutch engages properly too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrinsohc Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 So tonight I put oils in the engine and box, finished properly fitting the turbo and thought ah why not. Lets start the thing up! No exhaust yet, so she's loud. Still bits and bobs to do but there's no leaks or anything so I'm happy. Clutch engages properly too. Its looking sweet man, can't wait to see a road run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Spent the day with my mate, Darryl working on it yesterday. Installed the new rubber boots around the gear shaft. Downpipe is all fabricated, just gotta make hot side IC piping and a bit of the exhaust we decided to replace. Going to heat wrap the downpipe before it's all finished as well. Should look pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkoutnz Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 So last week Darryl and I gave it the final push to get it on the road. And as of Saturday just gone, it has both a WOF and rego and is back on the road! So far I'm absolutely rapt with how it drives, on 6psi it's quite rapid and once I wind up the boost (after the clutch is properly bed in and I know it's going to run well) it should be a real weapon! Intake space was quite tight so this was about the best we could do for now... Also got my stickers from ihatestickers.com on Monday (took nearly 2 months to arrive!). So for now I'm just enjoying it, but up and coming mods are a roll bar, replacing all the speakers, and a front lip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 ^ that sticker is awesome. Where is it from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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