[Crazyblackman]

Finally found the time to get my COPs installed. Pretty straight forward, but the first harness I made just wasn’t the right gauge wire.

So I did it again and all is well.

Finish the plug and play for 1.6 since I had a spare igniter

Now that they work I can finish up the look of the harness

I’ll just be doing a once over again for everything before the tune day and bring some extra parts and we should be ready!

 

[Crazyblackman]

Got my first ever professional tune completed.

Things I learned:

-Time is money
-Make sure you’re absolutely ready to go before you’re there
-Have EBC setup before hand

So background:

Mods:
-Wiseco Forged Rods: 78.5mm/8.5.1
-Manley Forged H-Beam rods
-Supertech Valve Spring Kit: dual springs 49lbs
-New Stock Oil Pump
-Supermiata 6 puck clutch: rated for 340ft/lbs of torque
-460cc Rx7 injectors
-3.9 ratio torsen diff
-Stock 5 speed transmission
-GT82 Turbo, w water lines
-External gated, with Tial 38mm
-Turbosmart Raceport BOV
-Running 10lbs off wastegate pressure

Dyno info:
212hp, 175 tq

Since this is my first time doing this ****, I felt it went well, learned some things, and KNOW there’s more power.

Problems:
MAP sensor was reading about 40-50kpa higher than normal throughout, so I had them tune around it for now until I get a replacement and go back.

Wants:
-New 3 bar MAP sensor
-Flex fuel sensor
-Deatschwerks DW300c FP
-EBC (hooked up and running)
-Another dyno day

Positives:
-Nothing blew up
-No leaks
-Drove it there and drove it home
-Drives a billion times better
-Feel ready time actually get it on the track and find more problems!

Only took 7 years, that’s all!

OH old news, I had an oil feed come loose during dyno prep literally 2 days before.

It caught flames, always ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher, literally saved my ass.

Turbo blanket was soaked, it was quite a site to see with all the smoke behind me but I cut it off and saved the motor too.

Washed all the oil off and tightened the fitting and drove home that night with no issues.

Never a dull moment haha

 

[Bryan]

OH old news, I had an oil feed come loose during dyno prep literally 2 days before.

It caught flames, always ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher, literally saved my ass.

Turbo blanket was soaked, it was quite a site to see with all the smoke behind me but I cut it off and saved the motor too.

Washed all the oil off and tightened the fitting and drove home that night with no issues.

Never a dull moment haha

To quote a friend of mine: it's better to have a good story than a good time.

 

[Crazyblackman]

To quote a friend of mine: it's better to have a good story than a good time.

You’re not lying there!

Literally saw smoke coming from the hood but it was small and figured it was finger prints.

Then I drove further and looked behind me and it was just clouds!

 

[Crazyblackman]

Well some things have been purchased.

-Flex fuel sensor
-Deatschwerks DW300c FP
-EBC

Good news:
-MAP sensor was set incorrectly in MS, works now

Bad news:
-Need retune for wrong setting of MAP sensor
-Leaking oil somewhere by the oil drain, it was a loose drain bolt as best as I can tell (easy fix), put new gasket on and tighten back up, not sure how it came loose, time to blue loctite everything

-Want brakes and to drive on twisty roads

 

[Crazyblackman]

Found my oil leak, simple one it would seem, valve cover bolts were loose. Not sure if they came loose or I didn’t tighten them all the way!

Got the oil changed up and we’re good to go.

Now time for the boost controller

 

[DesertRoadster]

Glad to see it up and running. I had not a smooth tune story. I showed up to Tony’s and lost an injector as I arrived and had to be towed him. But he was a rockstar when I came back.

Get the boost controller?

 

[Crazyblackman]

Glad to see it up and running. I had not a smooth tune story. I showed up to Tony’s and lost an injector as I arrived and had to be towed him. But he was a rockstar when I came back.

Get the boost controller?

Ahhh that’s super unlucky.... I did indeed get my boost controller but I had it hooked up wrong since I have DIY PNP... but unfortunately I pulled my transmission again

rear main leak... even though I replaced it years ago and just recently got the car running... maybe too much crankcase pressure before I got my catch can setup properly?

Either way, there was a noise I couldn’t find either that was related to driveline noise so I figured let me drop it, replace the seal, make sure clutch is good and throw it back in.....

Hoping to find a 6speed though so I don’t need to do this **** again.

 

[Crazyblackman]

Been a little while.... kept hearing a noise while the car was under load.

It was definitely drivetrain related, just sounded like a rattle but couldn’t put my finger on it, also thought I solved my oil leak and that was a lie.

So decided to drop the transmission.... partly to force myself to buy a 6 speed so I didn’t have to do this **** again.

So I bought a 6 speed from Ulrik. Need to put it all in but rear main seal was replaced and it was leaking at the bottom.

Just need transmission jack to put the 6 speed in and away we go, hopefully without the rattle.

Just need to rebuild the shifter, and I think the reverse switch or neutral switch, got the fluid already, now just need time to knock it out.

Failed miserably putting it in with normal jack and said I’ll just wait.

Then actually put the EBC in and flex fuel.

Since I’m not familiar enough and these cars are old, I assume a non-oem fuel filter will be necessary or does it not matter? I’ll do research but just things I’m thinking of.

 

[Crazyblackman]

Got the 6 speed in with plenty of hassle.... the 6 speed was the easy part. Minus me forgetting 4 rear main seal bolts after everything was in.

PAIN.

Wanting to avoid taking off the downpipe was just not gonna happen.

Eventually caved and took downpipe off,of course I broke the gawd damn bolts and they broke off inside.

I used 10 grade bolts to prevent them from breaking but it didn’t matter... so this has caused more headache than it’s worth.

Soooo time for an upgrade, working on vband setup and new turbo.

I’d like a Garrett 2871r but need to make sure it comes in vband configuration.

So since I can’t be turbo currently and I needed to move I bought stock headers and put those back on for the time being. Such a sad day but it can move. Glad I held on to the block off plates for the AN lines.

Suggestions of turbos are much appreciated with vband capability... still aiming for 300whp is the goal.

That’s all for now, just waiting for the turbo purchase and Vband setup.

 

[Crazyblackman]

Damn it’s been a while again, been busy.

Moved into our new house, finally have a place for Brutus and Shelby together!

Got a new short shifter for the 6 speed from Gracingshifters... looks pretty nice, and it is definitely short compared to stock.

I had a short shifter for my 5 speed so I had to have another, just different brand.

I already said I was getting a new turbo, so I got all that put together and put in the car. Had a buddy help me get the downpipe and rest of exhaust set for Vbands.

From this:

Back to this:

Got all the lines connected, and finally think I got the car bled properly for coolant so we’re good for now.

Took it for some rips, the line to the ECU came off, I guess a zip tie didn’t do the trick anymore. Once that was fixed up we’re back in business.

Holding boost till 10PSI, and it feels great!

Now to get the flex fuel sensor installed, fuel pump, and brakes!

Until next time!

 

[Crazyblackman]

Hey all,

It’s hot, so I don’t do much in the garage despite wanting to. Drive it when I get a chance and it’s always the feeling I’m looking for!

More photos from upgrading lighting for the jetstream headlights to LED’s

OLD

Need to shave the inside of buckets down to use these LEDs since it’s a different shape.

After reassembly, the turn signals are built in so I may block off the existing turn signals but we will see I don’t think they are bright enough when the headlights are on so.

LEDS are bright but focused.

Also got a 3D printed filter that fits NA/NB, prevents all the usual crap from going inside the cabin. (Peep the yoga mat)

Need to clean some things up but next step is working on the brakes, long time coming…. Until next time

 

[Crazyblackman]

Another dump of things I’ve done semi recently!

Finally got the brakes completely.

-Wilwood 4 pots up front
-1.8 in the rear
-Wilwood 1” Master Cylinder
-Prop valve

Everything feels pretty solid, not worried about slowing down anymore, no weird shakes…. Now

Problem I ran into was with the wheels being 15x9 -0, they contact the brake caliper in the front normally

Got 5mm spacers, it appeared to clear but under heavy braking could feel a little vibration, so I had 25mm spacer (I know huge leap) and I can drive again.

So flare removal again

I just can’t turn super far without rubbing issues. Still need to re-do alignment but haven’t been able to find the time yet.


I also got my oil feed line replaced again since it burnt through…. Again….I’m not sure why I haven’t being using PTFE lines but I now am for the oil feed.

Old line

Got a new turbo blanket since the old one was done in with oil.

Finally put the car back on the ground, and with the weather finally getting nice again, bikini top went on!

That’s it for now, once I get 10mm spacers for the front we should be good and I’m going for a long drive up north to enjoy this thing for a couple hours!

Still need to do E85 and fuel pump, etc.

 

[Crazyblackman]

Updating here, I created a YouTube channel just for more a build thread focused, similar to here but in video format.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCyL7xxjJmHkltTRU5xzjEeA

Anywho, I’ll still be updating here.

So got the 10mm spacers and they clear the brakes with no issues. New issue is I need to move my front caster forward a smidge to clear the flares.

So for now we drive without them.

Brakes feel nice and tight, stopping is noticeably different with everything that was changed.

Also got some block off plates for the 1.6 intake.

Simple and easy, little RTV and no need for retune. Car idles and drives fine.

Also cleaned up my Catch Can lines, I also checked my Catch Can and saw nothing in it. Not even a drop. So that’s promising!

Looks a LOT cleaner in my opinion going under the manifold!


Then after getting the car up, I went to a meet, saw some cool stuff.

Here are the favorites!

RHD imported Miata

OG Monster Miata with the nicest owner

Cool to see the older generation appreciate Brutus!

Last but not least, having some AEM AFR gauge issue. I think it shorted the gauge due to wires crossing under the car that had rubbed through

Bought a new line, no change
Bought new sensor, no change

Gauge just reads “- - -“, but cars running fine. So I’m going to get another damn gauge and see what’s up but otherwise that’s it for now!

 

[Crazyblackman]

Well then, I haven’t been updating here as much as I thought.

Anyways since putting all that time in for that meet I’ve done a few things.

If you’ve been following the YouTube channel I fixed the AEM gauge

Needed to replace it with an entire new gauge, so if anyone needs an LSU4.2 sensor let me know cause I don’t need it anymore

Changed the lines for the catch can to be a little cleaner as well.

Having the gauge back gave me my piece of mind back as well!

It was time to get the flares back on, if you recall since putting the wilwoods on I need more space so putting the bigger spacer took up some of my turning space

Trimmed the flares again and everything was looking good, still need to move caster forward about half an inch

Finally got around to replacing the OEM coolant overflow for a metal one. Seems to do the job for now.

Looks right at home!

I then drove to south mountain to put the car through its paces, since I put the battery tie down in and 5th harness in for track days this would be a great shakedown

And it was!

More of that driving here:

The car did great and nothing broke at this point I felt pretty well off with the car.

While I did some clean up of the car, we went back to south mountain for a 2nd trip and it was even more fun with friends!

I’ll post more about that trip in video format, however fun was had!

Our friend with the nice camera came out as well!

Then after this the best thing about this post!

We’re getting ready for paint after 9 years!

This is the current state of the car…. glass out along with everything off, bumpers, fenders, flares, etc.

Until next time!

 

[davemx-5]

Those flare look very nice. Are you repainting in original colour?

 

[Crazyblackman]

Those flare look very nice. Are you repainting in original colour?

Nope changing the color completely, I say it somewhere in this thread but I don’t expect anyone to look that far back

So just stick around haha

Best I got!

 

[davemx-5]

Ha ha sound! Only just found your thread so I'll have a read through it. Prob take me a few days!ha ha

 

[Crazyblackman]

Ha ha sound! Only just found your thread so I'll have a read through it. Prob take me a few days!ha ha

No worries at all! Hopefully in the next few weeks it’ll be painted and back together!

 

[Crazyblackman]

I need to keep this place up to date more. Anywhoo!

If you’ve been following along on the gram or YouTube you likely are caught up!

For those that aren’t, a few things have changed!

While waiting for the painter to become available (space issue) I decided to completely disassemble the rest of the car.

Thinking to myself if I paint this car another color, I don’t want to see the old color on the inside, it would irritate me personally

I pulled the dash out…

Thennnn I saw my stock seatbelts I didn’t take out when putting the original rollbar in…. Soooo I took them out

If you know what it takes to get to these then you know what had to come out!

I took the rollbar and door bars out which isn’t terrible with power tools!


Then I decided to fill some holes I drilled a long time ago in my younger days!

Threw some primer down after masking everything off(doors will be painted with car)

Got to painting…

Got to painting the door bars and roll bar!

Few days later I went to do the trunk cause of the same reason. I don’t want to see any red!

The insides have to match of course!

And I don’t want to see red right on the edge of the hood! One day I’ll pull the motor again to paint the bay and fill some holes but for now this will do.

I would hate to see the silver with different silver, it’s just refreshing these!

Then we’re now caught up with some of my recent activities. Painter will have the space right in the beginning of March.

I have an oil leak I need to fix, cause I’m sick of it! My oil pan gasket is leaking on one side slightly so I’m dropping the subframe to fix that seal!

Stay tuned for more rabbit hole activities!

You can watch my activities here: