HardHitter's Flyin Miata II Build Thread

[HardHitter]

Today I finally bit the bullet and ordered a kit from Flyin Miata.

In my 11 years of driving I've owned 9 cars and I'm hooked on the hobby. To give you a history

1996 Blazer - High school hand down from Dad
2004 RX8 - First "new car"
1994 RX7 - Bolt-ons on stock twin turbos ~300rwhp
2005 GTO - Headers, 3" exhaust, large cam - 423rwhp
2000 S4 - Stage 3 Kit - 373awhp
1994 RX7 - Street Ported Single Turbo - 405rwhp
2005 GTO - Headers and exhaust ~360rwhp
2012 Mazdaspeed3 - Stage 1 tune, intake, inlet pipe (current)
2000 Miata - Stock...or was (current)

You can see the Miata is the "lonely" low HP car. I've been looking/researching for about 3 months now but every time I said, "I've owned 400+rwhp cars, is a 200rwhp car really going to thrill me? Well, I met up with a guy yesterday with a Begi S2 kit on his NA and I was sold.

I placed my order today and I'm excited to begin working on the car when everything gets here:

Flyin Miata FMII No Electronics 2560 Turbo Kit
- Coolant/Oil Hardline Upgrade
- Iconel Studs Upgrade
- Full A-Pillar Dual Pod Upgrade
Megasquiart DIYPNP
Deatschwerks 600CC Injectors
Exedy Stage 1 Clutch
AEM Truboost Gauge/Controller
AEM UEGO Wideband

The car will be used just on the street for the time being but I anticipate taking the car to the track sooner or later. Currently I have Megan Coilovers and Racing Beat Muffler. Prior to taking it to the track, the following will be upgraded at a later time:

Upgrading Stock Radiator
Upgrading Stock Brakes
Upgrading remaining exhaust to 3"

Stay tuned, I will post pictures as parts begin to flow in!

[Neverlift]

Does your NB not come with Sport brakes? With a proper pad on the sport brakes you won't have a need for a BBK for track days unless your goal is to make swapping pads easier. That money would be better spent on some legitimate suspension upgrades.

[cshunter]

Should be fun!

I hope to one day have a Flyin Miata also, except I would rather have an LS engine in it for the Shocker effect from folks.

[aaronc7]

Nice man, you'll love it. If you have any tuning questions let me know. I have a 99 w/ DIYPNP and ran a 2560 for some time, I could probably get you a pretty good map to get started on. Mine made 275whp, 258tq on the dyno.

5-speed or 6-speed trans?

Originally Posted by cshunter Should be fun! I hope to one day have a Flyin Miata also, except I would rather have an LS engine in it for the Shocker effect from folks.

In some ways turboing the factory BP can have just as much of a shocker effect. Many people are pretty ignorant on imports and turbocharging and don't understand how anything can be faster than their 'merican muscle V8. I've surprised quite a few people....

[cshunter]

Originally Posted by aaronc7 In some ways turboing the factory BP can have just as much of a shocker effect. Many people are pretty ignorant on imports and turbocharging and don't understand how anything can be faster than their 'merican muscle V8. I've surprised quite a few people....

That is very true, maybe I will reconsider when the time comes to start shopping for one.

[HardHitter]

Originally Posted by aaronc7 Nice man, you'll love it. If you have any tuning questions let me know. I have a 99 w/ DIYPNP and ran a 2560 for some time, I could probably get you a pretty good map to get started on. Mine made 275whp, 258tq on the dyno. 5-speed or 6-speed trans?

It is a 5 speed tranny. I don't know if I should swap to a 6 speed or not. Is there a benefit to that other than obviously another gear lol.

Secondly, I would REALLY appreciate it if you could help me out with the tuning part. That is still my only concern about all of this because it is the first time I will be doing it all myself and I don't want to blow up the car. I bought the MSPNP from the Miata forums. He had it running on his 2000 and he ran it stock other than injectors and upgraded cams so that is the base tune currently on it. Maybe we can communicate through PM to understand the steps I'd need to take. I plan on throwing the ECU and injectors on and getting it tuned NA before I start installing the turbo kit.

[Neverlift]

In my experience, the 6 speed has a more solid engagement and really comes into its own high in the RPM range. An area where the 5 speed seems to feel a little more vague. If your car came with a 4.3, you will benefit on the highway and top speed from a little taller gear ratio on 6th. I believe 5th gear in a 5 speed is .82, vs. .85 in the 6th speed.

If you go 6 speed, the MSM 6 speed has shot peened gears.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/gearing.php

[aaronc7]

Originally Posted by HardHitter It is a 5 speed tranny. I don't know if I should swap to a 6 speed or not. Is there a benefit to that other than obviously another gear lol. Secondly, I would REALLY appreciate it if you could help me out with the tuning part. That is still my only concern about all of this because it is the first time I will be doing it all myself and I don't want to blow up the car. I bought the MSPNP from the Miata forums. He had it running on his 2000 and he ran it stock other than injectors and upgraded cams so that is the base tune currently on it. Maybe we can communicate through PM to understand the steps I'd need to take. I plan on throwing the ECU and injectors on and getting it tuned NA before I start installing the turbo kit.

As far as the tuning stuff goes you're on the right track... definitely get it up and running NA first so you can learn the ropes. Is it a MSPNP2 or DIYPNP? They are similar but slightly different.

I blew up my 5 speed at the power levels mentioned above. 5-speed is supposed to handle around 250whp reliably- mine could have been a fluke, who knows. 6-speed is much stronger. The only problem with 99-00 Miatas and throwing a 6 speed on is that they come with the 4.3 rear end gearing ratio....so throwing a 6-speed w/ 4.3 rear gears and you have some VERY short gearing. At stock power this would probably be a good thing, but I would speculate that you'd probably find it quite annoying w/ ~250whp.

Since you're not building the motor, just keep power reasonable (250whp as absolute max), and both your motor and 5-speed tranny should be good to go. Many guys running those kind of power levels with stock motor/trans just fine for years. You're just gonna have to resist the temptation to turn up the boost! Don't worry, it's quite fun at 250whp. Maybe down the road you can look to get a 6-speed and 3.9 rear end- but I wouldn't worry/stress over it now.

I'll sift through my various tunes/spark maps that I have saved tonight. Do you have the ECU in your hands yet?

[HardHitter]

Well things quickly change don't they.

I ended up canceling my turbo order today and ended up purchasing a NA Miata with a CARB legal GT28 turbo kit.

There are a few problems with the car

- It does not run. Owner says the MSPNP is not functioning properly and is a "$200" fix. Doubtful so I am budgeting needing to buy a new one.
- Tags were due November 2012 so they are going to be about a year late. Anyone know what the expected cost of this is going to be? My NB Miata I just registered and it was I think $110 + smog costs. He said his other NA was $56 to register.
- I'm going to need to smog the car. The kit is a smog legal kit but I'm sure I'll have to budget some areas to pass smog

The reason why I canceled the turbo kit?

- I bought it for $2000 cash
- Car already has a turbo kit on it
- Car came with a spare motor, 2 sets of tires, 3 sets of injectors and a built head

I am going to see it in person this weekend and if all looks good, I'll trailer it home.

[aaronc7]

Ha!

Post up some pics/details when you got it. 1.6 or 1.8L engine? Begi turbo kit I'm gonna guess based on being CARB legal and GT28

[HardHitter]

It's a 1990 with 1.6L. The kit is a BEGI kit but he said the only thing that is still stock from the kit is the manifold and IC piping. It was a GT25 kit and he swapped it up onto a GT28.

I'm taking a big risk on this I think with the car being able to run. Once and if I get the motor to run, who knows what other potential problems I may find but again, for $2000 and the parts I'm getting with it, it's a risk I'm willing to take.

[jonspeed3]

Originally Posted by aaronc7 Nice man, you'll love it. If you have any tuning questions let me know. I have a 99 w/ DIYPNP and ran a 2560 for some time, I could probably get you a pretty good map to get started on. Mine made 275whp, 258tq on the dyno. 5-speed or 6-speed trans? In some ways turboing the factory BP can have just as much of a shocker effect. Many people are pretty ignorant on imports and turbocharging and don't understand how anything can be faster than their 'merican muscle V8. I've surprised quite a few people....

Was that power on a stock motor?
I've been dying to boost my miata.

[aaronc7]

Originally Posted by jonspeed3 Was that power on a stock motor? I've been dying to boost my miata.

Yes

99 Miata GT2560R Dyno - YouTube

99 Miata GT2560R Dyno - YouTube

[HardHitter]

Any guesses on the cost for 1 year late registration?

[HardHitter]

So I ended up picking the car up today. Definitely is a project car but for $2000 and all the parts, you can't complain.










Some of the parts that came with the car (tires, motors, etc)

[HardHitter]

Haven't updated this thread but since I bought the car there has been a lot of troubleshooting and the car is possessed or something haha. The MS won't connect to my computer, the fuel pump is still on even after I remove the key from the ignition, etc.

So I ended up making a few purchases in hopes to narrow down my problems. The problem where the MS will sometimes mate up and be recognized tells me 2 things

#1 : the MS itself is having problems and likely need a new one
#2 : the cord from the MS to the Serial-USB converter is somehow faulty

Seeing how #2 is the cheapest route, I bought another cord from DIYAutoTune ($21). If the problem continues then I know that it has to be the MS ECU itself.

The other problem is that I was not getting a CEL. Based upon the 'No-Start Troubleshooting' thread, I ended up buying an ignitor module ($16) in case the previous owner shorted it and I ended up buying a MAIN relay ($17) (part#: JE16-18-811).

[Lex]

If you're looking for a MS, we build MS2 PNP units - let me know.

[HardHitter]

Ok guys, things haven't moved much at all. I've resorted back to putting the car to stock. Well not really. The turbo kit and everything is still installed but I've installed the stock ECU, plugged the MAF connector into the MAF and have the stock fuel injectors in.

Some items that were identified:

1. There is supposed to be a ground wire going from the ground block to the motor and I don't see anything. I've heard that this is an important wire as it is what grounds the power going to the starter. Without that, it would typically kill/fry your ECU (stock or MS)


2. When I had the MS in and the ingitor module unplugged, when I turned the car to the ON position, the ECU would light up. When I had the MS in and the ignitor module plugged in, when I turned the car to ON position, the ECU would not light up yet seems to be getting 12V. When I took the key out, the fuel pump seemed to be on and clicking in the engine bay. Only way to stop this was to unplug the battery.

3. When I had the stock ECU in and turned the car to ON, the fuel pump was not constantly running like the MS had it. In fact, I don't even hear it prime.

Don't quite know where to start right now other than to ensure I'm getting spark. If I'm getting spark, then I'm going to need to figure out why I don't hear my fuel pump with the stock ECU. Would jumping the GND and FP fix this for me to try to start the car?