Bought a Miata last night and need help.

First I need to know of the best place to learn about giving the car a basic tune up. From there I need to learn about how to turbo the car (are any of the ebay down pipes ok?). The car is a 1991 with 174000 miles and I only paid $700. It seem to just need a battery to be a great car. Pics to come.

Will my sparco evo 2's fit in this car?

I am working on a build list. Please add ideas or items to my list. What are the must haves?

1. Hard top (after market?)
2. Fender flares
3. Bad ass wheels to fill out flares
4. Respray in red after wheels fit
5. Springs and shocks (used spec stuff?)
6. New working Radio
7. Replace broken side view mirrors
8. Front lip and maybe bumper cover the is not warped.
9. Some type of roll bar I need help here.
10. Must have turbo power

The pic sucks it was dark.

• Hard Dog Rollbar
• Brake service (aggressive pads, bleed fluid)
• Timing belt change
• Check your crank nose
• Driving lessons

Buy Keith's "Mazda Miata MX-5 Performance Projects" (http://www.miataprojects.com/).

For tune-up info, check www.Miata.net

Pick up a back-issue of the June 2007 GRM, if you don't have it. Pay attention to the build log of their rat.

Why the roll bar?

I hated my NB Miata once I installed the roll bar. It was so close to my head that I would bump it on occasion. Made me paranoid each time I drove it. I had one of the taller Hard Dog roll bars in mine.

I'm about 5'10" fwiw.

I presume he wants to be able to track his Miata, and not get decapitated by SUVs.

Did you buy the "Hard Core"? I'm about 5'10" also. I went with the Hard Top bar because is raked back slightly. In an NA, the Hard Top is far enough back that my head has total clearance during daily driving. There is another bar using less stout pipe that is not approved for SCCA Solo 1, but also provides similar clearance.

Here's a miata turbo from dallas' craigslist. Not affiliated, etc. Good luck

Javier

http://dallas.craigslist.org/pts/739930274.html mazda miata turbo set up - $280 (Plano) Reply to: sale-739930274@craigslist.org Date: 2008-07-01, 11:40PM CDT

i have a turbo setup from a 2004 mazdaspeed miata, it has 30k miles on it. this kit has the manifold, turbo, o2 housing. no leaks and spins freely Location: Plano

snipes said:I am working on a build list. Please add ideas or items to my list. What are the must haves? 1) Hard top (after market?) 2) Fender flares 3) Bad ass wheels to fill out flares 4) Respray in red after wheels fit 5) Springs and shocks (used spec stuff?) 6) New working Radio 7) Replace broken side view mirrors 8) Front lip and maybe bumper cover the is not warped. 9) Some type of roll bar I need help here. 10) Must have turbo power

1) Maybe, I'm curious to lay eyes on one of the mythical CF Hardtops that are "coming." You can't go wrong with a factory HT, though—plan on spending 800 bucks.
2) Me too, maybe. They sure look cool.
3) See above.
4) At least you can keep it the same color. I'm trying to love white, but keep feeling like I want to change colors.
5) There are a million options for Miata suspension, why used Spec Miata parts?
6) Crutchfield FTW
7) Raydyot copies look awesome for reasonable money, but factory replacements should be nearly free.
8) Hard to beat stock parts here.
9) HardDog Hardcore works very well for me.
10) I thought so too. Keep an eye on the October issue.

You're going to turbo an engine that already has 174k miles on it?

Why not turbo it? I added my supercharger at 190-something-k miles.

Agreed on the "why not turbo it" comment. Used engines of this era are super cheap now. If the current one pops, buy another.

spitfirebill wrote: You're going to turbo an engine that already has 174k miles on it?

Miatas are invincible.

spitfirebill wrote: You're going to turbo an engine that already has 174k miles on it?

Yes. This is the best way in my mind. I have changed turbo and ECU set ups a number of times on my cars. Things can go very wrong when you are trying a new set up. So blowing the stock motor up is one get out of jail free card. I look at it this way. Turbo, ECU and new motor leave me with three things as unknowns. I would like to keep it down to two at a time. I do not want to make a mistake with a new motor. In the end if you have a nice safe set up that works fine on a 170,000 mile motor it should run forever on a fresh motor.

Turbo? try Flying Miata

I think he's trying to find one that costs less than what he purchased the car for.

Avoid(if you can) the after market hardtop(snugtop) the fitment is OK, but the build qaulity is lacking.

A sub-$700 turbo kit is a difficult thing to find. It's not even easy to build one yourself for that price. Mind you, few of his plans are going to easily come in under the $700 purchase price.

Are ebay downpipes okay? Well, they're only 30% of the equation. The design of the manifold and the choice of turbo dictates the shape of the downpipe. Make sure everything matches!

I don't consider blowing engines up as part of development. Then again, I'm lazy.

Here's the basic run down on the Hard Dog bars: Hard Core: 1.75" tubing (as required by SCCA), sits further forward

Sport: An inch or two further back, 1.25" lower, 1.5" tubing. Why lower? Because of the shape of the roof.

The Hardtop version of the Hard Core is really just a Sport made of the fat tubing. It sits lower as well.

I'd change the order of operations. Choose your tires. Then choose your wheels. Then, if you need a widebody kit to cover these wheels and tires, get the widebody. Starting with a body kit and then trying to find rubber to fill out the body is the wrong way around.

You can do a lot better than Spec Miata suspension unless you're planning to race in Spec Miata. But given the widebody and turbo plans, I'm guessing that's not the case :) Remember, Spec cars run the suspension they do because they don't have a choice.

While Mazda Miata Performance Projects is an excellent book, (thanks for the recommendation) I think "Mazda Miata: Find It, Fix It, Trick It" might be a better choice in this case. It has more of the "why" info instead of just "how". Heck, get 'em both :)

By the way, that looks to be a 1993 in the picture. And stay away from that Dallas turbo for sale, it's for a 1.8 which will NOT fit your 1.6 engine. However, if you swap a 1.8 in to replace that high-mileage 1.6...

Keith Thanks for all the help. I am going for a bout a $4000-$5000 budget on this project so not everything will have to be totally cheap. I have both a used saab T-3 and a GT28r turbo so I know to make sure all the flanges work. I think I was the first person to put a GT28r in a classic saab.

You where a big help on the roll bars. However is the hardtop hard core ok for SCCA. And will the standard hard core work with the hardtop? I watched a man get crushed/killed in a Miata so I want safety. But it would be nice if the roll bar could work with the hard and soft top and still look cool. In the end this is a track car so looks and the soft top are at the bottom of the list.

"I'd change the order of operations. Choose your tires. Then choose your wheels. Then, if you need a widebody kit to cover these wheels and tires, get the widebody. Starting with a body kit and then trying to find rubber to fill out the body is the wrong way around."

Keith you are right about this one using logic, but I just plain want the look. I think Miatas are boring to look at and the flares say "I am no longer a girls car". The flares seem like a two for one improvement. I am fine with my man hood. The flares are just a project requirement.

Again thanks for all the help.

You may also want to head over to the articles section and read the Miata profile and the Trash to Treasure article.

I just did this myself. I'll relate my experiences.

Read the turbo miata forums. You can start by going to Miata.net under their turbo sub-forum. Then you'll want to read on miataturbo.net. I feel dirty going there as those guys tend to be real shiny happy persons to newbies. Don't ask questions until you've lurked for about 6 mo's. I'm serious. Just don't. They're pricks and unapologetic about it. Also, post in the off-topic section so you can to get your post count up to 10 before trying to buy any parts. If you do it any other way those pricks will ban you. Then you'll have to use anonymous proxy's, different usernames, and other shenanigan's to get around their asinine policies. Don't ask how I know.

I bought a kit from a guy on here. It was a greddy so not optimal but all the parts were there and it works. Cheap(ish) too.

Installing the kit is not easy. It's not on par with an engine swap but I spent a full couple of days on it from bolts breaking to having the manifold welded due to cracking. The p.o. told me about this. It was the main reason why the kit was so cheap. So far the welding is holding and doing well.

My goals were to have a turbo'ed Miata that I could track. My first purchase was the Hard Dog rollbar. I got the soft top version and it works well. I bought the padding for it so if I hit my head it's not that bad. I don't hit my head often tho. I'm 5'9-10". I also sit upright while driving.

I tracked the car in this configuration and had a blast. The Miata, in stock form, is a fun car to track. After this was when I started modifying.

The DIY Faq on miataturbo.net is a very well written piece of info.

Just saw this one on Craig's List for Roanoke, VA:

http://roanoke.craigslist.org/pts/740741623.html

90-94 Mazda Miata Greddy Turbo kit - $400 (Roanoke) Reply to: sale-740741623@craigslist.org Date: 2008-07-02, 6:00PM EDT *Brand New* still in box, I had bought for my miata and never had money to get put on.. Now i nolonger have a miata so I have no use for it. I paid slighty over $1200 for the kit from racerwheel.com. The kit retails for over $1600 on greddy website. I have all pieces still in original wrapping and everything. If interested or have any questions you can email me or call me @ 540-309-0920, leave a msg

I don't see the manifold in the picture so you'll def'ly want to ask about that. $400 though!

If you do get a GReddy kit, make sure you read up on manifold modifications to avoid the cracking. It's been a problem with their stuff for at least a decade.

The Hard Core Hardtop is legal for SCCA use - if you can get the clearance you need over your head. This is a non-trivial exercise for many people. It's simple packaging - in order to fit under a top (any top), the bar has to be shorter as it moves back. The regular Hard Core will fit under a hardtop, but you'll have to do something different with the side latches. I'm pretty sure you can simply bolt it into place instead of using the standard latches.

I'm getting mixed messages. "In the end this is a track car so looks and the soft top are at the bottom of the list." "Keith you are right about this one using logic, but I just plain want the look."

If it is truly a track car, then slap on a set of the widebody flares, get some 15x7 wheels with a +20 offset or so, and run cantilevered slicks. That's what the widebody kits are designed to cover. Not streetable at all, but you're going to find that street tires that fill out a widebody are pretty scarce.

How's your budget look? Commercially available widebody kits run about $1000. That's 20-25% of your budget right there.

As far as the budget goes I am working on it in excel now. All I can say is the turbo and ECU may not make it into the budget and have to wait.

I do not want to do a full wide body just flares like this http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0704_sccp_1995_mazda_miata_time_attack/photo_03.html

Tim Baxter wrote: You may also want to head over to the [articles](/articles/) section and read the Miata profile and the Trash to Treasure article.

That article fit my project perfectly! It was well-written and relevant to many applications (at least that GRM folks would get themselves into).