RedTurboMiata

shortest build thread ever. lol

sixshooter

I dropped it off at a local small town exhaust shop to have a downpipe constructed and installed this morning. We put it on the lift and the 19yr old installer looked at what I had and said "It's tight but I think I can do it." I said "That's why I brought it to a professional." I gave him the two v-bands and left. We'll see how he does.

The rest of the exhaust is a 3 inch mandrel bend setup that came with the blown up turbo parts car I bought a couple of years ago. It had some goofy hangars on it so I told him to make that part right as he saw fit. It has a ricer HKS muffler with integrated bigass tip which I'm not really fond of but... oh well, if it works.

MF-Brain

iTrader: (1)

its nice to have competent shops near by.

Track

Good stuff Steve! 'bout time you had a build thread here.

Dntlift

build thread? whats that?!?!

Also nice to see some progress on this car! Cant wait to see it in person again sometime.

sixshooter

I didn't hear from the muffler shop before 5:30pm. I certainly shouldn't be concerned that it takes more that 7 hours to build a downpipe and add an o2 bung.

sixshooter

Well, I picked the car up on Friday afternoon and drove it home with the default MS base tune boost cut still on. It sounds deep and full of bass without any raspyness at all. It is 3 inch diameter pipe all the way from the turbine to the muffler outlet. It is an HKS HiPower muffler that was on my parts car for those of you keeping score. It has a ridonkulous 5 or 6 inch diameter tip built into it with the HKS logo engraved in it. Ricey as fawk looking but sounds deep and mellow. The downpipe isn't perfect but it is workable and will do for now.

I worked on covering brake lines and heater hoses with shielding to protect them from the heat off the turbine and downpipe. I made some progress but I'm not done. Pics tomorrow if you are good boys and girls.

I adjusted the wastegate arm so that the wastegate was slightly open at rest and set the overboost cut at 160kpa (around 8.5psi). I did this to try to eliminate the chances of overboosting until everything is broken in and tested for leaks and double checked. I did a little driving around. It is a nice thing to feel when the air starts to rush and you feel the welcome surge of extra power. Even with the wastegate propped partially open it feels compelling in that way that only turbos can. I've waited too long for a turbocharged car of my own and am satisfied and content in a special way that I put so much of my own work into it and made it happen from a pile of spare parts, a couple of new parts, and a lot of reckoning and wrenching. I feel satisfaction. And hope.

I have hope that even at the diminutive pressure level that the car achieves at present, it would keep much of the lesser traffic from running away from me on the track straightaways as they had before. I have hope that I will get those point-bys that I have been wrongfully denied in the past. I feel justice, nay even vindication shall come from this. I have only glimpsed through the crack in the door, but now I wish more than anything to boldly enter, crank up the boost to eleventy and ride while howling madly with fire in my eyes. Intoxicating? Yes, yes, it is.

RedTurboMiata

kick that door in swat style. lol
but seriously welcome to the addiction, wait untill you spool without the wastegate propped open.
(Sig quote for you)
turbos are some of the most fun you can have with your pants on

sixshooter

Oh, I've driven 700+whp turbo cars and know the thrill of which you speak, but they weren't MINE. It is more remarkable when you build it yourself with no kit and the damn thing even runs. I've always felt a strange bit of surprise when any engine I've ever built fired up for the first time, too. It's a little bit of "Wow, I can't believe it worked" every time, no matter how many I built.

RedTurboMiata

picked a bad way of wording that, but yea its that satisfaction of knowing its yours.