Crossroads
 

Well, I'm stuck now. Looks like my 95 is going to need more body work than I thought, and it will still be my winter car so I expect a long hard road for it.

My 92 is in beautiful shape, and I love the bone-stockeydness of it.

But it lacks oomph.

And I REALLY want a turbo Miata.

So here's what I'm thinking. Rewire my DIYPNP to work with the 92, and piece together a small, low boost kit to learn with. Keep the stock look, just have a surprise under the hood.

Continue to weather proof the 95, keep her running until her ultimate rusty demise:(

Thoughts? Suggestions?

a turbo daily is probobly not the best idea to start with :sign0134:
if i were to do it the 92 would be my choice, then when the 95 goes you have a 1.8 for a different setup.

True, but even if I break down in the 92, I can drive the 95 until I fix it. Both can be daily driven, just not the 92 in the winter.

turbo car in winter will make it interesting, what does the underside of both look like. i would expect the 95 is rusty correct?

The 92 is showroom, and won't ever see a salty road. Garage queen/summer driver only.

The 95 is in good shape, a little surface rust, and I am well versed in corrosion control, but I have found that before I bought it it had the rear clip welded on due to a major rear end accident and the seams/welds are rusting from inside out. The trunk lid will never fit properly and it leaks inside. I fear that it only has a few more years before MAJOR surgery is needed. That's why I'm thinking to scrap turbo plans for the 95 and focus on slowly putting together a kit for the 92. As a summer car, I thing a turbo would make it more enjoyable.

It sounds like you want some reassurance that turboing the 92 is the thing to do. Which in your case sounds like it would be the best option. Drive the 95 till it falls apart and enjoy the 92 as a nice weather car.

Reassurance is exactly what I need. I have a habit of making irrational decisions based on emotion and I like to have third parties sanity check me before I jump in with both feet. I'm really after what downside I'm overlooking here.

Downside is your 92 is showroom new anymore. But you can always make it the way it should have been from the factory. Begi manifold, smaller turbo, shot for the 230 range and you should be more than happy with it. You will need a Torsen though

Turbo it sissy! Buy my megasquirt and 3.9 Torsen as well. Fund my new baby.

Oh, and count me in for helping install the turbo. Are you going to rebuild the motor first?