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I see all these other thread updates about what people are working on this winter with their V8 miatas, so I guess I will add my update as well. I mentioned a few weeks back about how I am updating the front end to an MSM front. It hasn't really changed much, we have had snow/bad weather pretty consistent for over a month which is unusual for my part of the country so the car hasn't left.
One thing I have been working on though. After driving the car for a couple years I started to want more power....I fought with the idea back and forth for quite a while, I've actually bought quite a few parts, and then changed my mind/resold them when I decided that the car has more power than it can reasonably use on the street so why add it. I considered all routes, turbo, supercharger, change my LS1 to a massaged LS3 but I just kind of let that idea float away and moved on. Last year I bought a procharger head unit but I never bought anything else and ended up selling. This year I bought a complete A&A vortech system for a corvette, but without major changes these cars just don't have the real estate for that blower setup. I sold that system but the bug had a strong hold on me now, I looked and looked and looked and finally with some tough negotiating I have a TVS1900 supercharger system from a GTO that I am in the process of installing. I will have more pictures as time goes along, so you'll have to just enjoy my teaser for now. I picked the GTO system for a couple reasons: it had the correct alignment for my F-body accessories, and it sets back in the engine bay compared to the corvette and newer Camaro systems. Downside is I am going to have to trim out my cowl some for the rear pulleys. I'm updating several other things too, like the fuel pump wiring mentioned above by Dave, also installing a 340 Racetronix pump in place of my walbro, as with where I think the blower will put me power wise I think I would've been pushing the pump.
I know that similar power levels could be attained by installing a H/C/I, but this just sounds exciting to me! It will be cog driven for that signature twin screw sound. I'll try to keep this updated with pictures of my progress. Lot of work to go, its just setting loose in this picture, still about 1.5" above and 1" further forward than where it will eventually set.
Sometimes too much is just not enough.
Sort of like sex.
Hate to see you tear out the dash but you might consider doing the heater hose reroute to the passenger side.
Isn't that the truth....
That picture is just because I was excited to finally have a blower setting in place, the heater core lines will either be turned and go in and out of the cowl, or as you said, possibly run inside the dash. I don't mind removing the dash, I've done it many times. I'm also thinking it may finally be time to just remove the AC components since I never have actually used them, so may be a good reason.
Work on it is slow these days, I generally get an hour or two per week right now. I am getting closer though. I don't like my cars to look like hack jobs so when I start trimming I trim little bits each time. Yesterday I began trimming the cowl after I massage the brake lines out of the way, basically trimmed around where the vin is stamped in the firewall and that got me very close. I still need another 3/8" for the blower to set in place, then I'd say an additional 3/8 to 1/2" for clearance behind it, but from the looks of it I should be able to get there no problem.
Very cool upgrade! It’s going from crazy fast to scary fast!
Does it look like the hood will clear in the front of the SC?
i can’t wait to see how this turns out.
That was kind of a driver for me. When I first started driving it, it was scary fast, but over 6-7k miles I've gotten more used to it so on top of just the cool factor, I'd like to get the OH! factor back. Last night I did some more trimming on the cowl and got it pretty darn close to setting where it should be on the heads. It looks like it will be very very close, but with a bit of persuasion I might get lucky and get to close the hood.....still not sure. I have a couple tricks I am going to try and use, we will see what happens
As I noted before, I don't have as much time to work on my projects these days so small steps are the name of the game. I started trimming a couple nights ago, did some additional trimming last night. I think maybe just a hair more trimming or massaging and I will be where I need to be clearance wise for the rear of the blower. At this point my pulleys are lined up out front, but I am making light contact in the rear so I need some room. Pictures are seen below. My list to accomplish before having it done is as follows:
-Trim/Clearance for rear of blower
-Install rear cog drive setup
-Install tensioner
-Drill/pin crank pulley
-Install intercooler and plumb up for HX
-Decide on HX reservoir/order/install
-Rework brake lines
-Clean up wiring/plumbing at rear of motor where I now have cog pulleys
-Build new fuel line from my hard connection to the fuel rail which is now on the drivers side
-Re-work steam vents from heads
-Re-run heater core lines
-Remove all AC parts(still debating this one)
-Misc.
Over the past few days I have been able to knock several items off my list. Pulled the dash out with interior heater core lines in mind.
-Pulled all AC parts, pulled the box inside and gutted the evaporator so I could put it back and still have heat when its cold out. Hopefully removing all the AC parts offset some of the weight I am adding with this blower, shes heavy.
-Ran heater core lines inside through old AC ports, looks much cleaner and obviously doesn't run over blower now.
-Did some more clearancing on the rear not shown in pictures, looks blower appears to be at home now.
-The magnuson fuel rails were nice enough to be flappable. I'll need some new fittings for the crossovers but it should save me from having to make a new fuel line, and having it cross over the blower. FYI, magnuson fuel rails use -6 ORB(9/16-18 straight cut o-ring) to 6AN fittings. Took me a while to find that info
-Pinned the crank, was really easy with everything already out of the way.
-Built brackets to mount intercooler
-Mounted HX pump under passenger headlight
-Picked up an aluminum radiator overflow tank to use as a HX coolant reservoir. My current overflow tank is mounted under the drivers headlight so this seemed like a clean way to mount a tank. I looked at a lot of options but short of building a custom one to fit in the small area, this seemed like the best option. I bought this and a couple fittings that I will have a local shop TIG on, then I'll coat black.
-Started to put in my gauges but ended up not liking them, re-ordered a set to match my current setup better.
I think that's all. I'm getting dangerously close to getting this beast on here, lot more work than it seems like, but I am also dealing with a few changes I have wanted to make for a while.
Was able to complete a lot of small stuff this weekend. Not as good at taking pictures these days for some reason but I do at least have one. Blower is finally bolted down as seen below(don't mind my mess, I am a very messy shop keeper when I am working on something). I have had it in and out about 20 times(no kidding) making sure I had clearance there and room here, but now its in there. Accomplishments this weekend:
-Installed cog drive on rear of blower. Same 1:1 ratio as the serpentine drive it came with, I honestly just wanted them for the sound!
-Installed 3" griptech pulley/new idler pulley that should hopefully fit my setup better
-Wired HX pump on relay. Don't have any unique way to control it so I just set it up to be signaled when the computer is signaled on
-Wired in the IAT sensor, the sensor in my blower looks different than the ones that magnuson normally provides so I hope it works fine
-Wired in a GM 3 bar MAP sensor from a ZL1. My computer wont actually be able to see all the resolution it offers, but it will still be a good benefit, and the oem quality cannot be argued with
-Installed a new Racetronix 340LPH pump, and the upgraded racetronix in tank wiring pigtail. If you look a few months back in this thread I noted where I had some trouble last summer with my fuel system. Wanted to address that now.
Remaining items to do:
Fuel rail fittings
Vacuum lines
HX Tank/Lines
Intake tube-sadly my AIRAID intake won't fit wont even be close, very disappointed here.
Yep, should room, I am just disappointed that I won't get to run the Airaid intake anymore. The belt up to the supercharger now gets in the way......
Any chance that you can relocate the idler pulley closer to the supercharger? It might free up some space for the intake tube and it would provide more grip on the drive pulley.
I have the FM Dual pass radiator setup. I fought with it early on but since I got it lined out, I have never had a moments trouble with it so I think it will be fine. Keep in mind, my car is not a dedicated racer, I only race it occasionally so the cooling system isn't pushed hard very often as far as I am concerned. But it is something to keep an eye on for sure. Not sure what I will do for the hood yet. I have a couple ideas but at this point its up in the air. I think first and foremost, I'll put the hood on and trim holes for the protruding parts. I have see cases where that doesn't look terrible. If it looks like crap then I'll consider others. I can say that I have looked and looked and looked, there are extremely limited options for an NB cowl hood. Simpson designs mades on, but the cowl is very low and narrow, I don't think it would fit the bill. CCP will glass in a scoop of your choice, but I honestly don't want to have 1500 or so in a hood by the time I pay for the hood, scoop, labor, and shipping, not even counting paint
Tbone-Thats some good food for thought. I may have to pop off that plate the idler is currently mounted to and see what I have. I could likely move it over a bit, but as you can see not much, and I couldn't go up at all.....I'll report back on that.
What are your thoughts on the new Racetronix fuel pump wiring? Pretty stout? If it works like we think it would, this should be a must-do for any new build or current V8M looking for upgrades.
My thoughts are mixed.....As a product, it is first rate, very well packaged, very good quality materials, and I definitely don't think I will have any issue with it again. I did however have a couple issues with it.
-I thought it was a hair on the pricey side, $53 for just the wiring pigtails/bulkhead fitting and plug for other side. A person could do this upgrade themselves salvaging miata parts, however it definitely won't be as clean.
-I doubt it will turn into an issue, but the bulkhead fitting comes with no information on a suggested drill bit size, or a general suggested location. If you are at the level you are doing this work then you likely don't need it but I just expected it.
-Wire colors.....The wire colors on one side of the fitting do not correspond to the same colors on the other side of the fitting...not a big deal, but seems to me its an easy spot for error....
Would I buy it again? Absolutely just because I how clean and robust it is, and how with the additional plug it goes right into the pump. The shortcomings it had(some just because it is a universal setup) are more than compensated for with the overall effectiveness of the product. I did not take any pictures, but Dave did and they are included a handful of posts back.
It really is amazing how little changes pile up on you when you are doing something like this. Here I am another weekend down and the car is still on stands(It does run now though, fast forward to below if you want to see proof!). This weekend was another good accomplished weekend, brought me ever closer terrorizing the streets in my area. List of accomplishments this weekend:
-Ran all my vacuum lines except for the miata cruise system
-Loosely installed my new catch can, will hard mount it once I get my intake installed
-Plumbed some of the HX lines, but I still haven't got my coolant tank from the welder so I couldn't completely finish it.
-Wired in my new gauges, boost, fuel pressure, wideband. Wideband I had to pull an exhaust piece and weld on a bung for the sensor.
-Fuel system.....oh lordy. I got my new fittings in and was finally able to prime the system and see if it held. It was close, but the first time the rear passenger injector appeared to be leaking. No big deal, I went and got a new seal kit and put new seals on the whole passenger side since I had the rail off. Go to prime it again and it is POURING from the same injector.....Pulled it off again and just by luck I had pinched the top o-ring for that injector so one more seal kit in very carefully and it appears that all is well. My new gauge reports right around 58-60 static PSI.
Things I still have to finish
-My tuner sent me a startup tune, but I had some tech issues with HP tuners opening the file so I created a ticket with them. I was able to start the car below on the other tune I had, but boy it is fat, lots of fuel when you are sending a OEM LS1 injector scale to a 60lb Deka.
-Need to get one fitting for my head steam vents
-Need to build an intake...somehow
-I ordered a fiberglass cowl that I think I'll like, it will be here today so hopefully that will give me the room I need for the intake and the pulley.
All said, It was buttoned up enough to give myself a little bit of payoff so I tried to fire her up. Below is the first start(a couple of them). I know its not for everyone, but I absolutely LOVE the whine of a cog driven blower.
love that sound, , if your not scaring women and small children it's NOT loud enough, LOL. Very cool, actually giving me the extra incentive I need to get back to my project... Thank you
love it too, not for everyone but it certainly is for me. Glad to hear my project has got you on the rollers again, just have to keep at it!
Update time here. Now that the car runs I need to make it all look decent again. I know several people have been curious what I would do for a hood, I have been too. I have spent countless hours combing the internet lookin for off the shelf solutions for an NB miata. Only one I found was Simpson designs, just a very small cowl, and a lot of dough shipped. So then I start looking at custom scoops/cowls. I went back and forth and back and forth worried about them because most options are fiberglass and molding that to a Aluminum hood is questionable. Got to reading a lot of great things about Panel Bond adhesives made by companies like 3M and Evercoat, so with that in mind I felt good about the attachment point, just needed to find a scoop/cowl I liked that wasn't $1k and would fit the way I wanted. I was looking for one that was flanged because I wanted to actually bond it to the bottom of the hood, I think it will be easier to make look good. Ending up coming across this style linked below which was about what I wanted. Kind of a Sunoco cowl design with smooth edges. I didn't want any sharp corners, just don't feel like it matches the miata body lines. Anyway, ordered it and off we go. Out of the box it is too wide for my application. I already had cut the new vents in my new hood, so I had to deal with them. Not sure I'd have done them again had I already decided on this scoop, but they are there now so its happening. So far I have cut 5-1/2" out of the middle, and laid new fiberglass for my first time. Honestly for being a first timer, I am very happy with the results so far.
Will report back more as I go, but for now you see what I have. I roughed up the underside and I laid a layer of woven mat/resin about 4" wide, then a layer of woven mat/resin 8" wide, then a final layer of chopped mat/resin about 12" wide. Sorry no pictures of the whole process since its a time sensitive effort while the resin sets up. I will sand down and do one layer of woven on the top also about 3" wide or so for strength, then I'll finish with some bondo glass. After that I will cut a hole in the hood big enough for the scoop to fit through, and use the panel bond to mate it to the bottom of the sanded hood. I will go ahead and put some screws through it to help it set in place, then remove/fill them later. Hopefully it turns out as well as I am thinking, and the hood isn't too busy.
The struggle is real with pictures today....prepare for pictures in a few posts instead of just this one.
02-08-2019, 08:33 AM
, if your not scaring women and small children it's NOT loud enough, LOL. Very cool, actually giving me the extra incentive I need to get back to my project... Thank you
