boosting on a low budget

[slimx]

after weeks i have gotten my excellent reply

So roughly $1,500 just parts.

Just curious why clutch ?? $250 for a cheap clutch i presume?? I hate changing clutches. I'd go for the $800 option when it comes to clutches lol

[NitroDann]

The stock clutch clips anywhere past 160rwhp.
I have a thousand dollar clutch setup in mine, but you can get a 250 dollar one that will do the job.

And sorry it took so long, we were sort of too busy argueing rather than answering your question in full.

It will take you a little while to get those parts cheap. Id suggest you get the megasquirt and injectors first thing, like now. Get very familiar with that first. I believe theres on for sale here if you look it was a little while ago, but I think he still has it and is ready to negotiate a reasonable price. Brand new, never used...

Dann

[jerrah]

2nd hand begi mani and dump, 250 shipped

I've been looking for years and I've never seen a combo like this that cheap? Where from?

[NitroDann]

Everytime someone parts out on miata turbo. If you buy the turbo mani and dump together. America basically.

Dann

[jerrah]

Haven't had a bunch of luck getting replies or interest shipping to Australia in the past. I guess I'll look again.

[bigdog]

What you have suggested is certainly possible Dann, but unlikely to work for the average Joe MX-5 owner. For starters everything you listed is second hand, and most of us would not be able to tell good from bad when it comes to s/h turbos, injectors, intercoolers etc. A full kit from an SE would be more viable, but don't come up very often, and tend not to be that cheap. You have the benefit of being a mechanic with the necessary skills to put a package like this together and make it work; most folk on this forum would need to employ someone like you to do the work, which will make the bill much more than $1500. As would a failure of any of the 2nd hand components once fitted. For 'most' people there is no such thing as a low cost turbo or supercharger install. The other issue is legality - an SE or SP come road legal, and that is worth a lot of money in today's RTA arena, so I would have to disagree with you and say that buying an SE is the cheapest way.

[NitroDann]

The question was cheapest not most legal.

Anyone with half a brain and a spare half an hour on google can diagnose a good or bad turbo. Injectors too, everything else is has no moving parts so cant really have reliability issues.

Also all of this is bolt on with basic tools.

Dann

[bigdog]

Sooo, turbo manifolds never crack, piping welds don't break and intercoolers don't leak. I guess rods don't bend and rings don't leak either. Seriously Dann, you simplify the issue way too much. I am a very experienced spanner wielder, and I would not advise anyone to follow your suggested route unless they were similarly experienced or ready to burn a pile of money if it goes wrong. This forum has had some real tales of woe from people who tried to set up budget turbos and failed. The successes (yours, Ampz, Brettauto etc are all accomplished guys with the necessary skills. All I am suggesting is a note of caution. Yes, it is possible to succeed for minimal $, but it is equally possible to waste those $. If you have some spare cash and want the learning curve/experience, go for it.

[NitroDann]

The begi Cast mani has zero history of failure, a 50 dollar xr6 cooler leaking is only 50 dollars etc.

But I understand your point.

OP asked his question, I think my list is the best answer for him, certaintly so far.

Dann

[ampz]

In my opinion an SE would be the cheapest option with the least headache.
Why?
Because as the initial post suggested, even a low boost setup which is what was asked for would work without going crazy on supporting mods.
Take a wrecked SE from Pickles Auctions, this would have an initial outlay of $5000 (from the last sale of a local one)
Sell the seats (easily for $1000), the 6 speed another $1000, keep the torsen, exhaust and intake pumbling/ecu.
The rest of the body parts whichever salvageable would net another $1000 (glass softop, doors, trims, bumper, etc), this is without selling suspension, brakes, etc.
This puts the cost outlay down to around $2000
With that setup, even though sub optimal in a lot of ways, it is also rock solid and engineerable without much effort.
The hardest part about this build would be unplugging wires, 2 engine mount bolts, 2 gearbox ppf bolts, a couple of exhaust flange bolts, oh not to mention undoing/redoing the fuel lines. My 15 yo stepson could probably do the conversion himself in under a week, if given access to basic tools and an engine hoist (my garage).

As for the other comments on using your own insurers, locked bonnets, etc I'm not going to enter into that argument, I'm too old to know better

If money is the absolute object, I would put it into http://www.bellengineering.net/product_info.php?cPath=5_11_63&products_id=397 then spend the next 6 months, tuning whatever ecu you choose (MS $500, used link/AEM $300 at least, etc) knowing full well the clutch would be the first thing to take a dump within those 6 months. Tuning would be done on the road to save money.

It can be done on the cheap, but usually as can be proven many times over in life, cheap does not equal fast/reliable.

Just as an aside...
Many years ago, a mate was prepping his RX4 in his workshop. I was carless at the time and bought a suzuki sierra hardtop with the 1000cc engine that day for $300. That friday night I was helping him on the dolly so the RX4 could be flipped to have the chassis built and I noticed a 3 cyl daihatsu turbo engine in the corner (off a smashed car). We did a cut/shut on the exhaust manifolds of both cars and had a turbo sierra frankenstein.

Cheap? Yes. Reliable? Hell no! Fun? Youbettermotherfloweringbelieveit!

Sold the car with turbo the week after. The guy that bought it had an accident, no engineers certificate, no insurance. All he hit was a commodore, it ended up costing him $50000 in legal fees and replacement costs.
This was in 1995...
What does a Commodore R8 go for nowadays?

[Uncle Arthur]

I did my "cheap" DIY install a few years back.

I got lucky with the turbo kit, and got TD04, BOV, EBay manifold injectors, IC, Greddy EManage and loom, 2nd hand for $1300. I took the turbo to a workshop to get them to clock the wastegate mount - they dropped it, denied it, and basically punched the compressor housing seal out of the back, and smooshed the compressor wheel into its housing. Required turbo rebuild - mate across the road worked at a workshop and did it on the cheap for parts only - about $700 from memory.

I did the install essentially myself, except for paying a mate to build all the SS pipework for intake and exhaust. From memory that was about $500 in steel, another $300-$400 in other hardware, pipe clamps and silicone joiners, and $600 for his time at mate's rates. Braided oil line and speed flow fittings, plus all other oil and water hoses/fittings was about another $300-$400.

Gauges - about $350 - but I got lucky with some on ebay.

I upgraded the rotors to slotted versions, 2nd hand $200. I installed a mazdaspeed VLSD that cost me $300 to buy, and $700 to have rebuilt and lapped. It died (blew the crown gear actually) - Torsen cost me another $1200.

I did the initial tune (from a downloaded base for a similar car) but it still needed dyno time $300

I got it engineered - much easier in Queensland - I can't remember how much that cost, and it's legally registered and insured as a turbo car, and a daily driver. There's probably other things here I've forgotten - best I didn't keep records, so SWMBO will never know quite how much I spent.

So my cheap DIY cost close to $5K, and that doesn't include all the money I've spent on bits since.

[NitroDann]

I count over 3000 dollars that didnt need to be spent.

Dann

[Uncle Arthur]

I count over 3000 dollars that didnt need to be spent.

Dann

WOW - good on you Dann - perhaps you should have come and done my install then? That way I could have had a cheap and nasty job half done by someone who I don't know from a bar of soap, rather than knowing I had the job done right. I'm so disappointed in myself for making such a poor choice in my approach.

But I am so utterly relieved to see that once again you prove your self to be the font of all knowledge on this forum - hooray for you - for you're the best!

None of us need ever ask for or offer some advice ever again, for Dann knows best.

Relax everybody - NitroDann has it all covered.

[Old Dude]

Well I was speaking to another forumite, the other day who made similar remarks regarding turboing his car. He got the turbo cheap, but said once it was fitted he had to start modifying other things Eg. hoses, heat shield etc, etc, so his advice is work out how much to buy all the bits you need, ...........then double it and you will be somewhere close to what it will cost you to get it working properly.
I don't know because I have never done it but I do listen to people who have.

Cheers
Dale

[zossy1]

In my opinion an SE would be the cheapest option with the least headache.
Why?
Because as the initial post suggested, even a low boost setup which is what was asked for would work without going crazy on supporting mods.
Take a wrecked SE from Pickles Auctions, this would have an initial outlay of $5000 (from the last sale of a local one)
Sell the seats (easily for $1000), the 6 speed another $1000, keep the torsen, exhaust and intake pumbling/ecu.
The rest of the body parts whichever salvageable would net another $1000 (glass softop, doors, trims, bumper, etc), this is without selling suspension, brakes, etc.

Wrecked SE?

He'll be waiting years. They are rare as hen's teeth. I have seen one, and one only, in the past 12 months.

I did see a NB8A with a JRSC in Melbourne a few months ago, and a NA6 with a Greddy kit at Milperra about 6 months ago. That's it.

Much easier, as ND says, to source the parts from a US seller on MT.net.

And yes - they will often ship to Oz, if you offer to pay for shipping, pay their paypal fees, and don't be a dick. I have never been turned down and have bought of mt.net at least 5 times in the past 6 months or so.