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1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:21 pm
by miatakid
ok so im doing a budget turbo build on my 92 mx5 and was just curios about a few things.
can i run the 1.6 engine on the turbo 1.8 ecu from the gtx and harness from the 1.8 mx5 to use hot wire afm and vtps? if not what other afm can i use?
thanx in advance

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:39 pm
by bartmanftw
It would be much easier and run a lot better if you just went for an aftermarket ecu instead.

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:47 pm
by miatakid
fair enough but being a first yeah apprentice mechanic money is slim and i just wont it to work till i can afford and aftermarket ecu

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:43 pm
by speed
Interesting idea but agree with Bart. Can get 2nd hand MS2 ECU for 500 and not have to mess with the harness, ditch the AFM (which saves you money)
Doing it right the first time actually saves you money and gives you more road time.
My advice is to keep saving, build it right and then show it off to your mates :D


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Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:17 pm
by bartmanftw
Yeah do it once do it right. In the long run you'll end up saving yourself a headache and some cash.

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:59 pm
by speed
NitroDann builds NA6 turbo cars for breakfast. Worth while checking out his work so you know how it should be done.
Good luck and keep us updated :)


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Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:12 pm
by miatakid
thnx for the advice guys. might have a look around for a mspnp and have a look at nitrodans work.

im going to be running td05-16g, black top ingectors from the gtx (360cc) manifold and downpipe i baught from a guy that no longer wanted to turbo his mx (still it packaging)with full stainless 2 1/2inch all the way through, FMIC second hand from a merc sprinter van, boost t and wideband o2 and whatever ecu i decide to run with

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:56 pm
by speed
Sounds perfect! Heaps of peeps use the rx8 injectors 420 or 440 cc being a more modern design they have some advantages. Cost around 440 for a new set but if you have the 360's suspect they'd be fine running on PULP.

Now I'm excited for you :)



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Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:32 pm
by miatakid
haha thanks :) a friend of mine is going to run rx8 injectors in his.
you wouldnt happen to know how hard it is to tune a megasquirt?

im also planning on running around 10-12 psi :D

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:39 pm
by miatakid
also sticking to my budget i picked up the injectors for $100 :D
i couldnt be happier

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:01 am
by speed
miatakid wrote:you wouldnt happen to know how hard it is to tune a megasquirt?

im also planning on running around 10-12 psi :D


Sorry, no. I'm also new to the MS and my build hasn't progressed that far just yet.
Still doing fiddle bits.
Have to learn and get it sorted over next couple of months.


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Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:10 pm
by chrons_rotary
miatakid wrote:haha thanks :) a friend of mine is going to run rx8 injectors in his.
you wouldnt happen to know how hard it is to tune a megasquirt?

im also planning on running around 10-12 psi :D


If you do your research, it isnt really that hard.
Better off getting a proper dyno tune before running more than 6-7psi, so you dont blow you engine up.

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:52 pm
by bartmanftw
Tuning megasquirt is fairly simple and the autotune feature makes it super easy to tune the fuel map. Might take a while to learn how to set up idle control ect propely but there are heaps of guides out there on the interwebs. No need to go to the dyno even if you're running over 8psi but obviously you'd be able to get a better tune if you did and be able to set up the spark map properly.
I'm currently running rx8 injectors on mine and had no issues getting them to work properly.

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 7:34 pm
by miatakid
hmmm. ok im deffinatly leaning towards getting a megasquirt and it seems like much less of a headache! currently the car is being used as my daily and im just in the process of piecing together all the bits i need before i take it off the road and start putting it all together! i still need to pick up my injectors, get a wideband o2, vtps, air temp sensor, and when everything is bolted on take it to a shop to get some fully sick custom cooler piping :)

Re: 1.8 harness in 1.6 for budget turbo build???

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:48 pm
by miatakid
aaaaaand i baught myself a mspnp :)