Andrew's '93 NA6 - KL V6 swap

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:53 pm

Well the car is off the road until my new clutch master cylinder arrives

, so I've decided to forge ahead with the turbo project.

The downpipe is finished, connecting up to the stock exhaust for now. Once it's all up and running I'm going to make a whole new 2.5" exhaust from the turbo back.
Today I finished wiring in the Adaptronic E420C ECU, I just have to install the LC-1 wideband O2 sensor and that's the electronics taken care of.
Things I've got to do before the turbo is finished are water lines, oil return fitting in the sump, finish the intercooler mounts and buy & fit the intercooler piping. It looks like it will be a tight squeeze for the I/C piping on the exhaust side.
Excluding the electronics I have about $330 in the whole turbo setup :mrgreen:

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:55 pm

Big update. I finished the wiring for the adaptronic and LC-1. I put the gauge in the air vent, but the boost gauge I have is slightly too big to fit :evil:

Then I had to put the turbo oil return in the sump. I didn't have the tap required and I really don't like the idea of tapping the oil pan while it's on the car, so off with the sump.

I made a steel fitting which is threaded to go on the inside of the sump.

My turbo oil line arrived a few weeks ago, I finally got to install it

I had this intercooler which I bought for another on-going project, but it fit so perfectly in the MX-5 that it's staying :lol:

I haven't done the bottom mounts yet, I think I'll attach it to where the tow hooks are.
Is the intercooler too big?

I installed my yellow speed racing dynamic pro sport coilovers

I managed to break a few studs in the exhaust near the catalytic convertor :oops:

so today I started making a full 2.5" stainless exhaust.

Here's the free muffler I picked up from the scrap bin of the local exhaust place. It's a "Max Racing" brand which looks to be pretty good (http://www.maxracing.co.jp/)

Best mufflers (who I read on the net had reasonable prices) wanted $55/metre for 409 stainless, $62/m for 304, and a whopping $97/m for 316 stainless :roll:

So I went to EDCON steel in Brookvale... they only have 316 stainless :evil:

I asked how much, expecting the worst, and was told it's $30/m, and off cuts are 25% off. I grabbed a 3.5m offcut for ~$80

^There's also some 2" stainless I bought from a scrap metal yard to do the intercooler piping (I'm not good at welding aluminium). Ebay 200 cpsi metal substrate catalytic convertor. Who knows how well it filters the gasses, I'll be running E85 for the emissions testing.

So today I spent all day cutting, adjusting, and tacking together my new stainless exhaust. I was having trouble getting the muffler at a decent angle out the standard exhaust location, and then it hit me. Center exit exhaust! First I had to cut the bumper, after using a laser and careful measuring to find the centre of the car.

And here's the (almost) finished product.

Lobster back bends :lol:

much cheaper than mandrel bends and good welding practice. They don't flow that much worse than mandrels and are certainly better than crush bent pipe.

New exhaust vs stupidly modified stock exhaust

Anyway, let me know what you think. Next up is to make the downpipe as soon as a few parts arrive, then intercooler piping and finally TEST DRIVE!

I just worked out the total cost of this 2.5" turbo back exhaust :lol:

It's less than $250. Not bad for a 316 stainless system

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:01 pm

OK, new plan. The car is staying N/A so all the turbo bits are for sale. I really don't like the way turbocharged cars deliver the power (that's why I sold my Skyline), I only started to turbo the car because I had most of the bits and it seemed like the easiest way to get more power.

Anyway, here's what I've bought for the MX-5

An MX-6 write-off. KL-DE 2.5L V6 with 121kw standard, aluminium block so it's lighter than a BP swap

I'm aiming to get rid of power steering but keep the A/C.
If anyone in Sydney needs MX-6 parts send me a PM :mrgreen:

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:35 pm

Woah, a KL swap? No disrespect to the turbo boys but this project just got much more interesting.

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:50 pm

No disrespect, but I've read a book that says they don't fit well / at all. Will try and get hold of it again to double check. If you've read otherwise i would be interested to know !

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PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:56 pm

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:09 pm

Cheers guys,

Sailaholic I'd be interested to read the book. I've seen a few swaps documented on the web and on forums and I'm confident I can pull it off. I'm going to pickup the MX-6 tomorrow.

Any guesses on what I paid for the MX-6? Only 113,000 km's but it's a statutory write off.

Cheers,
Andrew

Postby **NitroDann** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:41 pm

The lobsters look great, very good fitup, did you use a disk sander to finish them, or just the drop saw and an angle grinder/file?

Dann

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:22 pm

Hell yeah KL! Keen to see how this pans out.

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:16 pm

The lobsters look great, very good fitup, did you use a disk sander to finish them, or just the drop saw and an angle grinder/file?

Thanks Dann, I cut them on the horizontal bandsaw and cleaned them up on the disc sander. I set the vice at 7.5 degrees, then it's just a matter of flipping the pipe over and moving it accross the required amount. Perfect 15 degree bends. I read somewhere on the internet that 6 bends per 90 degrees (15 deg bends) is the best compromise between amount of welding and flow.

7Hazi · Postby **7Hazi** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:26 pm

Definitely a possible swap. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the same setup the M2-1006 had?

Postby **NitroDann** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:52 pm

Ah, bandsaw and sander. You have more/better tools than me. Looks great, but how are the welds coming along?

Photos?

Dann

Gmi · Postby **Gmi** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:58 am

The muffler looks awesome

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:51 am

Appologies, it was the 1.8 V6 from the MX-3 that i was remembering. Very little details in the book apart from saing that fuel management concerns and with coolant hose routings caused it never to get much further then the block sitting in the car.

I have a scan of the page with a photo of the engine in there if you want it. Just pm me your email.

Best of Luck!

Beelzeboss · Postby **Beelzeboss** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:51 pm

Thanks guys, I'm so excited to see how it turns out. I hope it's not too difficult to get the engine to fit.

Dan I haven't done any more welding on the exhaust yet, I need to buy some more stainless TIG rods. I'll post pics when it's done.

I spent this afternoon disassembling the MX-6 to get the engine out. Whoever designed this thing should be shot, there is no room at all.

Thanks sailaholic, I'll PM you my email.

Cheers,
Andrew