billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

[KevGoat]

Well done on having your article featured! A couple of my old mates back in the 70's use to make extra money doing similar. Use to do pretty well back then too. I'm not one who can shoot an animal, even though they're pests - rabbits, foxes, deer and around the peninsular here lately wild goats have become a big problem.

[billybunter]

thanks. its a pretty good and very interesting read. in the early 70's I used to rent a house local. one night I shot that many foxes -15 to be exact I had no-where to peg them out as i'd run out of pegging boards.
the ex wife from those days was asleep as it was 2am in the morning so I just sat the hides straight down the hallway carpeted floor and nailed them directly to the wooden floor beneath. that day when she got up she didn't like that idea of mine much.........note the ex side of it

[billybunter]

One month later and the daughter's epic 450 klm return drive out through Cassilus -Gulgong -Wellington and it's back home in Orange NSW. Well done on the driver's behalf

[smy0003]

What's the verdict?

[billybunter]

pretty good - a nice fit with the new motor too jokes aside due to my bad back issues and the wet weather in the area for the next few days - I don't expect to drive it yet.
daughter did say it runs along just like a normal car and you'd have no idea if it had any power or not and what was the big deal making her drive home through the back lonely inroads of NSW when she could have save 2 hours travelling time going back home through Sydney.
always complaints but she assure me that in the right hands it is extremely quick and very fast off the mark.

[bruce]

Ha! Dann swapped the motors. Looks factory.

[KevGoat]

Bit unwell and having a quiet day, so just had a read though this thread again ... don't usually do that, but this one really is a fascinating read.

Hope you're back's progressing well. Definition of frustration being unable to try out that 300hp!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[billybunter]

KevGoat

thankfully for me my back has come good and all appears well. I am just waiting now for the return of some my original parts from this epic build.

by the time they arrive I should have been able to get out and test the car and give my report or owner view on this new power upgrade mod

[IanR]

Looking forward to the review of the extra horses! Plus, I know a pretty good Chiro in Newcastle if your out this way...I'm sure he would give you a mx5 friendly style tune up.

[billybunter]

that review will come but first I am still waiting for the return of my old parts turbo-manifold -dump pipe etc
meanwhile my fuel gauge is not working properly so tomorrow I will pull the b/d roll bar out and see what is happening with the float level.

[billybunter]

today was as good as day as any - about 9 degrees so I thought i'd get into it and pull the roll bar out and get to that pesky fuel float. all went well until I got to the fuel lines and couldn't get them off. back inside and on google and found you require a disconnect tool.
super cheap had the package in stock so I bought one set just to get the 3/8" line tool. even them they weren't what I'd call easy to remove but I eventually got there.
I found the problem once I got into the fuel tank. the 2 wire were hindering the float from moving about after it had reach the half full or half empty position in the tank. it was just a matter of pulling the wires or pushing them to the other side and all was good to go.
after I had screwed the pump back in position placed the cover on I re-connected the battery just to check it was working alright - all good and after I added about 18 litres fuel ! I know now how far I can run without being out of gas.
wife gave me a hand putting the roll bar back on the parcel shelf. after that it was just a matter of bolting it back in position. well it was a bit more involved than it looked getting those roll bar boot bolts back in place but in total i'd say 1.5 hours covered the whole removal and re-fitting process

next up that pesky vibrating slave cylinder.

[billybunter]

TARGET 300 RWHP


Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drive a 300 RWHP Toyota Hi-ace. I'd say pretty bloody scary so I thought I'd do my MX% SE instead. Well I had thought about it for quite a while now and eventually come to the conclusion -I'd like to experience that feeling and shell out the big $$$$'s

When you decide to go for that power figure plus with a bit of reading on the subject you have to do a few mods to the car so originally I went for the following mods

As It Was....191 RWHP

Chiptorque chip
Begi down pipe
Begi CAI
Sports exhaust
MBC set at 9 LBS

Drivability was Good. Several dead or flat spots were present with the usual whack from the turbo at the 3400 revs plus when the boost fires up and comes into play.

As of Now Nitro Dann's Special .......301.9 RWHP


Adaptronic 440 PNP ECU
750 Injectors
Garrett GTX 2863R
Nitro Dann's Custom Twistmount Manifold
Nitro Dann's Dump Pipe
Nitro Dann's 3" stainless custom exhaust with Varex volume control
3 way Mac Valve
Nitro Danns Custom Clutch Kit

Internals

Eagle Forge Rods
High Flow Oil Pump
Cometic Metal Head Gasket
Water pump plus a few other bits

Nitro Dann's Special I can handle any power -Clutch

To get to the above power mod I decided to book the car into who is classed as the best mx5 tuner in Australia. He has a very good reputation of extraction good usable power and a car which is an absolute pussy to drive. Well i'd heard these stories from other members of the Oz forum and decided I will give him a try so -He's the man for the job!

Car was booked in and after a couple weeks it was dropped off to the man in question. Prior to that we had had a couple of talks over the phone - 300 RWHP plus on 98 pump fuel was the target figure.
Anyway the car was at his workshop for approx. a month. A couple of weeks to cover the motor removal and parts added plus put it back in. Plus another couple of weeks to concentrate on the easy to drive tune.

Is it quick? well it appears quick to me. No more big power on whack in the back and just an easy to drive very fast car. I must admit first off I did miss the old big boost power hit and off it went down the road. Now it's far more refined and I no longer have to put up with the delayed reaction on boost or the dead/flat spots as it appear to be on boost at all revs. I will get a better chance to really test it's performance later Easy of driving from a scale of 10 being like a Toyota Corolla to 0 being a highly stressed car on steroids..................well its a 10 for sure! it was far more threatening before the mod than it is now. i'd say any-one could drive it and they most likey have too

Without doubt of all the cars I've owned easily the best high performance car I have ever dríven in my life. In fact even if you were a hairdresser - you'd still be better off driving this car rather than a Toyota Prius! Exactly what he told me buy a Prius..... Joke! Anyway what he said about the drive ability was delivered. Power is available at all times in any gear and very smooth and not a flat or dead spot anywhere in the rev range.

In actual fact It's very hard to believe it's a turbo charged car. Yes! I did check and the turbo is still there the power delivery is just a touch of the right foot and it's applied smoothly and off down the road you go and pretty darn quick too plus that aggressive roar/note from the Varex muffler and 3" exhaust. Plus on back off's it burbles away and pops and crackles plus I am told but not experience this factor yet but I will - up to 23 LB of Boost. This I feel has a lot to do with the new GTX Garrett Turbo. Then it might not - how would I know Now if that isn't enough it will with one good rev on the throttle throw 6LB boost on the gauge.

So to sum up this guy Dann the man - has nailed it first go. Starts up fine and that's pretty important considering our overnights are now Zero temps. If anything it's very hard to believe I am driving a big hp turbo car putting out a fair amount of RWHP with no dead or flat spots/aggression with poor drive ability and just so easy to drive.

My daughter drove the car home from Newcastle in total 250 miles from the tuner including horrible wet and windy weather. I said be careful and watch the power. Don't drive back through Sydney and head to Gulgong and cross over. Upon her arrival home - The very first thing she said to me "What's all this big fuss about being hard to drive and watch the power? its as easy to drive as my Honda Euro."

I actually took the car out today and drove it for the second time. Well no doubt it certainly is well behaved for a high powered Miata.......and the fuel gauge works great Very easy to drive and totally relaxed and drama free. I don't know what others have thought about high output cars in the Miata mods but I still find it very hard to believe a car with all these mods drives along as if it was a just like a run of the mill Toyota Corolla

If I had gone to E85 gas and Flex Fuel and Injector upgrade again I could have seen 350 RWHP. The only trouble E85 is hard to get here and not available unless I do 120 klm round trip to buy it. So it's a big expense for the mod for a no immediate return on the $ outlay.

I've read other builds in Australia and their horror stories. So I think overall I've done alright with this deal. Hardest part of this exercise for me to believe is the ultra smooth power delivery.

Well that is compared to the Chip and what I had before. Others may say this is the normal behavior for drivers with the 300 RWHP builds. Either way it has certainly surprised me on ease of drive and as far as I am concerned this tuner has done a very good job. No wonder he is so heavily booked on tunes.

So I will rate the job

10/10 for the build
10/10 for ease of drive ability
10/10 for meeting the quoted target figures

But there is always a downside

0/10 for not fixing my fuel float level correctly when the new pump was installed. I had to do that as I wasn't dropping it off at the local garage so I will have to bill him for 1.5 hours labor plus eats

So if you want a job done and want the car tuned correctly you can P/M me and I will make a consultation time available and walk you through the process

[Okibi]

Awesome such a glowing recommendation.

[Roadrunner]

What a great result!

[Snowmotion]

That is a great result.
Tempting me more every time I read about Dan's work.