Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]

[Magpie]

Maybe dealing with what causes the speeding tickets may help with having money for mods

[ManiacLachy]

Unfortunately I don't have the power to raise our speed limits to sensible levels, as I'm pretty sure the only reason I get speeding tickets is because they're too low

[Magpie]

Nice justification

[ManiacLachy]

Issues
*Correct driver's door alignment
*Replace & repair driver's fog light
*Correct driver's seat alignment
*Correct passenger's seat alignment
*Remove FM oil cooler**
*Fix passenger window rattle
*Fix passenger wheel fender liner
*Tune:
-Overrun
-Idle activation
-AE (specifically from idle and on down shift/fast AE)
*Clean licence plates
*Polish headlights
*Replace seat-belt stalk spring washer
*Add felt to eyeball air vents
*NEW Fix dipstick handle
*NEW Replace blown tail light

**Oil cooler removal will likely be done by Auto+ at the next service

Completed
*Find and fix coolant leak
*Re-affix garage door buzzer
*Replace exhaust gearbox brace bolt

Progress! 3 steps forward 2 steps back, but still, forward momentum!

I found myself with some time on Friday as the dog had to go to the vet due to a fracture in his foot (that dude parties too hard), and while they held him for xrays, I called Auto+ and arranged to come by and investigate my coolant leak as it'd been getting worse lately. As I'd suspected, heater hoses at the back of the head were giving out under pressure, they were replaced and while they had the car they kindly replaced the missing exhaust brace bolt.

I like to keep my garage door buzzer in the little pocket below the fog light button to the right of the steering wheel. I keep it stuck upside down with some double sided tape, it makes for an easy reach when pulling into the driveway, it's secure and it's out of sight. Unfortunately the double sided tape I'd been using was a bit crap and every 6 months or so it gives out and the buzzer falls. So I bought some new, quality double sided tape, cleaned up the buzzer and the pocket really well and re-secured it, hopefully it lasts!

I attempted to fix my door aligment, but it'll take more work. The issue is that the bottom sticks out when the door is closed. I removed the latch and the door blocks, but it still sticks out at the bottom when the top is flush. So, I think it'll be a case of messing with the hinge bolts a little. Might be a dodgy day job.

I saw on RSpeed's Instagram feed (really great Instagram for MX-5/Miatas - lots of tips, they're cool guys) that the MSM/SE's exhaust manifold nuts tend to back out over time, and it's a good idea to regularly check and tighten them. I attempted this a few weeks ago, but you need to remove the J-Pipe from the turbo in order to get the heat shield off, it's held down with torque bolts and I didn't have the correct size. I do now, and sure enough the rear top bolt was spinning freely! And there was a heap of carbon build up around the runner. I tightened the loose nut and checked all the others, only one other was slightly loose.


That's your problem right there!

Apparently a lot people report their manifold is warped after running like this for a while, it needs to be machined flat and a new gasket installed, and new studs are also advised. I didn't check the manifold because it would require removing the turbo completely and that's more work than I'm willing to do in a morning. If the nut backs out again, or the carbon returns then I'll know I have an issue.

I snapped the handle off my dipstick doing this work

And finally, I have been playing with my tuning a little. I asked the guys over at MT.net for some feedback, Braineack and our very own Cus lent me some help. Seems my AE was super aggressive, causing pops and back fires on throttle application. The log showed this as a lean spot, but we believe it's actually a super rich event that happens momentarily and not registered by the wideband (maybe its ignited by the hot exhaust, not the engine?). The bangs and pops were very annoying, this is not the nice burble overrun, this is a big pop when the throttle first opens. So I've toned my AE curve a lot and the bangs and pops are mostly gone, just a few occasional farts now. I'll continue to tweak it.

There is one question I seem to be unable to get an answer for though:
When in overrun without fuel cut, should I see valid AFRs close to target values (14-16%)?

If someone can answer this question definitively I will give them ALL the Internet points.

All I see is 22%, which indicates full lean/no fuel. I think I should be able to see valid AFRs, but at any rate, that area of the VE map needs to be tuned better.

[ManiacLachy]

I had a fairly productive morning in the garage on Saturday

Issues
*Correct driver's door alignment
*Correct driver's seat alignment
*Correct passenger's seat alignment
*Remove FM oil cooler**
*Fix passenger window rattle
*Tune:
-Overrun
-Idle activation
-AE (specifically from idle and on down shift/fast AE)
*Clean licence plates
*Replace seat-belt stalk spring washer
*Add felt to eyeball air vents
*Fix dipstick handle
*Replace blown tail light
*NEW Interior Detail
*NEW Exterior Detail

**Oil cooler removal will likely be done by Auto+ at the next service

Completed
*Find and fix coolant leak
*Re-affix garage door buzzer
*Replace exhaust gearbox brace bolt
*Replace & repair driver's fog light
*Polish headlights
*Fix passenger wheel fender liner
*NEW Adjust front sway bar
*NEW Fix loose passenger fog light

My driver's side fog light is cracked, not a big practical issue in Brisbane as we don't get much fog, but it's a bit unsightly and technically it's a violation. I bought some replacements from MX-5 Mania a while ago and this weekend I finally had time to replace it.

Water damaged, Good, Broken

Access to the fog light is behind the lower portion of the fender liner, you need to remove some trim screws which are a bit worn, placing pressure on the back side of the screw helps them to pop out. Still, there was one I couldn't pop loose on the driver's side but I could rotate it out of the way. While I was in here I also removed the remaining "baby tooth" (tow/tie-down hook) from this side - the other side has already been replaced with a "Bear Hook".


I think last time I did this I removed the bumper (during Intercooler install) - this is much easier!

I needed to address the passenger fender liner, so I had a look at both sides and found my passenger side fog light was a little loose. The fog light housing goes attaches to a carrier, and the carrier attaches to the bumper. My carrier was split, I fixed it with some plastic welder but then noticed my new lights came with new carriers so I just repurposed one of those. I still have my fixed carrier if I ever need it.


Fixed now, but I used an existing good one instead

Of the two lights from Mania, one was a bit discoloured, looked like it might have been water damaged at some point, so I used the better looking of the two and re-used my remaining good fog light. All the lenses were a bit pitted so I used a Turtle Wax Headlight Restoration kit on them, and my headlights. My headlights didn't need much, I just used the Clarifying compound on them. But the fog lights all received a bit of time with the polishing pads (4 varying grades of wet sandpaper), finished off with the Clarifying compound. All lenses were then treated with the included UV protection wipes to prevent future hazing. The Restoration kit is decent - though I didn't really like the wipes used to apply the UV protection - All the glass came out looking really nice.


Yep, everything works

My passenger fender liner lost one of the trim screws and a portion was hanging low, when the suspension was compressed and especially when in a turn the wheel would rub on the fender liner making a horrible scraping noise. I knew no real damage was occurring but it sounded awful. I didn't have any extra trim screws, so I simple repurposed one of the screws from the side of the liner to the top to hold the offending portion in check. I need to buy a few extra trim screws soon I think, maybe just redo the lot of them as none of them are in great shape. So far so good, no rubbing!

I've felt the front of the car is still a little soft, so I decided while I was under there to adjust the sway bar to the 2nd, stiffer setting. It's feeling good so far, though I haven't been driving too hard.


Stiffer sway bar is good

Lastly, yesterday as it was getting dark I gave the car a much needed wash. To be honest, it's in need of a full detail (clay, polish & wax), and the inside needs a good cleaning too, but a quick scrub with the suds did wonders. I'll add the detailing to the to-do list. No photos of clean car because it was dark at that point.

Tuning is going well, the car is performing as best as it has since the MS3 went in, but I'm still making fine adjustments here and there. I suspect I will be for sometime yet.

And to end - 2 weeks ago Hobbes, my Boxer, fractured a bone in his foot. That's how hard that kid parties! Anyway, this has necessitated many trips to the vet for xrays and bandaging and rebandaging and even more rebandaging (he does not treat the bandages nicely), and most of those trips are done in my car, so I've been driving without a passenger seat lately, and that's why the interior of my car needs a thorough cleaning!


Basically the only passenger I've had in my car this year!

[SKYHI]

Any progress is good progress

[billybunter]

......and a smart looking dog too!

[ManiacLachy]

Today is my 3 year anniversary! Unfortunately the car is at Automotive Plus awaiting pick up from it's 160,000km service, and exhaust manifold machining, we'll reunite tonight after work. In my 3 years I've put ~65,000km on her daily driving to and from work as well as fun weekend trips and blasts, and the love is still strong!

This last year of ownership is probably best highlighted by the move to a standalone aftermarket ECU, something I always knew would happen due to the limitations of the stock ECU. It hasn't been quite as smooth as I'd have liked, I'm still working on getting things right, but it certainly has delivered a power increase.

Looking forward to the next 12 months, I'd like to do a few more interior mods and I'd love to get rid of the "boat anchor" 17" wheels for something lighter and wider. And I'd like to drive it in anger a little more, both in the hills and on the track.

[Magpie]

3 years and still happy that is a good thing

[ManiacLachy]

Issues
*Correct driver's door alignment
*Fix passenger window rattle
*Tune:
-Overrun
-Idle activation
-AE (specifically from idle and on down shift/fast AE)
*Add felt to eyeball air vents
*Fix dipstick handle
*Replace blown tail light
*Interior Detail
*Exterior Detail

Completed
* [NEW] Clean licence plates
* [NEW] Replace seat-belt stalk spring washer
* [NEW] Correct driver's seat alignment
* [NEW] Correct passenger's seat alignment ***
* [NEW] Remove FM oil cooler **
*Find and fix coolant leak
*Re-affix garage door buzzer
*Replace exhaust gearbox brace bolt
*Replace & repair driver's fog light
*Polish headlights
*Fix passenger wheel fender liner
*Adjust front sway bar
*Fix loose passenger fog light

** No longer required - for now
*** This is as good as it gets

The top list is getting smaller, and the bottom list is getting bigger! Progress

As mentioned earlier, the car went in to Auto+ for it's 160k service. I asked the guys to remove and check the exhaust manifold for flatness as the exhaust leak I found 2 months ago is notorious for warping the manifold, and to replace the gasket. Yep, the manifold was twisted! They sent it off to a shop for machining, and this left me without a car for almost a week. Luckily a friend lent me his MkV VW Golf, just a 2.0 but thankfully a manual! At first I thought it was great, so roomy and quiet and practical and comfortable ... and soon enough, I was bored! I guess that's what proper dailys are like?

I also had the guys do a compression test on the engine for me to see what kind of health the motor was in. The results were 160, 158, 160, 164 PSI - at first glance the numbers seem a bit low, but they are well above the minimum spec (which is 120 I believe) and they're fairly consistent with no cylinder massively out of line with the others. So, no engine rebuild just yet!

I decided to not ask the guys to remove the Oil Cooler. It hasn't been an issue for a while, not since I set the heights with Magpie at the start of the year. I figure I'll leave it in for now.

On the weekend I pulled my seats out to attempt the realignment. The drivers seat felt like it angled inboard ever so slightly and I could feel the right bolster digging in my thigh as I turned to face forward, so a bit of tweaking the bracket/rail alignment fixed that. The passenger seat sits really close to the door, and should be centred a little more towards the centre console. Unfortunately this isn't possible, the brackets are pushed as far as they can go, and this is the result. I suspect the brackets aren't correctly spaced, so for now this is as good as it gets. One day I'd like to remove the rails and permanently mount them to the floor, both driver and passenger, but that's another day. While the seats were out I put the spring washers into the stalks - a tiny job - and vacuumed the cabin as well.


That's 2 seats, not one. Comparison drivers and passenger seats - the passenger is really close to the door panel and should be centred more

And I cleaned the licence plates - it seems silly I know but they were really murky and they really pop out now that they're clean!

I've fixed that damn tail light twice now. I suspect that their may be a wiring issue. But first I'll try a different brand of bulbs, maybe Repco Lumens bulbs aren't great?

I recently discovered that my tune was using the wrong dead times for my injectors. The NA has a 3 Bar fuel pressure system, the NB has a 4 Bar fuel pressure system. My tune was using the 3 Bar settings, and compensating as best it could, but at low pulse widths, such as overrun and idle there isn't much room for compensation. I found the correct details online from MT.net and Flow Force's website, including the small pulse width correction data. It's made a nice change, I can actually tune overrun now! Still some work to be done over all though, finding a time and a place to street tune is challenging.

Now, I said I wasn't going to spend money until I sorted my list. But ... I lied!


Transformed! (I think I need to shoot these with a real camera)

I've long wanted a KG Work gauge bezel, I asked Rupwrecht to find me one, but apparently KG no longer makes them, and there were none on Yahoo. I contacted RSpeed in the US, but they had none in stock. Finally I found one at I.L. Motorsports! If you want one of these, I'd go there and order it right now! Otherwise you'll be at the mercy of Yahoo Auctions.
http://ilmotorsport.de/shop/article_list.php5?depth=4&oid=1950&show=true&PHPSESSID=8977ee363b423aa3ce97b5fbd6c10e1f

Once the KG Works came in, I knew I couldn't put it in on the stock gauges, I needed RevLimiter gauges! I asked Adam for a set of modified GT-40 gauges, inspired by the Singer 911. I changed the tach to orange, and the style of the rev limit region to a subtle red band and I changed the "Mazda" logo "Model 60" font. Most units are metric, but I left the oil gauge in LBS, and the speedometer is a duel unit setup by default with KPH as the primary on mine.
http://revlimiter.net/store/gauges-gt40nb.php

Adam's store is so tempting! I also got a key ring and and oil filler cap in the blue "Model 60" design, and to welcome a friend who's just picked up a green 2001 NB to the fold I picked him up a green and gold Model 80 key chain. Adam includes a few toys and stickers in his (excellent) packaging, I got a Porsche GT3 RS - nice!

[Magpie]

Looking good! When are you creating a new longer list

[Lokiel]

- needs billet aluminium needle caps and "'95MSM Boost Gauge Mod" now

Does the orange make it hard to see the tacho needle during the day?
A white or black needle would be better.

[ManiacLachy]

- needs billet aluminium needle caps and "'95MSM Boost Gauge Mod" now

Does the orange make it hard to see the tacho needle during the day?
A white or black needle would be better.

I knew you'd say that! I pondered getting them when I was gathering my parts, but I'm not sure I want that much chrome in the interior, maybe one day.

That's a pretty awful photo, taken on my phone in my poorly lit garage, then edited by a program that ruins the resolution when combining photos (meant to be used for posting to instagram). The needle is quite easy to see in the day time though. I'll post some better photos in the daylight with a decent camera soon.

Next up, I'm thinking it's time for the centre stack. I'm leaning towards the RS Products AC dial faces that KevGoat used, I'll need to source a black AC switch unit, and then an aftermarket stereo head unit - I just need to decide which one! I went with white lighting fro my RevLimiter gauges, so finding a headunit that does white lighting is key.

[ManiacLachy]

Lately I've been feeling a little bit of a thump/bump when coming to a stop, it started to get worse and was particularly noticeable on left hand turns. Then it started to squeak!

It was getting pretty bad, I didn't feel particularly save driving with it and I didn't have time to put the car up on stands and get into it myself. So with some spare time I dropped in to Automotive Plus unannounced on Tuesday morning to see if they could spot it. And they found a loose bracket on the turbo that mustn't have been done up completely after the manifold job. It only took them 5 minutes, and there was no charge. The guys (and Deanne) there are always very accommodating and helpful.

But that wasn't it. Everything seemed OK for a moment, but the issue was still there. I began Googling, I was getting all sorts of worse case scenarios, maybe it's a wheel bearing, maybe its the PS pump, maybe it's the bushings, the gearbox, the exhaust ... maybe it's cursed?!

Dropped the car back to Auto Plus on Thursday for the full day, Jeff did a quick test and soon discovered the top nuts on the right front coil-over were loose. That's it, that's all. Two loose nuts. Car is solid as a rock once more! Many thanks to the crew at Auto Plus, I don't know if I would have even thought to look at the shock mounts!

[KevGoat]

Just been catching up on forum stuff and your thread. The new instrument panel looks great! I've always liked the KG Works panels and custom dials. Thought about them while doing mine. Didn't know they're not made anymore!

Had to laugh at the speeding fine comments. I'm having to use great restraint not to get in trouble every time I drive mine just with the bit of extra power and driveability I have - you've got even more power and a nicer tune to use it!