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

[Daffy]

She’s still got pride of place! I had a crack at Daz this week to get a rattle on- cooler weather coming we got cruising to tee up!

[ManiacLachy]

Yep, I'm getting ready to start harassment again, no word for a fortnight. I think we need to set a timeframe or something, establish some mutual expectations.

Thanks for checking in I miss my car, I think about it ~10 times a day! And seeing other fun cars on the road is like a knife twisting.

[The American]

The suspense is killing me!

[StanTheMan]

so what is the hold up? just to finish the actual instillation from all the parts accumulated?

[ManiacLachy]

The suspense is killing me!

I'm in suspense over your build, so it's only fair!

so what is the hold up? just to finish the actual instillation from all the parts accumulated?

No hold up on my side, I think all parts are at the workshop. The only thing I can think of that might be missing would be a suitable catch-can. The NitroDann one won't be used because the turbo occupies the same space, and the turbo takes priority! I did provide a Morroso catch can, but it's quite small and might not be up to the task

I have been on harassment mode, calling multiple times a day to get in touch and receive an update. 2 weeks ago Darren said he'd start on the then coming Monday, and we'd update on a estimated delivery date and progress. The hold up is I expected, short jobs come in and go out, and another arrives immediately, and my car sits on the lift catching dust.

But Monday came and went. By Wednesday or Thursday I decided to press the point and began calling multiple times a day to get in touch. I realise that most of the time during the day he'll be busy with a wrench in his hand when I call, so the point of multiple calls is to hopefully find a time he's free, and also to remind him I'm waiting and remind him to call me back.

He got in touch this week, he'd been sick for a week or so with the flu. Not a great time to be sick with the flu, everyone will think you have the 'rona, and you obviously have to take certain precautions. But he did get back to the car this week!

So the IC piping is hooked up. We've gone with the SE's OEM routing, and reusing the ND airbox, but it will have a new filter hole cut.


So much room in front of the engine, SE charge pipe routing from the turbo


Hotside piping come down and into the IC


Cold side piping out of the IC and up to the throttle body


Up and into the TB. I wanted a silicone elbow for better fitment. Darren reckons the IAT in the piping is fine, we'll see if I need to relocate to the IC endtank as recommended by miataturbo.net

I've got the FM re-route kit, this allows turbo coolant hoses to come from the housing at the back of the head. We've completely removed the water neck at the front and blocked it off at the head. This left a hole in the timing plate covers, which Darren was concerned would let debris in and prematurely age the timing belt. Then I saw that FM have developed a blanking plate for this hole, so I picked that up a few months back and it's now in place. The front of the engine is much cleaner now!

So, off the top of my head, still to go:
Exhaust adjustment - there are a few places fitment is a little tight, hangers need adjustment and clearance around the diff and a heat shield near the O2 sensor need tweaking
Oil & Water lines for the turbo - use the FM re-route for coolant, and the SE's OEM ports for oil
Catch can setup - as I mentioned earlier
Drain fuel (if not already done) - I delivered the car with old E85 in the tank, I realise you don't want to leave E85 to sit for long I just didn't expect it to sit for so long! I'll run this setup only on 98 I think, the turbo will make plenty of jam without the corn.
Undertray - I dropped off a new OEM undertray, just needs to be cut around the new IC piping
Put the lights and bumper back on

Those are all pretty small jobs, 2 - 3 days for an experienced mechanic IMO, so I HOPE HOPE HOPE it should be completed in a week or so. I'll let you know.

Then I'll head down, update the tune for the new injectors and should be good for a start to check for leaks, check base timing. Then I'll do some VE tuning and drive my girl home! I've already updated the tune to disable EBC (run wastegate only which should be ~5-6psi), and set a boost cut just in case it creeps.

[greenMachine]

Thanks for that very comprehensive update ML. I look forward to a ride when I visit the northern suburbs ...

I've seen that happen before. I think the way around it is to not have the car in the workshop, once the car is there he has the job, just has to schedule it, no hurry (are you going to remove it and take it somewhere else - probably not). If your car is at home, he doesn't have the job, so the incentive is greater to agree a start date, and hopefully a completion date too.

[StanTheMan]

I doubt it was going anywhere else.... . Ive considered getting him to build a rock solid bottom end that can have anything thrown at it.

My inter cooler /radiator it was supposed to arrive from Bulgeria in January 2021.....still dont have it. LOL. If you want the best....you gotta have patience....no matter how frustrating it may get.

Kracken Radiator_intercooler kit.JPG

[ManiacLachy]

Thanks for that very comprehensive update ML. I look forward to a ride when I visit the northern suburbs ...

It wasn't meant to be "very comprehensive", but I started typing and it all fell out. Sorry if I was a bit ranty.

I doubt it was going anywhere else.... . Ive considered getting him to build a rock solid bottom end that can have anything thrown at it.

My inter cooler /radiator it was supposed to arrive from Bulgeria in January 2021.....still dont have it. LOL. If you want the best....you gotta have patience....no matter how frustrating it may get.

Kracken Radiator_intercooler kit.JPG

I don't know if he does the engine builds himself, but I'm sure he could "project manage" it, and put the parts back together once the specialists do their bits.

The rad/intercooler looks pretty cool, Mr Kraken is a hard worker, lots on his plate! He keeps threatening to quit every 6 months or so, but his stuff is certainly in demand right now.

[StanTheMan]

I don't think he has a machining shop.So yes, it would be a project management thing for him.

[ManiacLachy]

I've been squeaking in Darren's ear pretty regularly to get some attention The All Japanese Day car meet was advertised for the 20th of June late last month. The meet isn't far from my home, and the local MX-5s all meet up at the barber shop (we drive hair-dresser cars, get it!) around the corner from my house for a pre-meet which is always fun. So I asked Daz if we could have my car ready for that, giving him about 4 weeks from when I found out and asked him. Now we have a date to aim for to help focus the work, rather than leaving it open ended, and I think we're on track to be ready.

Darren and I had a bit of a discussion about the turbo coolant lines, I have the FM coolant re-route which has provisions for a turbo coolant feed and return, but Darren was inclined to keep with the OEM ports. I knew FM still advised going with the re-route ports over the SE/MSM OEM ports, but I couldn't really articulate why, so I emailed them and they explained it and I forwarded it on to Darren, but ultimately left the decision in his hands - he's the professional and I'm paying him for his experience and knowledge. But he decided to use the re-route after all.

So now we have the turbo lines, oil and coolant all prepped and ready.


All the feeds and returns!

The oil drain is a -10AN as advised by Borg Warner, oil drain is important to ensure hot oil doesn't back up and cook the CHRA, Lokiel has a great write up of it on his thread. A small issue is that the OEM oil drain port on the block is smaller than ideal, so although the oil will clear the turbo well, it could back up at the block. Not much can be done about it now with the engine in the car, but when the engine eventually comes out for a full build we'll open that port up. I think the solution we have for now will work well, just maybe not ideal.


Close up of the oil drain line

As for work remaining, I think there is a little bit of exhaust clearanceing and fitment to complete, a catch-can solution, and then final install and button up. Which isn't much so we're getting close! Then of course I have to load a new tune with updated injector specs, and re-tune the fuel table as needed - hopefully I can get it up and running without dramas.

[ManiacLachy]

I got a photo update last night from the wizard. No words, just pics. But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?


Starting to button up - turbo lines are hooked up, coil packs in, IC pipes connected - Spot the spanner in the lower left corner


Aerial view of the turbo - coolant feed snaking over the top, oil feed ducking under, coolant return is barely visible coming up from behind the manifold


The belly of the beast. The rear subframe brace need a cross brace removed for the resonator


Booty pic


I really like this shot, clearly shows the heat exchangers and the IC routing. Not an angle you really see often

So, progress is being made! I think I better boot up Tuner Studio (ECU tuning software for MegaSquirt) and re-familiarise myself with things!

[greenMachine]

Are you planning on replacing the missing brace with another? I can see some scope for a custom brace to restore some or maybe all the missing stiffness ...

Nice work, good to see it coming together!

[ManiacLachy]

Are you planning on replacing the missing brace with another? I can see some scope for a custom brace to restore some or maybe all the missing stiffness ...

That's a problem for another day! Let me get a running, boosting car back in my drive way and then I'll worry about that (after a list of other worries)!

[ManiacLachy]

Now we're cooking! I had a chat with Darren last night, things are really coming together now.

The airbox is all sorted. He's reusing my Dann box, he welded up the old hole and created a new one. We're waiting on a filter to come in that will fit nicely, the silicone hose is at a bit of an angle and the filter Darren has selected is also on an angle and should square within the box.


Re-use or re-purpose!

The exhaust is all sorted, all that was needed was a bit of tweaking on the exhaust hangers and everything is sitting pretty.

Darren is going to re-use my Dann catch can, but relocate it to the drivers side, with a hose off the drain tap for easy emptying.

Early on he drained and flushed the fuel tank and the old E85 is all gone. I'll just run on 98 for the foreseeable future. This turbo can do easily on 98 what the old IHI struggled to do on E85

So we're only waiting on a few things now, like the filter and a fitment for the catch can. The hotside IC pipe needs a tweaking as it was fabbed up while the headlights were out and now they're back there is a little interference, but that's easily fixed.

With luck I might be able to pick up next week, otherwise the following week. But I think we're looking good for the All Japanese Day on the 20th (if I can tune it halfway decently)

[The American]

Hooray!