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

[mikea]

Good to see it all coming together.

[ManiacLachy]

Unfortunately ... I think in my haste to fix the issue, and my ham-fisted bluntness, I may have done some damage to the CHRA... I might be looking at a new super core

I'm a bit depressed by it right now.

Good news! Although I am definitely a ham fisted blunt moron, I don't think the turbo is damaged!

The reason I thought I was f'ed is because when I started the car after making my adjustments there was a rattle-y, choppy noise, like something hitting a fan belt, but from the turbo side and it would increase with RPM. I didn't run the car long like this, just long enough to know something is wrong

Of course I have predilection of thinking the worst -I thought I'd damaged the bearings, or bent the shaft - I had to walk away and calm down.

So I finally mustered the fortitude to go back and check things out. I took the intake hose off the turbo and checked for shaft play, couldn't detect any and the impeller spun freely. Then I started the car again, went around to see if I could pin point the noise. Definitely from the turbo, but coming from the rear. Ok, I'll take the dump off and check the turbine.

I undid the v-band clamp from the turbine and the exhaust dropped a little from it's weight. Hmmm. I had loosened this clamp in my efforts earlier - I wonder if I aligned it properly before tightening it for the test start? I've heard these v-bands are really easy to miss-align! Let's see how it goes if I re-attach it. I put a trolley jack under the exhaust to lift it, then re-clamped it paying attention to ensuring it was aligned and tight.

Voilà! That's fixed the noise I was hearing. A few revs and it still sounds right! I am so very relieved!

I still don't know if the actuator is properly aligned, I haven't had a chance to get the car on the ground and go for a test run. But if it's not I will be taking better care with future adjustments!

[Roadrunner]

What a relief it was something simple!

[StanTheMan]

fark!!!!....weve all been there in one way or another.The stress you must have been feeling . Gawd

oh well if you cant laugh ourselves occasionally. where is the fun right?

[ManiacLachy]

So, seeing as I was no longer concerned with needing to buy a new turbo, and had saved some money there (see how that man-math works?) I decided I could afford to spend money elsewhere!

A sunlight silver NB hardtop on the Sunshine Coast came up on FB Marketplace a week ago, a little pricey but I saved the listing to see how quickly it sold. The fact that it was colour matched to my car and local(ish), I figured it would be a good pickup. I checked it on the weekend, still for sale, the price had dropped, so I made an offer to pick it up that day, and a deal was made.

My car was still in hover mode, so I borrowed my friend's turbo NB (featured here a few times in the past) and went for a drive.


Transport mule


Yin-yang comparison

My Lokiel-loaner HT is black, so I thought it was amusing to see the 2 colours in 2 ways. Silver on black and black on silver. The silver on black looks better in person than it does in the photos actually. Lokiel, you might need to pick up your HT, I've had it ~3 years now

The top is in good condition, and while I still payed more than they were going for a few years ago I think it was a good pick up, especially considering I won't need to paint it. I won't run it full time, I'm still a soft top or top down kind of MX-5er, but it's good to have options.


Matchey-matchey (hi Hobbes!)

I took the car for a shakedown run last night to Woolies, new hard top and working turbo. Boost is still creeping a little, definitely not as bad as before, I hit a max of 8.8psi at 5k rpm. Before I was hitting 10psi at ~5krpm, so an improvement for sure. Logs show boost gets to 6psi then creeps up as the flow is too much for the gate, so I don't think it's opening fully still. I wasn't game to go much past 5k rpm on my test road at 6pm, so I have some more testing to do. I might have another go and adjusting the turbo if I still can't keep it under 10psi in the upper revs. Otherwise it'll be time to start playing with electronic boost control

HT is a little creaky, needs to settle in a bit and I need to tighten it down some more. But I am happy with the pickup.


Currently a dual turbo NB garage! (awaiting mule pickup)

[ManiacLachy]

What a relief it was something simple!

Such a relief! The dread from thinking I broke my car through stupidity after only having it back for a week was awful.

fark!!!!....weve all been there in one way or another.The stress you must have been feeling . Gawd

oh well if you cant laugh ourselves occasionally. where is the fun right?

There was no laughing. Still too soon. I'm still chastising myself. Maybe I can laugh at it in 6 months

[The American]

Not broken = Phew!

[greenMachine]

Good result all round. I approve your man-maths.

[luzinit]

Ha... good job Lachy! I saw that one pop up, dropped to $2.5k, good pickup!
I also picked up a Sunlight silver HT. Was a fair bit than what I sold my last immaculate one for but I've also resigned to the fact that there will be at least 1 other idiot like me prepared to pay a stupid price so I might as well buy one now!

[Lokiel]

Great to see you finally found your colour-matched hard-top but I like the black contrast better (would change my mind if you added some black speed-stripes running over the bonnet to the boot of the car but that may attract too much unwanted attention).
I'm amazed to see how expensive they are now so will definitely hang onto mine even if I don't use it much (they're great when it's raining hard, you can actually see out the large curved rear window and they really change the feel of the car).
It's now one more thing you don't have to worry about sourcing.

[ManiacLachy]

Ha... good job Lachy! I saw that one pop up, dropped to $2.5k, good pickup!
I also picked up a Sunlight silver HT. Was a fair bit than what I sold my last immaculate one for but I've also resigned to the fact that there will be at least 1 other idiot like me prepared to pay a stupid price so I might as well buy one now!

Hey mate, good chatting to you on IG, your car is really nice. I offered him $2.4k, still an outrageous amount compared to the <$1k they were going for a few years back, but I think that's pretty much the going rate for a decent condition demister top. There are only limited numbers of them out there and demand is increasing, so I think they'll hold their value.

Great to see you finally found your colour-matched hard-top but I like the black contrast better (would change my mind if you added some black speed-stripes running over the bonnet to the boot of the car but that may attract too much unwanted attention).
I'm amazed to see how expensive they are now so will definitely hang onto mine even if I don't use it much (they're great when it's raining hard, you can actually see out the large curved rear window and they really change the feel of the car).
It's now one more thing you don't have to worry about sourcing.

You'd make a tidy profit if you sold yours, but then you wouldn't have a HT for when you need it. Not that Gina needs to worry about the rain if she doesn't get outside They do offer good visibility compared to a raised ST, and they look good when fitted. I'm glad I picked one up. I need to look at building a stand now, I don't have the floor space for 2 HTs!

I like the colour match, but it is a big slab of silver between the wheels, body and top - I agree something to break it up would be good. I don't think I want to do bonnet stripes ala Sharka though. I've long been considering side stripes so it might be time to look into that a little more.

[Nevyn72]

I like the colour match, but it is a big slab of silver between the wheels, body and top - I agree something to break it up would be good. I don't think I want to do bonnet stripes ala Sharka though. I've long been considering side stripes so it might be time to look into that a little more.

Yikes, I had no idea they had got so expensive!
At least I don't need to worry about finding one for myself....

I was thinking the same thing about the side view, I like the colour matched top but agree it now looks a bit slabish from the side.
As a concept from left field, my first idea was to actually remove the lower skirt, although this would only be sensible if you don't ever remove the hardtop... With the hardtop it just looks a bit like it's carrying a bit of a 'tummy pillow'.

[Lokiel]

:
They do offer good visibility compared to a raised ST, and they look good when fitted. I'm glad I picked one up. I need to look at building a stand now, I don't have the floor space for 2 HTs!
:

I originally bought this trolley from Mitre10 and modded it for the hard-top:

I put 2x rubber door stops at the front (to stop the HT sliding off), moved the rear handlebar 1/3 forward for balance (just drill 4x new bolt holes in the base to mount the handlebar to) and padded the handlebar c/o Clark Rubber.

This made it easy to move around but it still takes up floorspace and seemed to get knocked no matter how careful I was with it.

You're better off mounting it to a wall up off the floor or making a hoist - just get used to banging your noggin' on it every now and then).

PS: Not looking forward to putting it back on my hoist which mounts it over the car - it's nice NOT to have to worry about hitting my head.

[ManiacLachy]

I originally bought this trolley from Mitre10 and modded it for the hard-top:

I put 2x rubber door stops at the front (to stop the HT sliding off), moved the rear handlebar 1/3 forward for balance (just drill 4x new bolt holes in the base to mount the handlebar to) and padded the handlebar c/o Clark Rubber.

This made it easy to move around but it still takes up floorspace and seemed to get knocked no matter how careful I was with it.

You're better off mounting it to a wall up off the floor or making a hoist - just get used to banging your noggin' on it every now and then).

PS: Not looking forward to putting it back on my hoist which mounts it over the car - it's nice NOT to have to worry about hitting my head.

I'm going to have a go at making a PVC stand. There's a few diagrams and measurements out there. Should make a good weekend project. For now I'm leaving the top on to try it out for a little while.

Bummer about the wastegate actuator.
Mounting the bracket on the "next" clockable position on the turbo may help but I suspect you may have to make a custom bracket to get it perfect - basically the bolt holes and hole for the actuator shaft will have to be shifted slightly. Elongating the holes where the bracket mounts to the turbo is another option to allow "fine-clocking" (some of the Garrett brackets have very "long" bolt holes to do this).
Unfortunately that bracket is a massive chunk of hardened steel so you might want to try creating a sturdy template first (ie. one that doesn't flex) that you can test-fit with the engine cold and "play" with the actuator before making the final bracket.

I have a collection of Garret brackets and also have the "low EFR" wastegate actuator bracket that you can try too if you want (the "low EFR" version is definitely worth a shot - from memory it only has 2x bolts to the turbo vs the 3x bolts of the normal one so elongating those requires 1/3 less effort).

I'm still overboosting I went for a run yesterday evening, the car hits boost cut (11psi) at ~5500rpm. But will hold a nice steady 6.5psi from 3000rpm through to 4000prm or so in 5th gear on the freeway (then I lift because speed limits), then it creeps fast. I don't think the gate is opening far enough. I'm going to check the alignment again, but it seems the rod just isn't long enough, I have to preload the spring just to attach the actuator to the gate, this means it takes more pressure to open the can (6.5psi instead of 5psi) and it robs the can of some throw to open the gate. The fact that I have to preload the spring just to attach the rod to the gate seems like the rod is too short. Or the bracket isn't angled properly.

Oh, and note, I'm not altering the bracket's position on the compressor cover, rather the supercore's position relative to the turbine housing. The supercore attaches to the turbine via 4 clamp bolts and allows for infinite and minute clocking adjustment. The only limitation to this is where the rod physically runs - not an issue in the top mount setup, plenty or space. You do need to consider the oil drain though, you still want it pointing within a few degrees of vertical for optimal drainage.

I'm going to go and recheck my alignment, but I might need to try a few of your brackets Lokiel.

I found this thread on MT.net showing the Turbosmart can vs the EFR can, and it shows the gate not opening enough. Leads me to want to try an EFR can to compare, but I'd need a low boost can, not my medium one.

https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/lazy-efr-overboost-97044/


Wastegate actuator comparison video from the thread above

The car is a blast to drive, it feels so purposeful and just wants to GO! Having boost cut hit at just over 5k rpm ruins the party though. I really want to sort EBC and get boost to come in early and strong (and safe), but first I need to sort out this boost overshoot issue.

[ManiacLachy]

I've been wanting to post an in-depth update, and with a little extra progress made, but time has been short lately! So I'll just write a quick story right now to bring this up-to date. No pictures I'm afraid, you'll have to use your imaginations.

When I last left you, I was experiencing overboost. I tried re-clocking the turbo which eased symptoms somewhat, but the issue persisted. I wanted to know what was happening with the wastegate, but it's hard to see whats going on under the hood when you're travelling at speed! So I picked up a Ryobi One+ air compressor, and a cheap hose kit from Bunnings. The hose kit is complete crap, more leaks than the federal government, and with just as much air! But it did the job I needed it to, eventually.

I wanted to activate the wastgate actuator with compressed air and see where it was binding. The damn thing barely moved, but more alarmingly, I could feel air on the back of the rod - air should NOT be escaping the actuator, if it is then it isn't working properly! So I pulled the actuator out of the car and added soapy water and when I applied air I saw bubbles from the back where the rod leaves the cannister, and around where the two halves seal. The actuator wasn't moving a great deal either. Sometimes it would move better than others but it was lazy and still not going as far as I could activate by hand.

I also tested my medium boost actuator, and it operated smoothly and fully. So I have a busted Turbosmart actuator, maybe I can get replacement seals for it? I haven't looked into it yet. I tried to order a low boost can, but stocks seem hard to come by right now. I don't want to run the medium can, I fear it's too much for stock rods.

I chatted with Lokiel and he said he had some brackets I could try that might help my alignment, and he might have an EFR low boost actuator in his vast collection of parts. So I went for a visit, I got to sit in his shiny new seats and see all the goodies that I can't let myself be distracted by! But he also sent me away with a bag of goodies, and I fit his low boost canister to the car in his driveway. I am happy to report I did not his boost cut the entire way home!

I even logged a quick 3rd gear pull and loaded it into Virtual Dyno, at 7.5psi I made ~180whp. I take this number with a grain of salt. But no boost cut, I didn't massively overboost!

Then during the week I had another crack at fixing the turbo orientation, but with a little more care this time! I had to grind down a stubby spanner to better access a few bolts - finally a use for my angle grinder! The alignment was still a little bit high, the rod was perfectly aligned clockwise, but was slightly above the gate. So I took a wastegate bracket of Lokiel's to the vice and proceeded to hit it with a hammer! (he had already done something similar, so it was already marred up). This did the trick! Alignment looks perfect, and I put the whole thing back together ready for testing.

Finally for the last day of my 40th year I went for a drive in the mountains, it was an excellent top down drive, the kind I've been missing for the last 2 years. The car ran perfectly hitting 6psi on the wastegate spring, and I had a great time making turbo noises.

Now I can start to tune in some Electronic Boost Control. First stop, I want 8psi flat, at which point I'll try to take a reasonable virtual dyno baseline and go from there. I just need a few clear hours on a weekend ...