Sam's 1.6 MX-3- LT Turbo project.

[mazdamx3bds]

What are your goals power wise for the car from the turbo project?

[youdirtyfox]

I'll be happy with anywhere between 150-170 with the VJ and a little over 200 with the T3.

[mazdamx3bds]

You could probably hit 170 with the IHI VJ-11 but you would have to ditch that oem downpipe and also run at least a 2.5" exhaust and run around 10-12psi. The only concern that you have to worry about is damaging pistons so you have to ensure that ignition timing and fueling are correct.

[youdirtyfox]

Yeah true. I'll probably go about 2.25"--2.5" for the exhaust tbh as I have some stainless steel bends leftover from my last conversion and its cool I have an AEM F/IC to fit in so that will take care of the ignition and fueling once mapped for boost.

[youdirtyfox]

My 10mm "water out" Y piece arrived today, also found a bung for this too which means I can fit this inbetween the throttle body and main heater matrix hose now in prep. and check for any leaks now rather than later.



Along with the 16x12x16 "water in" T piece to be inserted into the metal water pipe running along side the exhaust manifold by cutting a piece out and using some pieces of 5/8" (16mm) rubber heater hose.

This may also need a 12-10mm elbow reducer onto the turbo.

[mazdamx3bds]

Good luck with the setup, the biggest problem you will face is that power is addictive, I started out thinking I would be happy with just 5-7psi with the small VJ-14 and now at 14+ psi with the T-Bird turbo, I am still looking for more.

[RobMinhas]

Good luck with the setup, the biggest problem you will face is that power is addictive, I started out thinking I would be happy with just 5-7psi with the small VJ-14 and now at 14+ psi with the T-Bird turbo, I am still looking for more.

I really want to see your work log sir, if you have one please link!

[youdirtyfox]

Good luck with the setup, the biggest problem you will face is that power is addictive, I started out thinking I would be happy with just 5-7psi with the small VJ-14 and now at 14+ psi with the T-Bird turbo, I am still looking for more.

Haha yep know that feeling well, have had 190hp(turbo) in a little lightweight car before when I was alot younger and that was alot of fun. Im older now though and this car is alot lower so I should be content for a while aslong as everything works as it should

[mazdamx3bds]

RobMinhas,

I dont want to hijack the post but I never really kept a worklog since the car was worked on over a period of years on and off and by different mechanics, most of the mods are listed in my signature, it started off as a very low boost setup on a bone stock engine but is now running a built 1.6 MX-3 engine (headwork, pistons etc) running 14-16 psi on a T-Bird turbo.

It is good to see that Sam's has kept a proper worklog documenting all of these changes, I wish that I had done that. I also am happy to see another boosted MX3 project.

[youdirtyfox]

A few more parts bought this week...

9mm oil breather filter for on top of rocker cover.


And most importantly, a boost gauge in 37mm micro digital format!

[youdirtyfox]

So this is how I spent my Saturday evening with a mate & some brews doing more research into how we are going to hook up the AEM piggyback.

After a good few hours we came to realise that all the B6 wiring diagrams including the Miata ones are different to the ECU plug we had sitting next to us! Ideally would like the B6 BF schematics but these do not seem to exist online. So its going to mean finding all the relevant sensors in the engine bay (Injectors, TPS, cam/crank angle & MAF) then tracing them back to the ECU plug with the multimeter just to make dead sure, shouldnt be too much of an issue just more work than we had hoped for. Atleast the MAP is easy to tap into!

[mazdamx3bds]

Let me know how it goes with the AEM FIC since I never had good luck with piggybacks, had in the S-AFC 2 at one point and it never worked well for me. A standalone is always preferred for NA to turbo applications if you can afford it and I may look to go down that road.

[youdirtyfox]

Will do, the AEM is very well known piece of kit nowadays in the Miataturbo brigade plus piggybacks have come along way since emanage etc. There are some very local places that will map it for me Yeah full management would be very nice but I don't think it will ever happen for me.

[SgtLynch]

I ran a Dinasour Piggy Back on an 86 Mustang for almost 15 years, I think they get a bad rap for no reason except they aren't all 'elite' and stuff. From what I've seen, most people running full ECM's are running street tunes.

[youdirtyfox]

Yes exactly I mean the AEM has an inbuilt MAP sensor so its way better then tuning of the MAF and I really like the fact you can install it get it running and just leave it be till all the turbo hardware goes on.