Turboyata: The Journey

JDM-P5

The Jamaican Sensation
:
2006 Speed6 GT
Well...Thanks to Kevin KCBHIW...I own a turbo-charged Miata.
Here's the definitive "How I got my feet into the mud puddle, that is Miatadom." Miata story.

PREFACE
I saw Kev's Miata for the first time at an Auto-X in Atlanta, GA.
f1a6ec47.jpg

Ever since then, I just wanted one.
After months of bitching & moaning about not having one, a canidate was found! I purchased my car while deployed in the Middle East on the GrassRoots Motorsports site. The car was located in Wisconsin & I was residing in Montgomery, Alabama. It was already ready to go with a few bolt-on modifications and everything.
Against better judgement, but encouragement from everyone around, I decided to take the plunge. For a turbo'd Miata with a sub $2006 price tag, everything was fair game. Or was it? The next few months that played out drove me to nearly selling the car. But yet again, the wise words & encouragement from fellow members and other outside sources urged me on.
Come, take a ride with me.
ACT1/SCENE 1
While still in Doha, Qatar I tried to keep up to terms with the ins & outs of the Mazda Community...the second family if you will. Even though I was working 12-14 hour days, I still put in the 1-2 hour "computer-time" to talk with the GACC and troll the GRM $200x thread. Then finally, there she was.
A pretty good GRM car...apart from needing a paint job and some other misc things, a good buy IMHO. The asking price was negotiated and it was decided that I would put half the money up front & pay the rest on delivery/pick up. So, $900 invested into my new baby. Excitement was building and I was bursting at the seams. I couldn't wait to leave the desert!
ACT1/SCENE 2
Back in 'Bama. It felt great to be home. Great to drive the P5 again, but something was missing. Boost....and a 5-speed (Autotragic FTL *thx GACCers*). After some discussion about flying there & driving back, the plan evolved into driving 14 hours with a Jeep & trailer to pick the car up & tow it back. After rethinking the whole operation once again, it was agreeded upon to just save time & ship the car. Good deal...think smart...drink more.
That faithful day...I don't remember the date...I'd have to search the forums (lol) to find it, the turboyata arrived to it's foster parent. Joy on Earth, it's gonna be a great Christmas.
ACT1/SCENE 3
Pleasure to Pain. That's the best way I can put the next 2 months & a half into words. Before the now infamous tradegy on the way to the GRM Challenge...there was the "...I think you over boosted..." incident. Let me harp on this subject for a minute. Over boosting, when you get a little crazy with the right foot & pedal. While your turbo & engine can only handle so much abuse, because you go over your boost range for your turbo setup.
I was on the highway on a cool night, top down and just minding my own business (it ALWAYS starts like that...does it not?)when an Acura decided to spar with me (or vice versa) can't remember exactly how it went down. I dropped from 5th to 4th to 3rd and we both gunned it. The machine that Mazda created & the GReddy turbocharger did their jobs, however the craptastic Autometer boost dial on the inside didn't (not to place blame on the thing...I was the one driving fast).
The only problem I had with that gauge was that it was not backlit or anything...so I couldn't see where the needle was at when I reached peak. Meh. What happened next...sucked. Bogging...and lots of it. Great. Limping the car back to the house is so cool these days. Turns out a fitting was loose. But was that it?
That brings me into the "...dude, it's spitting oil all over the place under the hood...". And "...WTF is up with all this bloody smoke!!?..." Just a few of the things I'd call & pester Kevin about on almost a weekly, sometimes daily...even hourly basis....sorry Kev. ;) A good friend of mine in town also has a turbo'd Miata. He was having the same problem...smoke. Diagnosis: Piston Rings...yikes! After discussing color, smell, texture etc with Kevin, we figured it was just old age. :p Time for a compression test & a tune up. The test came up with good numbers. Time to replace all the vacuum lines, new intake filter installed, exhaust tweaked. Cool. Lets run it at the track since The Challenge includes a drag competition. A few runs & smoke....and alot of me popping my pipes out (heavy, crappy pipping from previous owner). Screw it. Let's just go big. Race rubber, check. Gutted interior, check. Engine good to go, it runs...so check! Time for suspension upgrading...coilovers from Troy for free! Sweet. Not. Blown rear shock. None to replace it readliy available in my area. I had to call Kev & beg for him to fedex his stock one to me. Then, my right rear shock assembly did not want to come off the car. I had to remove the ENTIRE rear right suspension set. YAY. Fun, fun, fun....if you were my room mate...who would just sit there and drink beers (& anything else alcohol-based), wallow in the blowing of his motor in his built WRX & throw in an occasional hand while pointing & laughing (thanks Shawn)...heh heh.
After all was said & done. I had a pretty spiffy looking car. I even painted the valve cover & the wheels. Panasport wannabe's FTW! things are looking up.
ACT1/SCENE 4
A thorn in my side. A date that will live in infamy. More commonly known as the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941. That historic day was remarkably similiar to this day. Peaceful at first then disaster when you least expect it. I departed for my 4 day adventure to G-ville, Fl early in the morning. It was a little damp out, so I left the top up and just turned up the stereo because the car was so loud. Everything was going well, till somewhere on I-10 just around Tallahassee, Fl. Then I noticed something wrong. A slight pinging noise, barely audible...I attributed this to the crappy cat that had been making noise since I got the car. Then, I noticed my oil gauge was going beserk. 30-0, 0-30...wtf? So I pulled off at the next exit....and then I heard it. The knock. Death was knocking on my door.
s***, I'm in bumf**k, Florida...WTH am I going to do? First person I called was Kev of course...he says...dude, check the oil. The oil looked ok, but low (I had checked it the night before)...so I bought some more. I was instructed to add a quart and drive around the service station in first & see if the knocking would go away. For a moment, it sounded ok, but the higher the RPMs, the worst the knock got. s****! My options were to continue pushing on, turn back or call a tow truck. Being the balls to walls kind of person...I said I'm going to forge ahead...you don't get anywhere if you just sit...lol...figures I'd screw myself with that assumption. So, again, I'm on my way...1st gear...brrrraaaaaap, 2nd gear....braaaaap...3rd gear....brrap-braaap-braaaaap, 4th gear....brap-brap-brap-braaaap....5th gear.....braaaaaaaaaaap, smoke, kapow! That was it. Muthaf**ker! The car stopped right next to a FDOT call box...thank goodness. I had always wondered how exactly those things worked. Well, I got to try it first hand.
So, I popped the hood to check the damage.
ACT1/SCENE 5
Beejeebus!! That's a huge hole!
After sitting there in complete disallusion that I just blew a rod out of my baby & that I am sitting in no man's land, I picked up the phone & started dialing people at random:
Me - Yeeeeeah...uhhhh...I just blew the motor....
Kevin - Dude that sucks....
Me - Think you can uhhhh...come get me on Sunday?
My boss - What!?
Me - ....blew the motor, now it's you & I both....
Room mate - F**kin' Mazda's....
Me - Dad, so uhhh...remember that Miata I bought? (I go on to tell him the situation)
My Dad - Laughter...then says, you need forged internals...
Me - Thanks for the heads up....:confused:

So somewhere between 45-60mins, the FLHP shows up. He immediately thinks I'm up to no good & asks for my license, registration etc. I inform him that I'm a mil member. He then decides to look on the inside & he sees the race rubber, jack etc. So I start telling him about The Challenge...he says that's neat & goes back to his car to run my plates etc. I ask him if it's ok for me to take some pics or whatever & he says sure. So I proceed to take my pics and wait for my paperwork & tow truck.
After about another hour, the truck arrives & I meet 'Bubba'. Your typical country-bumpkin tow guy...except he had 3 of those Taco Bell dogs in the cab. Dare I say they were cute, in an annoying way. It was a long 2 hour drive. So, I slept..in between looking in the sideview mirror at my baby & getting play bites from the pups.
 
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I look forward to seeing what happened to this Miata. Suspense! ;)
 
Kansei said:
a little late, eh? :P
I didn't have the car long enough to really drive it...I do now.

Better late than never....kinda like when your gf has her period. It's late...but at least you're not gonna be a Daddy.
(eek2)
 
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Awsome write up so far. However, unless your wastegate actuator is/was acting up, you didn't over boost (if you did, you better replace it ASAP). It was the 20+ degrees of advance that was dialed into the engine that killed it. hehe.
 
ACT2/SCENE 1
Arrival. "Are you that guy..." "Yep, that's me" "Here have a beer...you need it more than me".
There I was a simple hobbyist amongst diehard DIY'ers. I had been following a few of the build on the GRM board & it was nice to grab a glance of a few of the cars as most were still on trailers & covered up.
It was nice to see to see the familiar faces of Wil & Kev, who immediately offered me more alcohol...lol. As soon as the car was safely parked in a lonely corner, I proceeded to check-in at the GRM table. I distinctly remember the 'Myspace' page for your car comment...haha...that got me cracking a smile. For those who don't know...I used Myspace as a free domain to provide pics & info on the build etc....and I still do even now.
There's no rest for the wicked, it's time to get sh*tfaced! So, I pretty pissed the night away & in company at that. That's when I met The Boss Hong Boys (Wayne & Mike)....oh, this is gonna be a great experience!
ACT2/SCENE 2
The Challenege.
Fast Forward.
"How am I going to get the car, much less myself home!?"
I luckily bummed a ride with Kevin & decided it was in my best interest to leave the car there at the host hotel. It was kind of funny...Kev was more upset about it than I was...but hey, life goes on.
Fast Forward.
Interlude
I picked the car up 2 weeks later. I drove down with a classmate/fellow racer in a borrowed truck. Of course, Wayne (Hong) was nice enough to let me borrow his trailer. So we had to drive from Montgomery, AL...North..to somewhere around Atlanta, GA....South....to G-Ville. Fun drive. Stayed the weekend down there & made up for staying in at the hotel, by going out & hanging out with the college crowd & eating deep fried Gator meat (Yum!).
The next day we made the return trip to GA. We met everyone at the Auto-X at Turner field. Afterwards, we followed ev to his house & dropped off the car. Then made the cross county trip to Wayne's place to drop off the trailer. Then the relatively easy trip ack to 'Bama. Memories.
ACT2/SCENE 3
To quote a craptastic movie:
"....the mad scientist gotta rip apart the block, and replace the piston rings you fried! Ask any racer, any real racer, it don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning...."
Makes sense though. Who better to replace the motor than Kev....who in my eyes, happens to be a top notch Miata-Guru...I don't know how he became that way...but it's a definite + in my book. The one thing that we both discussed was that it had to be a cheap replacement. Luckily, Kev had a donor motor...TG! The other thing we agreed on was time. I was stuck in class & he was busy with work, his own stable & other projects for other people. I think everytime I've seen Kev...I've thanked him. Needless to say, days went by where I thought...we are not going to make the deadline. I got an assignment to Turkey & was planning to take the Miata instead of the P5 (cheap to get the body straight & resprayed etc.), plus the P5 is not paid off...and is in pretty good shape. Screw it..let's mush!
ACT2/SCENE 3
Parts, parts & more parts.
Donor block.
Turbo rebuild kit.
New crank.
Misc items.

Ebay +1!!!
I must say, majority of the items were purchased on that site & I continue to live by it today. I remember looking at pictures when Kev & I would chat on AIM...the old motor & tranny getting yanked. Various chunks of metal. A really big-a** hole in the block! But then, I remember the good stuff like when he told me the car was ready to have it's heart back. When the new motor was being installed, I was 'sofaking' happy.
I remember when Kevin cranked it & then sent me the picture of all the black soot on the bumper of his usually clean Silver P5...yikes! But then he said the words I was waiting to hear. She lives! Now come get her. And that I did.
Driving from my house to Kev's is not too bad...but when you are driving a Mustang with your boss & her kid...it's kinda blah. I like to crank my music & just drive. Driving with a woman & a child...I feel for you married folks. Meh.
So, we get there and I'm like hell yeah! Everything's good to go. So after shooting the breeze with Kevin for a little bit, we decide to take off. He tells me that the car needs gas. No problem, the station is on the way. i kid you not, I get to the cross street to turn into the station & the car dies....haha. Crapo! So I call Kev..he comes down & we push and fill the tank. GD TRD shirt I was wearing...the Turboyata did not like that.
So Kev's thinking...finally Phil's gone! A few miles down the street, my boss (who was following me) calls to tell me there's a film of some sort all over the windshield & her bumper etc. She thinks it came from my car. Damn it! So, I exit the highway & hit another service station. As I park & get out, I hear the car "peeing"...I look below & it's oil coming out from underneath (it was dark..so I had no idea where exactly). So, of course I call Kev & he is like that stressed out Father at a soccer game. He was positive he did everything perfect. I trust him of course. So after he ran some errands, he came by with a jack and we took a look. The PO had put a washer of some sort where the oil drain plug screws in. It caused a failure & I lost that plug on the highway somewhere...haha. Jeez! So, Kev ran back to his house...again...and got another plug. We filled her up with oil & he drove her around. No knocking. Thank the Lord. But as a precautionary measure, I decided to leave the car at his house so he can do a week long shake down.
Sad drive back to the 334.
Kevin loved to drive the Turboyata around town...says he needs to get his street legal, so he can do it more...haha...that's good enough for me.
The following weekend, I went up to his house & got the car. Installed the TurboXS bov & took some pictures. Finally...she's in tip top!
ACT2/SCENE 4
W00T!
I love teh boost.
Too much..as my pipes kept on slipping off.
Gotta do something aout this!
So after stopping at every Autozone, Advance, O'Reily's & Wal-Mart in the area to no luck....I parked the Miata AGAIN at a service station & drove the P5 around trying to find a Home Depot. 20 minutes out of the way, I find one. Before I left the Miata, I remembered to grab the rubber coupling & the heavy metal pipe to see if I could get something lighter to replace it with. Glad I did. I remembered seeing the yellow CRX at the Challenge & to the best of my knowledge, the IC pipes were PVC. So I had the pipe cut to size & hoped it would work. 30 minutes later, I was back on the road. It was not til I got home that Fadi gave me some FYI about hairspray and pipes! :D
But regardless...the adventure was over, but the journey was far from completion!
ACT2/SCENE 5
My Father came to visit me before I left for my current location. We pretty much shot the sh*t together, caught up on old times & got my Kirk Racing Products roll bar installed. :p He got to drive my P5 ahile I tooted along in the Turboyata.
Anyhow, when he left...I noticed it....
Damn it..why is there oil leaking out?!? & where the hell is it coming from!!!?
Could you believe that the day before I was scheduled to drop the car off at the shippers in Atlanta, the oil pressure line decided to spring a leak!? Holy cow. In retrospect, I'm kind of happy it happened then...when I had access to the other car, Advance Auto Parts & Home Depot...because the selection sucks here! Anyhow, after rigging the car up, she was good to go. My buddy followed me up in the P5 and I successfully drove the car up there with no incidents. Schweet.
ACT3/SCENE 1
A time to worry....
I moved my entire life as I knew it with me here to Turkey.
Nice weather, pretty girls...sh*tty roads. Hey, you can't have everything. Or can you? Regardless, I got here in one piece. But in the back of my mind...I had one thing on my mind. Will my car make it over here in one piece? I was worried that some teenage dock yard kid would be dogging my car around & that the makeshift oil line would burst and I would have a non-running car when I picked her up at the docks.
Weeks went by. Girls came & went, just like the seasons. WhereTF is my car? Where is the Turboyata? Finally, the phone call I'd been waiting on came. "Your vehicle is at the port, are you ready to pick it up?". Hell yeah. It was about time damn it!!
ACT3/SCENE 2
Zoom-Zoom. Driving pleasure. I had been driving a Mazda B-series truck here (company truck) & it's freaking diesel. It's hella slow. But a M-badged vehicle none-the-less. But, when I heard the car being started up in the auto yard...it brought a smile to my face.
At that point...I knew she was ready to play in her new stomping grounds.
And that brings us here:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123667303

*...continuously updating (wiggle) .*
 
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I never really finished this...because there was about a 2 year gap while I was in Turkey...lol.
I'll have to update this sometime.
 

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