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Life after Westy's...earning my petrolhead stripes


B.RAD

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I'm sure revent could supply just a downpipe, a few guys on here have reported slow delivery though so worth scanning the forums to see what current speed is like

https://reventshop.com/

 

Flyin Miata do a downpipe split in to two sections, with the upper cast to help with cracking. Shame it's north of $500, plus shipping and taxing :o

 

I suspect a chat with most of the traditional suppliers could see them dig out a jig for a T25? They used to be really common so must still be something lying around somewhere. Skuzzle were going to make me a custom downpipe when mine cracked. I got it welded up in the end but that reminds me, I still need a snazzy new one before this one cracks again!

 

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There's also dave fab. His kits get good reviews but I'm not sure if he makes for the t25. Might be better changing to a td04. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Small Project BRG update:

 

I got all the final connectors through and thanks to @Marto303 some wiring to make up the IAT sensor and MAC EBC wiring looms. I also made a bracket for the EBC to mount on, fairly close to the turbo so I'm not running miles of silicone boost hose. Also mega thanks to @AdamR who welded in the IAT sensor boss to the intake pipe. In usual Adam awesomeness, he even added some ribs for the silicone hose to grip to. Cheers dude!

 

IMG-20190514-WA0004.jpg.8398c2eac1302b89f1cc42bc92d4b13d.jpg

 

Popped over to the garage tonight and got all that fitted, connected and neatly tidied away. Aaaaaaand relax. I'm really chuffed with the outcome, it remains a clean engine bay and you wouldn't know the IAT and EBC wiring was there. It's also a huge benefit to lose that MAF sensor!! 

 

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IAT sensor and EBC in situ:

 

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Next job was to get what was left of the torn exhaust off the car. The three bolts that mount the downpipe to the exhaust were absolutely solid, despite liberal use of Poland's finest rust release spray (Vulcan!!!). Same was true of the exhaust gas sensor, so I did the sensible thing and unplugged that from the loom, and undid the two bolts to the cat, slid the lot out and did a little whoop to myself (the thought of doing that particular task has been eating a hole in my brain for a couple of weeks now!). 

 

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All that stands in the way of making boost now is fixing the exhaust, refitting it, and installation of the ME221 ECU. I've removed the relevant fuse so all I need to do is whip out the factory ECU (and the f con mini piggyback that's in there currently), replace the main board with the ME221, download the relevant map and away we go (to the nearest rolling road, obviously!). I'm torn as to whether or not to fit the injectors now, or see how I get on with the stock ones - bearing in mind I'm not chasing big power. We'll see as to how carried away I get I suppose!!

 

First up though is the exhaust, so next stop is over to Martin to see if he can work any magic and salvage the downpipe. At this point I'm somewhere between my usual state of hopelessly optimistic and thinking we can do something, and the reality that it's probably scrap. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

 

 

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Frankenpipe!!! 🤣

 

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I consider myself lucky to have such good mates, even more so when they have such a good sense of humour!!

 

Very excited to get this bolted back on and get the car running again.

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1 hour ago, BCF said:

Frankenpipe!!! 🤣

 

20190529_174343.thumb.jpg.9bdb9e30f363f99f9166e2587f1f76a4.jpg

 

I consider myself lucky to have such good mates, even more so when they have such a good sense of humour!!

 

Very excited to get this bolted back on and get the car running again.

I know they say you can't paint a turd. But Martin has worked some sore of automotive miracle on that. Nice one 

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27 minutes ago, syman84 said:

I know they say you can't paint a turd. But Martin has worked some sore of automotive miracle on that. Nice one 

Couldn't agree more mate!! Can't wait to get it fitted.  ECU and injectors to come next...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got a good solid afternoons work on Project BRG yesterday.

 

Bit of a battle to get the exhaust back on, but managed it, and I have to say Frankenpipe is looking mighty fantastic in situ! Keen to get the rest sorted so I can fire it up now.

 

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With that done, attention now turns to the ECU and injectors. Not much to show here, but got the stock ECU and f con mini piggyback ECU removed, did the necessary adjustments to the ME221 PCB (fan switch settings, MAP feed etc), drilled the hole for the MAP feed line in the stock case and installed the ME221 board.

 

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Plugged it all back in with the MAP feed connected, so after the injectors are installed I can go about setting it all up.

 

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Injectors - this has been bugging me for a while. Haynes manual makes it look exceptionally laborious to remove the injector rail, basically having to remove the entire air inlet. I've googled and YouTube searched and nothing comes up.  That suggests either no one replaces injectors, or it's so straightforward it doesn't need tutorials. I really hoped it was the latter but after a quick attempt yesterday, in which I got the rail off and the first injector out, I really struggled to get the new injector in so I decided to call it quits there and take a breather and get back to it another day. No photos unfortunately. Want to get it sorted though so I can get it running again!

 

Bit nervous about doing the mapping stuff next - theres a 1.8 turbo base map provided by Motorsport Electronics, but I need to change various settings to recognise the IAT sensor, MAC EBC solenoid and new injectors - well outside my comfort zone. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

 

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Bit of wd40 on the injector and it'll slide right in

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Good day!

 

Amazing how stepping away for a while can make things easier. Bit of thought overnight and away we go.

 

First up, comparison of old vs new injectors. Can injectors be sexy? Not sure. But the new ones are pretty damn awesome.

 

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Got the fuel pipes off so I could get the injector rail out fully, clean everything up, grease and install the new injectors and reinstall. Boom! Simple as that. 

 

Also, the boot of my camper makes an exceptional portable workstation. 

 

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So, onto mapping the ECU. Followed the fairly straightforward instructions, clenched my a hole super tight and turned the key. Fired straight up. Woo hoo!! Its not running right, pretty obviously as it's on a base map, but it idles and revs fine, so hopefully I can drive it for mapping soon. Awesome!

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You should change the title and have this moved to build threads.

 

Interested to see how you gte on with the injectors. I had 550s in mine and they were a bit of a pig at idle, but I think it was down to a crap ECU and poor mapping.

 

How many KWs are you aiming for...?

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Cheers man. It's not so much of a build thread as part of my journey, so I'm happy it all stays together. Be nice to have more interaction from readers though!

 

When I spoke to BBR earlier, they said the 640cc injectors would make it rich at idle, and potentially struggle with MOT. We'll see. Now I know how to do it, I'm happy to change out the injectors if needed.

 

Power-wise, I'd really like around 180bhp, but I think the set up and the 2" stock exhaust will be quite restrictive, so 160bhp may be more realistic. Whatever the outcome, I'll be happy for the learning and hobby tinkering experience of it all!

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Looking good.

 

My turbo 1.8 engine had 800cc injectors and idled fine

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1 hour ago, KugaWestie said:

Looking good.

 

My turbo 1.8 engine had 800cc injectors and idled fine

 

Thanks Gary, good to know! Hopefully they can sort it. Yours didn't need MOT though right?

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