DaveStruve Build Log

[StruveD]

Been slacking on keeping this build log sync with my other build logs. So here it goes.

Sept. 2 2014

It never ends.

After months of searching I finally tracked down an off the shelf intercooler that would actually fit the 7. Its a tiny but thick thing from a Toyota MR2, but it fits. I totally lucked out and found an ebay store the same day from a guy that was unloading a bunch of lightly used carbon fiber oil cooler ducts. One of which fits nearly perfectly and has duel inlets. I did some initial recon and it will fit once I assemble some new piping. But since I'm intending to use the car for the next few weekends,I'll wait to install till I'm clear of everything.

You can start to see how this will be configured, I think it will get enough air flow from the NACA ducts to work. At least shouldn't get worse.

[StruveD]

Sept. 19th 2014

Finished up the intercooler setup today. This thing just fit, and really is a cool setup. Now I just hope it works the way it was intended. Did a long drive this past weekend of about 200 miles and managed to cook the teflon coating off the supercharger. So it was time to do this install.

[StruveD]

Oct. 6th 2014

Just got back from the second dyno tune to adjust for the intercooler and it was a great success. Air temps were 100 degrees cooler that the previous tune. And because of that and finding a few areas that were leaking boost, I am now making 25 more hp and 10 torques to the wheels. Final numbers were 167hp 136ftlbs, there is still room to hit the 170's but the injectors are maxed out at this point. Blue lines are from a few months back.



Shot taken at a recent car show.

[StruveD]

So I completed my first track day in the car and did more or less a shakedown of it. Everything held up extremely well other than the cooling system. During my second session the engine started getting super hot... I mean really hot. I was seeing temps over 260 degrees, so at that point I shut it down and brought it in. Thankfully doesn't appear to be any head gasket damage, so I think I got lucky.

So I have now been addressing that issue. I have ducted the radiator, will be switching to a water/ water wetter mix, and performing a coolant reroute on the miata motor. I regret not doing the coolant reroute before, because I did not leave myself much room to pull it off.

With all that said, the car is very fast. So I'm happy.

Video: This was from the very first session, so disregard the terrible driving. https://youtu.be/-ymMPKPA4HU