Who is Dan?
What’s his history with cars?
What’s he done to his?
Why has he done these things?
What’s the NC community like?
Why do I think he has one the cleanest SS 22V’s
What is the intention of this car?
What’s the spec list of all the parts used?
How I met Dan
Have a build you’d like to share with the interweb? Drop me a message via contact page or socials.
As many of you, may know Yasha. My long term project MX-5. The naming ideology continues on. Ashura are depicted as fearsome demon gods with multiple faces and arms. While in some cases mentioned to have multiple faces like a Yasha. Therefore, in my mind these two are like a brother and sister vehicle.
Ashura started life as a 2013 Nissan Navara. Or known in the truck community as a D40 chassis. I’ve not owned him long as of writing. Ashura is the third vehicle I’ve had since passing my regular vehicle license way back. Ashura just like Yasha, the sibling car. Is a composition of my ideas. All of which are solely my own.
I originally purchased Ashura as a tractor unit to trailer Yasha around with. Given the increased inventory of my heavy equipment. I slowly realised the potential to haul around pretty much anything from gas cylinders for welding, to complete engines and everything in between. Before I had been reliant on using a family members vehicle to haul such larger items. The last purpose which may explain the tyre choice. Is a recovery vehicle for Yasha and any of my mates really. Having a vehicle that can do all three is incredibly practical. Something I’m starting to appreciate as I get older lol.
So I’ve never owned nor driven a truck before, let alone a lifted truck. So yeah, let’s say it was very strange hopping out of Yasha. Being a very low slung vehicle where ground clearance is a potential issue. Ashura’s driving position is more than twice the height of Yasha. Which at first was a little daunting, thinking I would have no cornering ability and the chances of rolling the vehicle did worry me. But, shortly after getting used to the elevated driving position I can finally understand the types of ladies and gentleman that drive proper diesel Range Rovers and 4×4’s. The chassis is surprisingly stable for what it is. Getting used to a larger vehicle was awkward at first, and I know where I can and can’t park him. Getting used to a diesel engine was actually easily done. Having torque at low rpm is awesome. I dare rev him past 3,000rpm on a regular basis. Occasionally to accelerate onto a busy road, but not typical driving. Maybe a bit weird as you feel like you’re short-shifting because in Yasha you would have a lot more rpm left over. The two vehicles could not be as far part in every aspect.
The truck’s styling is all original. I’ve been piecing ideas from other class of vehicles and putting my own spin on them. For instance the cab height markers are inspired by the chrome ones you’d see a 389 Peterbilt tractor. Although a few heavy duty American pickup trucks also use them, similar to my ones. As of writing this, the plan is to drill the bed floor and have twin 3″ stainless stack-pipes with a bull-horn cut at the tops. Just like a 389 Peterbilt. I’m not a fan of straight stack pipes. This is what will be coming on V2.0. I won’t deny the truck communities are exceptionally good at sharing their builds and inspiring other owners.
The cab height markers are something I’ve not seen done to a Japanese truck. So I wanted to be original and send it. The interior footwell lights are on all my cars. Just as a nice bit of ambience driving at night. Not too bright and is switchable at the flick of a switch. The puddle lights are LED’s are the difference is exactly night and day. On V2.0 their will be either a lightbar or round floods on the snout of the beast. Along with additional flush reverse LED’s in the bumper to make backing up safer and easier for a trailer. I aim to make the truck stand-out more at night and increase the presence of it on the road to increase both mine and Ashura’s safety.
Ha. I know I’m going to get a lot of hate for this. But modifying a vehicle does not immediately make it less reliable nor fit for purpose. That is decided on by what the modification is, how it’s been done and the effects on other components because of it. In some instances you can increase the reliability. So don’t think leaving it stock is the only way. That is nonsense. For instance, a CAN gauge with additional engine oil pressure and temperature sensors is one way to keep a better eye on vitals while driving and not unnecessarily prematurely increasing the wear and tear. As for the engine itself. I have a few mods planned that will increase performance and longevity. But this is not going to a race-truck. The plan is to eventually remap the truck and maybe do switchable maps perhaps. I’m not sure yet. Something I have to investigate. A good person to learn diesel tuning from is actually Scotty from Haltech. That’s his personal passion besides tuning stupid fast petrol engines at work.
I’ll repeat myself. I’m no gate-keeper. Ask and you shall know. The parts below are broken down into categories for quick convivence.
Yasha started out life as a 2006 Mazda MX-5. Commonly known as a NC1 in the MX-5 community. At time of writing this I’ve owned her for four years. She was my second vehicle since I passed my license. Yasha is a reflection of my ideas and themes on four wheels. Designed by myself and tunned by PerformanceLink.
STATIC PHOTO OF IT OUTSIDE PERFORMANCELINK
Yasha was chosen as the name of this project because of its Japanese folklore. A “Yasha” is a demon like creature. Often depicted as fierce and malevolent beings. They are often described as looking intimidating with sharp claws, sharp fangs and my favourite bit. Multiple heads or faces. Which I use as a metaphor to describe myself. Hence the cars name being very fitting for those that were curious.
Yasha is essentially a soft-top NC1 2.0 Sport that has had the soft-top roof removed for weight and space reasons. Then a factory fiberglass hardtop installed in its space. A Garrett turbocharger fitted on the drivers side with the factory driveline components. A return-style fuel system conversion using Radium parts for reliability sake. Massive Enkei RPF1 wheels and Michelin PS4 tyres. The hood has been cannibalised by myself to fit SingulaityMotorsport hood louvres. Finally CarbonMiata rear brake lights that have been modified by myself.
SLIDESHOW OF DYNO PRINT-OUT
LITTLE DESCRIPTION OF SAID SLIDES.
Going back to the start. I’ve always said this car is an expression of my thoughts and themes. Unfortunately for some people that means I like a lot of things. Hence the visually loud styling choices. Some of the reasons for the choices made are the following. An perfectly good excuse to run wider wheels and ultimately rubber; aiding in traction. I never remotely liked the NC1 brake lights, hence the classic car style lights. As for the ducktail that was absolutely necessary to give the rather bland rear-end that little extra flare it needed. That is strictly cosmetic purpose only.
This is surprisingly asked a fair few times. Yasha was not built solely as a dedicated track-car. I’ve always wanted this car to retain its creature comforts while also offering the essentials for track work. Which promptly answers why the car still retains A/C controlled by the Haltech.
Wonder no more. Unlike the majority of gate-keepers I like to make this information public so you guys may be able to make some use of it. I’ll start below from category to category covering every last detail.
page layout
Correct cable to make battery-cables from.
Why crimping is the correct method. Not solder. (With real world examples)
How crimping works.
Tools necessary. How to use them.
Where to source the terminal posts from.
How tight to do battery terminals
Why battery-post terminals are the BEST terminals method. Compared to other shite.
How to find a suitable chassis ground in a relocated battery instance.
Expandable-braid vs DR-25.
Terminal covers and why you should use them.
What’s wrong with the oem battery cables? For majority of people absolutely nothing. They work and are on vehicles that have over 300,000miles and continue to work fine from a design stand-point. So what gives? Why fix what’s not broken? Like most things there is no one definitive answer to the question. So let’s briefly discuss it.
Okay, so number one. Just talking battery-terminals with the existing cables. Your terminals are damaged/broken and you are left with a defective part. Visually strands of wire are hanging out the battery-terminal where the conductor is stripped bare and is attached to the battery-terminal. For those unaware, this is a very serious issue and will, not could. Definitely create a servre problem. Such as the remaining strands effectively acting as a smaller gauge wire and not up to the current demand that the oem gauge wire is designed for. So the wire would then becomes a fuse and it would melt and you could have a fire and to top it off you’d be stranded on the side of the road! Absolutely knackered. So you’re looking to put new terminals on the oem cables. Quite a common job for vehicles that are prone for poor battery terminals from the factory. Poor wiring is a common issue on French vehicles, typically older French vehicles. So you’re looking to put new terminals that are a upgrade from the poor oem part.
Onto number two. You’ve got a project vehicle or the vehicles wiring is none existent or has been in a fire. You’re trying to mimic the factory wiring but upgrade the battery cables at the same time. You’re replacing end to cables. So from starter motor to the battery and depending on the vehicles wiring configuration. The wiring from the alternator to the battery or most likely the link between the alternator and the starter motor. Then from the battery to the fusebox. Replacing every leg in the system.
Thirdly, you’ve started a battery relocation and need new cables that never existed before in your vehicle. If you’re looking at doing a battery-relocation on a NC MX-5 or want to see my simple relocation setup. Please check out my NC battery-relocation article found here. In this articles tutorial I will be creating the cables from the new MTA power-distribution box to the positive battery terminal. In addition the necessary ground cable from the chassis to the negative battery terminal.
So let’s talk about the tools you’ll need for this job. You’ll need a crimper (either hydraulic-operated or manual/hand operated) that will crimp the crimp-lug that’s sized to slide on the end of your cable. A heat-gun, you can get away with using a hair-dryer or blow-troch. Worth mentioning if you’re using a naked flame to recover heatshrink pay attention to keep the heatshrink far away from the tip of the flame and keep moving the heatshrink (the crimped end of the cable) around 360 degrees and up and down. You DO NOT want to focus on one particular spot when recovering heatshrink regardless of the heat source used. But due to the immense heat of a naked-flame from a blow-torch the time and ultimately room for error before you begin to melt the heatshrink and highly likely the cables insulation, is reduced. You’ll need some scissors to cut the heatshrink to the correct length. Some means of cutting the cable end as square as possible. You can use some ratchet-cable shears or hand croppers. Or depending on the size of the cable a junior hacksaw or a regular hacksaw. Worth mentioning a hacksaw will squish the end of the cable considerably more than the alternate methods mentioned.
You may have heard of crimping when it comes to large battery cables. You might not. You may have heard of soldering battery cables. I’m going to tackle this question head on. Why crimp over soldering or using those horrific set-screw terminals. Soldering repetively while being consistent is a serious skill. Soldering requires more tools and equipment such as lead-solder, rosin-flux, soldering-iron or gun, heatshrink. Where as crimping is a far simpler method of securing crimp-lugs to the end of cables. They are actually used in industrial electrical infrastructure to connect sub-main cables from their respective supply. So it is a common practice for small to large cables.
To carry out a successful crimping operation the user only needs. A crimper either manual or hydraulic, 3:1 glue lined heatshrink and a crimp-lug with the correct size for the cable and diameter hole you have determined you require. That’s it. Meaning with the very basic technique required to perform a successful crimping operation if I completed one end of the cable. You’d be able to complete the other end and it would be to the same standard as the my end. Crimping essentially is performing a cold-weld as you crush the tinned copper tube-terminals (crimp-lugs) to the copper strands of the stranded cable. Crimping is preferred to soldering, as soldering creates a more brittle (hard) connection. Good practice for soldering is usually incorporating a mechanical strain-relief method to take the strain off the solder-joint. Where as with a cold-crimp joint there’s no need. Crimping will allow a more flexible bend radius from the crimp-lug as you don’t have solder (especially if you have used rosin-flux) that has wicked up the strands and made the joint longer. That’s why when soldering is required say in a oem connector, the user will submerge the multiple solder joints in potting compound. This is a specific type of epoxy made for this purpose. Proving the requirement for solder joints to need mechanical strain-relief. Crimping of course is also a cold process and does not require ire safety equipment such as the correct type of fire-extinguisher nearby when soldering (hot works).
I touched upon the tools and parts needed to perform a successful crimp above but less dive deeper.
Let’s start with the crimp-lugs themselves. Often referred to as tinned-copper tube terminals. They come in slightly different designs, they can come flat or as a 90degree, with a bell-mouth or straight cable entry, different size holes to secure the crimp-lug down via the respective bolt. The bell-mouth cable entry is the better style and far easier to slip over the end of your stripped conductor (strands). Don’t be fooled thinking that 90degree crimp-lugs are just bent straight crimp-lugs. They are indeed longer to account for the length loss of the bend. The amount is critical for the crimp-lug to clear say the fusebox or whatever it is fouling against below. You’ll probably never use 90degree crimp-lugs but it’s best to know the difference and that they exist. Some crimp-lugs come with a shorter or longer stepped-down flat section where the hole is drilled and positioned to secure the crimp-lug down. Generally speaking this isn’t going to cause in an incapability issue however it is worth noting.
The heatshrink you need to use is labelled 3:1 shrink ratio. This 3:1 ratio heathsrink has a inner glue lining that melts and forms a water-resistant seal around the cable and the heatshrink. Regular run of the mill heathsrink is not suitable for this use. Remember to size your heatshrink accordingly to the size of crimp-lugs you are going to be using outside cable diameter. You want heatshrink that fits over with no hassle yet is a close size to the recovered size it’s going to be after the heat exposure.
Moving onto the main tool itself. The crimper! There are two different types of crimpers that are commonly used or electrical purpose. That is hydraulic and hand (manual) crimpers. Hydraulic crimpers are more expensive however the dies they take depending on the size the crimper will go up to. Are a wider crimp zone. Eliminating the preference to double-crimp when using a hand operated crimper where the crimping zone is narrower. As seen on my MX5’s cables in this article. That was performed by a hydraulic crimper. Not my own personal hand crimpers. When purchasing a crimper it is absolutely necessary to know the maximum size battery-cable you intend to ever crimp in the future to ensure you have a crimper that is able to successfully perform the operation by having the correct dies and force required. The crimper will come as a complete set with the dies.
General electrical tools are needed too such as scissors or electricians-scissors, stanley-knife, cable-croppers or ratchet-cable-cutters or a junior hacksaw or hacksaw. But be warned about using a hack-saw as mentioned above in regard to the cable end becoming more square which may lead to difficulties fitting into the crimp-lug once stripped to bare conductor. A heat-gun or hair-dryer are the most appropriate sources of heat that reduce the risk of burning the heat-shrink and the cables insulation. However a naked flame such as blow-torch or lighter will do just be so careful not to allow the naked-flame to touch the cable and heatshrink and to work very quickly and keep the cable and/or heat-source moving around fast to avoid melting either the cable or heathsrink.
Let’s dive into the first question. Why upgrade over the stock brakes? How good are the stock brakes? This is a fairly common question in the groups. To answer that short and fast, the answer is for stock or 200bhp cars they are plenty adequate. Let alone with upgraded pads such as Carbotech XP8’s, Roddisons, PBS Pro-Race just to name a handful. Just make sure whatever pads you choose can work from cold if it is your daily or commuting vehicle to the track. However, once we get into engine setups that can produce easily over 200bhp we need to start to consider upgrading the callipers and going to a slightly larger disc. Again mentioning the pads compound needing to work from cold isn’t only for performance and safety concerns but, because a race compound does not have enough heat into the compound will run cold and will eat away at your new discs very quickly. Make sure you do your due diligence when you’re considering different pads.
So this then opens the door to the aftermarket scene. What big brake kits (BBK) are there for the NC as of writing this article then? So depending on how you intend to operate the vehicle you have many options. I’ll start with a strongly recommended BBK for most 200-400bhp area cars which is the BBK from Stewart at FreakyParts. He sells a very strongly suggested Brembo BBK that uses his custom calliper brackets to fit Brembo OEM Renault Megane callipers. Many people go this route as the overall cost of this kit is about £1000. Very good value for money. The discs or rotors depending on where you are from in the world are a one-piece design as opposed to a two-piece rotor-hat and rotor-ring design. I’ve heard this kit works well with the standard rear callipers too.
Which in itself is a massive pain to upgrade due to the parking brake feature and doing so at a very low cost is nearly impossible. Some kits come with four-piston rear callipers that also come with a separate calliper for the parking brake. Which in itself begins to overcomplicate the setup. But is necessary on extremely competitive track cars running over 600bhp. Don’t think you need that type of setup on a fast road or light-use track car with the same power as your better upgrading the rear discs and pads. Some even do RX8 oem rear brakes. A far more cost-effective solution.
I’ll move on to my personal choice for my vehicle. The V8Roadsters Wilwood four-piston BBK. This kit includes a two-piece rotor design. This is nice so you only have to replace the rotor-ring instead of the whole disc assembly. This allows V8Roadsters to make the disc assembly extremely light even with the larger 12.19″ rotor option that I chose. This essentially means less un-sprung weight which is great for road or track cars. For those not familiar with the term. It refers to the total weight of every component that is not supported by the vehicle’s suspension system such as the chassis, engine, drivetrain etc. This kit also includes two stainless-steel braided front brake lines. Most kits will include the same. It’s worth mentioning here if you haven’t already swapped out your rear brake lines to braided ones, the pedal feel is more consistent. What I like about this kit is the use of AN4 style fittings instead of the traditional banjo bolt and copper crush-washer affair. The callipers this kit uses are Wilwood Dynapro four universal callipers. Hence the four brake-bleed nipples.
The kit comes with Wilwood BP10 compound pads. Great for use from cold but not a true track/race pad. Meaning if you wish to use this kit for track and commuting your best bet is to carry two different pad sets. For the different operating temperature ranges. As suggested by Dave Moore. This kit including import tax duty cost me about £1500 and works well with the OEM rear brake setup.
Lastly, let’s look at the most overkill option for most of us. Goodwin-Racing NC Monster big-brake superlite kit. This setup is the bee’s knees for those seriously competitive on track. You will never need this kind of setup for street use. But if you’re running around 600bhp and are a dedicated track-build this is exactly what you need. The cost is steep but these are using Wilwood callipers and these would typically be used without ABS and/or a brake-bias valve so the setup can be optimised depending on track conditions etc. This kit is about £5500.
I’ve always wanted a two-piece rotor design since I got into modifying cars. They just look nuts. Just like the over 1000cc injector bragging right lol. So truthfully, that was my main reason. Second was the weight savings over using a two-piece design and the economical point of view of just replacing the pads and rotor-ring. Instead of the hat section of a single-piece design. Thirdly was the ease of access to the replacement parts worldwide. I can get these replacement parts for a fair price pretty quickly. I went with the V8Roadsters kit over the Goodwin-Racing (GWR) kit as many forum members of Miata.net suggested them because the rotor-hat powder-coating is far better than the GWR kit. I can confirm that once fitted the kit looks the nuts. The last reason is this kit is a radially mounted calliper setup. Which is better than an axial setup. The short explanation is, that the positioning of radially mounted callipers allows for more rigidity or less torsional flex (lateral movement) which translates to a firmer and more consistent brake pedal.
This is not an installation guide but a glimpse of what’s involved. Once you have removed all the OEM parts you should start by fitting the stainless-steel (SS) braided hoses to the hardline union fitting in the inner wheel-arch. Then clean up the OEM carrier bracket bolts up with a brass wire wheel, clean with brake-clean and install. Torque them to 100Nm. I also use a yellow Edding paint pen to mark two lines on the bolt and calliper bracket. So should they move I can visually see and catch the problem before it turns into a fatality. Then assemble the disc assembly. Torque the serrated flange nuts and countersunk bolts to spec using a minimum of a two-step process gradually increasing torque to the final figure mentioned in a star-cross pattern. That is mission-critical. Starting at 18ft-lbs (25Nm) and then final torque at 28ft-lbs (38Nm). I suggest using a paint pen to make a small mark on each nut after you’ve done the final torque value. Then proceed to check them in a ring until you come back to the first one. This will ensure they are 100% the same torque and ultimately the same clamping force.
Then install it on the vehicle using your lug nuts to hold the disc on until the calliper is fixed. This kit does not use the countersunk screws to retain the disc while the wheel is off. Once driven the calliper will hold the disc on when lug nuts are removed. As the lug nuts provide the clamping force for your discs, not the countersunk screws. That’s why it’s important to torque your wheels to spec. Which is 114Nm in a star-cross pattern. Fit the calliper using the supplied spacers and cap bolts and work back and forth until the calliper is snug and no gaps can be found between the calliper and spacer and spacer and bracket. This can be done with a 3/8″ ratchet. Then torque those radially mounted bolts to 50ft-lbs (68Nm). I then paint-pen inside the cap-head.
Install the 1/8NPT male to 90 AN4 steel fitting using your PTFE tape as shown on the Wilwood website. Link here. This is not an installation guide. This is just to show you how easy they are for a competent car guy or girl to install themselves. Follow the Wilwood datasheet for the correct brake line fitting installation. If you have any doubts about bolting the bracket and callipers together speak to a professional mechanic. DO NOT chance it. Your life is worth more than the cost of a mechanic’s guidance or installation fee.
It’s worth noting you will need Teflon (PTFE) tape for the brake-line fittings. That is not included but is extremely cheap and can be found almost anywhere.
So I was recommended these by Lawrence Lindsey-Dean as that is what his Honda K24 NC runs and I will agree they are worth their cost. I purchased the whole package from V8Roadsters but you can go the cheaper route like Lawrence and just buy the rotor-hats and calliper brackets and nuts/bolts and brake hoses then source the rotor-rings, callipers and brake pads within Europe to save a couple of hundred quid.
I will be using the Wilwood BP10 brake pads for street use and if I need better pads for track I will swap for track-only race pads at the track. I am using the tried and tested Motul RBF660 racing brake fluid. That is recommended for any spirited driving. It’s worth noting if you haven’t already before you bleed the brakes, fit a Hel SS braided clutch hose for a more consistent clutch pedal feel. Since the clutch and brake masters share the same reservoir do it at the same time. Thank me later lol.
To bleed the brake and clutch lines on a NC you can use a Gunsons Ezeebleed or Motive Power-bleeder.
So, you’ve installed your new RoadsterWireWorks patch-harness and new Haltech Elite 1500. What’s the next step now you’ve got it all plugged in? Don’t worry is a lot less difficult than you think!
Yes. Theres three basic things you’ll need. Starting with the most important, common-sense. Haltech’s software is relatively easy to use. Things are in the places you’d expect them to be once you start exploring the software.
Now how are you going to communicate with your brand-new Haltech ECU you ask? Well, with a basic laptop. Haltech don’t officially provide a minimum hardware requirement list. The general consensus for hardware is ideally a Windows10 or better Windows11 Laptop with 4GB of memory, 500GB of storage and a quad-core CPU. Windows10 is the minimum operating system required for the latest NSP software. I strongly suggest your tuning laptop have an SSD for the boot-drive. Me personally. I use a old HP Probook 455 G3 that has a AMD A10 APU, upgraded 8GB RAM, upgraded Samsung SSD boot-drive with the old boot drive in a disk-drive caddy. So, I now have a separate storage and boot drive. A very sensible idea. This laptop does not officially support Windows11 however a fresh .iso install will allow you to use a laptop that does not meet the nonsense Windows11 hardware criteria, within reason of course. Neat trick if you’d like to upgrade to the faster Windows11.
The third requirement is a timing-light or inductive-strobe-light. We must use this to verify that when the ECU sees 0degrees (TDC – Top Dead Centre) the engine is at TDC on cylinder 1 compression-stroke. Cylinder No.1 is the closest to the timing-chain.
If you have not yet done so the LF-VE and Duratech’s use a pin that can be inserted into the engine-block just underneath where the alternator lives on the exhaust side. What you need to do is, remove both battery cables from their respective terminal posts. Remove the sealing-plug in the location circled in the image below. Install the correct SST (special service tool) into the threaded port by hand. DO NOT tighten the SST, finger tight will do. Then remove all four spark-plugs from the engine. Using a shallow 21mm socket on a 1/2″ ratchet rotate the engine clockwise until the cylinder No.1 crankshaft counterweight comes into contact with the SST pin. You will no longer be able to rotate the engine and feel positive contact with counterweight. This is the perfect time to now align the crank position sensor using the slide adjustment on the sensor to aim dead centre at the X tooth on the crank-pulley-trigger-wheel. You tighten the sensor up, then make a thin mark using a paint-pen on the timing-cover and mark the crank-pulley so you can see this while the engine is rotating. This mark will be your reference for 0degrees (TDC) to verify the ignition-timing is synchronised with the ECU.
Before we try to operate the engine, first we will download the last version of Haltech ESP from the downloads page. But didn’t I say earlier NSP? Yes, your quite right. In order to use the latest Nexus Programmer software package we need to preform a firmware upgrade on the Elite 1500.
Before starting this upgrade it is vital you have a battery charger connected to the vehicle. It’s also not a bad idea to plug you laptop in to charge during this process. If this process is interrupted you will brick your ECU. If you don’t have a battery charger then I strongly suggest the legendary CTEK 5Amp lead-acid battery charger. This works well with regular car batteries and the modern AGM type which I use. It’s also very easy to use and can be easily obtained from Amazon.
Now we’ve got the battery on charge. We can connect are laptop via the yellow USB cable supplied in your ECU’s cardboard package. We will then open the last version of ESP. We will
What tools are required besides a laptop?
How do we mark TDC on the LF-VE?
Why do we have to disabled injectors?
Why do we have to lock-timing?
Before we start, we need to clarify a few basic facts. Firstly, the stock ECU can run the stock 1.8/2.0 litre MZR/LF engine when the engine is turbocharged or supercharged. In fact, the leading UK tuner BBR has been tuning NC’s while utilizing the stock ecu. They and many others reflash the ecu with software such as VersaTuner or ECUTek. This works quite well as it goes without saying the stock ecu does not have to come out of the vehicle. Reducing work, thus labour costs.
So, if the stock computer can be remapped and BBR have successfully utilised a remapped stock-ecu for their higher-tier turbo and supercharger packages, then why even look further?
A few important reasons to start with. The stock-ecu cannot be tuned on-the-fly. What does this mean? On-the-fly tuning is, as the name may suggest. Changes made almost immediately. A real world example is: a cell’s value in a table. Which could be your base-fuel-map that can easily be modified to another value and a few seconds later the ecu would automatically apply that change. So the engines behaviour would change almost immediately based on the tuners inputs. Speeding up the tuning-process and thus labour-costs. That is particularly important, and we’ll come back to that later in this article.
The next con of utilising the stock-ecu for your engine-management is that even with remapping software you do not have anywhere near the same level of functionality of an aftermarket-ecu. Let’s imagine you want to connect a boost-control-knob to change boost-pressure values on-the-fly. Now, although a remapped stock-ecu can operate a boost-control-solenoid, it has no means of the driver adjusting the pressure setting. This is because of the limited I/O available. Which, on a turbocharged vehicle. It is ultimately a power setting that would be ideal to operate on-the-fly as the driving conditions change. Especially in a competitive car.
The next and relatively simple issue with the stock-ecu is the vehicle does not actually have an oil-pressure-sensor but, alternatively, an oil-pressure-switch that is mechanically designed so that once the engine reaches a pre-determined minimum pressure level, the ecu would shut-down the engine to potentially save the engine’s lifespan. This is foolish for a handful of reasons. So why did Mazda not use a true oil-pressure-sensor instead of an oil-pressure-switch? Simple, cost. So why is it of great value that an aftermarket-ecu knows the engines in-real-time oil-pressure value? Modern ECU’s such as the Haltech Elite series in particular the Elite 1500 has three-stage-engine-protection. We’ll explore this incredibly powerful feature later. But to conclude this point now. If the user-configured engine-oil-pressure falls below the minimum value set, then the Elite 1500 would immediately shut-down the engine regardless of its running-state. So, the minimum engine-oil-pressure is user definable. Most aftermarket-ecu’s all have at least one-stage-engine-protection in today’s market. Haltech just goes further.
These features are merely a handful of reasons why to opt for the Haltech Elite 1500 for your NC build. I haven’t even scratched the ice on its functionality yet. It is truly that powerful.
It is not unheard of for a standalone ecu to cost over £1000 in todays market. As of writing this article. The Elite 1500 costs £1350 just for the unit on its own. The patch-harness, purchased through a gentleman named Chris from RoadsterWireWorks ended up costing me about £500 for the RHD variant. This makes are running total £1850 before we even factor in the necessary Haltech WB1 wideband NTK o2 controller. The wideband o2 controller costs £396 raising our running-total to £2246. As you will be able to quickly learn. This serious kit costs serious money. Whether its worth the investment, is what this article is aimed to help you make an informed decision. It is worth noting I also have purchased Haltech’s 2×4 CAN keypad and 52mm CAN gauge. These are purely optional and not necessary for installation. Raising my total figure to £2630. If it isn’t obvious yet, I believe in Haltech. So much so to me, the price is justified given the world of features and functionality I have at my fingertips.
I should mention a few disclaimers at this point. I am in no way or shape sponsored by Haltech or RoadsterWireWorks. I have purchased my products just as any of you would, with your hard-earned cash. The products speak for themselves and that’s why I stand behind them as being the best on the planet.
More on RoadsterWireWorks later.
Above all, my personal favourite is the self-learning feature. This feature as the name might suggest uses information the ecu already knows to make corrections and overall create a more responsive and driver friendly engine. Quickly how does it work? Well you remember the WB1 wideband NTK controller I spoke about above? The A/FR from the wideband o2 sensor is sent to the ecu via CANBUS and the ecu can then compare with the target A/FR and if they are different a immediate correction is made. This is the “Short-term fuel-trim”. The “Long-term fuel-trim” takes those corrections in the short-term fuel-trim table and applies them into the long-term fuel-trim table. This is the basic explanation of how the system works. Essentially its just o2 control.
Moving on to my penultimate favourite. The three-stage engine-protection. If you’re a quick learning you’d be correct to think this feature has three stages. But what are the stages? Think of the stages as different levels of a problem. Let’s think about your engine-oil-pressure falling below 15psi. Not good. The third-stage of the three-stage engine-protection would be configured in most instances to immediately shut-down the engine without any interaction from the driver. Potentially saving and preventing expensive engine damage. The first stage could be used let’s say if the A/FR goes a little too lean. The feature could be configured so that during this condition a warning-light on the dash is illuminated and the A/FR is richend by 20% during the time this state is active. This would in turn allow the driver to safely back out of it and then pull over or speak to crew-members and resolve the problem. The second stage you could think of being somewhere in the middle of our examples. Let’s say your at full-tilt. Your engine-oil-pressure drops below 50psi, the second-stage could impose a new rev-limiter to 3,000rpm and illuminate a check-engine light on the dash. While also storing the fault as an error code. Meaning the driver or tuner would have to clear the code to clear the new condition. Thus they could find potential engine damage, that if this feature were not implemented could of cost a lot more in parts and labour to fix.
The stock ecu is limited by its pre-determined inputs and outputs (I/O). While the Elite 1500 may be limited by the amount of wires the physical ecu itself can handle. You have a lot more spare-ways especially with the RoadsterWireWorks patch-harness using the 12-pin auxiliary Deutsch connector. But if your like me and have added a fuel-pressure-sensor, oil-pressure and temperature (combi) sensor and a 3-port MAC valve for boost control duties. Then guess what? You can still add more I/O. With the CAN I/O expander boxes. You can add two CAN I/O expander boxes (A and B) dramatically increasing your available I/O. Leading to endless opportunities for collecting and acting on data from the vehicle.
Speaking of CANBUS. With the RoadsterWireWorks patch-loom the Mazda CAN network is utilised. This means your stock dash-cluster will function as it did before. But just as important the Elite 1500 can communicate with the stock MX5 ABS unit via CANBUS to transmit the individual wheel-speed-sensor data just as it interfaced with the stock-ecu. This frees up I/O since it uses the stock CAN network through the main ecu connectors. Allowing you to setup traction-control and cruise-control. Neat right?
You may have recalled from earlier. I have a Haltech 2×4 CAN keypad and 52mm CAN gauge installed within my personal vehicle as well. This utilises the secondary CAN-port under the waterproof dust cover. Which means I can have two CANBUS networks running simultaneously. Thus, I can transmit operations from the CAN keypad to the ecu for instance for boost control. I can control the boost-level on-the-fly without a need for a laptop and the NSP software. Great. But I can also view the engine instrumentation via the CAN gauge as well. So I can monitor critical values such as engine-oil-pressure and temperature. Absolute manifold pressure and AF/R. If I want to show more I have multiple pages I can change to to display different information. This allows far superior control and monitoring the engine meaning your engine will be safe and have the ensured longevity.
Last feature I’d like to touch upon is “Traction control”. I know a lot of you are probably sighing or confused to why you’d want traction-control. Well it’s as simple as if you at a loss of traction (fun for drifting) then your no longer accelerating. Awful for competitive vehicles. So with the NSP software you can configure a traction-control strategy using the data from the MX5 ABS-module. You can allow a percentage of slip before the system acts. Basically without getting too specific can be setup to aid the driver and not hinder their driving-abilities.
I’d like to briefly mention that their are many ways to wire in a Elite 1500 ecu. From a custom-harness, to modification of a pre-terminated engine-harness from Haltech themselves. But these cost a drastic amount more and if the stock wiring is in good condition no reason to not utilise parts of it. Remove the redundant wiring or leave as is. Your wish. Everything’s sounded pretty good so far right? What’s the catch? So two catches. The stock MX5 alternator is required to be disassembled and converted to a self-regulating alternator with the included new regulator/rectifier-brush-module that Chris supplies in his patch-harness kit amongst with a wiring-diagram etc. This process is actually straightforward and apart from carefully splitting the cases on an older alternator it’s a walk in the part and I recommend you do it the job within a day to not loose track of how it is assembled.
#UPDATE 23/02/2023: I will now mention that Chris offers two variants of his patch-harness. One that doesn’t require the need to change the alternator to a self-regulating unit. He actually now suggests using this variant. However the option is still there.
However if you do forget where a component went I’ll be sure to help if you reach out via email or social-media. The last catch of course as I’m sure you’ve seen this coming is you will need to drill a 2″ hole through your firewall and install the ecu behind the glovebox. More on that process and how I’ve achieved that now.
Let’s start by talking about the first job you’ll find yourself doing. Drilling through the firewall. Which even for me at first was very daunting. However since I’ve now done the job myself I am very happy to guide you through this process from start to finish. So again my NC is RHD. Meaning I have the LHD clutch-master-cylinder flat stamped section over on my passenger side of the firewall. This is the perfect spot to drill and install the 2″ already slid over the loom Haltech grommet. Here’s the critical information. The Haltech grommet fits perfect if your smack centre of stamped section. You’ll be able to see what I mean in the photos below. Now if your thinking ahead you may be thinking shoot, there might be factory wiring running behind there right?? To your response no. Actually if you drill straight through and stop as soon as you punch through with your hole-saw then you will not contact or come close to touching any of the wiring behind that void. Now I’d suggest you use a spring-loaded-centre-punch to guide your pilot drill-bit prior to using the hole-saw. Getting the hole-saw in there is not an easy task. You may have to slightly angle the hole-saw to get it to start. Please take your time and do your best. Once you’ve drilled through successfully I suggest before you cut open your fingers from the burs around the hole. Use a deburring-tool or needle-file to clear both sides of the hole where the burs are. Once it’s safe to gain access you need to pick and pull apart the sound-deadening material away from the hole. Remove as much as you can so the other side of the hole behind the dash hasn’t got anywhere as near much sound-deadening material touching the hole’s perimeter. This is because once you’ve pick and pulled the material out of the way by means of fingers and/or needle-nose-pliers you’ll need to finish the hole with a round needle-file and once done you shouldn’t be able to feel any burs or sharp-edges around the perimeter on both sides. Great. Now using either a touch-up primer-pencil the kind used for car-bodywork repairs or using some primer sprayed into the cap and a small sponge you’ll want to be sure to cover all bare metal with the primer to ensure you never have rust issues in the future. It’s preferred to have some overlap onto your original paint either side just a bit though nothing crazy. The grommet has a thick-lip and will cover the primer and the interior finish around the hole isn’t that critical because you will never see it. But you don’t want rust forming so do a good job and take your time.
Now I may be hearing, well what about us LHD NC owners? Where do we drill through? Fortunately I have photos from a gentleman who’s recently done his. You’ll be drilling through to the left area of where your factory A/C and coolant lines go through the firewall. It is a flat section as shown in the photos below. You will have to carry out the exact same procedures as mention above but in that location instead.
Right, so we’ve drilled out hole and the primer has had about 15-20 minutes to dry. We’ll route the two Haltech ecu connectors through very very carefully. Then we’ll get the length we think we’ll need as we route it down the back of the blower-motor assembly and under-neath the passenger footwell to the outside of the vehicle. Then we can turn up and eventually zip-tie onto the factory-wiring behind the glovebox. Now we can carefully push fit the grommet into place and don’t worry we can move the harness back and forth as we need to later.
We now need to fabricate ourselves an ECU mount and cut the back portion of the glovebox out so that it may still contain the basic safety equipment like a high-visibility-vest, insurance documents, pen and paper etc but will allow the ecu and glovebox to clear each other and the glovebox door shut properly. Here comes the next catch. We do have to remove the passenger-side dash-airbag. To create enough room to fit the ecu and in my instance the CAN hub above the ecu. My bracket for the ecu picks up the two airbag M6 mounting-studs on the dash-frame-structure. It is made from 2mm thick aluminium as is plenty rigid while being lightweight and I have secured the ecu four corners via four M5 stainless-steel rivnuts into the bracket and the ecu is installed onto the bracket prior to installation into the vehicle. I used medium-strength loctite to reduce the likelihood of the ecu vibrating itself free. The CAN hub is just mounted to a flat piece of 2mm thick aluminium which is cut to follow the shape of the original airbag rear plastic. It actually picks up the factory two screws in either corner. The flat bracket actually overhangs down slightly onto the top of the ecu and that void allows two M5 stainless-steel rivnuts again for securing the CAN hub to the bracket itself and once again I used medium-strength threadlocker.
But what about the WB1 wideband NTK controller? Where does that go? In my instance since the exhaust manifold is on the drivers side since my car is again RHD. I have actually installed it onto the transmission tunnel sitting directly under where the plastic-coin-holder trim rests. Giving me plenty of length to drill a hole into the transmission tunnel to reach my exhaust where the NTK o2 sensor will be fitted. However, if your a LHD owner. Then you can also fit the Haltech wideband NTK O2 sensor controller somewhere local behind the glovebox area.
Now we have the ecu and wideband controller installed. We need to speak about the wiring and don’t worry I’ve made it super simple for you to copy my setup.
Before we dive head first into my modifications in my personal NC. I’d like to mention that you do not have to follow exactly what I’ve done. That said. I believe 100% that my setup is the best design and I’ve reworked it four times over the years to get to this stage where I’m satisfied.
That said. Let’s dive in. The first big and hilariously easy job I’ve done was a battery-relocation. Why? Because there is little to no room under the bonnet in the NC. So freeing up space and creating better airflow are the prime reasons. However it makes maintenance and work far quicker such as installing a new serpentine-belt. It is also changing the weight distribution of the car some. In my case with the turbo this should work to attempt to counter-balance the vehicle. Now we know why, we need to understand what I’ve done and briefly why everything is as it is. I’d highly suggest you check out my battery-relocation article then once you’ve got you head in the game come back here for more info.
Now you’ve seen what I’ve done and why. We need to explain my hidden little third-fusebox. This little guy sits directly above the second (interior) fusebox. It is only live when the ignition is on. It has six ways (available circuits). If we look below you’ll find a diagram that shows the setup. First we start at the power-distribution-box mentioned in the previous battery-relocation article. Then we go through one of the 30amp Midi fuses and through some 6mm2/10AWG wire that runs through the vehicle following the battery-relocation main power-wire route. But as we get just past the factory interior fusebox we turn up and find ourselves connection to pin-30 on a 40amp normally-open four-pin diode-protected relay. Ground is spoken for by connecting to the chassis and pin-86. In my instance from the back of the seat-warming circuit (that I have entirely removed) I use a heatshrink-lined through-connector and some 1.5mm (same as the original circuit) and find ourselves going to pin-85 completing the coil-side of the relay. Now this could be completed by using the correct-size fuse-tap instead if you wish to retain all your factory interior circuits. Then from pin-87 (the output) we go through a short fly-lead of 6mm2/10AWG to the common-terminal on the BlueSea-Systems 6-way fusebox. This is the variant without the common ground connections. That’s not necessary. Then from the new third fusebox we have a four circuits to date. Nearly all of which use a Deutsch DT 2pin connector a couple of inches from the fusebox to their opposed Deutsch connector that then run off into the field so to speak. The first circuit is the dashcam its a 5amp fuse. The second circuit is the interior-lighting-circuit which is a 3amp fuse. The third circuit is a spare circuit that is connected but not currently used intended for future use. The forth circuit is the power supply to the Haltech wideband o2 controller. This is because the single-channel wideband o2 controller can draw up to a maximum of 3amps during start-up as the sensor is in the heating-phase. As soon as you start the engine. Which means it cannot use the power from the front CANBUS connector under the dust-cover of the ecu for its power demands. Because the CAN keypad is also interlinked with the wideband 02 controller this circuit also powers that but the load of the CAN keypad is minuscule so no trouble there.
Now the main reason I haven’t decided to do a sperate article for the third-fusebox is I’ve added far too many devices to continue to use fuse-taps. More than one fuse-tap in a fusebox of that many ways looks amateur. Not to mention your leaching power from other circuits and its not a good idea. Now I mention the use of a fuse-tap for the power to the coil-side of the 40amp relay. Why am I okay with this? Because the coil of a modern 12/24V relay uses approximately 200mA or 0.2amp. Which is nothing and will not be enough to effect any circuits you have available.
Before you attempt to start the engine you must certainly check out my “Haltech first start-up procedure” article. Failure to do so may result in catastrophic engine damage. Save yourself a head-ache and check it out. The article will be more laptop based.
Before we start to conclude this article I need to mention some information about Chris from RoadsterWireWorks. Firstly, the cost of your harness may differ between LHD and RHD variants. This is because LHD owners will have a longer path to take to end up at the factory two ecu connectors. Secondly, is if you’ve made the decision after all you’ve read then you can contact Chris at roadsterwireworks@gmail.com to place an order. To save both you and Chris time. He’ll need to know if you have A/C, if your RHD or LHD and you’ll need to mention if you’ll want to convert your alternator to a self-regulating alternator or use his newer patch-harness that does not require you to touch the alternator. As mentioned above under the “Tell me more about these features” heading and penultimate paragraph, update. If you have any questions about your order Chris is a very helpful guy and believe me you can ask him questions that you may think sound silly. He always comes back to clarify for you and his after-purchase-care is top-notch.
Now I’ve covered everything necessary for you to install a Haltech Elite 1500 and Wideband NTK o2 controller in your own vehicle. I feel it is my duty to provide you the resources straight from Haltech and other valuable sources on how we tune in VE (Volumetric-Efficiency) as you’ll learn it’s actually relatively simple. The ecu does most of the leg-work. Below our some videos I strongly suggest you watch and if you have any questions search the Haltech forum or web to truly understand what’s going on.
If this article has been helpful to you do me a massive favour and share it with your NC pals. That would be extremely helpful to share the knowledge and make the NC platform more common-knowledge. If I have missed something you think is absolutely necessary to mention in this article please reply down below and I’ll consider adding anything I’ve missed that may be of use. If you’ve come this far then thank you. You are the reason this site works by sharing the knowledge.
So, prior to offering the turbo and manifold combination onto the engine. It is comprised of a new Garrett T25 GT2871R 0.64 A/R bolted to a Kraken cast-iron top-mount manifold. I have purchased a Turbosmart IWG75 to use in conjunction with a three-port MAC valve (Part No: 35-AAA-DDBA-1BA). The IWG75 came with a GT2871R specific bracket. Unfortunately, due to the location of the stock braking-system, the ABS hardlines from the ABS-module on the 45-degree section would foul in either position where the supplied rod and clevis could reach the welded wastegate-door-arm. Please see photos later that show the fouling issue.
I ended up settling on using the supplied bracket with the new actuator. Rather than retain the factory Garrett bracket. However, I raised the bracket up one bolthole clockwise. In turn, this rotates the turbine-housing-clamps. This created two new problems. The first issue was that the stainless-steel rod from the actuator was no longer facing straight towards the clevis-attachment-pin. This was a minor issue. The second issue is that the factory Garrett 50mm clevis would come up short.
IMAGE SLIDESHOW HERE OF HITTING BRAKE LINES
I had to bend the stainless rod out more to widen the angle. I did so by completely disassembling the actuator-body. I didn’t have the correct type C-spanner, so instead, I ended up using a cleaner rag and vice-grips to carefully loosen the outer ring. It worked a treat. I then held down the top-hat of the actuator-body while completely removing the outer-ring-clamp. Slowly releasing the compressed parts carefully. Prior to completing the disassembly, I removed the factory Garrett 50mm clevis and 1/4” UNF nut from the rod-arm. To continue further with the disassembly, I went into the garage to use the vice. I held the rod in the vice to make sure to lock both bends in the jaws on their sides. This way, as I removed the piston and spring assembly, the rod would not move. I removed the piston and spring assembly by putting a spanner through the spring windings and picking up the square flats at the base of the piston. With a little bit of elbow-grease, I freed the piston. Then disassembly was the same as removal of all the other compressed parts before. I set the spring and piston assembly aside and made note of the colour-markings on the spring for future reference. This confirmed my suspicion, it was a 7psi spring. If you’re unfamiliar with aftermarket actuators, the main reason I chose this unit is so I can increase the base-boost-pressure value. The factory Garrett unit is non-serviceable, so there is a fixed rate spring. I removed the rod-arm from the vice. I traced its profile on a piece of cardboard. I then drew the increased angle I needed from the original point after the bend. So, I had a target to aim for. I placed the rod back in the vice again but threaded-on the 1/4″ UNF nut and clevis in order to gain more leverage. Using a mapp-gas torch, I pre-heated the bend until it was hot, but not glowing hot once I removed the heat. I found by using a large spanner, I could apply more leverage without having to directly touch the part. This allowed me to carry out the bending action to the desired increased angle on my cardboard template. This process was trial and error, fine tweaking the bend. Finally, achieving the desired angle. Then I reassembled the entire wastegate-actuator-assembly back together and onto the turbo for a trial fit. I had achieved the angle I needed in situ and would pick up the wastegate-door-arm straight and while I waited for my new longer clevis to arrive, I disassembled the whole thing again. This time, applying some red 242 loctite on the end of the male thread that went into the pistons base thread. Offering the rod and piston and spring assembly back into the vice and tightened it using a spanner and getting onto the flats. Once this was done, I reassembled the entire assembly and installed it onto the turbo and waited for the longer clevis to show up.way,
I knew I needed a much longer clevis. Fortunately, Turbosmart sells longer clevises. I ended up buying it through Tegiwa-Imports here in the United Kingdom. The part number I ordered was “TS-0600-3004”. This clevis has a 6.3mm I.D. hole for the wastegate-door-arm. The thread is 1/4″ UNF and the length was 80mm long. I ended up cutting that down to 67mm long (back-of-thread to centre-of-hole). The original Garrett clevis was 53mm long (back-of-thread to centre-of-hole). As shown in the photo below.
To shorten the length of the originally 80mm long clevis, I preceded to use a ring of tape. To get as square and straight of a cut as I could with the tools I had on hand. I put the clevis in the vice and cut it with a regular hacksaw and 34TPI blade. I then began to file up the circumference with one of my Bahco needle files. It cleaned up well. The only negative is that shortening the clevis this way means I have lost the 2mm countersunk clearance hole. Meaning it makes starting the thread harder and, without more attention, you could easily cross-thread onto the rods male thread. I trial fitted the clevis and found out it was too long. So, I ended up extending the thread down the clevis as it was only partially-threaded as it was originally a longer clevis and I had chopped some of the threaded section off. I did this with two taps from my favourite place for taps and dies in the UK. TracyTools. They are not a sponsor but are my go-to source for taps and dies. The two taps of 1/4” UNF thread I ordered were a HSS plug and HSS taper tap. The tap wrench you’ll need to use these taps is a 5/32” – 1/2″ tap-wrench. I started using the taper-tap and cutting-grease, while turning to threads clockwise. Then two threads counter clockwise to clear the tap from chips. I did this procedure twice before removing the tap completely and clearing the chips off of the tap itself and clearing the blind-thread base from all the chips that had fallen down. Then I started the whole process again. I repeated this whole process about three times until the tap had bottomed-out. Then I swapped over the taper-tap to the plug-tap and repeated. After the thread was extended, I used a pick and some water to rinse all the chips out of the female thread. This took about ten attempts till the threads were free of stainless chips. I trial fitted the turbo and found I was about 2-3mm too long still. So the logical procedure was to remove about 2-3 threads off of the rod-arm threaded-section so I still had as much thread engagement as possible. This was because I needed my 3mm pre-load as Turbosmart suggested with the IWG75 instructions. Trial fitted again and it worked perfectly. With about 3-4 threads left on the rods threaded section after the nut.
Awesome. It finally worked out. I then, later the next day, trial fitted on the car since the relocation of the wastegate-actuator, and it fit a treat. I have about 5-6mm of clearance from the ABS lines as they were from the factory. If I ever have any contact with the engine moving on the engine-mounts in the future, I can tweak the lines in situ by a minute amount to give me even more clearance. In the future, I wish to change to harder engine-mounts anyway, so that should eliminate most of the engine twisting under load then releasing back like a spring to its original position.
So lets clarify from a strategic point of view. What components need vacuum-reference to operate in total. First the fuel setup has changed. To an aftermarket fuel-rail by Radium Engineering. This fuel-rail has Radium Engineering’s fuel-pressure-regulator and fuel-pulse-damper mounted directly to the fuel-rail. Both of which need vacuum-reference to operate. Let’s focus on the FPR (fuel-pressure-regulator). The FPR is a “rising-rate” regulator.
To do this we need to clarify some common terms relating to the fuel rail setup.
“Base fuel pressure” – This is is set when the FPR’s vacuum-port is open to atmospheric-pressure. During initial first start-up. Typically this is set at 43.5PSI but can vary from vehicle to vehicle.
“Rising rate” This term is used to describe a common type of FPR. The regulator has a vacuum-port. This is so as the vacuum-source-of-origin increases pressure from negative-pressure (vacuum) to positive-pressure (boost) the FPR can compensate by that value. So to conclude if the base-fuel-pressure is set at 43.5PSI and your intake-manifold has 10psi of boost-pressure then the fuel-pressure increases from 43.5PSI to 53.5PSI under boost conditions.
This is why the FPR needs to be connected to vacuum-reference. I should clarify when we use the term “vacuum” when speaking about engines. This can mean the hose, fitting, part etc can be under vacuum and also under certain conditions be under boost-pressure. So the term vacuum with engines is a sort of loose term as it also refers to boost-pressure. The fuel-pulse-damper (FPD) is used in fuel injection systems to absorb pressure pulsations generated by the fuel-pump operating and by the injectors opening/closing. In our case the vacuum-port needs to be hooked up preferably to the same vacuum-line as the FPR. So a Y-fitting is installed above the fuel-rail to link the FPR and FPR to one common line.
Before we jump ahead we must first understand how we get vacuum-reference to all our components under the bonnet. We do this with a vacuum manifold. It would be worth noting my vehicle is RHD so placement of the vacuum manifold may need to be altered if your using on a LHD vehicle. So lets start at the vacuum chain. First we originate from the intake-manifold, then using the original brake-booster plastic barb we take a short stab of reinforced airbrake hose to a plastic tee. Continuing through the tee we take another stab and connect to the BOFI Racing branded vacuum-manifold via a 90degree 12mm barb to AN6 female fitting, then attached to a AN6 to M20x1.5mm straight fitting with an O-ring. These generic style manifolds can be picked up cheap and they are ideal. However do not listen to the seller about specifications, the large end ports are not 1/2″NPT. They are once again, M20x1.5mm straight-thread and you’ll need a 20mm I.D. 2mm C.S. O-ring to create the proper seal into the aluminium manifolds chamfer. The smaller nipples are 1/8″NPT. You’ll need to use something like Permatex high-temperature thread-sealant to create the seal. Do not use PTFE-tape. Thread-sealant today is preferred. Working away from tee-fitting we take another short stab of hose to connect to the original 3/8″ brake-booster hardline.
So, I’ve been wanting a high quality, stable phone mount in my NC1 for a while now. Until then I’ve been placing my iPhone 12 in my I.L. Motorsport centre storage compartment (cupholder delete). This was fine for about three years. But now I’ve been keen on using my Draggy and other vehicle statistic apps to benchmark my times.
What is my setup then? Well, it’s relatively straightforward. I am using a Brodit P-clip that attaches to the NC1 passenger side (RHD, so left triangle panel by the radio) piece. It simply clips over and attaches strong. Very snug fit. Especially with Stuart’s (COO Creations) Alcantara wrapped triangles. Then it attaches to a RAM 1″ ball base mount. Part number: “RAM Mounts RAM-B-347U”. Due to the position on the Brodit mount I only use the three out of four M5 holes. For hardware I use these chemically coated black stainless hardware from “jac.bolts” on eBay. I use their black stainless (M5 x 20mm) button-head allen bolts, their black stainless M5 nylocks and finally their black stainless (M5 I.D. x 10mm O.D.) flat penny washers on front and back. Why did I use this black stainless stuff? I’ve seen it lurking about on eBay for a while now. Liked the idea of black nuts, bolts and washers on the interior and the added fact their stainless if the coating does get nicked would be very unlikely to rust. After all its “stain-less” not “stain-proof”. So was a good excuse to use fancy hardware.
From that 1″ RAM mount ball I use the shortest RAM female to female straight arm you can get. I believe it’s approximately 2.5″ total length including both ball joints. Part number: “RAM Mounts RAM-B-201U-A”. From the end of that I use the ever so popular RAM X-grip phone mount. This mount applies plenty of spring pressure to retain your phone even in some bumpy and vibration prone environments. In RAM’s example superbikes! Part number: “RAM Mounts Ram-Hol-UN10BU”.
This setup even works well with me seeing my phone with very little amount being blocked by my G-Racing short-shifter from my seating position. I have a Pioneer SPH250DAB Apple Carplay radio that I use in conjunction with this phone. So, I have a 0.8Metre USB type-a to lightning connector Anker cable that I run under the radio-surround just under the climate controls.
But that is my phone mount. Short and simple little article about my setup. If you’re looking to get a Brodit mount, don’t make the same mistake as my mate Stuart by purchasing the NC1 version if you have the later NC2/NC3 style radio-surrounds. They are totally different mounts, due to the Mazda interior changes. Hope this has been helpful to some.
