My Twin!!

What is the likelyhood of two people, not previously knowing each other, both having 1991 miatas that are the same color, same aftermarket wheels, same passion for power, and lots of other "sames"... and live within less than 10 miles apart?  Not very likely, eh?  Well... apparently not...  meet my twin!

My miata is on the front left, and the one in the right rear belongs to my friend Mike Shepherd.  We met each other through our local Bluegrass Miata Club as he wanted to add some power to his miata.  When I first saw his car, I couldn't believe how much it looked like mine.  The biggest similarity has got to be the wheels and mariner blue paint.

Here's my friend Nigel handing a new gauge to Mike.  Just what we need...More toys!
"Here Mike, find a place to put this boost gauge!", said Nigel, the owner of the highly modified Sebring SC system (BSP A/W IC - he's the designer of it!, FM ECU, custom pulleys = 12psi of AWESOME SC POWER!)

Mike decided he wanted a Jackson Racing supercharger so we quickly entered him into the dark side of miata forced induction.

Shortly after that, Mike did one up on me and installed a Hard Dog "Hard Bar Sport" rollbar.  I thought it looked great.  The rearward bracing has a nice look and provides an even stronger mount compared to the "Hard Bar" I had already installed on my car.  So, naturally, I eventually upgraded my bar to the Sport bar except I went for the harness bar and leather wrap option.  One up for me I guess.  Now Mike is looking for the leather wrap.  ;-)

Regarding the roll bar, Mike introduced me to one of the coolest Mazda car enthusiasts I've ever met.  Mark Sawyer, the service manager of Paul Miller Mazda in Lexington, offered his time and resources to help me install the bar in my car.  His generosity made the install mostly painless (except for one critical step which I forgot and required a bit or re-installation... which HE did for me by the next morning!).  BIG THANKS to Mark!!!

Ok, so my "TWIN" get's a face lift... well, more like a nose job.

Check out these images below. 

Here's another feature that's similar yet so different!  My car on the left, Mike's on the right.

The last image is very appropriate.  ;-)

.....zoom zoom.....  That's what it's all about.

September 25, 2001 Update! - FM3 power is apparently contagious!

Well, Mike truly upgraded his JRSC to a very effective level with a JR intercooler, JR header, high flow cat, Bipes mod and boost upgrade, but soon found that the power level still wasn't enough.  Power IS ADDICTIVE!  Perfect example right here.  Well, my buddy Mike bit the bullet and made a bold decision to sell ALL of his go fast stuff associated with the JR system and placed an order for an FMII turbocharger system from Flyin Miata.

Once again, Mike was back at the wonderful Paul Miller garage with service manager and miata enthusiast Mark Sawyer to install the system.  Mike also bought the FM turbo dual exhaust to accompany the FMII system.  Putting all the parts in place was a good weekends job.  Driving away on Sunday night, the car had some problems which needed to be sorted out.

A couple days later (the night of this writing) most of the bugs were identified and some were corrected.  A new level of ECU code is on the way and should help with making the car run MUCH better.  ...more to come...

September 26, 2001 Update - Pics of the install.

Below are pictures of the finished product.

Notice the positioning of the oil cooler in the duct on the Racing Beat Type 2 nose.  Sweeeeeet... DUDE!!!!

Every MAJOR project always has a few things that need some "adjusting".  First bugs to work out...

<-- This picture shows where an interference is with the downpipe and the front subframe.  Really not a big deal to fix... should require loosening of a few nuts, biasing of the pipe away from contact areas and re-tightening of the fasteners.  To be done within the next few days.

Another problem was an interference with the IC outlet pipe with the sway bar.  A simple solution is to cut the pipe in half, and stick a hose in the middle to extend it and get it away from the sway bar.  Another option is a new pipe.  Like the down pipe, this is one of those things where every car is a little different and aftermarket stuff may need a little manipulation to make everything happy.

A/F meter.  In the process of the install, we booger'd up the connection of the O2 signal to the A/F meter.  MAN, did the A/F meter go south on us without that connected!  All is better now.

The September 2001 code with a couple new fixes is on the way.  The code Mike has right now is actually an old chip of mine (June 2000).  It is ANCIENT but at least the car runs.  The current code is SO much different and improved.  It should be on the car in a few days once it arrives.  Shortly after that... ASS KICK'N time!  Watch out Nigel, turbo-terror is around the corner.  Don't be too scared... those skid marks in front of your house are nothing more than a spill when Mike cracked open a can of FM WHOOP ASS.  :-)

October 2, 2001 Update - Up and RUNNING!

Mike dropped in the September 2001 1.6L Mk2 FM ECU code and set the timing properly.  The boost is set at what the wastegate naturally regulates which is around 6psi.  According to Mike, the car feels stronger at 6psi with this kit than it did at 10psi on the JRSC before he sold it.  Tuning is around the corner with a ultimate goal of 220hp at the tires.  Hopefully this can be done w/ 12-13psi of boost.

Here is Mike's site picture site: http://miata.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=213822

October 6, 2001 Update - Starting to play with Miata Lab Link

Mike dropped in the Jim Bobowski's fuel rail (actually is a bit of a tough install but looks and apparently works well).  Tuning has begun.  The a/f meter and reading on the keypad goes fuel rich momentarily on tip in.  It might be accel fuel settings.  Mike is just now getting ready to figure out the MLL software.  LOTS of stuff to learn in a short time... FM ECU operations, MLL, datalogging, LL Exchange, oh,... and the car still needs some tuning.  Boost is up to 12psi now.

Here are pics of under the hood and other shots since all of the install.  Hey, my twin is starting to look a LOT better than me!  Can't have that!  :-)

This is myself, Mike and Nigel at my house chatt'n about nothing but cars.  Nigel's car is red, mine is in the garage (can't see it) and Mike's car is in between.

October 6, 2001 Update - RED HOSES for the HORSES!

All of the vacuum hoses got a make-over.  See below...

January 27, 2002 Update - Cannon rear subframe brace and FM stainless steel lines

FM light weight clutch about to go in (in one more week)

December 4th, 2004 - Mike gets new wheels and tires. 15"x7" Kosei K1 Racing w/ Toyo 215/45R15's replace 16"x7" Borbet Type F's w/ 215/40R16 (front) and 225/40R16 (rear).

January 29th, 2005 - Dyno tuning.  A little time on the dyno using 93 octane pump gas. A/F curve looks nice, no knock.   246 peak hp experienced at 15psi!

VIDEOS: 1-A run on the dyno,  2-Another run on the dyno

January 29th, 2005 - FM Extractor Hood.

	- Lee's Simpson Design hood on the left, Mike's FM extractor hood on the right.
	- More pics of Mike's extractor hood.

January 29th, 2005 - Recent Pics (click here).