Miata Mailing List: March 1998, Message #82

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Skip:
		***** YOU LUCKY DOG! *****

			And YELLOW too!

Skip Cannon wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> It finally happened after all these months, the FM/II Turbo kit arrived a
> week ago on Saturday AM.  The kit was complete except for two exhaust
> manifold studs (which Corky had warned me about) and one piece of silicone
> hose.  The kit is packaged in large ziploc bags, each with a label telling
> what should be inside.  The instruction manual also has an inventory so it
> was easy to determine what was there and what was missing.  Corky FedX'd
> the missing parts and no time was lost waiting for them.
> 
> I ordered my kit with the plumbing unpainted as I wanted to do it up in
> Sunburst Yellow to match the car.  Corky will powder coat it in any color
> you want as long as it's red or black.  Two and a half days were spent in
> prepping and painting the numerous pipes. heatshields, air scoop and
> brackets.
> 
> Installation is straight forward, no rocket science involved.  The
> direction book I got was a combo of previous kit's books and not the final
> version.  With these instructions and the aid of some pictures of Bill's
> installation I downloaded from the net, I only had to call Bill for help
> four times.  Bill is putting together a new book with better pictures and
> more detailed instructions.  Bill also accepted some suggestions from me to
> make the kit and installation easier.
> 
> The installation was about 90% complete when the Cardells and the Sharps
> arrived for the '99 Turn Up the Heat event here in Denver.  After the
> event, Bill and Sam pitched in to help me complete the install.  The car
> was fired up Friday evening for the first time. It started immediately and
> with the exception of a leaking injector ran well from the start.
> 
> The waste gate came set to 7 1/2 psi boost and we did some dialing in at
> that level that evening to get the lower rows of the computer set.
> Saturday, we started upping the boost incrementally, testing each time to
> tailor the advance curve to get max performance without pre-ignition. We
> stopped with 11 psi of boost and I decided to drive the car that way for a
> week or two before moving on up to higher boost levels.  I want to savor
> each incremental rise in HP as it happens rather than have it all at once.
> A twelve step program for boost junkies might start at 1 psi boost and go
> up from there in 12 easy steps. ;-)
> 
> Drivability of the car is excellent, but it takes a little getting used to
> not using as much throttle when driving in traffic.  This car wants to
> gooooooo.
> 
> WOT acceleration is truly awesome.  No numbers yet, but the club is having
> a dyno day in two weeks and I'll post some numbers then.  Bill estimated we
> were getting about 200 hp at 11 lb boost.  Not in Shiv territory, but I'm
> not planning to there anyway (not yet at least).  I hope to have it dialed
> in at 14 psi by the dyno day.
> 
> Bill took some pictures of my installation and will post them on his web
> site in the near future.
> 
> Thanks to Bill Cardell, Corky Bell, Sam Sharp and Carl Hunsaker for all the
> time they put in to making the kit and helping me install it.  I'm a happy
> camper with an ear to ear grin.
> 
> Skip Cannon

-- 
Joe                 "The KNOBmeister"
Denver, Colorado USA

'91-RED"A"   "KNOBzilla"       =)
'85 CJ-7     "The MUDmagnet"
Team MMM98 Poconos
Team DealerAlt
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Team "Everything in moderation - nothing in excess"

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