Prior to the install there was quite a bit of prep work. Click here to see the prep work prior to the install

Saturday May 17th, 2003

I finished the removal of all the engine components today when I finally removed the lower intake. It wasn't nearly as bad as people indicated, I think removing the radiator allowed additional access to the difficult bolts.

I inventoried the turbo parts today and everything is accounted for.

Here is a close-up of what the entire effort is for. The Garrett Large Ball Bearing Turbo. The intake should be back from being powdercoated by Friday so most of the intall will take place Memorial Day weekend. I plan to hook up the oil lines and drill the oil pan mid-week.

Wednesday May 21st, 2003
I finally got up the nerve to drill the oil pan. It is complete, but this is simply not a natural act :)

The powdercoated parts arrived today here is a before and after picture. I now have everything needed to do the install

Saturday May 24th, 2003
I started putting everything back together today. I had help from a member of our local Miata club which was greatly appreciated, thanks Phil. He did a nice job of insulating the brake line and water hoses. Here is a picture of the turbo after it was mounted.

A good shot of the intake and cam cover. I was not looking forward to putting the intake back on, but overall it went fairly smooth. The powdercoating was done by a Miata.net member in Tennesee. He did a very nice Job.

Sunday May 25th, 2003
The good news is we got the down pipe connected. This is a press fit and it is like mating a St. Bernard with a minature poodle. Fortunately the person helping me is stronger than I am and managed to make it fit.

The bad news is there is no way I can get the intercooler mounted without a call to FM tomorrow. I loosened the AC duct to get the intercooler in and you can see the condensor line hitting the intercooler and the AC duct is still an inch away from its mount . I have some other minor issue to discuss with FM but the intercooler mount is the key issue right now.

Sunday June 8th, 2003
Flyin Miata said the instructions on the intercooler were wrong, after finding that out, I just bent lines wherever needed and installed the intercooler and pipes. Some I installed several times :)

The turbo and ECU are installed. All that remains is to install the Boost Guage, O2 modifier and A/F Meter I will work on the car during the week, but in all likely hood it will be Saturday before it is running.

July 10, 2003
The install is now finished and the car is running great. The original downpipe that shipped did not fit and FM had to send a new one. Unfortunately the replacement was for an NA, not a NB and they had to ship it a third time. This resulted in about a 3 week delay, but the car is now finished.

Install Summary
Before I note the install issues, keep in mind I haven't wrenched on a car for 15 years. Given that I was able to do the install with that background says a lot about this kit. Prior to purchasing the kit I had read Maximum boost 3 times and the FM install instructions at least that many times. So I had a good idea of what I was getting into.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was really expecting a plug & play kit designed for a 2001. In reality, there was a lot of cutting, drilling, bending, and sometmes all 3 to make this kit fit.

The instructions had many errors, most of which are minor and easily identified. It is a different story when you get to the intercooler install, from that point just bend lines to make it fit. FM's comment was "the kit is actually made for a 99 and we had only done one 2001+ when the instructions were written.

Examples of errors or problems I encountered during the install:
* Several wrong part and or bag numbers are identified in the instructions (easily resolved by cross referencing the packing list.

* When installing the lower intake it explicitly said to make sure you connect the vacuum line prior to installation. There is no vacuum line on an '01 in the area they mention, it is for a 99.

* Intercooler instructions (as already mentioned) need improvement.

* Intercooler piping was a PITA to install due to power steering and AC lines needing to be bent. I found out later the intercooler fit problems were due to a nmanufacuring error that FM has since corrected The tabs were about an inch to short. I did manage to force a fit, but it resulted in a lot of additional work bending AC lines.

* The lower intercooler pipe mounts to the intercooler. The bolt on mine was the wrong size and I had to drill & tap it out

* The tabs to mount the fuel rail to the modified intake didn't line up and I had to elongate them.

* The heat shield wasn't even close to lining up. I had to redrill and elongate the holes.

* The wiring harness supplied is a quick connect for a 99. For an '01 you have to cut off the quick connect and splice it into your existing ignition wires (really not a big deal).

* The downpipe supplied didn't fit properly and hung about 2" too low. There was a 3 week wait for FM to send a replacement since they were in they were in the process of a redesign on the downpipes.

* The FM-Midpipe and exhaust never did fit without rubbing the frame of the car. I wound up taking it to a custom muffler shop where they cut out and re-welded a section of muffler pipe.

On the positive side, this kit is very complete and the customer support is outstanding. Even with my complaints about the instructions, they were still quite good. My real complaint is FM knew about most of the instructions inconsistancies and they could have supplied an addendum page to point these out.