Looking forward to wiring it in. Just needs power and the hi/lo can signal.
Powertune supplied it with a white plug with the 2 wires for CAN already inserted but for the life of me I cannot find a place to plug it in. I use the standard MX5 NC loom with my ME442.
I know the OBDII port has can wires in it but I don’t want to butcher it so hoping Powertune can guide me as to where the plug they included specifically for the car/ecu combination goes.
Oh dear well I checked my Irish tax book for an engine number to see 111734 but to find the block saying LF834…. Seems like the impact trashed the original engine. Is there any chance I have the NC2 forged engine with the number starting with ‘8’ ?
No idea to be honest I have not found any ‘engine number decoding’ info myself.
My engine starts with LF1 so I am pretty sure it’s an NC1 block but would be nice to know when it was done.
I would like to know too but unless you can guess the whole vin not much you do. Unless you call mazda homologation but you may have to pay for that info. You can almost guess the vin tbh. if the car was a 6 speed manual made in japan it should start with JMZNC18F6 i think.
Btw Im tempted to get the same budget turbo gt2860 as you. I can deal with porting the wastegate but is there anything you would have done differently before purchasing your choice of turbo ?
I have to say in terms of £££ for 
- I don’t regret buying the MAXPeedingRods GT28 at all.
But do budget for a replacement wastegate actuator as the one it comes with at 14psi is too much for an MX5.
Yes it spools later than a smaller one would and ideally I would like power 500k earlier on.
Anyway I couldn’t find a smaller one for anywhere near the same budget, with at least some company name behind it. Lots of randoms on eBay but at least Maxpeedingrods seem to have been around for a while…
So the car is performing faultlessly - and i like the strong power it has. Its sedate to drive below 3k and then pulls hard all the way to the redline.
But…unforeseen circumstances mean I need to change this from a 2 seater into a 4 seater… and that’s a project I don’t think I can do on my drive 
- I am looking for a Golf/Polo Gti to replace it with.
How unfortunate although congratulations. Was a great project while it lasted. If you plan on selling any bits let me know
Just buy yourself a £1500 Vw Passat estate.
Perfect car and keep your mx5
Thanks for your write up
It’s gone to a new owner. Long may he have fun with it.
wow that was quick! I did email you about the turbo guide. if you get time to send it over please
good luck in your new ventures
I saw it for sale and thought ‘if only it was a bit closer’! I wasn’t surprised it sold that quick.
Any chance you could send me the list of parts for the conversion please?
Thanks.
I have sent out copies of the guide to everyone now - surprised at how popular its been. I hope it helps some people save some money & time anyway
The first person to test drive it - bought it and took it home that night. Its replacement has 4 doors and a GTi badge so not quite the same kind of toy.
One day I will get another MX5 for sure.
Someone sent me a beer today to say thank you for sharing my DIY guide - I was out for my lunch when the PayPal came through and I burst into smiles…….
So I had a burger & chips with a London Pride shandy. Continually impressed with the MX5 community - I will return to the owners fold one day
Update: I am missing the 2 seat life but enjoying the comfort and ‘invisible’ side of its Golf replacement. I do fancy doing another conversion though and seeing how v2 would be improved.
Still in touch with the chap that bought it and helping him with the issues conversions have. He is still enjoying it I think!
Airbag light came back on - wiggle of the resistor should sort that…
Injectors leaked - he has unbolted them and reseated them so hopefully that solves that.
He ran out of fuel once due to the joyful gauge which I thought I had fixed but seems not!
Its been great to see how many people have requested a copy of the guide now. Its been more people than I ever expected from all over the world.
Hopefully it helps people avoid some issues I faced or at least enjoy the journey that I had in a little more detail.
Maybe I need to buy an ND and look at doing the same with that after the Golf…
thank you for writing it! it has inspired me to give it a go for sure!
Best of luck - I think this will become as common as Turbo NA & NB swaps over the next few months I believe as parts have become more available.
The remapping of the standard ECU would bring the cost down a lot if we can find someone in the community willing to do this remotely.
i know my local mx5 friend is also having the same issue in our local area. finding a tuner is the hard part. hes doing a build himself too
There are great remote tuners available for the ME442 that I used, I worked with one on mine - but I don’t know of any for the stock ECU for turbo applications.
Just shared the 73rd request for this guide - it seems to be helping some people.
Got 2 beers & some ‘fish and chips’ in return - my favourite kind of things (after cars)
