Welding the downpipe was difficult and I burned through a few times. I figured out what the problem was with welding on Monday night. Since I only tacked each piece twice, connected the ground to the v-band piece, and started on the piece next to the flex, there wasn't enough continuity to get a good ground. Live and learn. I'll need to do a bunch of grinding to make it look less like crap. Muffler came in and I tacked on the brackets. I might make some adjustable slider type things so I can adjust fitment.

Got some work done last night. More work tonight. I might be able to get everything lined up tonight and get the final welding done this weekend.

I'm ready for exhaust sound vids damnit, LOL!

Project is now delayed until mid-November. The reason why it's taking me so long is because my wife is teaching a grad class on top of her day job. Her father's lung cancer also came back so we've been spending a lot of time with the family. We'll be out of town for a bit very soon so no worky until probably Thanksgiving weekend.

I guess cancer>exhaust so I'll excuse your absence, LOL. Seriously though, I hope all goes well with your father-in-law. Best wishes!

Plus Dee yelled at me and said I'm not allowed to run the engine again until I'm ready to drive it so the rings will seat properly. I have a decent chunk of time off between Christmas and New Years. The plan will be to build up the collection of stuff I need for the intercooler, intake, and battery relocation and get to building that during that time off.

Well, the Fam is # 1, so take care of that first man. We'll be here when you get back.

Back from the trip and I'm glad to be home even though it was a good time. Highlights from our pictures below. We're going to combine our efforts with Dad's and I'll post up more when that's done, since he's a better photographer.

Zion National Park




We climbed to the top of this sucker. It's called Angel's Landing. 3 people died this year climbing it



Death Valley











Valley Of Fire

Zion was one of the stops on our Honeymoon. Beautiful place. I'd like to go back and spend a week there instead of a couple of days. I know we missed a lot of it.

Of course this bad luck would happen to me today. I got all the remaining pieces cut and tacked into place and got into a groove laying beads when I ran out of fricken stainless feed wire. I only had one seam left too. Oh well, guess the exhaust will have to wait until mid week to be 100% complete. I have one seam and two hangers left and it's done.

Engine "stored" until I get a stand and start tearing it down


Very handy when it's 30 degrees outside


The v-band section is bad for flow, but I didn't have much choice and it's a 2.5" exhaust, it should flow enough for the little 1.8L engine

Those heaters are nice, but the noise drives me up the wall! LOL. That exhaust isn't gonna do you much good without a motor...

The noise from the heater wasn't that bothersome, definitely not as loud as the die grinder and angle grinder I was using on the pipes. The engine in the photo is the old CA18DE, which I'm going to use as practice for tearing down and rebuilding an engine. Once I get the final seam on the exhaust completed and the two remaining hangers installed I'll try and snap some shots from under the car. I'll be hopefully ordering the intercooler and battery wiring items this week if I have time to plan it all out.


Hey PackRat, you disabled private messaging so I can't reply to you.

So the exhaust is done, after a bit of a setback. Stupid me forgot to reinstall the front sway bar during the process and the downpipe was hitting it. Took it off, cut it up, and remade it. I like the new version not only because it fits, but my welds came out better, and it's tucked in a bit more. The dp could still move up an inch, but it should be fine the way it is. More parts came in and the battery box is just small enough that it can fit all the way back in the hatch area and not interfere with storing the t-tops. Intercooler, some silicone fittings, and the rest of the battery relocation bits should be here early in the week.


BTW, according to class rules I can remove the pop-up headlights as long as I replace them with statics. Any suggestions for some static, projector beam lights I could use to replace the pop-ups that won't break my bank?


DP Version 1


DP Version 2

Looks good! I can't wait for vids.

Next phase parts pile is pretty much complete.

float_6969, I had no idea you owned a MSP. I was trying to explain what my setup in the Pulsar was going to be like to a friend of mine so I looked up some pictures on the Mazda forum and saw some of your posts.

So I'm stupid and I ordered the wrong 90 degree coupler for the turbo. Turbo outlet is 2", not 2.25" that I had remembered and didn't double check before I purchased. No big deal, because the MAF is 2.25, so I can still use the coupler. Air box and charcoal bracket removed, intercooler mock up installed with some of my practice pipes. I'll use a little bit more pipe and push the intercooler as far away from the engine as I can to reduce heat absorption.

Intercooler mock up

I can finally see the pics of your work (stupid PC). I give you a credit, you are an eager beaver my friend. Somewhere along the way, you will ditch the water to air intercooler, but I can dig it as well. It's looking interesting as well as outstanding. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing your car vroom-vroom.

Thanks Dee. Curious why you think I'll ditch the water to air system?

Intercooler setup should be done this weekend, at which point I can plan out the recirculating valve and intake, then buy the parts (and measure twice). I might be able to get the battery system installed too. After that I can put the interior back together.

Yea, I love the WTA intercooler. IMHO, for a street car, it's a WAAYYY better way to cool the intake charge. I love WTA so much, the MSP AND the CA both have one. Honestly, I'll probably never run an ATA again unless I'm building a strictly road racing car.

The only suggestion I'll make is to run it with some sort of reservoir, and don't let the system get pressurized. Your reservoir needs to be big enough to allow for the coolant to expand/contract when it heats and cools.

Float, you might have missed my post before. I didn't know (or forgot) you had an MSP and happened upon your posts on the mazda forums about the WTA setups and got all the nice tips from CHIQLES or whatever his username is. I'm going to grab a reservoir off eBay once I get everything set up and measure the space available.

OH, yea, I scrolled right past that, LOL.

So it's been a while and I'm motivated to work on the car again. Holidays over, flu defeated, etc, etc.

Hard to see in the pictures, but I started the intake last night. Cut the tube at 45 degrees and trimmed down the straight part to pull that angle closer to the turbo. It's too bad these cars have MAF sensors, otherwise I'd be done already. I ordered a silicone coupler to go from the intake tube to the MAF and it should be here within a week. None of the MAF adapters for the filter side are to my liking because they are all 3" in diameter. So I have a choice to make.

1) Just buy the 3" MAF adapter and run the filter inside the engine compartment. This would be easier and faster.
2) Make my own MAF adapter. It would be incorporated into the filter side of the intake tube (welded to the pipe). This would be more complicated, but then I can run the tube under the headlight so the filter would be outside the engine compartment.

What do you guys think?

I will always advocate a CAI. I wouldnt' put the MAFS in the wheel well though. Why not buy one of those pipe adapters that bolt on and let you use a slip on filter? Then you can put it inline in the engine compartment and leave the filter in the wheel well.

All my piping is 2.5", and all of those MAF adapters I see online go to 3", so I'd need yet another silicone adapter to go from 3" to 2.5", or buy a 3" pipe section, which I'd rather not do since I already have a bunch of 2.5". Other option might be to buy a MAF adapter, cut off the 3" pipe and weld on my 2.5". It's only 1/4" on each side to fill in with weld, and my welds have typically been that wide any ways

I ordered a MAF adapter off eBay just to see what my options will be. I agree that having the filter under the headlight is optimal. I'm just juggling the "do it right" versus the "do it quick and cheap" options. Space is kind of a concern as well, because I still need to mount the water reservoir and the water pump.

Do it right, or don't do it at all. Anything else and you'll regret your decision later, and it generally ends up costing you more than if you had done it right in the first place.

Pffff, I hate you guys. Always talking sense and making me remember that I always want to do it right the first time.

The MAF adapter should be here Saturday. I can cut slits in the 3" outlet and fold it down to 2.5", then weld it back together and weld it to the 2.5" pipe that moves under the headlight. I won't be able to use the crappy filter that comes with the MAF adapter, but that's not a big deal since I plan on buying a K&N in whatever size ends up fitting. The silicone coupler is going to take a bit longer, but that's not necessary for me to finish up the intake.

The recirculating valve also arrived (used Forge BPV for the MSP with 3/4" inlet and outlet). I'm going to cut a 3/4" hole into the pipe right by the TB and as close to the MAF as I can get, weld in a 3/4" NPT bung, then use a 3/4" barb fitting for the hose. I'll probably order the bungs and barbs after I get the intake lined up and install the water reservoir so I can make a single order from McMaster.

you don't want it close to the MAFS, you want it close to the inlet of the turbo. If it's too close to the MAFS, you can get stumbling on lift off.

Well, some good work done today, but another set back and more money set on fire. MAF adapter arrived, I modified it, and it lined up nicely. The set back is it's made out of aluminum, so I can't weld it to my steel pipe. So I have a few choices. I can JBWeld everything together, or I can but another MAF adapter and a 3" to 2.5" silicone 90 coupler. The latter is probably the cleaner choice, but it'll cost me more $$. I'd rather not spend the time making my own adapter, mostly because it would be 2.5" pipe and that might screw up the air flow into the MAF.

1) Intake pipe built, waiting on 2.5" coupler to connect it to MAF
2) Intercooler bracket built and connected
3) Water reservoir bracket built, installed
4) Batter cable pushed through firewall, started soldering connectors

There are times JB weld is a good idea, and I think this is one of those times. I would JB weld it up, sand it smooth, paint it, and nobody but us will ever know. It's not a high stress part, it just needs to seal, and JB weld will do a great job of that.