On-Board Diagnostics

First thing's first, I need to know more about what my car is doing. I purchased an ELM wireless device for about $20 that connects to your cars OBD-II port (all cars build after 1996 have one). You do need to buy a third-party mobile app in order to read from it, however. DashCommander sells for about $10 for iOS and works great. So for about $30, you can have and on-board diagnostic reader that not only shows you any error codes, but shows you real-time information about all the sensors on your car including speed, horsepower, and gas consumption.

One thing to note when purchasing one of these devices. If you are using an iPhone, you must purchase the wifi version. Bluetooth does not work because it requires modifications to the adapter that Apple does not let you do. So unless you've jail broken your iPhone, get the wifi version. If you've got an Android device, go for the bluetooth.

One other thing to note is that the device broadcasts wifi with no password. This is rather insecure so I would suggest only keeping the device plugged in to your car while you're using it.

2003 MX-5 Miata

This will be a working document of all the research and modifications I'll be making to do a V8 swap on my NB Miata.

Purpose: this will mostly be a street car, but I want it to be track/autocross-capable

Philosophy: this is really a learning process for me. I'd like to do as much of the work myself as possible, and only resorting to a professional to do the work when either I don't have time or I know I'm beyond my skill level. This is about building/engineering something fun and not about my car being bigger than yours. As such, I'm attempting to avoid making cosmetic changes for superficial purposes. If it doesn't have a function, I likely won't include it.

About me: when I started this, I knew nothing about cars. I'm an engineer, a mathematician, I've got a little expendable cash, and I'm willing to learn the skills needed. Hopefully someone finds this blog helpful.

The Miata: this is a 2003 MX-5 Miata, purchased by me in early 2014. I bought it from the dealership in great condition and it already had an aftermarket Fast Forward Supercharger. This should theoretically put it around 190+ hp.

Because I don't have a lot of experience with cars, I'm going to follow the Flyin' Miata (FM) build as closely as possible and only deviate when I'm confident I know what I'm doing. Here's the list of parts and cost estimates by FM. It should result in a 430hp V8 Miata and I estimate it will cost roughly an additional $20k to do the full upgrade (minus the cost of tools and incidentals). Here are the installation instructions for the engine.

I intend to keep track of all modifications, their cost, and any research I did beforehand. So hopefully by the end, someone else could follow my blog and DIY. If I'm feeling ambitious, I may include videos.

To get started, here are some recommended links:
Flyin Miata
Miata.net Forums
V8 Roadsters
Goodwin Racing
Tire Rack
HowStuffWorks: How Engines Work
Engineering Explained
The Mantis Shrimp