Enchilada Install: Episode 2 July 7
Didn’t make a ton of progress today, but I did inch forward. I procured some new bolts for the downpipe-turbo connection and took the old exhaust to storage along with the stock anti-roll bar in order to free up some space in the garage. With those errands completed, I turned to checking the threads in the turbo outlet casting, which appear OK, although they took some work with tap. I also removed the stereo head-unit and associated wiring in order to give the Hydra’s wiring harness priority, but it appears there won’t be too many conflicts. Of course, this required pulling out the centre console and the glove box, which is always tedious. Behind the glovebox, I mounted the Hydra’s clip and inserted the little blue box. Unfortunately, this required moving the keyless entry module so I’ll have to find it a new home. All that ate up the morning and the afternoon.
The evening saw condor888000 come by for some help with a rear suspension bushing. He made some progress with a variety of tools, the smelliest of which was the dremel, which burned the offending rubber off. Ick! While he was dremeling, I started the diff bushing job as described by QQQQ on the mazda-speed.com boards. The diff is currently unbolted from the body and is being supported by a jack. I hope to rent some air tools tomorrow to pound out the existing bushings. Should be interesting, particularly the burning of the old rubber material.
After that I’ll look at the engine mounts…
Almost forgot!!! When we had to put Ginger back in garage, we were forced to fire her up (too heavy to push up the incline of the driveway). Man was she loud and stinky with nothing more than the turbo outlet to manage the exhaust. Neighbours were shocked at the noise coming from such a small car. 
Tags: cars, Flyin' Miata, Ginger, Mazda, Mazdaspeed, Miata, MX-5, tech