To change the timing belt/ water pump or no to- Adding Turbo

[BrianS077]

Merry Christmas & Happy holidays everyone,

I picked up a 2002 with 42k miles and unfortunately no service records. I’ve changed all the fluids & plan on adding a turbo this spring. The only major things I haven’t done are the timing belt & water pump. I’m reading various things in forums if I should or shouldn’t mess with them based purely on the age of the car.

What are your thoughts??

Anything else you would do outside of fluid changes in prep for the turbo??

[Greg @ GWR]

Timing belt change is recommended at 60,000 miles or five years. With age the belt will dry out and the fibers will start cracking. Time to change it, change the water pump while your in there. It's also a good time to replace both cam seals and the front main seal.
As for "major things", did you go to a bigger radiator to help control heat?

[BrianS077]

Thanks Greg for the response.

New radiator is something I’m definitely looking at as well with the turbo. What is your recommendation and what about upgrading the fan from factory as well as coolant re-route that will work with the FM turbo kit??

Thanks again,
Brian

[Greg @ GWR]

Hi Brian. Sorry for the delay, I was back east visiting.
I have the CSF 42mm core radiator in my car. It has more capacity and costs less than other options. It's a very nice build, all aluminum, and a drop-in fitment. The MSM fans are excellent, so I kept those. For a non-boosted Miata, the OEM fans will work fine with the big 42mm radiator. Once you move to a turbo try the Mishimoto dual fan w/shroud setup. The bigger fans will pull in plenty of air, and the shroud will help the fans in stop-n-go traffic. At the track at speed then the shroud doesn't help much.
The Qmax coolant reroute will work just fine with a turbo setup. It will certainly help the head keep cooler whenever the car gets a turbo.