Mazda Miata V8 swap
 

Well a friend of mine found some cool info on putting a ford 302 engine in a Mazda Miata. We figure with the car we can do it all for around $14000 total.....What do you think....here are some links about it.Link 1 Linky 2 Linky3

I think you're absolutely fucking insane :)
I think I'd like to drive it once you're done
I think you want to by a 5.0 Ford engine from me and get the rotting '88 Town Car out of my driveway while it still has usable parts left.

Those are my thoughts

That would be a whole lot of fun, but i'd go all out and go for the LS1, but since money is a factor, that would work. YOu could also get that z3 kit for the car, lots of possibilities with that car.

wont a v8 make the front heavier, making it feel completely different? Have you considered putting a rotary in there?

Get a datsun and do a v8 conversion in that...a lt1/ls1 fits perfectly....and it is ALOT cheaper...and those cars are sooooo light...

Yeah. The car will be fast in a straight line, but it'll handle like a pig. I wouldn't do it myself.

If you built the stock engine properly and then supercharged it, you'd probably have it almost as fast.

The more interesting swap for me would be a twin turbo rotary from a '93 to '95 RX7.

As others have said, straight line would be great but anything else would suck. You will need to beef up those front springs like mad!!!

I'd say go rotary. A nice TT 20B engine would go 0 to shityourself in 3.2 seconds.

I have driven a 5.0L Miata. It was fantastic. It did push in the corners even with a revised suspension. Anything over 300hp and you just smoke the tires.

I think the new RENESIS rotory would be cool in the Miata. Mazda should stick that in before they go to a new model. It only weighs 160lbs (less than the tranny), and puts out 240hp in stock form.

Its reported to handle just as well and only adds 250lbs to the car

The monster miata's are great fun - the rotary really is a lot harder than a lot people say - it doesnt mount up nearly as well as the 5.0.

LS1 would be the way to go though...

I saw an RX-7 at cruise night with a 302, and I know a guy that swapped a Chev 350 into one. Never seen a Miata with one though, atleast you're planning to do something original.

basically um... HOLY HELL

Brakes, brakes, brakes, and suspension. In that order. After that, it sounds like fun =)

Does the $14K include the price of the car? If not, you must certainly love the look of the Miatas to pour that kind of cash into it. I'd be nervous on the track with such a small car...doesn't look like the safest track car.

Miatas suck ass, I wouldnt waste my money on one.

Youve obiviosuly never driven in one.

Miatas are insanely fun to drive on narrow back roads, as they corner like they're glued to the road.

If you say they suck ass, apparently you've done nothing but try to drag race out of stoplights with them.

Well, a friend of mine put a Ford CobraJet engine into his Focus ZX3. All told, he spent about 20K, and it handles pretty well. He dynoed it at around 540hp. Needless to say, it took A LOT of specality work, including moving most of the engine bay equipment (battery, coolant systems, etc.) into the back. Suspension was another big expense. Is it driveable? Sure. Do you actually want to drive it to the store? No. It's a great racer, fun on the highways, but annoying as hell on normal roads. Takes too much thought to drive and not destroy the tires.

I would think that you should invest the money in something that's fast from the factory. Look at old M3s or even the new 350Z.

you tell me that if you drive one with 300+hp and 300+lb/fts of torque........i don't think you would hate it at all

We had a turbo version of the Miata (Called Mx-5 down here) about 2 years ago which was quicker than a WRX!

They are awesome cars - I'd be wary about the front end weight with a 5.0 in it though - you are better off supercharging or turbocharging it!

Mazda sold a factory turbo on the Miata (it's called the MX-5 here too), I didn't know that. Was it the same set up as the Mazdaspeed protege?

The extra 250lbs isn't too bad if the spring rates are corrected, it just isn't an Auto X star. With over 300hp, it's worth it.

Handle just as well? I seriously doubt it. Mazdas are known for having perfectly balanced (that's 50/50 front/rear) weight splits. A miata with some suspension mods is capable of pulling 1.09 g's on a skidpad. I seriously doubt that throwing an extra 250 pounds toward the front of the car will let you turn at 1.09 g's. Why would you want to throw away the miata's best quality just to say you have a V8 in it?

There are 1.8 liter turbocharged miatas that have 400 horsepower to the wheels. Why would you need more then that in a light ass miata? I'm pretty sure the LS1 block is only around 350 horsepower.

I'm sure getting 400 horsepower from a turbo in a miata is easier then trying to swap a v8 in there. Engine swaps are never easy.

Tweaking fuel systems and maybe rebuilding the engine for turbo is easy though.

Bottom line: Turbo'd miata vs v8 swapped miata. I am willing to bet anyone that the turbo miata would win on a road course, skid pad, slalom and quarter mile track.

I think his budget would be gone if he went with a turbo going over 300hp. It wouldn't run on 92 octane either (at least that's as high as I get out of a pump around here).

Here's a guy runing in the low 13's with a turbo. http://www.geocities.com/turbo95miata/performance.html
A LS1 Miata could run low 12's. I know turbo cars can go that fast, but then they boost over 15psi and do stuff like add tolulene to the tank.

I think the point of the project is to spend $14K including the car. Just buy the motor, and have a fairly simply car to go fast. Both ways would work, but some people want to have a V8.

Miata's are a fun car, it's just that I prefer the badass hot rods like the GTOs and the Firebird's and the Camaro's and the orangutangs, and the breakfast cereals, whoops, wrong place to use that. But anyways, for a small budget, get a Miata, it's a well made car, and if the guy is able to swap an engine, he's obviously skilled enough to do it, or knows someone who is, and they can fix the suspension and balance as needed.

I just reread my post, I didn't mean to sound negative and condescending.

Mill, yea, reaching 400 horsepower on a turbo will require some heavy octane mixtures, but turbo is easy like that. During regular days when you're not racing, you can always turn down the boost. Even on 92 octane, i think 300 horsepower is reachable. Unless of course you really want more then 300 horsepower on tap ALL the time. I guess some people do. :cool:

It wouldn't be all that expensive to turbo a miata. Car for 8000, turbo kit for 3000, maybe rebuild the engine for another 3000. There's your 14k right there, and that's probably 250 horsepower to the wheels. Minus the extra 250 pounds from a V8, it's still pretty speedy.

I think reliability will be an issue. Obviously trying to mate an engine to a car that wasn't built for it will cause some serious problems.

The transmission will need to be replaced definately. Will the driveshaft be able to handle a V8's heavy instantaneous torque? Will the axles break?

Will it work with airconditioning or will all things in the engine bay have to be removed to make room for the bigger engine?

Will the ecu and electric system work or will all that have to be customized?

Will the miata's small gas tank be reasonable for the V8's extra fuel needs?

All this is ok if the miata is just going to a be a weekend warrior or something, but I can't imagine it retaining most of the daily driving qualities it would with a turbo. Of course, I didn't read through the link thoroughly. Maybe it can be done without much problems. But i've seen lots of car people trying to swap bigger engines into their 4 bangers and finding out they were in over their heads.

To answer some of your questions.....

The transmission will need to be replaced definately. Will the driveshaft be able to handle a V8's heavy instantaneous torque? Will the axles break? The tranny is replaced with a tremec 3550 tranny as using in ford cobras...made for over 350lbs of torque

Will it work with airconditioning or will all things in the engine bay have to be removed to make room for the bigger engine? Yes....We are stripping out all unesscary stuff...like abs pump....ac......

Will the ecu and electric system work or will all that have to be customized? Completely gutted out...it will be a carburetted engine.

Will the miata's small gas tank be reasonable for the V8's extra fuel needs? Plenty good..its' not gonna be made for road trips.

MSD your welcome to come over and drive it once my friend gets it finished :)

And he just bought a good used block for $50 we just have to send it in to get bored over and cleaned.

how would you transfer that power to wheels in miata ? :/
engine and transmission is not all

The early 90's miatas are rwd. And the kit comes with a driveshaft to hook the tremec 3550 trannyup to the stock differential.

All miatas are rwd. I like the idea of that much power in a miata but you would never be able to make any money of the car racing on the streets. The car wouldn't idle like a 4cly and word would get out quick that it has that much power. the car would be scary fast but a better choice is to put whats called an FE-DOHC into on.
The car is still a 4cyl only it is now turbo and has a much better motor than the BP that was orgianly housed in it.
http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=208651&page=1

evo

If you are really interested in this swap and real numbers of how it performs...look at the current issue of Grassroots Motorsports at your local newstand. A 302 miata was the winner of their annual Kumho/Grassroots challenge. Cars for the competition must cost less dollars than the year(ie this year was the $2003 Challenge) cars compete in autocross, drag and concours...plus the rest of the mag is really cool too!

To comment about the turbo 400 hp miata vs. the hypothetical 350 hp V8 miata...

Building a turbo car to that much power (especially from a 4 cyl) requires about 10x as much money, tweaking, tuning, and aggrivation....and for what? My money's on the naturally-aspirated-V8-swapped Miata with a few less ponies.

Why? For the most part, an NA car will be faster than a turbo car of the same power levels, for the simple reason that the NA car donesnt have to worry about turbo spool time, insane fuel systems, leaky plumbing, etc., etc., etc.

Yes, small displacement powerplants with turbos can be made to have the same power levels as NA large cube motors, but it does take ALOT more work (and headaches) to get there.....

Just some food for thought....how bout take that Blue Oval 302, stuff it into that go-kart of a Miata, THEN add a turbo with low boost.... now THATS insane :D :D :D

Good idea but no room for a turbo and the 302. Then again there are lots of other V8's out there. I read that Northstar V8 crate motors are $6000, and there are buggies with them making over 600hp with a turbo.

Speaking of V8 conversions, here a sleeper. It's a Nash Metropolitan with a 455. Just the sound and the tubbed rear wheels give it away. Don't want to turn the wheel though.



http://www.gephartclassics.com/61metro2.jpg
http://www.gephartclassics.com/61metro3.jpg
http://www.gephartclassics.com/61metro1.jpg
http://www.gephartclassics.com/61metro4.jpg

Why a V-8 why not drop a mopar v-10. It mjght take more work and money but no on else has one.

A V-10 is ~15-20% longer than a V8 all else being equal. Much harder squeeze to the point of being impossible. I'd imagine an eight is pretty tight already.

in australia theres a company thats using MX-5 bodys and the 4 litre lexus V8- with or without supercharger. Think its called a 'bullet' v8 or something and they sell them as a complete car, perhaps something similar could be done.....