So..sitting here in the lot are a few project shells possibly.

1994 Probe V6 5spd. 150k or so. Clean, straight, stacks of maintainence reciepts, tons of new stuff including new Blizzak tires. Sounds like it is losing a rod. Clear title. Owner would like $400 to cover the tires she just bought.

1990ish Legacy sedan. Tired but it drove in. Has all the windows and fenders tho..., AT, needs a head gasket. Has cute little fat tires and wheels...$200.

Not here but close by, 1991 Miata shell. Straight car with title. Guy bought it for the drivetrain which was put in a MGB. Likely nearly free on this one.

The Probe belongs in the crusher. It's got weird electronics that are not Ford and not Mazda, or at least neither company wants to admit to knowing anything about them. A lot of parts seem to be discontinued for 'em anyway.

I'd love to find an old Legacy like that. Most of 'em rusted out here a very long time ago, and I recall a lot of them died when a front control arm's rust became apparent while in traffic. I have been watching an excess of Group A videos lately so this may be coloring my opinion *slightly*. It's about the same size as a WRX so they aren't that huge, or at least they are not 2011-huge.

How much of the drivetrain in the Miata is left? There's silly things you can do with an early Miata.

I tend to agree with the Probe sentiment...I actually talked the lady out of fixing it and she bought an Elantra. Probe is nice for a Probe tho, I'd like it better if it was the 4 cyl. That 2.5 V6 seems a waste of effort.

Miata is likely just a roller. He put the engine, trans and harness in a 1975 MGB. I did the exhaust yesterday. He bought a complete driver to get what he wanted for the swap.

At $4.plus a gallon I should toss a crate 2.0 in the Leggy and retail it.

Yeah, I was contemplating a Miata drivetrain swap into the RX-7 because 20mpg vs. 30mpg is huge when you do the cost/trip expenses. At 9000 miles the engine swap could pay for itself, and if the car is running it will see maybe 15,000 miles a year.

Then I realized that the only real way to make a Miata engine decently powerful is with a turbo, no decent (cheap) cams/pistons/etc. Turbos are for trucks and I already have one of those. So that's a no go. Thirsty rotary it is.

But you still have the rear suspension, so you can take that 6" diff and chuck it far, far away, install something better, and drop practically anything under the hood. Ford V8 sounds nice and is supposed to fit like Mazda wanted to do it.

The Miata engine just isn't much beyond stock. I've worked on both supercharged and turboed Miata and they just missed the mark. Fun little cars but more of a 'chick" car than performance car.

Is there room (height wise) to do a 2.3 swap?

How about a 5L swap on the Miata?
These were done commercailly as the 'monster miata' I beleive.

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heymagic
The Miata engine just isn't much beyond stock. I've worked on both supercharged and turboed Miata and they just missed the mark. Fun little cars but more of a 'chick" car than performance car.

Is there room (height wise) to do a 2.3 swap?

Gene, cant recall the height difference between the 2.0 and 2,3 "Duratec" or PZ or whatever the fawk Mazdog calls it but its the difference of half the stroke increase, so around 5-6mm plus the rod c-c length difference and that's it. 146.25 vs 154.78mm c-c
Wait, checked. 14mm diff.

One interesting thing is since the heads are same, same volume, the 2,3 n.a. pistons have BEEEEEEEG dishes and both motors have same bore and same piston comp hgt---they're physically interchangable in nuther woids.
A 2,0 FLAT TOP in a 2.3 would be like way high comp which would allow a long intake event while still retaining a high "dynamic compression" with a detonation resistant flat top. (Or a dished 2.3 into a 2.0 would be nice low comp for a bewsted application...

Could be fun.

Or you could destroy all the vehicles dynamic qualities and add more than the current weight of the engine and fawk up the crisp nimble handling...
5 liters sure can ruin a car.

We're 'swapping' into an RX-7 for fuel economy reasons. Pete wants to keep the car fun to drive also...which removes the Miata swap.

Problem is the lack of newer RWD donors. Even the little trucks aren't so little and so many are V8 equipped nowadays.

2.0/2.3 Ford or 2.2/2.4 Chevy maybe an inline 6 BMW ?


For all the benefits of EFI in power, economy and reliability I sure miss the old carbed days when all you had to worry about was making the sump fit the cross member.....

Miatabusa it.

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BillyElliot
Miatabusa it.

That.

Nissan SR20DET... with the engine stock, a decent exhaust and intercooler, you'll have 220+rwhp. Gazillions of aftermarket parts available, and you can get the engine trans set w/harness and ECU pretty darn cheap these days.

-Martin.

I'd be intrested in the Miata if it is a roller... We're building something 'interesting' using Miata hubs, uprights, suspension bits.

Toiletta 1UZFE, alloy DOHC 4.0L V8......

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---** To be in compliance with the Anarchy **---
Jorden R. Kleier
Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
1990 Mazdog Protege 4WD
1973

http://www.monstermiata.com/

You guys and your horsepower fetishes. No appreciation for subtleties.

A well-setup Miata will whup most cars at the track. You just gotta push it hard enough.