Miata motor?

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » April 30th, 2005, 5:04 pm

I have access to a very well priced miata 1.6L engine with b6t rods port and polish head and some other work as well done to it.... my question is can this engine be bolted to our trans? i know the internalls can all be swapped but i was wondering if i can just use the engine itself and mount it the way ours is mounted

nope-mx3 · Post by **nope-mx3** » April 30th, 2005, 5:17 pm

I believe it`s the same engine.

nope-mx3

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » April 30th, 2005, 5:30 pm

*drooling* that will be sweet then! i got to drive the miata before he took it out (he is putting a v8 in it) so i know the engine is in good shape and already slightly built so i can drop it in do the wiring and go... it even has a lightened fly wheel...

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 30th, 2005, 6:24 pm

I think the head is different.. IIRC.. I think the intake & exaust might be on opposit sides.. I am not 100% positive about this.. so it might be worth finding a stock pic of a Miata engine bay.. that will tell you for certain. Best of luck.

Tunes67

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » April 30th, 2005, 7:26 pm

exhaust and intake are on the same sides but the intake points the opposite direction of ours and their distributor is different that is why we have to switch the cams from intake to exhaust and vice versa.... can't wait to find out more about this

matt_fulghum · Post by **matt_fulghum** » May 1st, 2005, 12:49 pm

the oil pan is different too.... if you use a Miata engine in a FWD car, or a Protege engine in a Miata, without changing the oil pan, you're gonna have problems

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » May 1st, 2005, 1:33 pm

ok.. maybe i'll do a custom oil pan cause my friend is very good at fabricating stuff like that.. he made one for his car also... what about wiring? will i have to use the miata harness and ecu? will i have to do a stand alone? will my stock one work?

Yoda · Post by **Yoda** » May 1st, 2005, 1:40 pm

Not only the oil pan but the oil sump pickup, the oil pump will have to be modified, Crank sensor hardware and tranny adaptor plate will have to be changes as well. Some of the GTX guys have been also been saying the a couple of oil galley plugs will have to be move in the to get propper oil flow through the head when changing the mounting direction if the engine from RWD to FWD.

freyguy_412 · Post by **freyguy_412** » May 1st, 2005, 7:24 pm

Haven't done it myself, but have thought about this motor. If he uses the miata ecu, he would be able to keep the DIS system, correct? That is one of the things that help this ZE make more power than our DE.

Also, would the oil pan from the DE fit right on the ZE? Maybe that and just take off the old oil pump and swap it onto the new engine? I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot, I just thought about a lot of that stuff ever since my intake and exhaust modified MX-3 lost to a Miata with a set of plug wires... Lost hard

matt_fulghum · Post by **matt_fulghum** » May 1st, 2005, 11:38 pm

I am actually interested in seeing if I could switch to the DIS system... I'm planning on megasquirt'n'sparking later so I wanna be able to control all that through the DIS module stuff htey have.

freyguy_412 · Post by **freyguy_412** » May 2nd, 2005, 7:12 pm

The bit of research I've done (the fact that I'm learning a lot of stuff as I go an research isn't helping) says you damn near need to do a rebuild to get the DIS swapped. Need the crankshaft out of the miata for it's "pickup thingie". Plus all the other goodies... but that would be the hardest thing I found in my research...

matt_fulghum · Post by **matt_fulghum** » May 2nd, 2005, 7:38 pm

well I wanted to grab the cams and solid lifters from a 99+ miata anyway, and the crank angle sensor I thought was on the exhaust cam where the distributor normally is....

freyguy_412 · Post by **freyguy_412** » May 2nd, 2005, 7:48 pm

Ummmm...... yeah...... huh..........

Still learnin.......... still have a lot more to go huh................

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » May 2nd, 2005, 7:53 pm

Is it possible to get a JDM FWD oriented B6ZE engine? Crate motor from Japan? Should be pretty much the same engine as the miata engine but already setup to go into a FWD car? Just a thought.. dunno if such a thing exsists or not.

Tunes67