New guy with a stupid question

[h8ter]

Hi all, I'm new to the MX-3 scene. I just picked up my '93 a couple of days ago. It's a 1.6L but man is it in good shape with only 84K miles on the clock. It's not fast but I just have fun driving it (a novelty almost). Anyhow I was wondering about which engines are legal direct plug and play motors for my car (CA). I was just thinking if I ever needed to drop in another engine, which ones are compatible. I believe my engine is a B6-ME the SOHC variety. Are all n/a B6 short blocks the same? If so then my head will bolt up to any year B6 and there would be no problems with the EFI, is this correct? Thanks in advance.

[Custommx3]

I know your new, so try checking out the engine swaps section on the main portion of this site.
Also check the 4cl FAq as well as searching, U'll find everything you need.

[h8ter]

Thanks Custommx3, I've been there and tried reading as much as I could. The pages seem to be dedicated to the KL swap or a performance 1.8L swap. I'm really just looking for a direct drop in that's perfectly smog leagal in CA, USA. Not looking to alter performance, just wanna keep my little green machine going. Personally I do feel the car is kind of slow being the 1.6L SOHC, but amazingly I still get a kick out fo driving it and would not want to change that. Any other suggestions? Thanks again.

[RoundTop]

why not get a 94-96 cyl engine. DOHC, you would gain about 12-15 HP right there and it should be almost a direct changeover.

[torpedan]

Originally posted by h8ter:
Hi all, I'm new to the MX-3 scene. I just picked up my '93 a couple of days ago. It's a 1.6L but man is it in good shape with only 84K miles on the clock. It's not fast but I just have fun driving it (a novelty almost). Anyhow I was wondering about which engines are legal direct plug and play motors for my car (CA). I was just thinking if I ever needed to drop in another engine, which ones are compatible. I believe my engine is a B6-ME the SOHC variety. Are all n/a B6 short blocks the same? If so then my head will bolt up to any year B6 and there would be no problems with the EFI, is this correct? Thanks in advance.

Yeah the FAQ will help out a bit. Legal for your area though i would consider out of a 93-94 protege LX. You will also wanna look at what aftermakret stuff is avilable for a swapped motor as well. Be sure you check for carb certs as well on those items.

[h8ter]

Roundtop, would the DOHC from a 94-96 work with my ECU and various sensors? Would there be other modifications required? As I mentioned before I'm not looking for more performance just flexibility when the time comes for stock engine replacement. Beside when I need to feed my speed habit I just climb aboard my bike and rip off a few smoking launches and bring it up to its 11K redline.

<small>[ August 13, 2004, 02:01 AM: Message edited by: h8ter ]</small>

[torpedan]

Originally posted by h8ter:
Roundtop, would the DOHC from a 94-96 work with my ECU and various sensors? Would there be other modifications required? As I mentioned before I'm not looking for more performance just flexibility when the time comes for stock engine replacement. Beside when I need to feed my speed habit I just climb aboard my bike and rip off a few smoking launches and bring it up to its 11K redline.

You can run the DOHC off of the older harness ecu and sensors. Only problem being is you really wont see much of the advantages of the motor without running the proper ecu, or doign some fabrication.

[h8ter]

torpedan, so any of the 1.6L DOHC's will work in my car? And you say it also best to use the matching ECU? I am gonna assume then that since the harness will work on the engine side that the DOHC ECU will connect directly to my existing wiring harness. I hope this is right, any more feedback would be great. Thank you so much you've provided exactly the type of answer I'm looking for. Please keep it coming.

Here's another question for you guys. I recently looked into a used engine warehouse in my area and noticed that '86-'89 323 B6's were readily available. Will this engine drop in without modification and work fine with my EFI setup? I understand that it would be down about 6 hp but that's alright with me. Again I'm not in need of an engine but I always try to know my options. Thanks again.

<small>[ August 13, 2004, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: h8ter ]</small>

[torpedan]

Originally posted by h8ter:
torpedan, so any of the 1.6L DOHC's will work in my car? And you say it also best to use the matching ECU? I am gonna assume then that since the harness will work on the engine side that the DOHC ECU will connect directly to my existing wiring harness. I hope this is right, any more feedback would be great. Thank you so much you've provided exactly the type of answer I'm looking for. Please keep it coming.

Here's another question for you guys. I recently looked into a used engine warehouse in my area and noticed that '86-'89 323 B6's were readily available. Will this engine drop in without modification and work fine with my EFI setup? I understand that it would be down about 6 hp but that's alright with me. Again I'm not in need of an engine but I always try to know my options. Thanks again.

To answer the easy one first. A older SOHC B6 Yes they will drop in, Yes they would run, No it would not be CARB legal because its from a older car(you can do motor swaps but the motors have to be smog legal and from a equal or newer year, not older), and the redline would be too high, pending the older internals it might not take it well.

Now for the Detail on da first one.

You can swap in a Newere DOHC motor and run it off of your old wiring harness, sensors, etc but the VICS will not operate and the motor will redline a bit too early(without the VICS the motor falls on its face anyways).

The (94 and up)DOHC motor was more of the begginings of a OBD2 conversion, the harnesses double in complexity and the ecu wont plug and play without running a lot of wires and chaning a lot of sensors.

The miata motor's manifolds wont quite work. You would have to have the custom fabricated.

Usually the best option that I preach is the BP swap from a Protege LX. Its a step up above either of the 1.6 options. Sporting a uhh whopping? 125hp @ 6500r/min (SAE net) 114lbs/ft @ 4500r/min (SAE net) The LX tranny is also quite a bit tougher than anything mated to a a 1.6.

[LongJohn]

Originally posted by torpedan:

Originally posted by h8ter:
torpedan, so any of the 1.6L DOHC's will work in my car? [...]
Thanks again.

To answer the easy one first. A older SOHC B6 Yes they will drop in, Yes they would run, No it would not be CARB legal because its from a older car(you can do motor swaps but the motors have to be smog legal and from a equal or newer year, not older) [...]

Oh no, I think the BP I'm rebuilding was from a 91 Escort. If I have it all hooked up properly and passing all the emission numbers, how will they know?

My car is due for smog in November. Perhaps I'll wait and smog it as soon as the paper work comes in and do the swap afterwards. That would buy me 2 years.

If you end up not CARB legal, is there some waiver process or are you just toast?

[torpedan]

Originally posted by John Long:

Originally posted by torpedan:

Originally posted by h8ter:
torpedan, so any of the 1.6L DOHC's will work in my car? [...]
Thanks again.

To answer the easy one first. A older SOHC B6 Yes they will drop in, Yes they would run, No it would not be CARB legal because its from a older car(you can do motor swaps but the motors have to be smog legal and from a equal or newer year, not older) [...]

Oh no, I think the BP I'm rebuilding was from a 91 Escort. If I have it all hooked up properly and passing all the emission numbers, how will they know?

My car is due for smog in November. Perhaps I'll wait and smog it as soon as the paper work comes in and do the swap afterwards. That would buy me 2 years.

If you end up not CARB legal, is there some waiver process or are you just toast?

Yeah its best to swap right after you get it checked. Unless you get a ticket that requiers you to get one done. They might check the vin numbers to see the year on the motor once they figure out its swapped.

I am not overly familir with there process but i imagine its exstensive and has good documentation on such things.