It is time...

[NJSPEED3]

Very nice work Bonnie and Sean. Did you guys ever end up putting the lift in the 2nd garage?

[socks]

no, its probably gonna go in the main garage where bonnies car sits. although, after this project, there might be a lack of motivation for it.

[Volcom8190]

Originally Posted by socks no, its probably gonna go in the main garage where bonnies car sits. although, after this project, there might be a lack of motivation for it.

your going to need it when you give up and put an LS into the RX7

[socks]

you mean 20b?

[bigx5murf]

Originally Posted by mizboo102 I plan to have it at 400 whp then see what kind of traction I have before going further. We were actually seam welding yesterday. I doubt it's going to do much beyond the hardtop and rollbar but we'll see

I'm not a believer of hard top adding stiffness, and imo, roll bar adds stiffness on a part of the chassis that doesn't really need it. But it's still nice to have.

Those frame rail reinforcements you've got from the v8 kit will really stiffen the ride, in a good way, car will feel more solid. But the places that really need it (still shudder over the rough stuff, and may possibly twist w/ the amount of torque you're going to have), is the area from the shock towers to the end of the windshield. Seam welding is probably the only way to stiffen all of it, the boss frog arms do get the job partially done though.

[mizboo102]

Originally Posted by bigx5murf I'm not a believer of hard top adding stiffness, and imo, roll bar adds stiffness on a part of the chassis that doesn't really need it. But it's still nice to have. Those frame rail reinforcements you've got from the v8 kit will really stiffen the ride, in a good way, car will feel more solid. But the places that really need it (still shudder over the rough stuff, and may possibly twist w/ the amount of torque you're going to have), is the area from the shock towers to the end of the windshield. Seam welding is probably the only way to stiffen all of it, the boss frog arms do get the job partially done though.

The hardtop and roll bar do make a noticeable difference in the body stiffness. Having a steep driveway, it's pretty obvious the hardtop reacts to the body twist. Its easier to fold a bowl like a taco without the lid on, right? The roll bar doesn't put up the complaints of the hardtop but you can tell it reduces the roll in the rear, like a strut tower brace. We are only seam welding in the cabin anyway.

I'm not concerned that the car will be unstable or undriveable. This is going to primarily be a street car

[TiGraySpeed6]

and it's not like you're creating the wheel here anyway-
this is tried & true proven stuff you're working with.


what a go cart this is going to be.......

[Jh8909]

subbed for this awesome build. I'd be scared to be hearing a cammed miata growling down the road.

[mzr0818]

I feel like a kid on a long trip... Are we ther yet? Are we there yet?

Need more car pics...

[Neverlift]

Originally Posted by bigx5murf I'm not a believer of hard top adding stiffness

Believe it buddy because it does make a very noticeable difference. Speaking from experience on my MSM & NA.

[mizboo102]

Third post updated...

[MazdaBoy2.3]

I can't wait to hear this thing run!

[sick_role]

oh...so this is what happens when you don't have kids...and common interests with your significant other.

[Snap Off]

Is that a OTS comp cam or did it start life as a comp and end up a Texas speed custom grind?

[mizboo102]

Originally Posted by Snap Off Is that a OTS comp cam or did it start life as a comp and end up a Texas speed custom grind?

It's a pretty common grind that came in a comp cam box from Texas-Speed. I'll check the cam card when I get home.

[Snap Off]

Thanks, I love seeing projects like this. I was going to toss my old ls1 into my gfs 240 but we ended up breaking up before it happened.
A lot of smoke and mirrors in the lsx world. Most of the Lsx sites are controlled by the vendors so take extra care when picking parts.

[sstevens805]

Awesome stuff. I have wanted to do something similar for the past couple of years, I'll live vicariously through you guys!

[bigx5murf]

Originally Posted by another 6cms6 Believe it buddy because it does make a very noticeable difference. Speaking from experience on my MSM & NA.

Did you have frame rails or door bars? I understand HTs brace the floppiest part of the chassis, but in the end you are bracing with fiberglass with 4-6 points that have some play in them.

One of the local guys here got door bars, and frame rails, and I swear there's no difference with or w/o HT in that car. At least not one I can feel.

Originally Posted by mizboo102 8/26/2012: For those of you that know my mazdaspeed... you shouldn't be suprised by this: Painted the stock frame rails so it shows through the cutout in the V8R rails.

Sorry to keep nitpicking, but you should hit the bolts holding those frame rails in place with underbody spray, or even better, redo them blobbing some silicone into each hole first (I did both). Leaving them as is, could become moisture problem under the carpet in the future.

[mizboo102]

Originally Posted by bigx5murf Did you have frame rails or door bars? I understand HTs brace the floppiest part of the chassis, but in the end you are bracing with fiberglass with 4-6 points that have some play in them.

So you agree then, the hardtop does brace the chassis. Cool. Let's move on.

Originally Posted by bigx5murf Sorry to keep nitpicking, but you should hit the bolts holding those frame rails in place with underbody spray, or even better, redo them blobbing some silicone into each hole first (I did both). Leaving them as is, could become moisture problem under the carpet in the future.

You did both in what? For why?

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I see a puddle that'll soak my frame rails, I turn around jk I get what you're saying but the risk of water seeping up through the bolts is minimal. We waterproofed the inside of the cabin to avoid painting the V8R frame rails.

Originally Posted by Snap Off A lot of smoke and mirrors in the lsx world. Most of the Lsx sites are controlled by the vendors so take extra care when picking parts.

Good to know! Thanks

[mzr0818]

As Johnny 5 said. "Need Input". Pics? Update? Est. Time of completion? Promise of tossing keys to me for a test drive when done?

[lilred]

Update?

tapafuck

[mzr0818]

yes please

[mizboo102]

Sorry guys! I'm bad at the internet and have been busy switching jobs. I'll try to post an actual update this weekend with the intermediate steps but this is where we are now:

Engine is "finally" in (after it was previously "finally" in and the chalkboard wall saved us a lot of heartache in the future). Sean picked up a power steering line on his way out of town this afternoon, next to do is cooling. Excite!

[amoosenamedhank]

These cars are funny.... funny in that I would never ever own one but I absolutely love watching other peoples build threads about them.

Keep it coming!

[PapaSmurf]

looking good bonnie and sean.

Im really thinking about doing this swap once I get back from my deployment, its either that or buy one already completed since I am lazy. It also probably cheaper. lol

[mizboo102]

Big update in the middle of post 2

[Masterofnone]

I watched the "first start" video several times on my phone, and was like "wow", then came home and listened to in on my cheap computer speakers, and was like "holy carp" impressive! I'm assuming just headers, right? But I don't think the straight pipe to the back will muffle the sound much. He He

[PapaSmurf]

Congrats on start up!


Sent from my flying tapadildo

[mizboo102]

Originally Posted by Masterofnone I watched the "first start" video several times on my phone, and was like "wow", then came home and listened to in on my cheap computer speakers, and was like "holy carp" impressive! I'm assuming just headers, right? But I don't think the straight pipe to the back will muffle the sound much. He He

Haha we did the same thing! After we did it we watched it on the phone a few times then uploaded it and watched it on the computer.

Just headers in this video haha we'll probably try to muffle some of that out, just a little though

[SarcasticOne]

had trouble getting past photo of girl with the V8...
then got to start up vid... very nice

[mzr0818]

Do Want!!!!

[Pedal-Force]

A dream of mine for sure, ever since I learned you could stuff an LSx into a Miata.

Have to live vicariously for now. Maybe when I'm older and have a bad-ass garage with a lift and proper air compressor and stuff. Learning to MIG weld would be good too. I can Arc weld, but only poorly.

I'll be watching this space for awesomeness.

[mizboo102]

Originally Posted by Pedal-Force A dream of mine for sure, ever since I learned you could stuff an LSx into a Miata. Have to live vicariously for now. Maybe when I'm older and have a bad-ass garage with a lift and proper air compressor and stuff. Learning to MIG weld would be good too. I can Arc weld, but only poorly. I'll be watching this space for awesomeness.

haha our goal was to get a lift before doing it. Then I bought the engine and the lift went on the back burner. It would have been nice for sure but doable without.

I'm sure the car will be in Charlotte from time to time. It's where we're from and our parents are still there. Headers are currently at Calico Coatings... only thing I'm waiting on

[LLIo6oH]

Awesome!
Good luck to you man!
subbed

PS. That nice that your GF likes your hobby

[socks]

Originally Posted by LLIo6oH Good luck to you man! PS. That nice that your GF is like your hobbie

You mean it's nice that her boyfriend likes her hobby?

[LLIo6oH]

Originally Posted by socks You mean it's nice that her boyfriend likes her hobby?

Oh, my fault. Sorry ))))
Anyway, it's an awesome build...

[Chimmike]

In soviet russia LS1 Miatas you!

[amoosenamedhank]

Originally Posted by chimmike In soviet russia LS1 Miatas you!

Just try to pretend you didn't read this with a Russian accent.

[mizboo102]

Update in post 3

Videos to follow

[darkcambria]

Nice to see the engine in! Looks a lot different than when I saw it at epic. Sadly my miata still looks the exact same.