Sadly.......I don't own one but have seen a few at the local shows.. The guys swear they are 'almost' a bolt-in ! (yeah-sure) I believe there are kits available. As far as performance...."they-say" the acceleration is more violent than an AC Cobra !!! IF y'all have any...I would love to see some pictures....and tell me ALL ABOUT IT !! 6sally6
It is not a bolt in. Contact the guy at Monster Miata and he will Be able to provide you with an estimate on parts and work for this. He has been very good at answering questions in the past.
I had a 92 1.6L. Little “made for it” Eaton supercharger based on a shortened version of the Buick unit. Not near as quick as the turbo mods. But even that was fast enough a V8 terrifies me. That thing was so damn little that hubs on a semi were eye level. Even worse than my channeled 32. Maybe I should have done that instead of selling it last summer.
I'm helping a friend with his, with an LS 5.3 swap. For sites, there is also Flying Miata. The drive train is complete and has been run on a test stand. I helped him indicate in all the Tremec 6 speed stuff. Right now he has the interior gutted and is into all the floor mods. This is quite a tight car to work on!
A neighbor built one. Had a Ford 302, Tremic 5 speed, with air conditioning. Looked stock except for a piece inside of the hood that had to be trimmed. He cut out the other side of rear panel for exhaust for duals. Walking by you couldn't tell anything was not factory.
About 25 years ago buddy of mine had one with a built motor and a turbocharger. It was a total sleeper. One night he had a few too many and told me to drive it and race against another friends supercharged Miata for bragging rights. Well, at about 130mph the boost-referenced FMU diaphram failed, leaned the motor out, and broke the ring land of a piston. Yes, we still won. It was a fairly easy, but expensive fix. He bought the parts, I did the work. That car ran low 12's on street tires with the AC on. Those cars are so fun, and I'd love to have one myself and always have my eye out for a good deal.
I've seen a few at different shows in the area. Once you have researched one and know what to look for, I'd consider a done one in decent working order to be a much better deal than a kit cobra. Same or easier to insure, less obvious to the unaware (and cops), roll up windows and easy top, a bit more structure although a unibody compared to a frame might not be fair. Suspension and brakes would be a focus of inspection, along with that unibody. They seem to go for less than the glass cobras too. Usually the same or less than a T bucket, which is another overpowered roller skate with less refined chassis and no doors usually. @TexasHardcore here's one in TX for 10K. Not beautiful, but well on the way. EDIT: dropped the price to 8K and SOLD. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/1997-v8-miata-for-sale-mine-in-texas/272978/page1/
As much fun as the super Miata sounds, my go to sleeper is my Celica AlTrac. Most unaware people just see an old Toyota and don't know that they even came in AWD with a turbo. Same basic principal, small light car and lots of power. When I get a few other projects done, I'm going to shoot for 500 whp on a fresh engine build.
Lots of ways to toss double (or more) power in a lightweight. It's kind of the whole point of this hobby, right? I once worked on one of these. Took it around the parking lot and was very surprised. When people say Sleeper, any American V8 car kind of isn't unless it's very quick. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-chevrolet-sprint-turbo-2/
A neighbour was going to build a monster Miata until he saw my Factory Five Cobra. He decided the cobra made more sense for a v8 sports car. Now he has a Miata, a Cobra and an angry wife.
1st gen RX-7 is a much easier V8 swap as it has a much bigger/wider engine bay than the Miata, no firewall mods required. Also a huge transmission tunnel that will fit a T56 behind a V8. The big trans tunnel is a result of the RX-7 being designed to use a rotary engine, which requires the trans to sit much higher than behind a V8. Solid axle rear suspension as well, a low buck Explorer 8.8 narrowed to fit two short side axles is an easy swap. This is my iron block sbc/T5 powered '85 RX-7, weighed 2520lbs with a full tank of fuel back in 2008. Even with iron heads, it only needed the battery moved to the rear to get 50/50 weight distribution. 275/60-15 drag radial also fit the RX-7's stock rear wheel openings, while 245 is about max width with a Miata... I still own the car, but it has undergone some alterations since the above pic. Grant
Early RX-7s seem to be really scarce compared to early Miatas, which I see driving around here all the time. The 7 is a "big" car, and a coupe, quite a different beast than the little Miata. I think you did the right thing, but you also missed out on the primary advantage of the Miata, which is the fact that it's a tiny convertible. I personally gave up on swapping big engines into tiny cars a long time ago, it's just to hard to make the car nice. Not enough room to work on things, extensive mods required to make it all fit and work, and no comfort when you're done with it. Although when I drive my wife's Miata, and have to downshift twice to pass someone on the highway, I can sure agree that it needs more power.
Stacy David did one years ago, he seemed to have a lot of fun with it, there's a few videos of the show on YouTube Personally I can't stand miatas because a kid two blocks behind me had a pepto pink lowered with those canted white wheels version, aname Japanese cartoon girl artwork all over it with that stupid loud popping exhaust. He didn't work but would drive by every half hour in second gear popping that damn exhaust, the whole neighborhood hated him because of it. Thankfully he finally moved but he's on his third or fith one. Oh yeah another reason is that his same group of friends are cheating bastards to beat my t-bucket in a limbo contest LOL
@Weedburner While I don't know the details of RX7 versus a Miata swap, it is like Jim says, try to find a rust free one for anywhere near the same price. 3 under 5k fairly local https://prescott.craigslist.org/search/cta?max_price=5000&query=miata#search=2~gallery~0 had to expand the area and take off the limit 2 at 12 to 15k https://prescott.craigslist.org/search/prescott-az/cta?auto_make_model=mazda rx-7&lat=34.54&lon=-112.468&query=mazda RX-7&search_distance=430#search=2~gallery~0
At one point a non-running 1st gen RX-7 was pretty much worthless, then came along cash-for-clunkers! Still some non-running RX-7's out there just sitting, not advertised. Here's a pic under the hood of the very first V8 RX-7 to come out of my shop back in the early 90's, originally a 1979 California car that was abandon near a bar up here in NW Washington... It was possible to get the air cleaner under the stock hood skin after some inner bracing was removed. Just a couple basic brackets and a modified oil pan is all that was required to get the engine/trans in place... Camaro T5 or T56 shifter location even worked for the RX-7's console opening. I ended up producing a couple thousand swap kits from fixtures based on my original brackets Grant
I worked at a Mazda dealer a bunch of years ago , had a bunch of turbo’d Miatas come in for service Most were brutally fast as the car is pretty much a shopping cart with a windshield . Getting 4-500 hp out a 4 banger was not uncommon had a guy stopped in one day with a Monster miata as his buddies RX-8 was in the shop went out to look at it , under the hood , albeit shoe-horned in there the 5.0 fuelie engine did look stock and not hacked in . talking to the owner a local “ speed shop “ did the install and while not a toatal “ bolt in” there was not crazy modifications involved either . it was a warmed over 5.0 probably around 400 hp said the car was a complete handful in the corners but a blast in a straight line , where as the guys with the souped up 4 bangers seemed to enjoy the cars a bit more a
I kinda like the idea of a Mazzzdu MX-6 with a snort'in V-8 ! BUT..... everybody needs to own at least one convertible in their life ! So the rumor of a Monster Miata will out-do a Cobra for wayyy less money ain't necessarily true ?! Ref..."a handful on curves..." Maybe a flathead powered Miata could work !! J/K 6sally6
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