Hi Guys, I'm looking for some answers to several questions regarding an LS swap into a NA
If you use a V8R kit, do you have to buy their oil pan or will a F body pan work?
How deep does the firewall have to be pushed back on the standard V8R kit? and does it affect anything behind the dash (ie:heater,etc...)?
Does the LS engine have to use the T56 or can it mate to a T5?
Why haven't I seen anyone use a scatter shield?
Can a guy mix and match kits? as in a V8R subframe kit and a __________ rear suspension kit?
Who makes the rad for an LS swap?
What part number are the Sanderson headers (or what car are they for) that are used in a LS swap?
Thanks for the input
Rick

 

Well, you can always swap around some to a degree. like for the front, buy one solid kit. Miss matching (fm, begi, monster etc.) is not a good ideal for one system. everything is made to work for their spcific custom build.

But as far as buying a bolt up front section, cross member and tranny mount. good

Then buying a complete rearend mount and setup. great.

You will just have to go to a drive shaft shop and have a driveshaft made.

Otherwise, you can make mounts. or buy them. and make everything custom.

Another words, somethings have to go together, and toleranced and measured to fit together. Like mounts for tranny &motor, to sit in proper spots and in crossmember.

Or if you ar buying some and building some.....bolt up the premade first. Then build the other. so it will fit.

If you want to by premade and just nut and bolt. stick with one complete kit. everything is measured to go together.

But if you have endless time, or a junkyard budget build. AND MAD SKILLS!!!!you can by some components build the rest.

But if you budget build. Id go with a cheap ebay gods speed race radiator..... and see what is worth buying vs building. Ask alot of questions, post alot of pictures. once the motor and tranny are in, then measure to see if you can use a stock replacement radiator.

Call every kit companny. They will try to help. And it will give you a feel of who you want to deal with if you have questions. LOL

There is a header thread that has the premade headers that will fit for clearance. Some headers won't work.

Good luck.

 

Answers within.

Take care

 

Thanks guys, but questions beget questions...

Thanks again
Rick

 

The 7.5 has been in MX5.7's car for a number of years, and that car has to be making well over 400rwhp on spray. I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 400rwhp before the shot.

Everything will fit just fine. The F-body T56 shifter pops right into the center of the opening for the stock shifter

The radiator from PRC is 300 dollars of cheap insurance. Do you really want your hot rod on the side of the road boiling over because you skimped on cooling?

 

^ I dead hooked my 327 miata on a launch so bad that I thought that it shaken one of my fillings loose. My opinion is that the 7.5 is bulletproof. I think that Landon would agree.

 

OK, 7.5 it is then. Seems cheaper anyway.
Who is PRC?
I'm not looking for a cheap build, I've long passed the age where the lowest cost is the most value, but I'm experienced enough to realize the most expensive way to do something is not always the best and doing something twice is always more expensive than doing it right the first time.
Hence my abundance of questions.
Thanks guys

 

http://prcinc.com/

Ask for Shane and tell him whether it is an older or new body style.

Nothing wrong with questions! Are you building an NA or NB? We need some details on your current setup

 

At this point I'm comited to doing it, with the wife's OK.
I have a NA going in for an inspection on Monday, the car is a thousand miles away but appears to be a great candidate. If it passes the body inspection I'm on a bomber next week to drive it home. If its not I'll continue the quest for a solid damage and rust free NA, I like the look of a NB but the buy in price is considerably more and for me this is completely an exercise in going fast, I'd rather spend the extra loot on speed parts.
Cheers
Rick

 

The godspeed rad goes in stock fitment. But is Way bigger. It almost doesn't want to fit.

It held a butt load of coolant. the stock camaro rad doesn't hold as much.

A Turbo'ed miata at 14psi, drag racing at a 103 degree day. Would be more of a problem too cool than a Ls1 with 400hp.

Once I put that rad on. Everything cooled way down......

The godspeed rad is cheap 2 core and all polished aluminum. The stock SS camaro rad can't compare.

The gs rad would be fine if you could make it fit. And would save some bucks.
But each to there own.

I have had many turbo miatas, 400hp 5.0 mustangs, A 99 SS, and three vetts. And we have extreme heat here in Texas.

I've stopped the V8 miata build. But still checking in on electronics side for my tpi, and Vortech supercharger swap into my 73 Wide Body stingray.

If your deal falls through, I may try to hook you up with a non rust car. Na's don't usually have rust here in texas.
Besides this year, we never have ice over 3 days a year. Salt never touches the road. They just spread sand.

Theres a shipping company I use that is fast and reasonable. They brought my Stingray from NJ to Dallas in 3 days time. They don't make you wait forever to pick it up. And they have two drivers per truck, so they travel 24-7.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the offer but Texas is a little far to go for me. Nice thing is the winters are so bad here most Miata's are summer only cars so quite a few spend their winters indoors.
Another quick LS question, you still get a working heater don't you? Some of the threads I've come across show plugging the LS waterpump heater conections.
Again, thanks for the help.
Rick

 

Of course. If AC, heat, and power steering could not be retained, I would have stayed in C5 land.

 

Damn, I'm surprised by that! A lot of Ford racers have a hard time keeping the 7.5s together behind SB Fords in "converted" Rangers and Fox body Mustangs (8.8s were only stock in V8 Fox bodies and later model "big V6" Rangers). I guess the lighter weight of the Miata and the fact that you aren't launching on slicks helps keep it alive. Are you using the stock Ford Traction Lok limited slip too?? Stock Miata hubs? Driveshaft Shop axles??? A workable 7.5" rearend with stock hubs is huge cost savings vs. going with the FM solution or custom hubs with a bigger rearend.

 

Martin built my diff.....I do not recall what limited slip it has. The hubs are miata and broached by Martin again. The axles are Martin's. Basically, I went with a back-half Martin kit. I'm pretty sure that he'd sell you the hangar, axles and hubs and you could build your own diff.

 

why not just use the 8.8??? 7.5 is pretty tough. But the 8.8 is the bomb. And they are a dime a dozen.

Or did I mistake which 7.5 you are talking about?

 

So I had the NA checked out, it looked great, until it was on the hoist, damage to both frame rails, especially the right, the car took a hit. So the search continues.
I might just go with a never one too...
Is there any other reason to choose a NA over a NB other than cost, pertaining to making a monster? I'm convinced on the merits of the LS platform so emisions legalities should affect me either way.
Thanks
Rick

 

Nothing besides emissions laws in your area and which one you think looks best. The NB is more refined, but the NA is a 100% go-kart. If you end up building and not liking the NA, you can put everything into your NB

 

I just recently read that the NB is stiffer and has a little more room in the engine bay and/or transmission tunnel. I'd give you a source if I could remember where it was...

 

Ummm, which "frame rails" do you think are damaged????????? The rectangular sections running lengthwise on either side of the driveshaft tunnel are NOT frame rails (that is why the jack points are on the reinforced rocker panel edges and why FM sells the re-inforcement braces). The puny stock "rails" are typically damaged by uniformed people using them as jack points (which they aren't) or bottoming out incidents. Damage to these is not a reason to pass on an otherwise clean car.

With respect to NA vs NB stiffness, I submit that is not an issue when doing a V8 upgrade (especially a V8 Roadsters or FM kit) because you will be installing a stronger, stiffer K member and real frame rail braces (along with trans x-member) that significantly tighten up a "looser" NA. If you want more rigidity, install a roll bar, Boss Frog front subframe braces, door bars and a front & rear shock tower braces.

 

Yea, thats the braces, the left has what I assume is jack damage.

The right I'm not so sure, it looks like it took a hit.



The car is literally a thousand miles by road from me, its a $500.00 one way airline ticket to see it. So I get the owner who says its rust and damage free to take it into a bodyshop for an assessment (on my dime).
The car has 264,000KM on it, was imported to our Province in 2002. I can only get records to then and is only been broken into twice in that time (probably good for the deal). The owner is asking $3800.00 CAD for it, not a bad deal on the whole. It's a 90 with a hardtop, it has several other aftermarket items but I have no intension of using them and given my location I don't believe I could sell any of it for any real money.
As I told the owner, I am shopping for a prestine body- no rust, no damage.
So the body guy does in my opinion a fair assessment given the time ( no frame machine or measuring) and charges me a fair fee. He feels the damage isn't to bad, but thats just from a visual inspection.
So I get my body guy here to eyeball the pic's and give me his 2 cents. He says its a crap shoot as to whether or not it could be a headache (read:money) and only frame gages would tell for sure if other damages have been done.
The current owner has had it 3 months...
Seeing I'm going there in 2 months I think I'll look at a bunch and take the pick of the liter.
OR
should I get the plane ticket?

 

Here's the thread I was thinking of. Page 4, post by Keith of FM (add http in front)
://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/miata-vs-z06-corvette/17026/page4/

 

How many wrecked Miata's has your "body guy" worked on??? The "rails" on my pristine 2 owner '90 w/68K miles are just as bad as the pics you posted..one from jacking by the PO and one from me catching a high speedbump at about 5mph! Go to the Flying Miata website and download the instructions for installing their Butterfly brace; they describe "massaging" typically damaged stock rails with a hammer to get their braces installed. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the car because of those rails. The price seems a bit high by US standards, but I don't know your market.

 

I think your total budget, choice of conversion kit and personal preferences (NA vs NB) are a lot more important in making your choice than the Keith quote above.

The inch of clearance is a moot point if you are doing a "rear install" with a V8 Roadsters/FM K member (really the best location for the SBF, SBC or LS in terms of balance and shifter placement)

Buying a NB with a solid running motor isn't the low cost way to start your conversion...buy one with a blown motor or no motor if you can. It will be significantly discounted and save you the problems of selling the motor.

If you can get a good clean NA shell (worn motor or blown motor) for $2-4K less than a comparable NB shell you can upgrade the speedo and fuel system and still be way ahead.

Don't fall into the "higher resale value" trap either; your chances of getting all of your money back on a V8 Miata conversion are bad for a NA and worse for a NB.

 

As for the speedo- You either need a 100 dollar Dakota Digital Converter for the NB, or a 115 dollar speedo for the NA.

Fuel system- 255 pump, cut the stock line out, install AN6 line from the pump to the rail with a bulkhead mounted on the pump setup.

Engine- SN95 said it all.

Frame rails- I bent mine when I first got the car. It started bending long before the tire was even off the ground when jacking the car up.

I bought my car because it was a FMII car and I knew the first few years I had the car, I wouldn't have time to swap it. A side perk was selling the FMII kit. They are ultra reliable, as FM did a great job designing it.

 

Do they make a rear shock tower brace for the NA/NB?