miata's

[962porsche]

a friend goes to winter in texas every year three years ago they broke into his garage in fairfield to strip his Kornig built porsche 928 so it took me all summer to get all the custom built parts and put the car to the way it was. he again went to texas for the winter two years ago and this time he got a call for the police because the car was found striped to a shell in bridgeport .
this time the car was a total because they stole the twin turbo motor and trans . i'm sure it was some kids that did the stealing both times .

[962porsche]

will all 1 and 2 GEN miata hard tops fit on my 1993 miata ?
i found a hard top from a 2001 that the own wants 650 dollars for . the finish is shot but i know a painter that can paint it the same color as the car . so will it fit ?
he also has a set of 15" BBS looking wheel he said are stock Miata rims i thought they only came with 14" rims .

[paultg]

Yes on the hardtop.

Mazda made a 14" BBS wheel in 92+93, and a 15" for 1995.
See this link: http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

Weather 14 or 15 inch the wheels in good shape can bring in some decent money. The center caps alone can bring $100/each.

Paul G.

[962porsche]

he told me the rims are 15"X 7" but i see they list them as 6" wide . he's asking 500 for the set with BFG's that are in good shape so i'm told . i will take a ride and see the top and wheels tomorrow (monday )

[962porsche]

so i picked up a van full of miata things . 15" BBS wheels , hard top , LSD rear , mazda OE trunk spoiler ,front bumper chin spoiler and a few other things .

[CP]

That's at least $2500 of parts. Did the diff come with axles?

[962porsche]

he wanted 2200 i talked him down to 1900 dollars .
the rear is the hole rear subframe ,brakes, axles every thing one axle boot has a crack in it so i'm sure that will need a new CV .and the brake rotors are shot .
the guy is getting out of miatas and spending more time with his boat so he is selling off all his parts and one of his miatas . he has this purple M edition miata he is going to keep i like the car but i'm not to big on the color .but it's not my ass in the seat so to each there own .

[chaos4NH]

Regarding Sams engine rebuild: Make sure you eliminate the 2.3L balance shaft assy and add the oil pan baffle kit.The number one killer of the 2.3 Duratec is that damn balance shaft assy spinning at engine speed immersed in the engine oil,right at the oil pump pickup! It foams the oil and air does not lubricate very well.The second killer is the lack of decent oil pan baffling in the stock pan for track use. There is a nice inexpensive BS delete kit and windage tray/baffle kit available here..http://www.gp-werks.com/GPWerks-Oil-Baf ... bsdkit.htm It is a very simple bolt-in kit.Getting rid of the balance shaft also eliminates 18lbs of useless weight and the vibration difference is undetectable by mere mortals.

Thanks Mark! the parts are on order. Now if I could find a decent motor!

[breakaway500]

'Now if I could find a decent motor!" How bad did you hurt the old one? If you didn't put a hole in the block,you can buy a 2.3 Ranger crank kit ($350) and a good set of rods/pistons ($750)and have quite a nice bullet-proof motor.The stock head/cams etc are fine for track use with a turbo;it's the lower ends that need beefing up.The stock cranks are heavy,the pistons are cast and the rods are PM(powdered metal) It's amazing they last at all.

[962porsche]

the sad truth is to build a motor your looking at 8 to 12 K to do so .
my SBC built 350 motor 5500 dollars .
my mild built 1000cc gsxr motor 3200 .
my full built 1000cc gsxr motor 9100 dollars
my built 2.slow full built vw motor 11K
my rebuilt 944 motor 9K
my countach full built motor 28K with out the intake .
when it comes to building motors any motor it's not just the big things you need it's all the little crap too .
then there is the machine shop cost plus the cost of the labor if you can't do the work your self .
i found two good looking CX motors for your car sam . i know you don't want to put another CX motor in your car but the motors are the same as the ones used in your car .
the motor JC has is not what i would use in my car . when we did the trans inyour car we got it from them and it was NG . i got a 1.8 VTEC motor from them and in a month it had a rod knock . i got a subaru motor from them and the right side head was no good .
i'm not saying all the parts from them are crap but they just don't care what they sell .
i still say we should look into a hole salvage car . your buting the car from the same places the bone yards buy them from . with all the cars out there now with water damage you don't know if your buying a bone yard motor from a car with water damage . were if you buy a car on a salvage site they tell you straight out that the salvage loss is to the car . a bone yard will not tell you what the salvage loss is .

[breakaway500]

Dave,I'm going to beg to differ with you on the cost of building a rugged 2.3L Duratec. There aren't any "little craps" to worry about. Sure,you could blow $1k on a billet set of oil pump gears..or $2k on a ported head,however, they are not necessary for the power/rpm levels on a "hobby class" road race car engine. The weak link on a stock 2.3 is the lower end,and the parts to strengthen it are readily available and inexpensive. 4 lost motors should tell you that the stock setup is not reliable under the foot of Sam.The expense and aggravation of a motor failure is too great an inconvenience to have to endure it every year.Spend the money and build one with good parts. I really should not have to be telling you this... Just tie Sam down and take his money...

Here is a link to a company that carries lots of Duratec 2.3L speed parts (very reliable company,ask for William) http://focus.c-f-m.com/engine_16.aspx

[962porsche]

you are right the cost is not quight what i stated if you don't count in the cost of buying a motor .
i was up late last night looking into building him a motor it's more like 3 to 4 k .
sam will be running the nissan for longer than he will want to but Mark your right ! i'm not going to find sam another motor and just stick it in his car .

[chaos4NH]

Oh?

[6PAK72]

If the diff is for sale, a new member just broke his. LMK and I'll connect you two.

[paultg]

Jeff, I have a 4:30 open diff from my '91 sitting around in my carport. It is missing a drain plug but that's it. Also have the 1.6L axles and such.
If I can help in any way let me know as well. - Paul G.