MX-5.7

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I am building an LS1 to swap into my 1999 Miata. I plan to rebuild it to OEM specs: Completely stock. I'll use this thread to post my build progress and ask questions as needed.

MX-5.7

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Bought an LS1 shortblock for $500. One of the pistons had a major knick in it from a valve hitting it during an over-rev. The rest of the engine looks great.





This is currently the only picture I have. Taken after it was stripped down to a bare block. Slight vertical marks on the walls of the cylinder with the piston that kissed the valve; A simple hone should take care of that.

One thing that I noticed was slight scratches on the crank journals; some bad enough to catch a fingernail. Would this require a regrind of the crank? Or is it trashed?

More pictures to come.

jordansc5

iTrader: (5)

prolly trashed i would say unless u want to go bigger ci

bczee

iTrader: (12)

take it to a shop (crank shop).. and have them check it, it might just need to be polished or maybe a .010 grind and polish.

Why not upgrade the cam and springs for a bit more output.. and might even get better gas mileage!

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

Because it's going into a 2200 lbs car. No need for more power or money spent. Also, gas mileage is a non-issue.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

My sister has a Miata it's a fun little car just kind of slow. This should be a fun car if you can keep the handling characteristics the same.

scj

iTrader: (89)

dang ole' dang ole' son.

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

That's the plan. The swap really only adds ~180lbs. Most of which is from the huge T56, but it's in the center of the car so stock handling dynamics should remain intact. The stock 1.8 is iron anyway.

71ANTICARB

iTrader: (23)

There's always a need for more power. What are your plans for the rest of the swap ie heads acc etc.

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

FTFY

As far as heads, I'm buying some 853s off of a buddy for $75. Like I said everything is going to be mostly stock. I will make it look the part though

No PS, emissions, or any other garbage like that. Just simple, reliable, pushrod power.

71ANTICARB

iTrader: (23)

Staying fi?

C5kid

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talk to 1bigcam, he did a 383 LSX Miata. NASTY little car.

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

I think I have seen that one. Too much for me man; the thing will be a handfull with stock power. The real challenge is trying to fit enough rubber under the fenders to handle it.

Update: Cam, Rockers, Pushrods, and a new (to me) piston/rod without the "custom valve relief" all on the way. Also, dropped off the block to get a hone, new cam bearings, and the crank polished at the most LS friendly machine shop in town.

My favorite part about these engines is that the parts are CHEAP. Love it.

Tongboy

good power adder for the miata

I keep telling the miata guys at autox to get one...

are you going to be buying a kit or fabbing it up yourself?

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

Mixing and matching parts. Easy stuff like the trans mount I'll make. But V8 Roadsters makes a tubular subframe that is fire. So that is definately on my list. Wiring will be done by me, along with exhaust and stuff like that.

MX-5.7

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So. It's been almost exactly seven years since I last posted, and it is finally time to get this project going again.

In the last seven years I:

~Graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a concentration in mechanical design (took six years but hey! It's over now lol).

~While I was at school I spent pretty much all of my free time on the Formula SAE team (collegiate racing series) where I eventually became the Team Captain and Design Lead for the 2016 season. I was also driver for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

I learned how to build a proper racecar from the ground up. (welding, fabricating, machining, vehicle dynamics, suspension geometry, basic engine tuning and intake/exhaust design)

~Purchased a 2002 Honda S2000 in 2013 and began attending local track days and autocrosses (This is my current daily driver).

~Started riding off road on two wheels. I plan to start competing in enduros soon (By far the most fun you can have, second only to endurance racing).

~Started my first professional design engineer position at a local automation company at the end of 2016.

~Moved into my first house in the middle of 2017.

~Started a new job designing tractor mowing implements at the end of 2017.

~Got engaged to my best friend (Sorry, Seth. It ain't you!).

~Drove in my first proper, wheel-to-wheel, endurance race in February of this year.

So as you can see, life, and various other hobbies, hit my *** pretty hard. But I'm finally in a place where I can get some work done on this project! ( I FINALLY have my own garage!)

During this time I sold the drivetrain out of the Miata and the poor gal has been up on stands, in storage. Just about every day I would think about the build in one way or another. Right now I have a list about 300 items long of cool ideas I want to do with this car. In order to more clearly express those Ideas I'll break down this build into the seven basic sub-systems of a vehicle as per my SAE experience. The sub-systems are as follows;

Powertrain:

OEM LS6 with the basic GM beefy parts. LS2 lifter trays, LS7 lifters, LS2 timing chain, LS6 oil pump, Meizere electric water pump, Ducted radiator with electric fans, Viper style NACA duct intake, Kevco swap oil pan with trap door baffles, remote oil filter w/external oil cooler. Custom fabricated (by myself) front subframe. Custom headers. Lightweight side-exit exhaust (minimum sound attenuation to meet rules).

Drivetrain:

OEM LS1/2/6/7 clutch with lightweight flywheel, T56 out of a late model GTO (these have the vette Z06 ratios I believe), carbon driveshaft, Aluminum Ford 8.8 IRS from a Lincoln MKVIII with a clutch pack LSD (I don't know which one yet) with 3.27 gears. Custom fabricated (by myself) rear subframe and trans mount.

Tires/Suspension/Steering:

At first I'll be running 245/40/15 BFG Rival S on 15X10 wheels.

Eventually I want to step that up to 275/35/15 Hoosier R6 on the same wheel. (Yes, the fenders are flared)

This might get crazy. I'm going to start with poly bushings in the stock arms. This should be plenty sufficient on street tires even with stock adjustments. Later on when I start running slicks I plan to fab up some tubular arms. Springs/Damper will be off-the-shelf bodies with custom valving and spring rates (I'll determine the specs). Custom ARBs and end links.

Miata de-powered rack and pinion with tie rods on custom, adjustable mounts on the upright. I'll probably go with shims to counteract roll steer.

The car will also have an SCCA/Spec Miata legal roll cage that extends to the front and rear shock towers and a stitch welded chassis.

Brakes:

Big brake kit (I may go with an off the shelf kit OR machine my own brackets with Wilwood components, using a common rotor front and rear. road racing eats rotors for breakfast, literally), Mechanical bias bar with driver accessible adjuster.

Ergonomics:

Low, light seat (probably a Kirky). Analog gauges (If I can find some badass aircraft gauges with nerdy engineering units I'll run them!). Big, suede, removable wheel. Short shifter. Spartan interior with only the necessities. Fire supression system. No windows. Minimal dash. Because Racecar.

Electrical:

Moates RoadRunner PCM. Custom data logging with analog and digital inputs. Eventually I plan to have 3 axis accelerometer and gyro, as well as wheel travel, tire temps/pressures, brake pressure, throttle position, steer angle, and GPS all record in real time with the engine parameters. I'll have it save a text file to a flash stick that I can analyze with a few excel macros and have that sync up with GoPro footage.

Aerodynamics:

This is where things get blurry. I'll start with a rear wing and front diffuser/air dam with as much flat bottom as rules will allow that will lead into a Lotus Elise aftermarket rear diffuser. I'll also run a hard top.

Then I'll use the data logging to take some pressures in key places around the car and the aero will develop based on what the car needs. I've even tossed around the idea of building a pressure grid to study the airflow behind the car...

Ideally I'm looking for between 400 and 420 whp in a sub 2500 lb car with aero. The engine will be as low and far back as I dare and I may use some cool tricks for the radiator too keep weight as low and centralized as possible. I'll be disappointed with myself if I can't keep the front loaded less than 52%.

I also want to be able to slap a plate on it and scare the beejesus out of my fiance and mother.

All of this will be done to compete in time attack and Miata Challenge with the end goal of one day running at Pikes Peak (FI is not out of the question if this is the case).

As you can see I have quite a lot of work to do. I'm excited to finally get started!

I'll post up some pictures of the current status of everything soon.

MX-5.7

iTrader: (1)

Mods: Can I change the title of this thread or do I have to start a new one?