miata motor?

theres a guy on this board that has done the basic kia swap with all the electrics. i used a fwd mazda engine and converted it and made custom everything to make it work and work best. you dont have to go through that pain. if you find a kia like he did and get the ecu, flywheel, wiring, and engine, its a straight drop in more or less. there were some catches, but fairly minor as far as i can tell.

if you swap in the stock kia (straight forward swap) and get a feel for it first, for a start, you will like it over an f2 or fe sohc engine regardless. and secondly you can slowly upgrade parts and experiment until you are ready for boost.

something like this :

get engine in and running on stock stuff
add 36-1 trigger to the crankshaft
buy and build a megasquirt and install it in parallel to the kia ecu
get that working (plug in the kia when you cant make the ms work)
learn to tune it all with an innovate wideband
when you are happy with tuning and wiring for it...
upsize the injectors to something to support boost like 440 or 550cc units
retune for those
upgrade fuel pump and maybe regulator etc for more flow
ensure your tune is unchanged.
pull the old exhaust stuff
mount a turbo in there
build an exhuast turbo header
build a new exhaust for it
plumb the oil feed and drain
ensure your tune hasnt changed much or at all at idle
adjust your maps for boost
gradually and carefully tune timing and fuel starting with overly rich and retarded numbers
realise that you NEED lsd for these engines
have a great time!

if you do it like that (similar things apply to the bp swap too) then its incremental and easy.

hope that helps you see a good path for it.

i realise it doesnt help you find a good engine choice. either is fine. kia is easier, more torquey, more powerful, and has more potential power and reliability. bp is just fine and dandy too.

fred.

i mean i want to be able to go out here and drag the truck using the bags and at the same time run down some of these damn hondas from light to light. i mean i had a 92 eagle talon n/a and i loved it. it was built up a little bit but nothing major and i loved it. ofcourse i was thirsty for some more power eventually but i sold it before i got the chance for turbo. i would like something that is pretty torquey cuz i love torque but also something i can get out on the interstate and be able to cruise at without running 6 grand to do it. again thanks for all your help and stuff. how much money do most people have in a stock straight over swap?



-justin

no worries.

i dont know, ask someone with a stock straight over swap

i tried to keep the costs down without cutting corners

holset turbo 750nz shipped equiv garret = 3knz
my fe3 cost me 650nz 400us
gtr skyline intercooler with paint on it 300nz 200us cleaned off all the paint, straightened each fin on it by hand
gtr skyline bovs 65nz shipped 40us flow enough for a small army of engines.
rx7 injectors swapped one for one fe3 rod which came out of my engines that i wasnt planning to use.
chinese fpr 50nz 35us
s/s custom surge tank 110nz 70us
racor marine fuel filter 150nz 100us (maybe cheaper, i forget)
i built my own ms instead of buying one or going with a commercial ecu
i got trade price on everything
full on serious bosch fuel pumps instead of shit box walbros but from a cheap ebay seller for minimum price instead of the local stuff. made most stuff myself. i actually dont know what i have in it, but if i had to guess, less than 10knz including the flat deck etc. that was about 6500us at the time. it could be half that for all i know. wasnt paying attention, just spend as needed.

hope that helps.

fred.