Robperry12

Has anyone made a guide & list of parts you need to completely finish a swap ?

Does the 5.0 fit right in ? Or will there be a need for welding.?

tbone heller

I don't think that a swap is ever completed. Although I used the kit from Monster Miata, I changed &/or modified many of the components, thus welding was required.

Robperry12

I've been doing alot of research on it lately. This is my new years resolution.

I just need to know what i need to get the v8 in & running. All other mods like axles.. & such i can make myself later.

Does the 5.0 drop right into any specific year miata, or do they all need fab work ?

And what will i need other than an engine harness, and mounts.

The kits are nice, but i don't have that kind of $$ to spend all at once.

I'll probably have alot more questions. (first swap)

tbone heller

Save your money & buy a kit. At the very least get an assembly manual from Monster Miata so you can see what you are getting into.

Meierznutz

In order to get the engine and trans in, you need a modified front subframe or a tubular one that comes from a kit. You need to approach this kind of project with a shotgun instead of a pea-shooter....in other words you have to take on the whole car not just an engine swap. The brakes, wire harness, rear chuck, axles, driveshaft,cooling system, fuel system, clutch system all need to be modified to get the car to run and drive safely.
With a complete kit the work is mostly bolt in, but if you jump from the script then welding/cutting/grinding/fabrication will be needed.
My $.02.... start with a solid rust free car, save your money for a kit (5.0 or LSx as you prefer) and then start collecting parts. Once you have the basics together and the cash for the kit, pull the trigger and order the kit. Then put it all together and enjoy!

sebz

I don't use the kit, because i live in canada and it's cost too much to bring all that stuff here, and i want to build it in a other way with block hugger and stock oil pan.

But i have my own body shop. So i have all the tool to rebuild a car and it's not a 6 months project (more a 2-3 years). Meierznutz is right, by a car with no rust that save you a lot of time and the kit help if you never build a car...

I probably build a howto when i finish mine but for now it's not in my priority.

MRM331

The best advice can give is to get Monster Miata's install manual first, even if you are planning on going the DIY route. If you do decide to buy his kit he takes the price of the manual off the price of the rest of the kit.

Ironically, the actual donor car may be the cheapest part of the whole build. I pick up the actual donor car last so that I have the longest possible amount of time to search for a good one. The longest part of the project is the process of building the engine. I usually start that ball rolling about 6 months to a year ahead of time. Put in orders for the kit and any other custom built parts (suspension mainly) about 3 months before you want to start taking the Miata apart. Since the kit requires that you send Monster Miata your Miata front K-frame, Miata rear hubs and Ford oil pan for modification it’s a good idea to purchase spares of those parts ahead of time so you don’t have to your Miata up on stands waiting for the kit to come in. You can always sell your K-frame and hubs to another builder after you’re done.

Good luck,
-Jason McCully

mikemags

What type of electrical parts are needed for a swap do you need the 5.0 wiring harnesses and computer or just plug and play into miata harnesses and flash the miata computer what exactly is needed

Meierznutz

You will need a modified Mustang harness and ECU or if you go with one of the aftermarket set ups like Edlebrock/Holley/Pro-jection, theirs. You will need all the factory sensors to match the year of the harness you use.
Sorry to say but the only way to a "Car-in-a-box" is to go with a kit. Carb is always an option if you can get through emmissions, depends on how strict your state is.

mikemags

So all the electronics come with the kit from monster miata? ? If so then ill just get the kit instead of trying to piece it together. Does it come in the kit? ??

Meierznutz

No Mike, you have to source the wire harness from a vendor. You should be able to grab the harness and sensors from the donor car though. Then the choice is to mod youself or turn it in as a core to someone that will mod it for you or sell you one outright. (Check this forum's sponsors...hint-hint-hint)
Painless Wiring is an option also. They are pretty well the gold standard in the field though as they have been doing it the longest. Their harnesses are marked every 3" and are flagged with what the wire hooks to. Very nice product. I got lucky that the kid I bought my drivetrain off had invested in a Painless Harness and it came with the motor, if not it would have cost close to a grand.
Kit makers offer stages of builds from basics to turn key so they will have options. The more you buy the bigger the break kind of thing.

mikemags

so your telling me i have to buy a harness for 100-150 send it to someone to have it redone for more money ??? man i was just looking at the vendor page and they want 225and a core so i m going to end up spending 325-375 on a hrness??? damn thats a lot of money it will be almost cheaper to find a car already swapped out

tbone heller

The wiring instructions come in the assembly manual. Not really a big deal.

MRM331

Hi Mike, I'm the sponsor you're talking about.

That $225 includes basically "rebuilding" a nearly 25 year old harness. I completely strip it down and clean it, inspect every wire replacing those that are not up to snuff, replace any broken connectors, integrate both fuel pump and speed sensor circuits into it so that you don't have to grab two other separate harnesses from a Mustang just for those two functions, reconfigure it to work in the Miata, remove all redundant wiring to lighten it up, rewrap it and then tag and label every plug or splice point with exactly what you need to splice it to in the Miata or plug it into. I also include a 20 page manual with pictures to help you install it. I can also integrate your O2 sensor harness in so that essentially all you need is a main and engine harness. If you don't have a harness I'll even go looking on eBay for you for the donor harness.

-Jason

mikemags

im sorry if i offened you!!! im not trying to be an a$$ about it. it just seems like a lot of money! especially if i am going to have to purchase a harness for $100 plus dollars. im just trying to find the cheapest route possiable to get a v8 miata. i have been crunching numbers and its seems to me that it would be cheaper to buy one that has already been swapped out for $15,000- 20,000 thats all im saying...

so again did not mean to offend you in any way just my opinion

MRM331

No worries, I just wanted to justify my charges. When I did my first build 5 or so years ago it took me the better part of two weeks and a lot of non-wrench-involved thinking to get my first harness modified. Later I figured if someone had offered me a $225 opportunity to get out of that and finish my build two weeks earlier I would have taken it.
If you're up for doing your own electronics that's fine and you can save a few hundred. For a lot of builders having me do the electronics for them removed that headach from thier build.

No offence taken,

-Jason

mikemags

i dont mind doing my own electronics.. do you have a manual on how to do it and what is needed to to it if so i would be willing to buy detailed paper work on how to do the electronics and what parts to add and take off of the harness

sebz

If your short on cash find some wiring diagram and do it. But Jason price was realy good... don't think you will find a best price....

Good luck with your project.

GTLee77

I bought the Monster Miata manual because I'm interested in swapping in a V8 into my 90. After reading the manual a few times, I think $225 for Jason's harness mod is a steal. I can easily see myself spending more hours restoring, modifying, and verifying the harness than on the rest of the car assembly...no thanks.

MRM331

Again Mike, no offense, but this is a bit like asking Martin of Monster Miata if he'd send you his templates and welding jigs so you copy his kit without paying for it. There's a lot intellectual work and time that has gone into developing my modification procedure which is what people are trying to avoid by paying me to do it for them.

When my harnesses are done they still work exactly like a Ford mustang harness and follow the same schematics. All I do is reconfigure them to make them work better in a Miata and then add components in that would have been found on other harnesses in the donor Mustang. If you have the time to go through multiple diagrams, read through Martin's procedure and trace out different circuits, you can figure out exactly what I do with a Haynes manual from Pepboys.

Again, seriously, no offense...just stating my position.

-Jason

Meierznutz

Ya mean....they wont do that? I can get an old swing set from my neighbors yard to save on materials, if it holds kids on a swing I should be able to fab mounts with it! Oh, and there is an old pinto in the junk yard I can get a harness from, cant I make that work? I should be able to get the car running for all of $29.99......
All kidding aside, you can count pennies and spend time or you can build a car and go drive. $225 is more than fair for a sorted out harness.

cvx_20

Actually, there's a guy who regularly posts on here who has built and sold several V8s. I wouldn't be surprised if he offers to sell you a completed car.

Mike

MRM331

Um, yeah. That's me too...

There's a very nice on for sale in CA right now for a very good price. It only cost $1K or so to ship a car (or a plane ticket if you have the time to drive it back).

-Jason

bigdaddy55

Monster will sell his kit by the piece. Email him and he will send you the price/parts list. That's how I am going to build mine.