Pulled the trigger on an L33 tonight. Scheduled to be here next week sometime. Woo! Getting excited!

Got my engine and started tearing it down today. Needless to say, I'm excited!
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245342
Stripped it down to short block.
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245342

Started getting the heads cleaned up. Haven't started the porting yet but I'm going to do some port work and CC everything to make sure it's all even. They won't see a flow bench but I'm not doing any drastic changes... I think.... lol
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

cleaned up f body pan
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

Started investigating the block more to see how in depth I want to go. Bearings look good, it's got the LS2 style timing chain vs the smaller LS1 style. Measured the bores for roundness and they are all ok. No more than .0010 variance anywhere.
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440245747

Well, so much for budget. LOL

tore it down completely so that I can hot tank the block. And at that point, I've got the bearings out so I might as well put some new ones in. Ordered Clevite H STD size bearings for the rods and mains. The #1 cam bearing shows a good bit of copper so I'm going to replace those as well. Sadly I'll have to take the block to a machine shop for that though.

I also noticed some wear on the piston skirts. I wanted to replace rings no matter what ($80) and new pistons, stock size Sealed Power Hypereutectic, are only $230. That's only a $150 difference so I went ahead and ordered those too. I am going to be keeping the stock rods as they are they gen 4 (ls2) style with a floating wrist pin and are better than the previous gen stuff.

AS of now engine plan is
stock rods &bolts
Sealed power flat top Hypereutectic pistons
Clevite H bearings
New ls6 oil pump
New ls2 timing chain
Cam -- Still undecided
Appropriate springs/pushrods for cam
Morel 5315 lifters
All GM stock gaskets
Improved racing LS1 oil pan baffle
ported 799 heads shaved .010"

here's the cam bearing that showed the wear
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440246391

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440246391

https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440246391

Got my pistons and bearings today. The pistons didn't come with rings. Damn. Oh well. Also bought some axles from a member on here. Lots of parts and pieces. Soon enough stuff will start getting put together instead of taken apart. lol
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440246519

pressure washed the engine bay and cut out the firewall gussets today. Didn't get the reinforcements welded in though.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...143348c3f2.jpg

Side note- I'm kind of surprised that no one has anything to say? lol

Wanna come cut and weld my gussets? Free beer and pizza!

Nice job on the progress, great weather around here to work outside lately...

Cool to make some progress eh? I was doing my gusset cuts again tonight. I had done them "Martin style" as I'm doing a 5.0, but I prefer the way FM does it with the larger cuts and the "reinforcements". Will be welding mine on tomorrow. I don't really think they'll add much support as the metal they get welded to is the real thin stuff, but I guess they can't hurt and they look better and offer more clearance then Martin's way.
Anyways, enjoying your build. Oh, It's easier to work in the engine bay if your subframe is out, and you'll have to unbolt the pedals to get the rubber steering shaft grommet out (after you take the column out).
Cheers. Brad

If you were closer, sure. haha. But I didn't take my time like I should have and it doesn't look as good as I'd like it. I should have also pulled the surrounding brake lines and such. They were in the way and hindered the job.

I'm not sure I've seen the "martin" style. and yeah, I thought the same thing(about the metal thickness), but went ahead and bought them anyways

I'd love to pull the subframe and have it on stands but I just don't have the room to do that. I need to keep it able to roll in and out of the garage. Thanks for the tip on the rubber piece.

More parts! 8.8/miata axles
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440246639

So, I decided to make sure the axles fit the stock hubs since I thought they looked large.. well they are too big. So now I've got to figure out some hubs. I've emailed V8R and am awaiting a response. Hopefully I can purchase a set of hubs from them for a somewhat reasonable price.

Can you replace theirs w/ your Miata outer CV w/ stock shaft?

You can get your hubs broached by Martin. You just have to pop them out and send them to him.

That, IMO would be pretty weak, and I don't have my stock CV axles anymore. Sold the. With the diff

Ahh, any idea how much he charges? This may be a good option but I'd need to confirm he broaches to the size of my axles.

Not @ all. I've run on outer Miata CV's from day one. Have had a Cobra & a stronger alloy half shaft break, never the Miata outer CV or stub shaft.

Broached hubs (with exchange) shows as $150 in the parts list from Martin. Contact him to be sure.

V8 roadsters emailed me back, $375 for theirs. I may just go with those to ensure they are right.

Got my engine block back from the machine shop today. Had it hot tanked, decked .005", and pressed the new cam bearings in. Piston rings also came in the mail so I'll get the bottom end assembled this week.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...7c06a54aadf497

Please keep updating the first post with the price on everything. Or may be make a Google doc excel. I am at the parts gathering stage too. Go Florida !!

I will. I'm actually going to break it up into sections to make it easier to read and figure where money has went.
and, if you couldn't tell, it's no longer a budget themed car. LOL.

I was going to keep track of mine as well but it ended up becoming too painful. :eek4:

+1 for the Florida builds! Seems we are all near the same build point in our projects.

I'd love to have mine running and driving sometime this summer. But that's going to be tough. haha. We will see. Donations welcome!! :sign0134::appl:

Heres my donation :wavey:

Decent deal for the whole package w/ low miles:
Front Serpentine Drive from LS7 with LS3 crank pulley will fit ALL LS - LS1TECH

It's really fun to see you guys go through this together. I was lucky enough to build mine at the same time as Pat (toysnake) and Shannon (sb5700) did theirs and it was super helpful to go through it with someone else even at a distance. For a while there Shannon and I called each other pretty near everyday to figure something out.

I'm excited about your builds and very thankful you are sharing your stories with us here. Go Florida!!!

Cam, oil pump, timing chain and dampener came yesterday. Will probably get the bottom end assembled this weekend/week.
https://www.v8miata.net/attachment.p...ine=1440248172