Newbie!!
08-15-2013, 11:13 PM
#1
V8 Miata Noob
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Tucson Az
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Newbie!!
So I have not yet started a project, which I think is good, I can get some info and ideas and start off on the right foot! I guess a few starter questions,
1) Are any years better than others? There is a 93 for 2800 here in town now
2) Jegs has a 08 vette GM engine, tranny, cpu's package, how well would this work?
I will have more questions I am sure in appropriate threads. Hope to meet some cool people here! Thanks!
Troy
1) Are any years better than others? There is a 93 for 2800 here in town now
2) Jegs has a 08 vette GM engine, tranny, cpu's package, how well would this work?
I will have more questions I am sure in appropriate threads. Hope to meet some cool people here! Thanks!
Troy
08-16-2013, 08:33 AM
#3
Jim Stainer
Welcome Troy. You have come to the right place for answers!
Nearly every question newbes ask cannot be answered by the group without knowing 4 things.
1 what do you want to do with the car when it is done. (dedicated track, daily driver, somewhere in between or none of the above)
2 how do you plan to build the car. (home garage on jack stands, buddies shop with a lift, borrowed welder etc)
3 what your skill level is. (master mechanic, welder and fabricator or need to google how to change oil…)
4 what your budget is. (no matter what you think it will cost you are wrong. It will cost at least 50% more to twice as much as you estimate.
Now interestingly enough once you answer those questions you won’t need much advice from us!
OK let me give it a go for you. Yes 93 is a great year to convert because anything older than 95 misses emissions rules in most states. NB cars (98 and up) give you a little more room to work with and have a little nicer interiors but they tend to be more expensive and of course you will run in to emissions rules.
As a general rule of thumb automatic trans cars are better than manuals for conversions. The reason for that is no enthusiast would want an auto so they are usually in better shape and cheaper to get into. More often than not they are female driven garage queens that have not been beat on. Oh and don't worry it takes about 15 minutes to install a clutch pedal and master cylinder in an auto car...
No matter what car you buy this is the time to be very fussy in the build! There is no reason to buy a rusty car when there are so many clean ones out there and rust really stinks to deal with. Consider that you are putting 4 times more power than the car was designed for in it and yeah you want the most solid pristine chassis you can find!
I have not looked closely at the Jegs parts you are talking about because they are WAY beyond what I could ever afford. For that kind of money I think you would be better off buying from Flyin Miata because they have the know how to do what you want to do and everything will work right.
As another rule of thumb, if you are building an LS, you are usually better off buying a wrecked Camaro or Firebird as a donor car. With that you get everything you need and plenty of parts to sell to support the build. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to my Camaro carcass for little stuff I never thought I would need or use.
You are indeed on the right track to do research and you really need to do lots of it! I would suggest reading build threads looking at the parts options from the 4 vendors that do this before you even start asking questions. I stayed in that mode for nearly a year before I even owned a Miata and I am really glad I did that. There is no question research and preparation takes much of the aggravation and needless spending out of a build.
Check out the build threads here under the build thread tab here. Also check out the videos in this thread:
https://www.v8miata.net/general-miat...s2-vs-ls3-828/
Yeah it's a Ford but really good stuff and I have watched them many times.
More good places for build threads are Jasons site:
McCully Racing Motors- Our Builds...we're doing our part to help empowering Miatas one car at a time...
He is a Ford guy but still really good info there.
And the build threads here:
Flyin' Miata : Build diaries
You have to dig back a little on the FM site to find NA cars but they are there.
Another excellent site is Swaptastic:
Swaptastic - Nathan Sumner
I have used tons of info from swaptastic in my build.
And if you really get bored enough you can read through my build.
Jim and Jenna build diary, Miata LS1 Conversion
I hope that gives you something meaningful to process as you begin to work through the details. I'd love to hear more about what you want to do with the car, how you want to build it and what your skill level and budget is.
Nearly every question newbes ask cannot be answered by the group without knowing 4 things.
1 what do you want to do with the car when it is done. (dedicated track, daily driver, somewhere in between or none of the above)
2 how do you plan to build the car. (home garage on jack stands, buddies shop with a lift, borrowed welder etc)
3 what your skill level is. (master mechanic, welder and fabricator or need to google how to change oil…)
4 what your budget is. (no matter what you think it will cost you are wrong. It will cost at least 50% more to twice as much as you estimate.
Now interestingly enough once you answer those questions you won’t need much advice from us!
OK let me give it a go for you. Yes 93 is a great year to convert because anything older than 95 misses emissions rules in most states. NB cars (98 and up) give you a little more room to work with and have a little nicer interiors but they tend to be more expensive and of course you will run in to emissions rules.
As a general rule of thumb automatic trans cars are better than manuals for conversions. The reason for that is no enthusiast would want an auto so they are usually in better shape and cheaper to get into. More often than not they are female driven garage queens that have not been beat on. Oh and don't worry it takes about 15 minutes to install a clutch pedal and master cylinder in an auto car...
No matter what car you buy this is the time to be very fussy in the build! There is no reason to buy a rusty car when there are so many clean ones out there and rust really stinks to deal with. Consider that you are putting 4 times more power than the car was designed for in it and yeah you want the most solid pristine chassis you can find!
I have not looked closely at the Jegs parts you are talking about because they are WAY beyond what I could ever afford. For that kind of money I think you would be better off buying from Flyin Miata because they have the know how to do what you want to do and everything will work right.
As another rule of thumb, if you are building an LS, you are usually better off buying a wrecked Camaro or Firebird as a donor car. With that you get everything you need and plenty of parts to sell to support the build. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to my Camaro carcass for little stuff I never thought I would need or use.
You are indeed on the right track to do research and you really need to do lots of it! I would suggest reading build threads looking at the parts options from the 4 vendors that do this before you even start asking questions. I stayed in that mode for nearly a year before I even owned a Miata and I am really glad I did that. There is no question research and preparation takes much of the aggravation and needless spending out of a build.
Check out the build threads here under the build thread tab here. Also check out the videos in this thread:
https://www.v8miata.net/general-miat...s2-vs-ls3-828/
Yeah it's a Ford but really good stuff and I have watched them many times.
More good places for build threads are Jasons site:
McCully Racing Motors- Our Builds...we're doing our part to help empowering Miatas one car at a time...
He is a Ford guy but still really good info there.
And the build threads here:
Flyin' Miata : Build diaries
You have to dig back a little on the FM site to find NA cars but they are there.
Another excellent site is Swaptastic:
Swaptastic - Nathan Sumner
I have used tons of info from swaptastic in my build.
And if you really get bored enough you can read through my build.
Jim and Jenna build diary, Miata LS1 Conversion
I hope that gives you something meaningful to process as you begin to work through the details. I'd love to hear more about what you want to do with the car, how you want to build it and what your skill level and budget is.
