What is the best model year for a conversion?
 

Is there a preferred year of the donor car or is gen 1 superior to gen 2 or vise versa when making a V-8 conversion? Is it possible to get a V-8 conversion registered and smogged in California?

Thanks, Paul---

Call Martin......www.monstermiata.com.
(760) 510-9682

In for year advise!

If you are planning on using an NA a 1994 is a pretty good year to go with. It's the only year to have the upgraded interior, dual airbags and extra chassis reinforcement of the NA02's with the real oil pressure gauge and bi-fold sun visors of the the NA01's. It's also OBDI as opposed to OBDII which in most states makes passing emissions a lot easier.

As far as NB01's and NB02's go I'm not as familiar. I've built two Ford V8's out of 1990 models, one out of a '93 LE and one out of a 1994 Laguna.

Hope that helps,
-Jason

I think cost of the donor car is a big factor in the swaps. NAs can be had for a great price, if one looks around. Who cares if the engine runs, etc? Mine cost Tim $800 and had a dead engine at 232K miles. By the time he sold everything he didn't need, the car was almost a freebie.

That's another advantage of the 1994 NA donor. The only part of the 1.6 drivelines I could get any money for was the transmissions (same from 1990-97). One 1.6 engine I ended up giving away, one's still sitting in the garage and one I managed to trade for a few basket case Ford bottom ends. The 1.6 rears are worthless, even with limited slip, as they wear out after about 100K miles and are not repairable.

The 1.8 stuff on the other hand is worth a bit. The 1.8 driveline of the 1994 I used as my last donor made me $1175 even though it had 170K on it. The engine sold for $500, the limited slip diff with axles, driveshaft and PPF sold for $600 and the trans sold for $75. The whole thing paid for my custom dual exhaust when the build was done. An NB or a lower-mile NA driveline would have gone for even more (at least the engine would have).

-Jason

Ebay? CL? Newspaper? How did you find the best buyer for your stuff?

CL would keep things local. I'm not sure folks use newspaper ads, that much, anymore. I've read enough bads about Ebay that I'd stay away from that place, myself.

I'm looking at a donor car that has 130K miles but the engine just had new rings and a #4 piston put in it (along with timing belt change). I'm hoping that the engine work means more $$$ when I pull it.

I have my own website where I document the build (see link in sig). I also post to the local Miata club sites in my area. Most sells pretty quickly.

-Jason

Rather than hunting local I'm hunting in SW US on CL. Don't care if it runs, but I want rust-free. What do the NA and other abbreviations I see, mean?

That is actually a very good idea and what I'll be doing if I build another. I think the 1994 Laguna I used on my last build was the last rust-free northeastern NA Miata in the United States.

Shipping a car is actually not as expensive as you would think. The other thing you'll notice when you start looking at Miatas in less rust prone areas is the price. Since they don't wear out mechanically there are more around in those areas and the prices are actually lower, sometimes enough to make-up the cost of having it shipped to you.

The only problem with buying out of your area is that you can not just drive over and see the car in person. Best case would be if you have someone who lives in the area who can look at the car for you. Another possibility is to fly to the area with a few cars lined up, look them over, make a purchase that day and then ship the car home or drive it back.

NA means the first body style of Miata, 1990-1997.

-Jason

Actually, I'm lucky in a couple of ways for this: I have a brother and 2 friends that relocated to the SW. And my other brother drives a truck, shipping cars and pick-ups all over the US. Lucky me ;-)

Thanks for the info, too.

Cool! Keep us updated (with pics hopefully!)

-Jason