1996 Mazda MX-5 Miata

5.4L V8 Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Manual

JM1NA3537T0703333

Gasoline

My Monster Miata is up for sale! More pictures are available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66881667@N06/sets/72157627405730527/ I purchased this car - a stock Miata - from its original owner in 1999 with only 16K miles. It was my daily driver and auto-cross car from 2001 through 2007. All that time I loved the car but wanted a bit more oomph. After drooling over supercharger kits, turbo kits, and NOX, I decided the only way I would ever be satisfied would be to go "all the way" and do an engine conversion. Afterall, there's no replacement for displacement! At the time, the only kit on the market was the Monster Miata kit (http://www.monstermiata.com/) for a Ford V-8 conversion. I decided up-front this would be an all-out project. When I was done, I didn't want anything left to make me say "I wish I had done this" or "I could still add that" or "if only I had done it this way." This meant no crate motors, no junkyard motors - the engine would be built from the ground up. I wanted a powerful (but not rediculous), smooth running, high reving powerplant. This would require an integrated upper end kit with a matched cam - something lopey but not too radical. CD ignition was a must, as was a fully programable ECU. And everything must be balanced. In the fall of 2006 I started collecting parts - block, engine pan, ECU, top end kit, etc. January of 2007 we started building the engine. By spring of that year we were far enough along with the engine to order the conversion kit. By early summer, the Miata saw its last days as a 1.8L as we began dismantling. By December, the Monster was on the road. The entire conversion took a year - six months to build the motor and six months for the conversion. The car truly is a monster, but very controllable. Having never driven a car with this much horsepower, I was concerned about striking a balance between brute horsepower and controlability. I was pleasantly surprised to find the light weight of the car - while you would think it would make it harder to keep it on the ground - actually works the other way. The car is so light, it just goes forward instead of resisting the tires and breaking them free. That's not to say you can't break the rear end free...but the line is predictable. It did get away from me once just a bit. I was cruising on the highway at about 75 and came up behind a 18-wheeler in the right lane. I matched his speed, then moved to the passing lane, dropped to 4th and punched it. The rear end broke free for just a second. Let me tell you it's a weird feeling to have the rear-end sliding at highway speeds next to a semi, but one quick throttle lift hooked 'em back up and I punched it again and took off. By the time I was at the front bumper of the semi, I was doing 100mph. Yeah, it's quick. As for hard numbers, I've never dynod the car, but I did take it to a local 1/8th mile drag strip one time. On my first-ever outing to the drag stripping, my best time was 8.1 seconds at 90mph. That was a newbie with street tires. I'm pretty confident someone who actually knew what they were doing, with slicks, could proably turn in mid 7's with this car. There are a few HP calculators online that work with drag strip times...go knock yourself out. But that said, the monster has another side. It's pretty "rough." Not running, just not nearly as refined as a stock Miata. Not wanting the parasitic drag, weight, and complexity of a power steering pump, the power steering rack is intact but not powered. I actually did this a long time before the conversion, and was very happy with it on the stock Miata. But with the extra weight of the conversion and the wider tires, the steering is heavy at low speeds. The AC also went with the conversion for the same reasons. No compromises! There are some other issues that go along with the conversion - like heat. And because it's a '96 there may be issues getting it inspected where you live. I know what you're saying - "here it comes!" It's all documented below in "What's wrong with this Miata." And then there's the gas mileage. Around town or in mixed driving, I get about 10 mpg. Yes, you read that right - 100 miles is what you get out of the 10 gallon tank! If you can keep your foot out of the throttle, you can do better. But I gauantee no one who has read this far will be able to keep their foot out of the throttle! On the highway - with the top up - it can do 20mpg. 18mpg with the top down. You might be able to work with the Tweecer and get better numbers, but I've never tried. But it's all worth it - this car is the ultimate sleeper and would make an amazing track car. But if you're set on making it a daily driver, I would look elsewhere, or at least recommend accounting for the time and money to restore the AC and power steering. So why am I selling it?For years I worked 10 miles from my office. But four years ago my company moved an additional 20 miles away, so my daily commute is now almost 60 miles. This is just too much mileage for this car, and it would cost me a fortune to drive it daily (not to mention fueling up every day and a half!). So I bought a diesel for my daily driver, and my Miata hasn't seen much use since then. I drive it occasionally to keep it running, but it has mostly sat in the garage for the last four years. It's sad, but it's time for it to go. What's wrong with this Miata:- The body has numerous chips and dings. You can see them in the pics. It got hailed on once at work and there are a couple of hail dings. It's what you would expect from a car that's 15 years old, and was a daily driver for 8 of those years.- The car was involved in two minor collisions in 2002 - both in parking lots. One where I didn't see a car protruding out of a spot and hit its rear bumper with my front left fender. And another when the lady in front of me at a drive-through decided the line was too long and proceeded to back out - right into me. (Seriously!) So both front fenders and the front bumper have been replaced. The frame itself wasn't damaged, and I had my alignment guy verify that the frame was still square.- The rear-window is the original, and long beyond it's normal lifespan. It's badly cracked. I've never bothered replacing it because I almost never drive with the top up. It's not an expensive repair if you're into the whole "top-up" thing.- The temperature gauge doesn't currently work. I've monitored the engine temp with Tweecer, and have never had any excessively high readings. I'm not sure what the issue is, but you should probably spend some time figuring it out. It's probably wiring.- The car "surges" in low gears at around 2000 rpm and low speeds (20-30mph). I think this is a common side effect of putting this much power in a 2400lb car, and not having a professional engineering team get everything to mesh well. You may be able to tune this out with the Tweeker, but I've never tried since you can "drive" around it by shifting up or down or speeding up a bit.- The seats are in pretty bad shape. There's a worn-through spot on the drivers side bolster, and the back of the drivers seat is starting to crack. See the pics.- It's a 1996 car, so your DOT will consider it OBD-II compliant. Why is that a problem? Because the ECU (from a 90ish Mustang) in this car is PRE OBD-II. Why is that a problem? Well, for you it may or may not be. If your county checks OBD-II as part of your emissions inspection, this car will fail. It won't pass. Ever. Period. They'll hook up the OBD-II reader and get nothing. Nada. Now if you live in an area that doesn't use OBD-II for inspections, then it's not a problem. If you're going to use this car as a track car, again, not a problem (assuming you trailer it to the track). But if you live in a country that does OBD-II inspection and you just MUST have this car, you have at least one option. Check to see if your county will allow exepmtions. This is what I did (I live in Denton county, TX, and they require OBD-II). I got exemptions for this car while driving it. It's a pain in the ass - you must get a regular inspection and pass the safety portion of the inspection (ie, brakes, lights, horn, etc) and fail the OBD-II portion. You must then provide receipts showing you spent at least $100 to try to fix the car, and then RE-insepct it and fail again, then scheduld an appointment at a regional DOT office to get the exemption, where they will check everything, put the car on rollers for a couple of hours (never understood why they did this), look at you very scornfully and finally give you the exemption. At which time you are only allowed to drive the car 5000 miles a year. And you have to repeat this process every year. Seriosly, if you live in an OBD-II county, save youself the trouble and don't buy this car if you want it street legal.- The alignment on the car right now is for auto-cross and 195 tires: camber is -2.5R/-1.5F, 4deg caster, slight toe out in the front and slight toe in in the back. Great auto-cross alignment for this car on narrower tires. But for the wider tires, I would re-align to much less camber front and rear and as little caster as I could dial in (to lighten up the steering), and perhaps no toe. This should be great for both autocross and dragging on the 225s. I just never got around to doing this. What's right with this Miata:Engine:- The engine is a 302 small block Ford, stroked to 331. That makes it a 5.4L engine.- I took the entire rotating assembly (rods, pistons, crank, balancer) to Wayne Calvert Precision Engines in Denton TX and had them balanced as a single unit. This job was a few hundred dollars, but well worth the money in my opinion.- The entire top end is Trick Flow Twisted Wedge (TFS-K514-360-350).- The block was pressure tested and one cylinder was sleeved before assembly.- The injectors are matched flow corrected Ford Racing part #A302F- The ECU is a stock mustang ECU with a Tweecer unit. It's fully programable. http://www.tweecer.com/index.htm- I didn't like the in-line coolant fill cap supplied with the Monster Miata kit, so I took the radiator to a local shop and had them weld a fill cap directly to the radiator. It looks better and eliminates a cut and connector in the upper radiator hose. See the pics.- I also didn't like the fan arrangement in the kit with the fans on the front side of the radiator. By using the shorter water pump and timing chain cover from a '94 Mustang, I was able to get the fans on the BACK side of the radiator. I think this provides better airflow though the radiator. Drivetrain:- The transmission is a rebuilt Tremec T5. My transmission guy put a crazy overdrive gear in this thing - it's something like a .59 overdrive. The engine's barely turning 2K at highway speeds.- The rear diff is a rebuilt T-Bird limited slip diff. I purchased it from a junkyard and had a transmission shop rebuild it. That was a $500 job! (groan...still think I got ripped on that one). Suspension- Koni Yellow adjustable shocks at all 4 corners, custom slotted for height adjustable. I contacted Koni and made sure there was enough wall thickness to cut the slot.- Fully height adjustable suspension. See pics.- Front springs are from the Monster Miata kit, rear springs are rear spring from Flyin' Miata spring kit (233 lb). - All bushings are new Flyin Miata poly bushings. - Wheels are Sport Max 15" wheels - not the best wheel on the market but a decentl light wheel that accepts a 225 tire. And it looks great.- Tires are Hankook 225/50ZR15s. The tread is nearly brand new - lots of rubber left. Body:- Not long after getting the car I installed a Hard-Dog double diamond rollbar. A must for any Miata, IMO. It really tightened up the rear end and eliminated a little oversteer. It's wrapped in high density impact foam from Summit. I shudder when I think of my head so close to that bar - it has to be wrapped, in my opinion. There's a home-made (read: not so good) leather cover. It looks OK at best.- The exhaust system meets in a cross-over, then splits to dual cats, then back to dual Magna-flow mufflers that exit at the center of the car. It's all mild steel. It sounds pretty good. See pics. Things you need to know (aka, problems for some, advantages for others):- This car has no power steering. Remember, I said no compromises? I don't mind the Miata with the depowered rack, it saves both weight and parasitic power loss from the pump. But it means the steering is heavy at low speeds - especially with the big 225 tires. It' feels great once you're moving. If it's too heavy for you, you have a few options. 1. Reduce the caster. This lightens it up quite a bit. 2. Go back to stock 195 tires. 3. Install a power steering pump. 4. Get use to it. It's not any worse than older cars with manual steering.- This car has no air conditioning. Remember, I said no compromises? I don't mind the Miata without AC...did I mention I never put up the top? This saves both weight and parasitic power loss from the pump. If it's too hot for you, you have a few options: 1. Move to a cooler climate. 2. Sweat. 3. Drive nude.- This car gets hot. I'm not talking about the engine overheating - I'm saying the car is hot. You're sitting on top of dual cats and an exhaust system that twists its way literally inches from your butt down the tunnel of the car. There are two sets of headers right in front of the firewall, and you're burining 5.4L of air/fuel on every revolution - all that heat has to go somewhere. A lot of it ends up coming up through holes in the tunnel - around the stick shift, etc. This is common with Miata conversions...it's something you just have to live with. There is it. The car is in good running condition, but I'm selling it as-is. This is a car for a tinkerer or someone who wants to build themselves a track car. Wow. It's a book. If you have any questions abou the car, please send me a message. Happy bidding! PS - You're welcome to see and drive the car if you're serious about buying the car. I'd prefer you to bid first, then arrange a test drive. Then if you decide against the car, you can wait to be out-bid or withdraw your bid (without objection from me) before the auction ends. The car is not inspected, so the test drive should be short.