FE3 Swap
#101
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The revised oil pan is in progress, should be a week or two depending on my welders schedule, looks way better than the old kia steel one so far.
Next swap will be a k20 as this swap makes no sense for power and weight vs time and mods required. Might as well start with a better engine, although its alittle more expensive I guess lol.
Next swap will be a k20 as this swap makes no sense for power and weight vs time and mods required. Might as well start with a better engine, although its alittle more expensive I guess lol.
#104
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Yay an update!
Finally done school and time to finish up the neverending project!
Lately I've gotten a few things tackled, new alum tig welded oil pan with increased ground clearance is in, had 3 holes tapped in the side for: dipstick (used SS tubing and swegelock fittings and a moroso dipstick), oil temp and a return incase I ever boost it.
New SS raceland header is on, as usual had to notch and drill out some holes, also its 4-2-1 so the trans had to have some alum shaved off for clearance.
Vacuum manifold is on, and works well but I don't think it will be large enough as I lose vac after 10% throttle :P
Mounted a mech oil press and water temp gauges..
Hasnt been alot of work but between moving and finishing school and starting 2 jobs its been a busy few months.
Rest of the exhaust is in shipping now as is my speedo sensor for the trans, hope to have it on the streets and start tuning this weekend/early next week.
Enough power to spin the wheels(open header in residential so it was short and sweet)..didnt know you could do that NA lol
Finally done school and time to finish up the neverending project!
Lately I've gotten a few things tackled, new alum tig welded oil pan with increased ground clearance is in, had 3 holes tapped in the side for: dipstick (used SS tubing and swegelock fittings and a moroso dipstick), oil temp and a return incase I ever boost it.
New SS raceland header is on, as usual had to notch and drill out some holes, also its 4-2-1 so the trans had to have some alum shaved off for clearance.
Vacuum manifold is on, and works well but I don't think it will be large enough as I lose vac after 10% throttle :P
Mounted a mech oil press and water temp gauges..
Hasnt been alot of work but between moving and finishing school and starting 2 jobs its been a busy few months.
Rest of the exhaust is in shipping now as is my speedo sensor for the trans, hope to have it on the streets and start tuning this weekend/early next week.
Enough power to spin the wheels(open header in residential so it was short and sweet)..didnt know you could do that NA lol
#105
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Indeed the miata start has the both the improper teeth spacing/count and to low of a power rating for the starter.
I grabbed an F2 starter and its working perfectly, only 2 bolts line up but no issues thus far.
#106
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Car is done and on the road as of last week. The FE3 pulls pretty decent for an old shitty truck motor, about as quick as a b18c after a header,itbs,flywheel, 6 speed, fe3 cams, ported intake manifold(well whats left of it) and 2.5" exhaust no cat.
I'll have some 1/4 mile times in a couple weeks when i get a friday night off, so far I like it.
Its not as fast as my old motor obviously but it sounds great, has a nice torque curve and so far isnt to bad on fuel.
The 6 speed is working well although I think the pilot bearing is making alot of noise (maybe the aluminum flywheel is contributing to this, i'm not sure atm). The 4-2-1 raceland header made me have to remove one of the trans mounts to the block so atm theres only 4 bolts holding them together. I'm not to worried but obviously this is not ideal. Will address this issue during the winter.
The itbs seem fairly easy to tune with a MAP signal on an ebay vac manifold, signal can get alittle shaky but I'm working on a restrictor to smooth things out.
If you want to mate a 6 speed up to the FE3 its a fairly straight forward process. The dowels on the FE3 block line up with the notches/dowel on the trans, from there you can see where the two top bolts line up with two blank holes (as in there should have been holes drilled in these spots as they are in the right spot just left filled with aluminum) I used the metal plate that goes between the trans and block to center punch the holes in the bell housing then drilled them out. The side mounts can then be drilled once you bolt the trans to the block, and depending on how you go about the oil pan you can have some bracing down there aswell (I don't).
I'm using a probe 2.2 flywheel with a miata pilot bearing and the input shaft line sup perfectly, can say how it would with any other flywheel (depth wise of course)
Any questions or whatever I'll try and answer but really if I could figure this out any one can, no measurement tools required (although they were nice to confirm that everything did indeed fit as it looked like it was going to)
So, pics/vids ect to come but I'll start a seperate thread for that.
-Dean
I'll have some 1/4 mile times in a couple weeks when i get a friday night off, so far I like it.
Its not as fast as my old motor obviously but it sounds great, has a nice torque curve and so far isnt to bad on fuel.
The 6 speed is working well although I think the pilot bearing is making alot of noise (maybe the aluminum flywheel is contributing to this, i'm not sure atm). The 4-2-1 raceland header made me have to remove one of the trans mounts to the block so atm theres only 4 bolts holding them together. I'm not to worried but obviously this is not ideal. Will address this issue during the winter.
The itbs seem fairly easy to tune with a MAP signal on an ebay vac manifold, signal can get alittle shaky but I'm working on a restrictor to smooth things out.
If you want to mate a 6 speed up to the FE3 its a fairly straight forward process. The dowels on the FE3 block line up with the notches/dowel on the trans, from there you can see where the two top bolts line up with two blank holes (as in there should have been holes drilled in these spots as they are in the right spot just left filled with aluminum) I used the metal plate that goes between the trans and block to center punch the holes in the bell housing then drilled them out. The side mounts can then be drilled once you bolt the trans to the block, and depending on how you go about the oil pan you can have some bracing down there aswell (I don't).
I'm using a probe 2.2 flywheel with a miata pilot bearing and the input shaft line sup perfectly, can say how it would with any other flywheel (depth wise of course)
Any questions or whatever I'll try and answer but really if I could figure this out any one can, no measurement tools required (although they were nice to confirm that everything did indeed fit as it looked like it was going to)
So, pics/vids ect to come but I'll start a seperate thread for that.
-Dean
#108
For those asking the questions.. Before i started my swap i was one of the guys looking for a "how to" guide to make the swap but once i started i realized how different each swap is. Im just taking it one problem at a time and coming up with my solution to it. The trick is having the right tools, space, and patience to make it happen.
Good to hear its up an running!
#112
hey, quick question "i know im probably gonna get flamed on for this" but, lets say i put one of these in a miata,and wanted to boost it. What kinda manifold could i use? i was thinking a 626 aftermarket manifold would work, but i wasn't sure, because its for front wheel drive..? would that make any deference? thanks
#119
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shitty and short but its something. and yes the car is that loud lol
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...rent=001-2.mp4
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...rent=001-2.mp4