1.8 is the way to go! I got an escort gt engine for 250 and just used the block from it, so you did good. That is also the cleanest valve cover i've ever seen

 

I've heard so much about the 1.8... I couldn't pass this deal up. I gave him $150 so far and I told him I'd send a bit more via paypal next month. This was Ahren Ciotti's motor... A common name here in southern NJ in the autocross/miata world. He told me the motor still ran fine when he swapped it for his new motor. It just made a little noise from what he believed was a bearing. I will see how it looks when I tear it apart. I plan on doing a mild build with it. Piston's/Rods and a complete refresh. I'll probably leave the head alone and just give that a refresh.... Let my local machine shop take care of it. Going to get a flywheel resurfaced today so I will ask him a few questions and get some pricing.

Hopefully I will make it look like Ahren's new motor once I get it built...

 

And of course the infamous cam sensor is stolen. It must have had one of the good ones. You'd have thought they'd have replaced it with a crappy one.

 

Lol I am going to have to source a lot of things for this motor... Intake manifold, accessories, sensors, etc.. I probably wont be able to run this motor for a couple years

 

2-3 months!

 

Hahaha I did just PM Savington for a quote on the build parts....

But no seriously.. I still plan on getting the 1.6 boosted first. At least I'll have the 1.8 as a backup if I'm a noob and blow up the 1.6 lol. I won't be able to boost the 1.6 until August, which is when I will have a daily driver and I can start putting my setup together.

 

Did you build up the 1.6 yet (forged rods at least)? I didn't see when i skimmed the earlier posts, but if not, it'll save you a lot of money to just do it all on the 1.8.

 

Nope 1.6 is bone stock and going to stay that way. I literally have everything I need for the 1.6 though. I'm just gonna boost it and be conservative... Whatever happens happens. If I go with the 1.8 in the future the only thing I'll need to get is the manifold and I will sell my 1.6 artech mani.

 

So after a reality check and getting a quote from Trackspeed for 4K for a full built motor...

I think I am just going to do E-Gay rods, SuperTech pistons/ Wiesco rings and a refresh / cleaning of all stock parts, gaskets, bearings. I will have my local machine shop put it all together for me and hopefully I can do it well under 4K lol

 

Coo. I'm running e-gay rods too, with stock pistons.

 

Hmm might even look into using the stock pistons... I'm sure I won't really need a fullybuilt motor... II'm not looking to make crazy HP because ultimately this will still just be a street car

 

Yeah, if you're not looking to go all out, stock pistons will do. Not only are you saving on the cost of the pistons, you don't have to spend money on more machining. That stuff adds up quick. I'm using the same turbo as you and I can currently go up to ~11psi, can increase it a little more once boost control gets tuned.

 

Nice thanks! Yeah I might just re-ring the stock pistons and call it a day. Is there a specific E-bay rod set that is better than others? Also, what bearings did you go with... Just a new factory set?

I plan on upgrading to a Garrett shortly after I get up and running. The turbo was one of the first things I purchased and sort of regretted not getting a Garrett considering I went a bit over the top with all of my other parts

 

I got sealed power bearings.

Personally, I have no issue with these CXracing rods, since they're most likely all made at the same factory. ( Cxracing Mazda Miata 323 1 6 1 8 B BP H Beam Rod Rods Bolts | eBay ).

If you prefer AARP 2000 bolts instead of the ones that come in that set, You can order a set of rods minus the bolts and get the AARP's separately.

 

This looks great Brian, keep up the good work!

 

Nice so this is most likely the same direction I will go! Thanks for the info. This will probably be my project for next winter!



Thanks appreciate it!

Hoping to be up and running on the ms3x by first weekend in March (With the help from a few forum MS guru's who will hopefully drop by my shop) .... From there I will install the injectors and re-tune after a couple months, and ultimately boost will be late summer (Once I have a appropriate Daily driver!)

 

Nice build and score on the 1.8 but will the ARTech manifold and downpipe that is for your 1.6 fit the 1.8???

 

Thanks! The manifold will not swap over, but when the time comes I will have to send the downpipe back to artech and have him build a fresh new manifold for the 1.8.

 

Started breaking the 1.8 down this morning. Pistons are nasty looking but I read a great Revlimiter article about cleaning the pistons up using mopar combustion chamber cleaner. I'm gonna use that once I have to bottom end disassembled

 

#4 rod bearing was the culprit... Luckily crank looks Ok