MSM#1112

Hello! My name is Jordan!

I have lurked in the past and will try and nail down forum etiquette as I go.

I've recently purchased a 2004 MSM with 108k for the smokeing price of $500, stagnate coolant in cylinder #2 included!

My first vehicle was a 92 parade blue NA which met a untimely demise with a telephone pole, in my mid 20's I purchased a 96 montego blue NA untill it decided it wanted to become one with the *** of a Honda odyssey. I'm familiar with the platform but have have been out of the loop for awhile but hope with the resources here I can get this thing running.

I am a CDJRF technician. One of our sales guys ask me to look at his son's car that had overheated, shut down, and had been sitting in his driveway for the last three years. Why it sat and was not fixed I do not know, He just said it was the start of covid and "Times were tough" I diagnosed it as a blown head gasket when I found a click no start then found cylinder #2 full of coolant and I could not turn the engine over by hand. More digging and pressure test found a crack in the radiator. Mostly like root cause or falure.

After pricing options (non existent reman) Used engine three states away ($2800) tearing down and rebuild (who know what then end price would be) plus labor he decided it wasn't worth the time or hassle and offered it for $500 if I immediately got it out if his driveway. It also needs a top, tires, brakes and numerous other things.

My goals for the car simple. Make at move under its own power. It does have a little enchilada installed but from what I can see everything else is stock. Having a Mazda dealership next door that is in our franchise will hopefully help as I get parts at cost and I have access to all the tools and equipment I could ever need.

While I am experienced chrysler technician, aside from a timing job and clutch I've never been this far into a miata.

Heres where am at.

Got the car towed, initial inspection, ehhh. Not too bad. Top, Tires, Brakes, little clear coat peel on the hood.



Rounded up some tools and yanked the powertrian out to bring to work, better lighting, more tools, A/C. Pretty smooth, nothing abnormal.





After unloading the **** show begain. Followed a few threads on dissasmbly and Gregs YouTube channel and started bagging and tagging.



My first surprise was a almost new Flyin miata clutch, called and confirmed this to be the "Stage 2" kit with flywhell. Lots of meat and no concern marking or discoloration on the flywheel or pressure plate.



Got mounted to the stand and went to work.




With the intake off I got a good peek at what awaits...




Absolutely fucked.

And this is where I'll leave you. It was the end of the day and it was time to roll. I expected damage, I knew it wouldn't turn over, but dam haha.

Tomorrow I'll remove the crank, inpect bearings, and beat the pistons out. The machine shop quoted $200 over bore, hone, and hot tank. Same place the dealership uses so ive seen their work.

But here's a question and I fell I already know the answer judging by past threads. I would like to keep the stock ECU & IHI (Get fucked OP) But hear me out. Part of the appeal of a MSM, atleast to me, would be keeping it as stock as possible. It's what makes it unique. Any NB can have a turbo put on, only 5,428 rolled off the line that way but maybe thats just me. So I need to come up with a game plane for CR on 83.5 or 84mm pistons. "JuST pUt iN a UsED EnGInE" Well I can't find one that isn't $3000 and a 12 hours away. Blocks here and machine shops is across the street.

I'll post more findings tomorrow as the debacle unfolds.

Gee Emm

Yeah, if the block and crank are salvageable/ok, I would keep it too. By all means keep the stock ecu - in a box on the shelf. Preferably, but not necessarily, with the mani/turbo and all the associated crap. That ecu and associated sensors/valves/etc gives us much grief here in ADM-land so swapping out the ecu is a priority for new owners. I got 140rwkw with an ecu/zorst/intake on the stock turbo, but then I also got some badly bent rods. So keeping the stock turbo with an ecu is a feasible way of proceeding, especially with a built bottom end, and will deliver a quite spritely car, easily returned to stock appearance if you have kept the intake and exhaust.

But put some forged rods in it anyway, and preferably forged pistons - that future-proofs the car whatever else you do or do not do.

MSM#1112

Any suggestions on compression ratio that will help me retain the stock ECU untill the car is sorted out while still leaving me room for expansion in the future?

Gee Emm

No.

Make up your mind. If you want stock, make it so. If you want modz, work out what you want to do now, and the path forward. That means you have to know what you want to use the car for.

Easy button - forged internals, Boundary oil pump, put everything else back on. The internals won't worry the stock ecu, but will wait for you to decide what your usage/goals are, and how you are going to go about it.

In the meantime, it will allow you to do lots of searching in build threads to understand how you go about making good reliable power from these lumps.

MSM#1112

Crank Removed I found bearings cooked but not damage



The head on the other hand looks shimoned.



I cleaned the bores and slathered in navel jelly, cleaned again and hit with a light scotch bright pad and a pass with the hone to check the damage.






I'm not to sure about the head but im thinking the block is salvageable. Latter today I'll remove the cams and lifters and throw the cylinderhead in the parts washer for a bit to see what I'm working with.

Gee Emm

Check the hardness of the head before you spend too much time/money on it. If has had a serious overheat event, it could be soft.

MSM#1112

I'm thinking the heads toast. After cleaning and straight edging there's so much warpage I could slide my driver's license under it. Cams spun but were a little tight, chocked it up to lack of Lubrication from sitting and the crusty valve guides but I had to pry them out of the journals with quite a bit of force once the caps were removed. Looking down the head you can visibly see the warp.

I'm now on the hunt for another engine to harvest parts as research continues. That was short lived.

der_vierte

No big deal at that price.
If the crank and mains are okay, just search for a VVT head, overbore and deck that block and you are good to go.