1.8 Head on 1.6 Block?
 

Just out of curiosity.

Is it possible for the na/nb motors, to swap heads, and trannys?


I hear honda heads yap all day about how they swap different heads and trannys with different blocks and such.."b16, b20, single cam, w/LS head, GSR tranny, Typr-R this, bullshit that, and all honda noise"

Just wondering if its possible to swap such components with the miata motors..?

C'mon, guys. It was a valid question.

(lots of stuff deleted)


1: Transmissions are freely interchangeable between all year Miatas, as are complete longblocks. There are some electrical differences, but mechanically it works. Note that this holds true only for the NA and NB cars ('90-'05). The new style NC is a totally different vehicle, and nothing interchanges with those cars.

2: The 1.8 Miata engine isn't just an overbore of the 1.6, it's a totally different motor. The block is longer front-to-back, with a different bore spacing. So while certain parts are interchangeable (rods, flywheel / clutch, etc) the heads are not, nor are the cranks, cams, or manifolds.

3: Within the 1.8 engine family ('94-'05), most parts are interchangeable. There are only a couple of minor incompatibilities (eg: intake manifolds are not interchangeable across the 1998 barrier) but these are fairly inconsequential.

:facepalm:

They will not interchange. You can swap complete motors but not the head/blocks. The only motor this works on is the BP and that would just be putting another head off a different year BP. Trans missions are interchangeable. Miatas are nothing like hondas for swaping parts. Trust me I own one of each.

Obviously, I haven't done this, but here is the book I was referencing:

Mazda Miata MX-5 Performance Projects by Keith Tanner. ISBN-13 978-0-7603-1620-7

Page 45: "Retrofitting a NB head on an NA Engine"

He states that ideally, you should use an NB intake manifold, but that you can modify an NA manifold. He suggest a head from a 1999-2000 based car as the most appropriate choice to avoid the VVT issues. He has suggestions for dealing with the CAS and VICS system.

Like I said, I haven't done it, but Keith has pictures that show it being done.

NB\NA as in 1.8 NA vs 1.8 NB

The NB head will fit onto a 1.8 NA engine ('94-'97) as the blocks are essentially identical. No 1.8 head (NA or NB) will fit onto a 1.6 ('90-'93) engine, which has a different block. The number of components that will interchange between a 1.6 and 1.8 engine is quite small, actually. Rods, bearings, lifters, flywheel (though the 1.8s got larger flywheels and clutches from the factory), a few other trivial bits.

Honestly, though, the gains to be had from doing so are relatively minuscule. And, these days, VVT is no longer something to be avoided, since several ECUs capable of dealing with it are available, plus of course the VVTuner, which is a neat little standalone VVT controller that also produces an NA-style CAS signal as a byproduct.

I just can't imagine why you'd go through the trouble. If you're going to do a swap (and presuming you don't want to go with forced induction), just grab the whole NB engine and plop it in. Higher compression.

Isn't there a 1.6 VVT head? Would that swap work?

Agree with all of the above. I was just quoting Mr. Tanner.

Not in the US market at least. VVT didn't come out until 8 years after the 1.6l Miata.

I have some conflicting information here.

Some sources say that the euro/Japan-spec 1.6L NBs continued to use the B6 engine.

Some sources say that at least some 1.6L euro/Japan-spec NBs had VVT.

I can find no evidence to support any B6 engine ever having been equipped with VVT.

Now, I'm no expect on the Z-series engine, however what little information I can find suggests that it was "based on" the B-series design, and that the block itself is either the same as or similar to the early (pre-B8) B-series block.

If true, then it's entirely possible that the head from a ZL-VE (a 1.5L engine with VVT) might fit onto a B6.

Personally, I think it'd be a waste of time and money.

or just retrofit a 1.8 vvt into the 1.6l head if possible, no idea if cam journals differ in size.
Would be interesting if you could fit it on both cams

Retrofitting a 1.6 motor with VVT would involve a huge amount of work. A 1.8 exhaust VVT retrofit would be less work, but still a ton of work.

Wow
 

So... All you guys are telling me that i could swap a 2005 engine in my 96 miata, and the transmission will fit? :idea:

yes.

Swap in a 12 valve Cummins turbo diesel... :fael:

Guys, I think loud miatas sound too ricey for me. So I think I am going to swap in a 2 stroke weed-whacker motor. That should help.

WOW Thanks, so i am going to swap 06 engine into my 94 miata :D

There is a difference between the 05 and 06 engine. A very big difference.

Yeah, they bored and stroked the 06 engine to 2 liters right :giggle:

Here is your answer.

LOL

Best part: the first link is to this thread.

That is what the original 1.5 year old thread was about. Then a noob bumped it to ask if he could swap a 06 engine in his 96.

Didn't TURNS101 stuff an MZR into an NB?

Edit: https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...-engine-65621/

Damn I got so excited at the thread topic but then has teh sad when I saw how old the op's post was :(

well... i am going to try to get 05 or 04 then :D

Just stop posting before you are banned, and start reading the build threads section.

Jesus you are retarded.

In for ban

How about a protage 2.0 bottom end?

His name is Frank.

jajajaja bro do whatever the hell you want, this is a free country and i can say whatever the hell i want... and there are a looooooott of forums of miata... so you are losing your frustrating time :hustler:

Thanks :giggle:

there are a lot of miata forums, ture, but there arent a lot of the best miata forums.

you could be right "Braineack" and in your place i would be defending your forum as you are doing it and as i did before, trying this community everybody like friends... but i can not tolerate these people keep talking crap about me.

AIDS thread.

I really hope english is not your first language.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you dragged up a 1.5 year old thread which had ZERO relevance to the question you asked which could have been solved by even ONE FUCKING MINUTE OF RESEARCH.

You are the fuckwits that give noobs on forums a bad name.

:facepalm:

I have a 00 NB with a B6(original JDM car) since it comes directly from there and was bought used by me in Japan.

I went through the complete forging process now and can proudly say that its internally the same as the US spec pre 93 internally however the block is not the same. No oil ports and does have a different head than the US cars pre 93.

However it still doesnt have VVT and cannot fit ,8 head since I have both a BP 04 and the B6 00 NB.

The gassket is still the same for the head on the B6 though and will take or use a older B6 turbo manifold design.

Dont be a retard and try a swap of the heads, its like trying to fit your genetals in a toaster, you know it wont work , or be a good idea, but still you get the local village idiot whom will still give it a swing!

Trannys on the B6 even in the NB is the same as the NA and I have swapped the 6 speed on the 00 Nb with the B6..so trannys can swung all years and models round!

May the force be with you if you wish to continue with HEAD SWAP!

I see the force is strong with this one master yoda...

Holy crap, I'm not alone! Evolution Orange FTW!

Thats what forums are here for... to ask questions. the thing is that you think you are so Smart and get offended with question like this one. And i am not giving this forum a bad name... :brain:

No, the questions you have been asking are for google, not a forum. Did you even TRY to do any research yourself? Or were you just waiting for us to come over to your house and do your engine swap for you?

BTW here is about 300,000 results for you.

i did the research in the internet (google) also another forum called forum.miata.net and i didnt find anything about it. its the same if you ask me if you can use a AM3 socket into an Intel motherboard (computer shit)... And i will answer you politely a complete and reasonable answer...

Really? You couldn't find the 1.8L engines end at 05 and the new generation of 2.0L motors begin at 06?

swapped head
 

Hey guys new to the forums. I have a 1993 Mazda mx3. I was going to do a miata engine swap but I've already got a bp block. I saw the original question about swapping heads on the 1.6 with 1.8 dohc 16v. Im not sure if it was answered prior to me but all I saw was no. I put a 1.8 head on mine and its working great. Look for a 1994 Ford escort GT with the 1.8 4 cylinder in it. Of course you know any head work that will be needed such as timing belt and such will be for the 1.8 ford. Only small issue I have is that when looking at the installed 1.8 head. There is a slight misalignment of the oil passage holes. I called and asked a buddy who works at Mazda and he said it wasn't anything to worry about. I'm running a mix of 1 at 5-30 weight and 3 qts 15-40 weight engine oil. With a significant HP and tq increase with the new head. Hope this helped. I know I'm not the owner of a miata but I thought I would see if that helped at all

stdh.txt

Sound like you put a 1.8 BP head on a 1.8 BP motor? That's totally different from putting a 1.8 BP head on a 1.6 B6 motor where the head is going to be hanging off both ends and none of the head bolts or pistons or spark plugs or oil passages or coolant passages line up with eachother.