Considering a couple of cars for a project, opinions wanted
 

I am looking for a car to do a v8 conversion on. Originally I was only considering the NA cars, but a couple of moderately priced NBs have shown up in my area and I want to know what you guys think.

Car #1 - 91 w/ 145k miles. Older guy from talking to him on the phone. All of the following is according to the seller: it has been sitting for a year. Dead battery and probably flat tires. It was hit in the back corner by a 4x4 that sort of rolled over the car. Damage is only to one side and. Claimed the trunk still locks and closes fine, just needs a new quarter panel and maybe bumper. He is only 30 minutes from me but doesn't have any pictures right now. Says he will sell for $700 but I need to trailer it home. Clean title, but no smog cert because it has out of state plates

Car #2 - http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/533554767.html

Car #3 - http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/551864319.html

damn those NB's are cheap and low mileage. I'd buy the other though if it was local and you plan on it being a project car anyway. Ford or chevy?

chevy. I have a friend of mine in the San Diego area that offered me his built ls1 with 10k miles and a mated t56 tranny with 27k miles on it for $4800. I am seriously considering it, but I want a nice car to put those nice of parts into.

engine details:
Comp Cams Cam 222/224; chromoly pushrods 7.4" and roller lifters
Hooker LT's w/ custom Y-pipe and Magnaflow muffler
MSD 8.5mm plug wires and NGK iridium plugs
BBK 85mm intake manifold
K&N air filter w/ SLP lid and bellows
SPEC stage 3 clutch (currently slipping but will be replaced upon payment recieved...will send bad SPEC clutch to prove that it was replaced) and short throw shifter

Still trying to figure out how to get project approval from the spouse. Doing all my research right now so I have a 80% confidence on total project cost.

386 hp in a miata sounds awsome ..for 4800 thats doesnt sounds bad (well i really dont know what you have to go through to put v8's in a miata)

Was that measured to the wheels on the ls1 or on a engine dyno?

I didn't ask specifically, but I was assuming it was at the wheels. Most people in SoCal can't afford to take their cars apart for engine dynos.

He did say that I will probably want to invest in a new set of heads for the car thought. He said the engine is built up to handle a 7200 rpm redline but it floats the valves at 6500.

Those nb's sound too good to be true. I paid that much for a '95 w/ 140k miles.

Even though they are local, neither has returned my emails. Of course, they could just not spend as much time online as I do :) At least I already spoke to the guy with the NA. Anything in particular I should look for? The biggest concern I have for getting the NA is having to add the expense of replacing the interior.

WTF?! $3500.00 for a 1999 WITH HARDTOP!?!? Do these people not know what the car is worth!?

no, they are in nigeria too busy scamming people to have time to research Kelly Blue Book to find out what their cars are really worth....duh

+1

and why worry about the V8's when you could put a BMW V12 into it? :dunno:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M70

buy my car and let me buy that nb for $3500 :)

As I said earlier, I don't think either of them are for real. Neither of the NB's have a phone number and they haven't responded to my emails yet. Probably won't. I probably need to keep this to a NA for budget reasons, but I would LOVE to do this with a NB though. I think I am just going to keep looking for a running and not wrecked NA for around $1k.

there is nb for sale for around $4k. body is a bit fucked. let me know if you are interested, ill shoot you guys phone number.

You saw that article in SCC mag with the Ultima GTR the guy swapped a built M70 in? The motor he got for 500$ because nobody is smart enough to figure out how to pull off engine management? *Sneeze*megasquizzle!!*Sneeze*

Believe me, this swap is in my near future, but I'm not sure into what... I don't want to hassle with trying to cram that in a miata, even though its about the same physical size as a typical SBC. Wondering how those motors like boost in stock longblock form? :)

Is it the black one with the drivers side door that bent backwards? If so, I have that info and I am trying to decide if I am interested or not. If not, send me the details. Thanks man.