how many actually make it to the meets though? (in magna style - I coudn't resist)

Didn't that motor fail on FM?

I found a escort gt engine with 55k miles on it for 250 pulled out of the car, it is at a junkyard. do you think the ford one is better then the kia one?

That's hard to tell for sure w/o looking at stuff like bearing and cylinder surfaces. Do that then take into account kia vs. mazda (ford).

m2cupcar: how am i supposed to check the cylinder surfaces? bearings? I got another one like 158 miles away from me for $200 picked up. this one was just taken out of the car at 115k miles. i'll be calling them if the can go 150-175 for it picked up. because it;s like a 160 mile drive each way for me.

I thought these were short blocks? you just look in the four big holes. ;)

If they're long blocks, at least make sure they rotate easily with the plugs pulled using a 21mm on the crank bolt. You'll want to pay attention to the resistance on the crank too, by doing a couple of short push pulls. It should feel like the assmebly is "tight" - no significant slack in the resistance when changing direction.

those are longblocks. they give the block + head. they are calling me if 180 is okay and i get all the stuff that is mounted to the block (alternator, pumps, a/c, manifolds). i'll check the crank as you wrote.

I have one more question. Can I use a ford escort valve cover on a miata head? I want to take to cover off of mine and paint it but it might take some time and would like to be able to drive the car.
And also: will a valve cover from a 1.6 miata fit a 1.8 head?

-Derek