V8 miata on the cheap
 

Stumbled across this:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/2962365656.html

Granted, the old monster miata set ups are a bit 'tractorish' compared to a V8Roadsters set up and the 5.0 is sooo passe ...but damn, it's pretty cheap.

-Zach

Wow. Unless it's just an absolute hack job, definitely worth the asking price.

That car was just sold a few weeks ago...

I'm slightly puzzled.

It's a '99 car with a '95 engine in it, in California, and he claims to have a valid smog certificate in hand.

Clearly I still have much to learn on how to cheat the system.

Dont you just register the car with the motor, and so long as it passes the emisisons of that motor you're good? something to that matter.

I thought they do visual inspections like they do in MA? (or are supposed to do)

-Zach

I understand that, but I thought you could register the motor swap in CA, they will print it on the title or something even. then if you pass the emmisisons for that model year car the motor came out of, you're golden. I'm from VA, the land of the free, so what would I know.

Yes, except that the new engine must be the same year or newer as the vehicle. So putting a '95 motor into a '99 should be a no-no. (So far as I'm aware, this is the case in most / all states which have emissions inspection programs, not just CA.)

Does the actual motor in question have to be the same year or newer than the vehicle, or does it simply have to have (possibly) come from another vehicle the same year or newer?

I ask because the Windsor V8 was used the Explorer through 2001.

According to the ARB, "The engine must be the same year or newer than the vehicle."

Additionally, the poster indicated a "Painless 5.0 EFI harness not a used Mustang harness" in the Craigslist ad. So that's an aftermarket wiring harness (non-compliant), not to mention the fact that we now have a non OBD-II system installed in a car which was originally OBD-II compliant. (Painless Performance does not even manufacture OBD-II harnesses for the Ford 5.0 engine.)

It just doesn't add up. Something's fishy about that car.