I still am unsure about the swap, it's a 50/50 thing for me. I looked at it like this: as bad assed as an lsx miata is, who wants to pull up next to it and race? Everybody who pulls up next to a turbo miata thinks, oh great, another import with an intercooler, and the race is on. I think if someone pulled up next to my car and saw the rollbar and heard the rumble of a v8, they'd say, "f this". I don't know about everybody else, but I like when a mustang or even a vette pulls up next to me, leaves the line screamin first gear almost to the rev limiter, only to realize they just saw a 4 cylinder pull away from them. It's weird, I just don't know what I would rather have.

 

Here's the thread you want to read on the L33 swap. Good luck with the project. Another convert!

[NA] L33 Conversion in a '93 - MX-5 Miata Forum

 

Wow! Wonder what kind of fuel mileage that bastard would get!



EEK!





Don't think I'd get in that car while moving.. Wouldn't want to be around it on the street either. I'm all for homebrew engineering and everything but that brake bracket scares the **** out of me!

 

Yeah, the brake part is a bit shaky. I was more referring to what is needed to swap the L33, what accessories are needed, etc.

 

Me too, big time.

Thats why you get a nice dual exhaust and they think you are a ricer because you have a realy mild 2" dual setup with great mufflers. And a pair of electronic cutouts from QTP or similar. Not much rumble most of the time. Lots when you want it. Better yet, kick the snot out of a bunch of retard with too much of their parent money and a bolt-ons 4.6 without even opening the cutouts

 

I have heard that here in cali, they check the VIN number to see what car the motor came from, which leads me to wonder where, exactly, the vin number is on the LS series motors. If it is on the oil pan, that would make me a very happy camper and I would forget all the other motors I have been considering including:

1uz-fe: cheap engine and tranny ... bitch to mate up, no conversion kits.
4h45-de: Need to check this one out
Ford 5.0: Cheap, reliable, heavy as ****
LT1: Look up one item
VQ35: Lots of work for run of the mill power with no room for upgrades (basically maxxed out from the factory) price? fittment? transmission? dunno
LS1 + T56: Best all around performance, but wayyyyy overpriced
5.3LS + T56: Perfect power level, cheapish, unsure if i can get it street legal.
SBC: Cheap, Amazing aftermarket + knowledge, not likely to pass emmissions though and crappy fuel economy.

BTW, My intentions is to swap into an FCS3 RX7 chasis and not a miata .. just a little more room in there

 

That looks scary for real. I can see calipers falling off, brackets bending and locking up tires .... Brake fabrication is an area I dont care to get into, unless I worked with someone who knew what they were doing.

L33 swap, or any truck 5.3 will at minimum require:
- replacing the oil pan and intake manifold with corvette/camaro pieces
- a t56 tranny (assuming you want manual)
- custom driveshaft to connect with whatever rear you run
- modified clutch lines, prolly a new master/slave cylinder and custom lines.
- Modified throttle linkage. L33 uses a motorized throttle, so from what I understand, you need to swap in the silverado pedal assy
- A custom wiring harness will have to be made by mating a miata harness with the LS harness, at least if you want to run the stock ecu which you would have to be a retard not to as it is 100% tunable and 100% awesome
- AC, PS ... i dont have a clue
- beefier diff (for obvious reasons) Ford 8.8 seems the standard
- hope this helps?

Dont forget getting decent brakes No ghey brackets either.

 

This is an interesting question. The states that specifically disallow engine swaps between vehicle classes do so for emissions reasons - light trucks are in a different category than passenger vehicles. Some quick googling and searches on ls1tech don't show an easy way to absolutely identify the origin of an engine - ie, I can't find that the VIN of the original vehicle is fixed to it anywhere. So the thing to do may (for these engines that were used cross-platform between cars and trucks) be to claim its origin as from a passenger vehicle instead of a truck.

The ECU apparently does have the vehicle VIN on it.

Also note that federal emissions laws prohibit engine swaps of an older engine into a newer vehicle - this is illegal everywhere for street use. This generally won't be an issue with LS series engines since typically the miata shell being used is older than the engine.

 

good to know, thanks

 

Oh noes, my 91 motor into my 99. I guess they can add it to the charge of no cats while they are at it.

 

So picked up that motor today, then I signed up for v8miata.net. I told you guys, once this motor is in my garage I'll make a decision. Well it didn't take long. Now the fun begins!

 

IIRC the iron block 5.3s are rated at 285HP, though its more like 300-320. Guys on LS1tech are seeing low 300WHP on their trucks with a LTs/Exhaust and an LS6 intake.

Put a cam in it too .You dont need low end TQ

 

I need to get the hell out of california, stat ... smog laws are making planning a future project (on a budget) a serious headache.

 

I gotta check the local bone yard and try to find a thunderbird turbo coupe to yank the 8.8 IRS unit. As for the motor, I'm thinking cam, intake, maybe heads but probably not. I wanna keep it simple and cheap, but still make close to 400hp.

 

Move to my area, no smog, just inspection.

 

Thirdgen, can you do your own fab? If not, getting this thing done for $5K is a pipe dream. Everything that goes into the swap has been rehashed in quite a few threads here, and you can also go through npartist's page to check out his 3 documented swap builds using all three of the different kits.

That T56 that needs a rebuild will be $500 minimum if you can't do it yourself. They run about $400 just for the labor then you gotta pay for parts. Then nickel and diming that goes on for **** like the fuel system ends up running closer to a grand, then the exhaust on a budget will still be another 800-1000. What headers do you plan to run? Sanderson shorties are cheapest but still need to be modified.

I could go on and on.

Frank

 

You don't need a TC. Any 5.0 or 4.6 Thunderbird will have it. That opens up your choices.

 

Awesome, my ls1 camaro pal claims that if I don't launch the car hard, the stock miata rear should hold up. What size is the stock rear? I know it has 4.30 gears, but what is it? A 7.5"?

 

7"

The biggest thing is dealing with a Miata rear end that is designed to have the PPF holding the nose up. It would hold up in the sense that it holds 270whp in turbo Miatas.

 

Can I do my own fab? Does Charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? I am a fabricator by trade. If I had some sort of blueprints for a frame kit, I could build it. As far as headers, I'd buy em and get em jet hotted. I could build the exhaust though, exhaust bending / welding is my specialty and my passion.
Fuel system, what do I need to mod on that? My 5.3 fuel rail has a vacuum fpr on the rail. Would a walbro 255 be sufficient?