Rickracer

OK, I see a lot of terminology being used that I don't recognize, some that I do recognize, but not sure about. What is a BP engine? Where are the breaks between NA, NB, NC, ND? Where is the best place to look for pros and cons of each generation? I've been looking through the stickies, hoping to find some newbie FAQs on that stuff, but no such luck so far. I even had some thoughts about doing a rotary, had a '74 RX4 with a 13b in it back in the day, traded a Pontiac starter and distributor for it, did some exhaust and carb work on it, and made a set of "slapper bars" for it, went low 13s on near stock size tires, I drove the **** out of it for a year before I finally blew it up, turn out somebody had disconnected and plugged off the metering oil pump, if I'd known, I would have been running some 2 stroke oil in the gas, oh well, . I just can't stand the racket they make when they are all modded out. I saw some stuff about swapping an Escape motor, but I think it was the 4 cylinder they were talking about. My fiancee also has an 04 Escape with a 3.0, and it's a pretty spunky motor, but having done some major engine work on some of them as well, I'm not fond of the complexity. You have to take half the motor apart to do a head gasket. Not too fond of the Camaro 3.4 either, heard of too many with the bottom end bad, replaced a couple as well.
I have a buddy and customer that had a 2.8/3.1 turbo motor in a Corolla that went low 6s in the 1/8th, carrying the front tires on the launch. I did some structural and suspension work on that one to make sure it went straight when it came back down, . I only saw it run once, but I saw a lot of time slips, and I was impressed. EVERYTHING on that car was low $$ except the engine management system, which was Haltech, IIRC. I love that Minivett Miata with 600+ hp, but I don't think I'd be willing to spend the kind of $$ to build that kind of car. I don't need to be the fastest, but I like it when the top 10 fast guys are together and wonder why I'm not there.
I want a car that can be impressive for 10 or 15 years without a boatload of expensive maintenance or upgrades.

BTW, my brother had a (69?) Opel GT, if it hadn't been such a horrible rust bucket, it would have wound up as a street strip car with a small block Chevy, a TH350, and probably a 9" Ford rear. Another car I would like to have built would be a 70s Datsun Z car, a friend of a friend had one with just a 305/TH350 in it, and it was FUN, & pretty quick stoplight to stoplight, don't know if he ever took it to the track....

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

2.8/3.1/3.4 are the same engine bored and stroked differently.

Rickracer

?? Anybody??

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Wikipedia for the generations and production changes. And DIY FAQ sticky on this forum for more specifics.

Rickracer

Thanks for that, the Wikipedia listing for the Miata is pretty extensive, and links to some other pretty good Miata comparison articles too. It's good to know that NA goes all the way to 98. There are a couple of places here in Central Florida that specifically salvage Miatas and should be a good source of parts for my "yet to be purchased" car, as well as the fiancees 90. Hers needs a new convertible top pretty soon.