"She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy"

I kinda like my 23 year old tractor motor though.

 

I mean it has its pluses and minuses. I would be nice to drop 80lbs off the nose and stick a modern engine in there that was actually used in a pro racing series.

 

Is it time for one of these bad boys? https://supermiata.com/Billet-Crank-Mazda-BP.aspx

Or a K swap?**





**I am wildly unaware of classing rules and assume this is not class legal, tongue in cheek suggestion

 

SSM allows it but with a weight penalty for engines from other manufacturers so probably not worth the hit there. Without knowing enough about them, I always figured that an MZR with the kind of money this BP has put into it, would be lighter and ultimately make more power.

 

When I started this build the cross manufacturer engine swap was illegal and there was a meaningful "grey area" around the legality of some things related to the MZR.

At this point I can fix this new issue with the BP for significantly less money and effort that it would take to swap to a different platform and the last thing the car needs is more power.

The sole reason for doing the swap would be the weight removal.

And I am considering it, but it wont happen before 2021.

 

Weight removal is big, but having an engine that doesnt want to destroy itself and everything bolted to it at sustained RPM is also nic. And the proper cooling system routing is nice. But I can understand you not wanting to switch immediately since you have a lot more money tied up in BP specific parts, the only engine stuff I had to redo on my sway was all the exhaust and the intake piping, which was like a grand total of like $1500 mainly driven by wanting to be a 321 stainless baller and having the meme 3.5" full exhaust. I presume you have more into just your supercharger intake manifold than that.

 

I'm also very strongly considering a move to a manual brake system with dual master cylinders.

The brakes in my car have been horribly inconsistent and I'm ready to make some BIG changes.

I anyone have any real world experience with manual brakes on these car with ABS and big r comps?

 

Sorry to be a bit off topic but do you know how big the difference is between an MZR and NB VVT short block ?

 

Contact Emilio. He has the Tilton dual master in Vegas and should be able to tell you what he likes and the drawbacks we have encountered with it.

 

Assume the manual dual master brakes would be in addition to Mk 60 as well? With the cams and general setup you have, does your engine even have enough vacuum to make a brake booster worthwhile?

 

So I might be the biggest idiot in the history of idiots.

I was going over the brake system today and realized that when I re-plumbed my brake system like 3 seasons ago....I removed the "check valve" in the vacuum line "feeding" the booster.

I've been fighting intermittent brake boost for about....ohhhhhh 3 seasons.

I went to the back yard and cut the check valve out of the hose in that car...pushed it into the hose in my system....we will see next week if I notice a difference.

#IFeelDumb

 

Just relish in the fact it is a free upgrade!

How do you like your Bogart wheels? Thinking about getting a set and was curious on your thoughts.

 

You might be looking at needing a replacement booster as well if that doesn't fix your issue completely, it probably is not a fan of getting slammed with lots of instant on/off boost for years.

 

It never saw boost. It was plumed into the throttle body manifold before the rotor pack.

 

If you still want to upgrade, MSM abs doesnt get ice mode (from billy it seems non msm 01+ still can) and msm booster + master has the least amount of boost/firmest pedal. That was my brake setup and it worked really well.

 

I've actually already changed the ABS unit to something "non Miata" did that and tested at Bristol. It's the magic sauce.

I think I'm still going to go manual over the winter.

 

MSM and non-MSM '01-'05 ABS is the exact same unit (Mazda part number NC78-43-780)
Unless you know some undocumented MSM secret ...

 

Maybe I was always just lucky. But running similar setup with similar aged tires on the same course 1 car with known non-msm abs got ice mode and one with known msm abs didnt. Was the ABS like an ECU where the part numbers would be the same but it would need to be flashed by the dealer to your vin?

 

I've also not gotten ice moded with the MSM unit in my car.

 

The NB Miata ABS unit is "ancient" tech. If it were possible to flash it by the dealer everyone around would know it.
It was probably just driver's driving style (someone dancing right on the limit), suspension setup, etc.