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Our Miata adventures began not quite 12 years ago when I got a wild hair and traded a motorcycle for our NA. Though I've been on the forum here quite a bit, I never started a build thread here. Now that I'm starting a K swap, I thought I'd document that here. It's also getting an AiM PDM32, Link ECU and complete re-wire as part of the swap. I've made a lot of use of the information on this forum over the years, hopefully someone will find something useful in my experiences with the swap.
First, a little background.... As I said, I swapped a perfectly good motorcycle for our '92 Miata back in 2011. It was completely stock, with 150kish miles, and three different brands of tires at the time. I was amazed at how much fun it was to drive. I have been playing with things with engines and wheels most of my life, but had never really driven a Miata. When Miatas were introduced in 1990, I had an 11 second Fox Mustang, and a 100hp roadster simply wasn't even on the radar for me. Things change, and picking up the NA was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Over the next few years, the NA progressed through the usual street BS... wheels, VMaxx suspension, roll bar. We drove it to CO for FM summer camp in 2012, and in 2013 it did it's first track day.
It was the first time I'd been on a road race track with a car. I'd auto crossed way back in the 1980s, drag raced both cars and bikes, and road raced bikes for around 5 years, but this was the first time on 4 wheels. And I was hooked (not that it took much). Progress on the car continued (slowly), with a few distractions (C6 'Vette - POS), and the NA got more and more track focused. VVT swap, MS3, 6 speed trans, Wilwoods, Xidas...
Eventually, I made the decision to make it track only, and go full monty with a cage, fire system, etc. Over the last couple of years, that, plus aero and some final suspension stuff has pretty much finished up the chassis.
I have always used the Supermiata pattern as a 'guideline' while building this car, with the turbo BP 'S1' spec as the big picture. I even collected a bunch of parts for a turbo BP build along the way, but I never pulled the trigger on an engine build. I was ready to do that in the early part of 2023, but I was still hesitant... And to explain that, I need to explain our goals with the car. Both my wife and I drive the car on track. She drives in the HPDE groups, and I drive in the HPDE groups and compete in TT groups with the trackday organization we run with. I retired in January, and my wife will retire in December of this year. At that point, we are planning to do some part time RVing, which will include taking the NA to tracks we've never been to... we want to drive as many different tracks in the US as we can visit. For that, reliability is the number one goal. The NA has been incredibly reliable so far, and I didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. Turbo BPs don't always meet that goal.
Along the way I had considered other avenues to power... LS, Ford smallblock, LFX, and K swaps. Before pulling the trigger on a BP build, I decided to take a last look at the options. And the K swap kept jumping out at me. The swap kit isn't cheap, but the engines are, and stock reliability at 200-220hp is exactly what I was looking for. I also discovered a NASA rule change for '23 that allows a tubular x-member retaining stock suspension geometry. I had long wanted to start running with NASA in TT, but the car never really fit into a class where it would be competitive, so I hadn't bothered. Our current organization classes by power/weight with a tire modifier, and the car has been competitive there, with three wins last year, and two wins and a runner up so far this year. On paper, the car with a K swap on Toyo RRs pencils out very well for NASA TT4.
So, TLDR... after a couple of phone conversations with K Power, I pulled the trigger on the parts in February, and yesterday some big boxes arrived....
While I was waiting for the swap parts, a few other things had arrived...
I'm still waiting on the crossmember to drop ship, and I need to buy a K24A2, but things are about to get rolling...
I was hoping to be rolling on this project by this time, but sometimes, life throws a curve at you... in this case it was a good one. I mentioned above our retirement goal of RVing around the country, running the NA at tracks we've never been to. The last piece of that puzzle was a stacker trailer to haul two cars: the NA, and a street car we could use as a runabout. After months of looking, I found one last week...
We also are attending FM Summer Camp this year, our first time back since 2018. We had planned to take our NB, but the stacker allows us to take both. So the NA will do one more track event before the swap.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on the crossmember (should be here next week???), and the EPS kit arrived the other day...
My wife has been complaining ever since I de-powered the steering, so I decided to add EPS as a part of the project.
So, apologies for the delay, but things should be kicking off in early June.
Ok, things are finally rolling again. I'm glad I got to take the NA to Summer Camp again in it's final 'BP' form... and it set the 2nd fastest lap time, behind only an LS swapped NB track car on 275 A7s. Great way for the BP to go out.
Today, I finally got a tracking number for the crossmember, the only part of the swap kit I'm still waiting on. I also pulled the trigger today on a JDM K24A....
I'll be picking it up in Phoenix on Thursday. Tomorrow I'll be running by my storage unit to pick up my engine hoist and stand. Looking forward to getting this going!
I'll be picking it up in Phoenix on Thursday. Tomorrow I'll be running by my storage unit to pick up my engine hoist and stand. Looking forward to getting this going!
FWIW: it’s a tall engine compared to the BP and IIRC mine didn’t have any convenient places to attach lifting chains. Be ready, think creatively!
I was hoping to be rolling on this project by this time, but sometimes, life throws a curve at you... in this case it was a good one. I mentioned above our retirement goal of RVing around the country, running the NA at tracks we've never been to. The last piece of that puzzle was a stacker trailer to haul two cars: the NA, and a street car we could use as a runabout. After months of looking, I found one last week...
We also are attending FM Summer Camp this year, our first time back since 2018. We had planned to take our NB, but the stacker allows us to take both. So the NA will do one more track event before the swap.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on the crossmember (should be here next week???), and the EPS kit arrived the other day...
My wife has been complaining ever since I de-powered the steering, so I decided to add EPS as a part of the project.
So, apologies for the delay, but things should be kicking off in early June.
Take a hacksaw and cut down the **** post. don't cut too much as it still has to go inside the ****. I snapped mine getting in/out of the car and it still worked but an internal short had my EPS turning on/off randomly until I bought another switch for a $100. First thing I did, cut down the post.
Yes! I'm very interested in following your progress and happy to see a Link G4X in your plans. It was great to meet you at FM Summer Camp, and great driving out there!
Yes! I'm very interested in following your progress and happy to see a Link G4X in your plans. It was great to meet you at FM Summer Camp, and great driving out there!
Good to meet you too, I guess?! Met a lot of new folks this year, but haven't matched them with forum names... ?
Started tearing down the engine today in preparation for installing the swap parts... no leaks, and everything appears in good shape so far. Cleanup should be pretty quick. A couple of the harness were cut a little shorter than I'd prefer, but can't do much about that.
Looks pretty typical in the ports for a ~60k engine...
Good to meet you too, I guess?! Met a lot of new folks this year, but haven't matched them with forum names... ?
yeah, there were a lot of people there. I was the one who came over to talk to you and Travis about K-Swaps while you were helping your wife get ready for her run. If it helps further, I thought your car was already swapped because it sounded "honda-ish" and I was driving the silver NB with ITBs. No worries though, a lot of faces at that event.
Just another K swap...
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