Y'all might remember my Miata project from before the great photobucket disaster of 2017. Whelp, I reckon its time to post an update. The original build thread is FUBAR, however if your curiosity get the best of you, then you can read through the original build adventure and see the pictures. Yes, the photobucket links are all cut but the photos are still available to view with a clever plug-in. I'll post the details on how to access the original build thread including the color photos in a moment......
A quick recap for the folks that are too lazy to read the original post....
Way back in the summer of 2011 I picked up a rust free Miata that hailed from the state of Arizona. The car was everything you would expect from a Miata, but I wanted to try something different. I wanted to put together a commuter car that handled great, stopped great and delivered 50 MPG. In retrospect, those were some pretty ambitious goals. Luckily my ignorance to the overwhelming, monumental, colossal, and immense hurdle it would take to realistically achieve that sort of fuel mileage goal was pretty strong. Really, how hard could it be?
...so here is the finial solution....... The engine was replaced with a 1.3L powerplant gleaned from a lowly ford Festiva. Although this engine bolts right up to the Miata gearbox, a significant amount of Miata specific parts had to be swapped over to make the little 1.3 engine fit the RWD platform. In the end this engine was one of a kind. Once the engine was in place and running, I embarked on a six year odyssey to tune the engine to make the maximum amount of power and the least amount of fuel. Making power is simple... just add more fuel and air... Making power economically take a bit more finesse. During my journey I encountered admirers and hatters. The hatters perplexed me, because this was a honest high performance endeavor using every hot rodders trick to boost performance but somehow this was insulting to them. Meah, I do things my way, I often take the road less traveled.
Performance is subject to debate. The engine produced a E36 M3load of low end torque exactly where you wanted it to be Acceleration was on par with a 1.8L Miata ....up to 4500 RPM. After 4500 RPM the engine sort of stopped making any sort of usable power. For the street this was the perfect solution.... defiantly not a track car by any means. Most of the modifications are covered in the original build thread.
Modifications were not limited to the engine, the gearbox was rebuilt using an early RX-7 fifth gear set to boost overdrive. Every little bit counts...
Along the way, a 3.90 Torsen replaced the 4.10 Torsen.
Zoom Zoom everyday in a completely custom built car for 70,000 miles!
The little B3 engine took me on countless journeys.
...Because I don't like to suffer, the interior was tastefully trimmed in leather and the air conditioning system was fully functional.
To date, the best I have gotten was 52.25 MPG... not too shabby. Realistically the car delivered an honest 45 MPG during the daily commute. No special tricks or techniques.... just jump in and drive.
The clutch has been problematic for the past year or so. I like to think the engine makes too much low end torque, but honestly I don't have a clue why the clutch wont hold after 70K miles. The car was still very much drivable, but was no longer able to launch when I mashed the pedal to the floor with extreme prejudice. ... so out came the engine for a lookie.
Not looking good boys... looks like we got issues with the spinny things.
An engine is fitted with a new clutch and slid back into the bay.
Whelp, almost done. Needless to say I have learned a thing or two over the past six years. I say let's kick it up a notch and see what happens...
OK folks, that brings us up to date. If you wish to see the beginning of the story, you will need to install a plug-in for your browser to repair the damaged links to the photos.
For instance, if you use Firefox as a browser, just google 'firefox photobucket plug-in' and install the plug in. Plug-ins are available for Chrome, Internet explorer, Opera and others.
Alternative build thread from day 1 of the build
The B3 dyno used to develop and fine tune the engine.
Stay tuned!