Probably pointless question: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Oct. 29, 2008 6:04 p.m. rmarkc New Reader

I've been spending too much time on Craigslist, wikipedia and misc forums instead of doing any work on my vehicles.

But all the time on the net reading about cars got me thinking about engine "interchanges" between some cars which leads to this question...

When a manufacturer shares/licenses an engine design with another manufacturer, is there any rule-of-thumb on who normally supplies or manufactures the engine? I'm thinking more about separate platforms (Mazda design BP in 1st gen Kia Sephia) not re-badges.
Oct. 29, 2008 6:14 p.m. neon4891 Dork

thats your problem, go work on the cars, especialy if one is a miata
Oct. 29, 2008 6:57 p.m. rmarkc New Reader

I know but it is dark and cold and I am lazy...and I don't have a Miata.

2 1st Gen RX7s, a 91 Galant Vr4, a Nissan 720 2WD and a Suzuki SX4 but no Miata...I do have a B6 from a Capri in the shed and a Miata intake mani and ECU though.
Oct. 29, 2008 8:12 p.m. neon4891 Dork

no garage?

I'm stuck wrenching on a gravel driveway, so yeah, berkeley that till its warm again.

Im looking at doing my oil early and using synthetic so I wont have to do it again till the snow is gone in the spring
Oct. 29, 2008 9:39 p.m. mtn Dork

rmarkc wrote: I don't have a Miata.

Now we are getting somewhere.
Step 1: get a miata.
Oct. 29, 2008 9:46 p.m. EastCoastMojo HalfDork

Craigslist is bound to have a Miata listed in your area
Oct. 30, 2008 12:22 a.m. curtis73 Reader

Usually the engine is simply supplied by the manufacturer. Like, for instance, back when the Jeeps used GM 2.8 v6 engines, GM accepted the contract from Jeep and supplied them with engines from their own production. They didn't license the engine out to other manufacturers, it was simply a purchase deal.

Most of them are this way. Even when the OEM provides rights to other companies, its usually such a close relationship that its academic... like GM licensing the 6.2/6.5 diesel to AM General. AMG tweaked things on the design with the military in mind, but production was still shared with GM.
Oct. 30, 2008 12:59 a.m. Duende New Reader

Oh, man, jealous of the VR4.
Oct. 30, 2008 6:26 a.m. rmarkc New Reader

neon4891 wrote:

no garage?

I'm stuck wrenching on a gravel driveway, so yeah, berkeley that till its warm again.

Im looking at doing my oil early and using synthetic so I wont have to do it again till the snow is gone in the spring

The closest I have to a garage is a ramshackle shed with an uneven dirt floor and a gravel driveway, so we're in the same boat...and my oil change is overdue.

EastCoastMojo wrote:

Craigslist is bound to have a Miata listed in your area

There are some around but I can't justify the cost when I already have 5 other vehicles in the yard...and my bank account couldn't handle it anyway...aren't convertibles supposed to drop in price when it gets cold???

Curtis, thanks for the answer. The question popped in my head after seeing 2 cheap cars pop up on CL fairly close together. There was a 97 Kia Sephia 5-speed for $300 that "runs good" but had a stolen cat and broken driver's side window and a 94 Escort 4 door, 5-speed, 1.8 liter (LX-E?) for $750. A couple of google searches later lead me to believe that these cars had the Mazda BP in common.

Duende wrote:

Oh, man, jealous of the VR4.

Don't be. It's been waiting for a timing belt/waterpump replacement for too long. I should take a pic amd submit it to the "Ran when parked" section over on Classic Motorsport.given the thick layer of dust on it.