Mazda Miata + Opel Ascona = Asconiata?

Or would it be a MiAscona?

Now that the hard question has been asked.. i do have a couple questions.

first one is easy, its about the e30 rear end. (Asconiata/MiAscona 318?) the set up i got doesn't come with rear calipers and the guy cut the parking brakes. i found some new parking brakes on eBay and it doesnt look too difficult to modify the parking brake situation to work with the factory handle. as far as the rear calipers, anything from an e30 with rear discs is ok? some guy on "ebay-K" said that his e36 'compact' rear calipers would work on any e30 rear end. little skeptical since the forums ive browsed through provide some differing opinions.

Second has to do with the Miata ECU/wiring. Unfortunately the guy cut through some of these wires, i have no issue tracking down the cut ones and re soldering the ones in need of help. That said, what things need to be connected to the ECU for the motor to work? Also, if there are major roadblocks to using the stock miata ECU, what are the best stand alone units? megasquirt vs the me221 vs other options im not privy to?

two and a half? Id maybe like to keep the speedo/tach and what not, might be able to stuff that into the dash in place of the Opel one.  i assume its impossible to meld the mechanical spinning wire to what appears to be the mazda electronic one. this kinda ties back into the previous Q, whats a decent digital dash that i could use? or am i better off with a host of autometer gauges and making those work? Found options one and two on ebay that im ok with.

Thats all i got for now, im sure ill have more in the future.

Thanks GRM

Any hints on what year the Miata is? You can run either a mechanical cable or an electronic pulse off the transmission depending on what the Opel wants.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

NA miata 1.6l (MX5 on this side of the pond LOL), id rather keep it a mechanical cable since thats what the opel used originally. if the gearing is so far off, im willing to give the digital dash stuff a go provided that i can adjust it accordingly. i was dumb and forgot to ask the year, if there are stamp numbers or something on the head and block im willing to go look around on it.

There's a VIN on the oil pan and the transmission, that will tell you the year.

That NA should have come with a mechanical cable, not an electronic speedo. You may need a custom cable to mate the trans to the Opel cluster, and then you might have to play with some different gears (available off some different models of MX5) to get the gearing right.

Tach may read correctly if you simply hook it up. It may also read double, I'm not 100% sure. Does the Opel use VDO gauges?

E36 compact is the "ti", which afaik uses the e30 subframe.  Should fit. 

The early 1.6L MX-5 ECU is pretty simple so I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be able to run the engine whatever it is in.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

awesome I’ll get both VINs from the set up to see what they came out of! Probably look them up as well.

The Opel doesn’t have a tach, though I’m not too worried about it at the moment. I looked up what VDO gauges are but didn’t find anything that would be a key ID feature for them. Looks mostly like OEM gauges? I did read that GM used them and the Opel does have a bunch of GM labels.

OldGray320i said:

E36 compact is the "ti", which afaik uses the e30 subframe.  Should fit. 

Awesome, I’ll grab those. Brackets any different? Or literal bolt on?

BoxheadTim said:

The early 1.6L MX-5 ECU is pretty simple so I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be able to run the engine whatever it is in.

Just make sure all the engine plugs are connected and then try to start?

You can probably find a dash from a sportier version of your Ascona that does include a tach. Ascona As were pretty popular club race and rally cars in Germany when they were newer.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

i absolutely can, however the one thats in there now has grown on me. who knows what ill do? ill probably get one with it anyways lol

just woke up, ill report back with VINs and such soon

Sorry for the delay, had to hunt down a steel supply location.

vin tags were taken off the car

Most of the NA/NB engine management is pretty simple and won't have any trouble running the car in isolation. Just make sure you have the basics right like the fuel feed and return lines on the correct barbs - that's a common mistake. You will need the airflow meter attached to a functional intake.

The reason I asked about VDO gauges is because you often see them on German cars and it opens up a lot of interchange options. Sounds like finding an Ascona tach shouldn't be too bad. I'm pretty sure it'll read correctly.

TurboFocus said:

BoxheadTim said:

The early 1.6L MX-5 ECU is pretty simple so I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be able to run the engine whatever it is in.

Just make sure all the engine plugs are connected and then try to start?

From an electrical perspective, yes. Keith obviously covered the fuel system part.

Another thought along that line - if the Ascona was carbureted, make sure you have a high pressure fuel pump and high pressure lines in the car.

As for your question about the best ECU, given your location I'd go to ME.

Actually, re his location - unless TurboFocus is exempt from TÜV/ASU requirements I'd check with the local friendly TÜV engineer first. It might be a good idea to run the stock ECU first for emissions requirements and then switch to a programmable one if it proves necessary.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I have methods of passing TUV...

if if I can run the stock ECU I’d rather do that just to save money.

make sure all plugs on the motor find a match. Wire in fuel system, obtain a Miata maf. Got it, thanks lol

for the fuel, rear  is feed, front is return?

motor mount plates cut and shaped. 

The regulator is on the return line.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

this is why i continue to return to GRM for help, i wouldve screwed that one up!

trivia question for ya, what is the size/thread of the bolts on the motor mount that mount to the block?

how well did i fab up the mount plates?

So I managed to get the motor in today, I’m waiting for a buddy to help with the trans. Gonna need some muscle for that one. Too much for me to handle on my own.

Since I’m on my own for a hot minute might as well work on wiring, I’ve found the ECU plugs und vas ist das. I’m no elechicken so this is a bit over my head.

i was able to find a hint about the donor car from the ECU. I googled some of the numbers and all of the closest matching number I found all say it’s an NA 1 MX5/Miata. My camera phone is broke And the wife is sleeping so I’ll just hand jam them out top to bottom.

B6GRB

977431V

B6GR

EGI

B6GP 18 881B

079700-6141

12V

DENSO MADE IN JAPAN

006141C

Based on the picture of the engine, I'd say 1990-93 1.6. I'm not as familiar with the 1.6 units after that point, but boy does it look like a 1990-93.

OldGray320i said:

E36 compact is the "ti", which afaik uses the e30 subframe.  Should fit. 

true, but the TI uses a 5-lug hub (vs. 4-lug in the e30). That may or may not affect if the calipers are a direct fit or not. IDK why even bother. You can get reman'd e30 calipers pretty cheap off RockAuto or anyplace else. They're not rare.....

Keith Tanner said:

Based on the picture of the engine, I'd say 1990-93 1.6. I'm not as familiar with the 1.6 units after that point, but boy does it look like a 1990-93.

Awesome that corroborates with the only other evidence I’ve found. I found some other markings on the trans that I’ll look up to confirm.

@all Miata experts: I’ve got sad news, my wiring harness is pretty cut up, if I can provide pics is there someone that can tell me what it was supposed to be?

In reply to irish44j :

Oh duh, why didn’t I check rock auto?

And the brakes won’t work, disc size difference. Those use 272mm and mine are 258mm. I’d have to find 272mm discs is 4x100 that fit properly.

MiatasconE30

So rear calipers ordered off rock auto.

Wires i need help with:

1. Blue and yellow? (possibly blue and lime) wire in the front of the engine, hangs out near the front water temp sensor. best my wire diagram reading can do is the power steering pressure switch. A bit of google-fu and careful pausing seems to corroborate this hypothesis. if anyone with a 90-93 miata is kind enough to go pop their hood id appreciate it!

This thread kinda agrees? Maybe?

2. Black, Black, Blue and White; theyre in the back of the engine buy what i assume is a cam sensor and coil packs. i couldnt find them on the diagram after a half hour of searching

3. Top of trans to the starter area: think that these guys go together, some one tell me yes and ill solder them. colors all match, red / blue, black / yellow, black, brown / white

best i can read on there is that the brown white/black have something to do with cruise control?i think im wrong though

Found the answer to this one

4. Green and brown at the very back of the car, again i couldnt find them on the wiring diagram. assuming some sort of sensor on the bumper?

If anyone has better diagrams that i could use, let me know. i couldnt find 3/5 things i searched for

Source of diagram: 

http://neomiata.com/garage/Wiring%20Diagrams/Wiring%20Diagrams%201990-1996/1990_Miata%20Wiring%20Diagrams.pdf

http://neomiata.com/garage/Wiring%20Diagrams/Wiring%20Diagrams%201990-1996/1990_Miata%20System%20Wiring%20Diagrams.pdf

http://neomiata.com/garage/Wiring%20Diagrams/Wiring%20Diagrams%201990-1996/1990_Miata%20How%20To%20Use%20System%20Wiring%20Diagrams.pdf

So, good news, i found good diagrams! the harness can now begin being chopped up and lightened/minimalized! ( ive made 4 cuts lol, i suck)

My motor/ECU/etc is from a 1994+ 1.6L 90hp euro market variant and these are the diagrams i used, if there are any euro grm'ers out there

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.miataturbo.net-vbulletin/764x800/80-mx5_ecu_pinouts_1hidif_17f53e134c2b5811fb8ac8ffd9f432a034432168.jpg

http://www.mx5usedparts.co.uk/media/MX5-Wiring_Diagram_94-98_UK_Mk1.pdf

Next im trying to figure out what to do with the fuel system and throttle cable.

For the fuel system, 6an seems to be a popular size... i assume that will that work for a miata engine as well? since the end of the fuel rail has a regulator would putting a regulator on the feed be overkill/not necessary?

As far as my fuel tanks goes, i know ill have to modify it to Accept a return line and thats not too much of a problem. i plan on drilling a hole in the top of the fuel tank, fabricate a sheet metal plate with a return fitting already on there and some riv-nuts. plus liberal amounts of silicone.

My real concern is the fuel out of the tank; the goal is to get a universal-gravity fed-external kit off of ebay or something akin to it. my question about this is, will that little nozzle on the bottom be enough to feed the pump? if not, ill just do the same thing as i plan to for the return, but on the bottom of the tank. what size to get for the tank outlet? AN6? AN10? if im limited based off of the pump i use, obviously ill just make the size required. personnal suggestions are welcomed here

Pics of fuel tank: (not mine specifically but a carbon copy of it.

Heres a pic of the OEM throttle cable, its a little short LOL

Anyways, first thought is to get a bicycle cable and try to recreate this. If that fails, whats the general consensus? go to the junk yard, find a couple cables with the appropriate ends on them and try to solder the bike cable/throttle cable ends together? any other routes to go that im not aware of?