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What do you mean you're not doing anything in the name of money saving? You're throwing around 350hp like it's no big deal, while talking about coated stock pistons and dingle ball hone and skipping the upgraded oil pump. You're ALWAYS talking about saving money. I have all those parts, forged pistons, etc with a genuine 2871R (not a churbo) and still couldn't break 320.
I agree with Lars. Stick with the stock engine, drive the car for a while. If you decide you need more once you learn how to drive the thing, then build for more. But... if you have the opportunity to get a VVT engine with a rod knock for $100, I'd suggest you do so.
I agree with Lars. Stick with the stock engine, drive the car for a while.
It has been 7 years since I first started down the built motor route. If I could go back to winter 2010, I would slap myself in the face. Then just keep my begi S1 with 2554 on the car and have enjoyed driving the car for the past 7 years. With far more money in my pockets.
I'm not doing anything in the name of 'money saving' to be honest. I'm just defining goals slightly differently. The purpose of this project was for me to learn car things. I wanted to learn to build an engine, which is why I'm going this route. Looking around at posts on this site, folks start saying things get sketchy north of 300 and there's a ton of work required everywhere to get the car to work well. It just seems headachey.
fair enough
but I say you should learn to diagnose a simple oil leak before you should learn how to build an engine
gotta walk before you can run
Here's the scenario we see on an almost daily basis:
Jumps into a project.
Doesn't even know where to begin.
Starts wrenching/"tuning"/modding
Stuff goes wrong
Creates 600 billion threads to be spoonfed info and hand held throughout the process
The regulars get all pissy
Flaming begins
if you don't have a goal, or your goal is constantly changing, it's gonna lead to a LOT of wasted money. been there, done that, have the t-shirt. seen dozens of guys do the same.
there's nothing wrong with it either, as long as you know that it will happen. just read through the build threads here, and see how much money was spent by your average guy.
the ironic part is that the guys that are constantly jerry-rigging their cars/setups in the name of money saving, are almost always the guys that spent the most by far on their car in the end.
Originally Posted by shuiend
As someone who went down the same route you have. Leave the stock motor in the car. Enjoy 220whp for years and actually driving the car. Put all that motor money towards hookers and blow.
I even suggest you remove your current engine in preparation for the built motor that will surely be ready to install in a matter of a couple weeks.
This^
I am waiting for my motor mount that I just wasted some more money on, not to mention all the seals. I still need a bunch of other small crap too.
And on a miata related note, this is what my car looks like right meow. Thanks to philly miata! Looking forward to hanging again!
I also drove home an hour with my heat blasting on the hottest day we've had this summer because I had the AC blasting and looked down to see the coolant gauge starting to move from 11 oclock to 1-2 oclock. That was a pretty miserable experience but I'm glad to have caught it before **** went down.
That vvt motor was a bust. Guy ended up buying a junkyard motor for a different car he had and that turned out to have a suspect head so he swapped the head from the motor with a spun bearing... So he had a bad block and bad head, with some pieces that were likely missing. He offered to just give me the engine... but I didn't want to end up with a pile of useless crap so I passed. Oh well... A mt.net'er has offered to swap my nb1 head for a VVT head they have sitting around, so we might make that swap happen at some point.
Sniff! Now I'm really sad. Like more sad than normal, when reading your thread. I had to have my beagle put down 2 years ago, due to cancer. She only made it 9 years. I still miss that incredibly dumb, but very sweet doge!
He was legitimately one of the stupidest dogs I've ever met. Like... he would see a rabbit and then run in the wrong direction and then stop halfway because he got distracted. He couldn't play fetch properly because he'd always find something else along the way.
It made him even more endearing. Silly doge. I hope our doges are chasing wabbits in the dogey afterlife.