Terrible news
#23
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so i have decided to swap in a 1.8 with a new clutch and a ms. As for the dash, Ibought a 96 for $900, and parted it out. my dash had a huge crack all the way down the middle and looked like crap. why not put in a mint one i have sitting in my garage? it looks much better. im not to concerend with the weight added, il take twenty more pounds for a clean interior.
#25
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Location: Taos, New mexico
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so i have decided to swap in a 1.8 with a new clutch and a ms. As for the dash, Ibought a 96 for $900, and parted it out. my dash had a huge crack all the way down the middle and looked like crap. why not put in a mint one i have sitting in my garage? it looks much better. im not to concerend with the weight added, il take twenty more pounds for a clean interior.
#30
I actually did what the OP did with the dash. I swapped in the 94-97 Dash. Honestly I think it looks much nicer and much more modern. Everyone has their preferences and we're not all so worried about 20 pounds. I honestly hate the 1.6 dash. It look and feels cheap to me. But again, that's my opinion. Which I'm entitled to. Just like the OP
I just noticed that everyone on MT.net is an English teacher.
I just noticed that everyone on MT.net is an English teacher.
#32
I am personally building a 1.6 lnc. For a few reasons, 1) I already had bought my hotside 2) I just want to see how much power this thing will make 3) it's what the car came with, so I decided to stick with that.
I see a few possibilities in my future if I am not happy with the power output. Do a LS swap and build the motor for NA, lots a compression, cam, head work blah blah blah or do a single turbo LS. I am leaning towards the second option. Boost is just so much fun.
Personally I wouldn't spend any money on a 1.8. If anything other than a 1.6 is getting swapped into my car it will be a LS series engine. I know it takes away from the character of the car ("it's not a Miata," "it has a chevy," "it's has a v8") but I don't really care anymore.
I see a few possibilities in my future if I am not happy with the power output. Do a LS swap and build the motor for NA, lots a compression, cam, head work blah blah blah or do a single turbo LS. I am leaning towards the second option. Boost is just so much fun.
Personally I wouldn't spend any money on a 1.8. If anything other than a 1.6 is getting swapped into my car it will be a LS series engine. I know it takes away from the character of the car ("it's not a Miata," "it has a chevy," "it's has a v8") but I don't really care anymore.
#35
You can get a 99-00 motor for less than $1000 easy and buy an artech mani and ebay or used garrett turbo with the additional 1k. Then you can buy all the other parts you were gonna have to buy anyway to get the MSM engine to 210whp and you would be at 250-260hp only limited by the stock bottom end.
#36
I disagree Ryan. All you need to get a mazdaspeed motor to 210whp is and intake, full exhaust, boost controller and o2 mod. There are quite a few motors available too. They will naturally be more expensive than a regular block. However you also have the Mazda oil lines built into the block from the factory. Now they even have flashes for the msm ecu which they haven't had in the beginning.
#38
I disagree Ryan. All you need to get a mazdaspeed motor to 210whp is and intake, full exhaust, boost controller and o2 mod. There are quite a few motors available too. They will naturally be more expensive than a regular block. However you also have the Mazda oil lines built into the block from the factory. Now they even have flashes for the msm ecu which they haven't had in the beginning.
#40
The reason the MSM ECU won't cost you a dime is because any of us would be happy to give you one. They are horrible pieces of **** and the only people running them on purpose are stuck with OBDII and don't feel like changing injectors out every year. To swap it into an NA, you would need to put the entire engine harness in and believe me, the ONLY reason to do that is if you simply want a project.
There are plenty of unique things about an MSM but the engine itself isn't one of them. Despite the cool valve cover that say 'Turbo' (+3whp) and a shiny oil cap that says 'Mazdaspeed' (+2whp to offset the weight of the cap), it's a '99 motor with VTCS (fail) instead of VICS (win).
The turbo on my track car has the upgraded wheel and has seen more track time than any IHI I know of. It's cracking pretty badly and I just hope it lasts the season because I don't have the budget for an upgrade this year. I have a stock spare but I'd be giving up 30whp and a bunch of top end. It's not a long term turbo for the track at >250whp. Do the 1.8 but don't bother with MSM parts unless you get them for the same price as the other stuff and skip the IHI turbo altogether.
There are plenty of unique things about an MSM but the engine itself isn't one of them. Despite the cool valve cover that say 'Turbo' (+3whp) and a shiny oil cap that says 'Mazdaspeed' (+2whp to offset the weight of the cap), it's a '99 motor with VTCS (fail) instead of VICS (win).
The turbo on my track car has the upgraded wheel and has seen more track time than any IHI I know of. It's cracking pretty badly and I just hope it lasts the season because I don't have the budget for an upgrade this year. I have a stock spare but I'd be giving up 30whp and a bunch of top end. It's not a long term turbo for the track at >250whp. Do the 1.8 but don't bother with MSM parts unless you get them for the same price as the other stuff and skip the IHI turbo altogether.