festiva + miata = brainstorming?

[schreurs1]

So.......

ive been off these boards for about 6 months as i have been indulged in our racing season here in the midwest. 12 wins, 2 championships, and 2 blown motors later, its that time year to take on some projects i dont have time for during the summer.

He has: 1991 mazda miata. 1.6 5spd. complete car. he wants to drop in a 485hp LSX 5.3 with a T56 6spd and Fbody independent rear end. which leaves a 1.6, RWD trans and stock miata diff leftover. did i mention he has a turbo kit for it too? minus the turbo of course

I have: 2 festivas. one as my DD and one that could be put on the street to be used as a trade for the aforementioned items. also am a dirt track racer and farmer so fab work and engineering come natural.

so that equals brainstorming. what could i do with these parts?

A: the obvious and easiest route. swap in the 1.6 (B6ZE?) with G25MR?(assuming the stock 5spd would EXPLODE with any power near triple digits). Ever been done? would i need the entire miata harness? what axles would a guy need for the g25mr trans? i know custom mounts would be needed. what if i throw boost at this thing? i thought i saw somewhere that the B6ZE was built for boost? would i need injectors, etc, and how would i go about getting the ECM tuned?

OR...

B: RWD festiva!? the obviously difficult/impossible/stupid idea. cut out the tunnel to fit all necessary drivetrain parts, and a rear subframe to jig up rear end mounts. would be very time consuming but possible.

Insight and ideas would be appreciated but leave the negativity at the door. again, this is BRAINSTORMING.

[Grey Vw]

One person has done a RWD Festiva with I think a miata trans. Find Ketchup.

[gorgonheimer]

He hated it when he was done. He once said he could have built a really sick fwd car for half of the time and money he put in the rwd.


Just saying....

[hotfordcat]

Was in Huron last week for the Wissota 100. Helping Jamie Neumiller #6 from Rapid.

[schreurs1]

didnt make it up to the 100 but would have liked to.

i believe that gorgonheimer, looks like you basically gotta build your own chassis.

[JPT]

Axles to fit a G25MR into a Festiva.

'88 - '89 Mazda 323GT or '91 - '94 Mercury Capri XR2. If you want equal length axles, you will also need the (hard to get) intermediate shaft from either of these cars. If you find one of these cars, the transmissions in them happen to be G series. Solves two problems (finding the trans and axles). Only these two axle/mid shaft combos will work.

One other option. It appears that 2001 -2005.5 Kia Rio axles will work in a G series Mazda transmission. Only bad thing is you end up with unequal length axles (no mid shaft).

Hope this helps.

[schreurs1]

useful info indeed JPT, thanks!

[IdealSociety]

festiva is way too short a car for a FR layout, not enough weight in back to keep it balanced.

However, when you stick the engine in the back and make it RR things clean up and the universe becomes equalized

[getnpsi]

Depends how much you love the festivas. I want a miata myself but id keep both as their design and mod them learning from others mistakes. The festivas should be rear engined if its rwd. You can pick up a cheap miata not running and have something to play with, your friend might have a lot left over odds and ends you can use to make a fun 1.6 miata on a really low budget....and still have 2 festivas ready. Im also not sure on the engine designs, on fords there was a definate fwd and rwd configuration that did not stop at just the intake and exhaust monifolds. You dont want to overheat your festiva with miata engine just because the oil and/or coolant control varies between platforms.

[fastivaB6TG25MR]

if he is only going for 485 hp why not save all the fab work and weight and just swap to a BP motor i the miata? my friend is running 500+whp in his turbo'd BP 94 miata with a 6 speed.

[schreurs1]

not sure why but im not complaining, means i get a B6ZE, harness, ECM, turbo setup, and some wheels for cheap.

i did notice that the B6ZE is a coil ignition system vs distributor ignition, whats it take to make the coil setup work or can a guy covert it to a distributor?

[Rocketman]

If you use the Miata harness & ECU the coilpacks will work fine.

If you use a different ECU you'll need a matching distributor. The Miata uses the CAS and coilpacks because a dizzy wouldn't fit up against the firewall

[schreurs1]

Ah that makes sense. Will a miata ecu work with boost? Or a b6 ecu? I'm not a newb to horsepower but boost is uncharted territory for me. I've learned a lot on these boards and the amount of knowledge here is amazing.

[getnpsi]

Set a HP goal (budget goal/cap/etc) first. I've seen some really fast yet dependable daily driven turbo miatas out my way with very minor add-ons in the fuel department, and I've seen some projects online that still do not run because owners purchase the best of everything. Rocketman knows his megasquirt and the options there, if you just want something more down to earth with modest output there are plenty of workarounds with the stock b3/b6/b6z electronics.


Oh has anyone here put together a festiva or mazda 323 with complete miata ecu and harness? I was thinking of doing that at one time but did not buy the corresponding parts car. I also see the harnesses and ecu's up for sale once in a while too.

User festyfreak runs a miata type top end on a 1.5 bottom with an old style b6 ecu and he boosts it. If i didn't have 2 b8 engines id copy his car piece by piece unless I came up on a BP.

[mattman]

i have to see if i can get ahold of the guy but i knew a dude who was gonna put a festy body on a miata chassis by trimming the body off the miata to the floor except for the firewall an cut the floor out of the festy an set it on top an then stitch it all together but its been a few months since i talked to him n i dont think he ever got on here but i will see i know he said the wheelbase of the festy an the miata are like an inch different i thought it was a kool idea so i will see if he did anything with it yet