3.0 V6 MX-5 (friends car)

[Digby]

Thought I would post this here aswell..

Yeah, so the engine is a bit heavier and the power gains are minimal, but they call my friend 'Mad Baz' for a reason.

Rotten Scimitar with a decent engine gave its life so I could drag its heart in my CRV back to my house.Let the games begin!

It's been quite a social thing with 10 or so of us round here having BBQ's and other MX-5 peeps showing up.All good fun.

Got the engine sitting relatively pretty in the engine bay today, so things may advance a bit more quickly now.He really only has a week to finish this project! At a later stage, the gearbox will probably end up as a type 9 and there will undoubtedly be some engine mods (triple webers?), but for now, this is where we are at..

































We are both off all week, so I will update.

[mat13]

Looks good to me, should purr quite nicely when its done, any idea on the power output of that lump?

[davepoth]

mat13 said:

Looks good to me, should purr quite nicely when its done, any idea on the power output of that lump?

138ish bhp IIRC. Not exactly great considering it's all iron. But still, awesome project.

[Digby]

Indeed, only around high 130's! He knew this though and all about the 'boat anchor' gags.It just came up cheap and he loves to mess about, so the project was go.I'm guessing, if it works out, that it will have a nice burble at least

[rumple]

Was the scimiter beyond repair, around 138 bhp but 176 lb/ft torque if I remember, very tunable engine, although I've heard they are getting pricey to tune, the engine was designed to run on petroland diesel, the diesel option was never taken up though, that's why its so over engineered.

[bazza1000]

Surely this will be slower than a standard MX5 and lose its good handling as the engine due to being heavier and not much power, seems an odd engine transplant choice to me. Looks like you're enjoying doing it though so fair play!

[Westy Pre-Lit]

bazza1000 said:

Surely this will be slower than a standard MX5

Indeed

bazza1000 said:

and lose its good handling

Indeed

bazza1000 said:

as the engine due to being heavier

Indeed

bazza1000 said:

and not much power

Indeed

bazza1000 said:

seems an odd engine transplant choice to me

Indeed

bazza1000 said:

Looks like you're enjoying doing it though so fair play!

They are, but try telling 'em That's why he's called Mad Baz

[Graebob]

It is Tuesday. Where are the updates?

I expect it's fully finished by now and you can't update as you're all down the pub

[HeatonNorris]

Completely pointless!

'Because I can' isn't always a good reason to do something.

[Chunkychucky]

Nice! Should drift a treat with all that weight over the front

[Digby]

Engine weight increase is probably only the equivalent of having a heavier passenger.Best he drives it alone then
Saying that, one of the old Westfield chaps stuck a 6.7 litre Chevy engine in his car and said it still handled well, so it may not be as bad as some think.It also sits further back than the 4 pot due to being 3 cylinders long.Why, it's almost mid-engined!



I Helped with a few bits and bobs over the last two days.He gave me a sheet of metal and asked me to make a cover for the air intake.It didn't come out too badly..









Old paint removed..



Temp auto gearbox fitting as the stick was too close to the temp controls..





Baz carried on fitting engine mounts, braces and radiator fittings etc and I removed the fuel pump to bypass the electric motor as it will be mechanical for now..






Removed all of it in the end so I could let loose the Dremel!



A free radiator.No idea what it was from.



Mount making..



About the 20th time it's been back in!



Took a break and we all demolished some of these..



A pair of old socks in the car managed to catch fire during an angle grinding session (flames were leaping from them before I stamped on them)



Time to push the car back in and start again tomorrow..

Edited by Digby on Wednesday 1st August 00:34

[Digby]

HeatonNorris said:

Completely pointless!

'Because I can' isn't always a good reason to do something.

Wait till you see what he has planned for my Hijet

rumple said:

Was the scimiter beyond repair..

As rotten as the bag of conkers I left in a cupboard when I was around six years old and rediscovered when we moved when I was around 15!

Edited by Digby on Wednesday 1st August 00:13

[BorkFactor]

That is fantastic! I love slightly pointless things like this, always nice to see something a bit different

Please keep this updated, I have been following it with interest

[Digby]

Will do Bork.I didn't get as many pics today and yesterday as I was messing with a mates caliper and helping with other bits at the same time.As a lot of heavy lifting and pushing etc is often involved aswell, you don't always get a chance to grab a camera! (rain on and off didn't help either) Should be some new manifolds arriving shortly and our plan to file down the speedo cable to a similar shape appears to have backfired on us.This may take a bit longer than we first planned! Prop needs to be sorted shortly aswell and the wiring obviously.Lots to do!

Edited by Digby on Wednesday 1st August 00:25

[BorkFactor]

Of course, just as and when you get the chance!

Hope it goes smoothly, can't say I have ever heard of a V6 in an MX5 before - this must be a first?

What made you decide to undertake this adventure in the first place?

[Digby]

Not sure if it is a first, but the reason behind it was purely down to the fact that the Scimitar was cheap and my friend and his mate went halves on it as his friend has another Scimitar and wanted some parts.My friend Baz just decided to use the engine! If it doesn't work out, this will start all over again with another mad idea no doubt.

[petrolsniffer]

I know it's already been said but it does seem a very pointless project

Didnt mazda make a lovely low displacement v6 anyway??

[petrolsniffer]

I know it's already been said but it does seem a very pointless project

Didnt mazda make a lovely low displacement v6 anyway??

[Embryonic]

petrolsniffer said:

I know it's already been said but it does seem a very pointless project

Didnt mazda make a lovely low displacement v6 anyway??

1.8 V6 from the MX-3, also around 130bhp, IIRC.


eta: 131bhp according to a previous SOTW feature - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=855...

[Graebob]

Who cares if it's pointless. It's fun.

Crack on lads