scottie855

i wanted to know what is the diff from the miata engine and the 91 protege lx. the reason why i whated to know this is because i want to put the supercharger that goes on the miata in my protege. and say if i got all of the miata parts that i can in my car will it fit under the hood or do i have to make a custom hood.

scottie855

i know that the compression ratio, cams, ECU, ignition system are diff but i was going to try to put the parts on my car and then the supercharger

but i do not understand the whole block casting and the head casting?

so i cannot put the heads off the miata on my car Y.

but you are going to have to tell me a little bit more about the blocking because i have no idea what you are talking about.

so even if i could put an ignition system, the bigger pistons so that the compression ratio will be the same and the ECU the supercharger will not work

so if you will tell me a little bit more about the block casting that would be a great thing

Davard

Actually, it seems like there is an awful lot in common between the Protege and '94-'97 Miata engines. You'd have to transfer a bunch of stuff between the engines (cam covers, thermostat and block-off plate, distributor, etc.), but I believe the block and heads are the same. And with the '95-'98 Proteges, even the valve cover is pretty close, if not identical.

scottie855

so if Miatas don't have distributors then i would have to swap engines. I do not know if the whole supercharger would what me to do that. but what parts for the engine are
interchangeable(?). i want to make my engine better with more power but at first not using NOS, are a tubro. but once i had all the right things for it then i will do that.

protejay

the problem is (as PseudoRealityX already said) the manifolds don't interchange....because our cars are FRONT-wheel-drive; the Miata is REAR-wheel-drive. The engine therefore is mounted completely differently...
No kit for the Miata will 'bolt on' to our cars; really you're best bet would be to go turbo, as 1) the stock motor is PLENTY strong enough to handle lots of boost and 2) a custom turbo kit is being made for or car - look on this site:
www.barelylegaltransplants.com

Keith@FM

Miata engines DO have both the oil feed and the oil return fittings (up to 1996). However, due to the fitment of most turbos on the Miata, it works better if you drill an oil return line in the pan.

You would have to swap the oil pan, the intake manifold, the exhaust manifold and quite possibly the head.

The supercharger for the Miata (the Moss/Jackson Racing/Sebring setup) is probably not worth the effort in my opinion. Go for the turbo kit.

Keith

Keith@FM

I must admit that my engine knowledge is biased towards the Miata for obvious reasons. The valvesprings should be interchangeable between all the DOHC BP heads.

Here's my reference/bible:
Mazda interchange guide

Keith

protejay

I have access to a Kia 1.8 engine; and i know you used one for your Track Dog....Did it have the oil line fittings? And were the internals just as beefy as the BP used in the Miata and Protege?
In other words....since it came in a Kia, did they 'cheapen' it in any way - compared to the BP that came in the Mazdas?
Thanks for any info!

Keith@FM

The only part we used from the Kia engine was the bare block. It didn't have the oil feed on the exhaust side of the block, similar to a crate BP motor or to a 1996+ Miata BP. I don't know about the Protege BPs in this regard.

The crank from the Kia was the same as the Miata ones, as were the rods. I think the pistons might have been a different design. As I said, all we used was the block. We had a custom crank made, Carillo rods, custom Wiseco pistons....

Meet the Track Dog

Keith

protegeLX91

are you doing a swap? or just supercharger? let me know if it works that just might.

99proES

dosen't the miata have less hp? Or are you just wondering cause you wanna put a s/c on and not a turbo? Wouldn't also be cheaper to with a turbo?