1980 b2000 + miata

So, best friend has an 83 b2000 5 speed truck with a dead engine. I may have a spare 99 miata engine and trans. 

We are debating slamming the miata drivetrain into tje b2000, using as much miata, and doing as little as possible that is not irreversible to the b2000. 

Anyone know if the truck trans will bolt on to the miata engine? Or motor mounts, or anything. 

Pretty much, anyone know what interchange parts might be, or if anyone has ever done this swap before?

I would imagine that anything done to a truck of that vintage would have to be permanently attached. I'd say weld/bolt in fabricated motor and trans mounts, but save the originals in case you decide to switch back. 

I dont think the F/MA engine and the BP have the same trans bolt pattern.

It appears that they do have a different pattern. But, would the bellhousing change between trans? 

Ok, I may be a bit off on this, but if I remember, the alphabet soup to make a rotary b2k is a tii bell on a b2k back section. From what I know, a tii trans and a na are very similar to each other save bellhousing.  I don't know much about bp engines, but I have to imagine a bp bell would bolt to a b2k trans. God only knows beyond that. 

There are pretty much 2 types of manual Mazda rwd transmissions for most of the 80s and 90s,  smooth case and rib case are the easy way to identify them. Smooth cases are in miatas, early rx7s, b2000 and b2200s and rwd 626's. Pretty sure they were in 929s as well. Rib case transmissions were mostly in later rx7s, b2600s, and apparently Mazda mpv's

TheMiata and b2000 smooth case gearboxes don't have removable bell housings. That said the front section of the gearbox with the bell housing attached is interchangeable. You could also do some measuring and look at just swapping the b2000 extension housing onto the Miata box.

Solomiata has a bunch of Mazda driveline info that may come in handy if you're looking to Frankenstein up a gearbox. Also pretty sure Mazda truckin had a good guide in 5th gear swaps and a few other little things for the smooth case boxes. 

The swaps been done a couple of times,   This one might help give you a few ideas. Otherwise search mazdabscene and Mazda trucking forums and you should find some more swaps.

Good luck

Kinda want to see a full Miata suspension conversion on a pickup. There's something cool about a truck that can dance. 

Swap the Miata engine with its trans. The drive shaft will likely slip right into the Miata trans. You'll need to fab some motor/trans mounts.

Thanks guys. Hes pretty excited about this, and im looking forward to bringing another back from the brink.

Trackmouse said:

Kinda want to see a full Miata suspension conversion on a pickup. There's something cool about a truck that can dance. 

I vote for this. 

As the owner of a Miata, and former DD of a B2200, I strongly encourage this!

Stampie SuperDork 
9/17/17 8:06 a.m.

Trackmouse 

Kinda want to see a full Miata suspension conversion on a pickup. There's something cool about a truck that can dance. 

I vote for this. 

There was a Datsun 520 + Miata = MX520 build that happened not too long ago.  An all Mazda affair would be an awesome mix too. 

Miata suspension won't happen.  The whole reason being that i got the parts car for the unbent chassis and suspension.  This would be purely a repower. 

But its really looking pretty simple, to be honest. Especially if we can swap the tailhousings to keep trans mount and shifter location. After that its just plumbing and wiring. 

Does anyone know if we can retain the cable for the speedo, or is this generation of b2000 uncharted territory?

I believe all you need to do for the Speedo is swap drive gears to match the diff ratio you're using. I've got 3 different mazda boxes here at the moment and they all have the same output setup. 

If you're using the b series diff, then you should just need to use the b series drive gear. 

http://www.mazdatrucking.com/ has tech links and forums that cover most of what's out there. I'm not sure how different the 1980 is but with the 86+ it all looks fairly interchangeable.