This is why people in our town don't make fun of Miatas.

This car is AWESOME!!! I wouldn't even paint it. I would keep it just like that.

I have always had sportbikes and every now and again some idiot would tell me how if he had one, he would kill himself with it. I always just rolled my eyes thinking that the throttle doesn't have to be closed or WFO.

But that car - I would kill myself with it! After years of hooning my 100 hp Miata every time I get behind the wheel, I don't think that I would respect it the same way I would something like a Z06. I mean it is just a miata after all.

Why can't Chip Foose pretend to steal my miata and do something like that to it (but with brighter paint)?

Just think of the shock value of leaving the crap paint on the outside, and then popping the hood! Inconspicuous to local fuzz, yet able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. Yeah, that's what I would do. Pant, pant.

cwh wrote: Just think of the shock value of leaving the crap paint on the outside, and then popping the hood! Inconspicuous to local fuzz, yet able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. Yeah, that's what I would do. Pant, pant.

That would have worked 10 years ago, but now the whole 'rat' look is so overdone I'm at the point of expecting tatty cars to go like hell, especialy when they obviously have good wheels/tires etc

nderwater wrote: <hyjack Why is nobody selling a simple tube frame and fiberglass body which drops directly on top of this?? </hyjack

I want to take this and set a classic sportcar body on it. Something like a MGB GT or Opel GT, something like that. Classic looks with modern touch.

dyintorace wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: You know I'm ambivalent about V8 Miata's. On one hand whenever I see one I think 'why bother, a 4 cyl Miata is such a great car I don't see the point' On the other, whenever I see a Cobra replica I think 'Why not stuff a V8 in an NA Miata and have a cheaper, better looking, better handling and more usable car' Damn brain cells.

Very accurate description. I feel exactly the same. Though I do love the look of the Cobra replicas.

A non caged Miata is a fairly flexy proposition when you add horsepower & torque already. Add another 2-300 lbs of weght to the car along with the V8 torque and I bet you've turned a balanced momentum car into a point & shoot special, just like the original Cobra. The FFR cobra replica is a sturdy tube frame designed to handle V8 power & weight. The Miata is not. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it.

I would think a nice aluminum V6 (think Nissan VQ35) would be a much better fit.

wlkelley3 wrote: I want to take this and set a classic sportcar body on it. Something like a MGB GT or Opel GT, something like that. Classic looks with modern touch.

Amen. An Opel GT would be awesome. Or how about something styled after a Toyota 2000GT?

Adrian_Thompson wrote: You know I'm ambivalent about V8 Miata's. On one hand whenever I see one I think 'why bother, a 4 cyl Miata is such a great car I don't see the point' On the other, whenever I see a Cobra replica I think 'Why not stuff a V8 in an NA Miata and have a cheaper, better looking, better handling and more usable car' Damn brain cells.

How in the world do you figure that a Miata is better looking then a Cobra?

Dashpot wrote: I would think a nice aluminum V6 (think Nissan VQ35) would be a much better fit.

Rumor has it that was originally in the cards, a KL-ZE RWD variant. If you look in the engine bay, it's certainly larger than necessary for a 1.8L I4.

It's a shame, really.

Just till you have to tune that VQ. GM ECUs are waaay more hot rod friendly.

GM LS > Nissan VQ, always

96DXCivic wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: You know I'm ambivalent about V8 Miata's. On one hand whenever I see one I think 'why bother, a 4 cyl Miata is such a great car I don't see the point' On the other, whenever I see a Cobra replica I think 'Why not stuff a V8 in an NA Miata and have a cheaper, better looking, better handling and more usable car' Damn brain cells.

How in the world do you figure that a Miata is better looking then a Cobra?

Possibly because Cobra replicas are so overdone, they've taken on a style of their own. All the ones I see, at least, always seem too "muscular", with bulging arches, mandatory racing stripes, bonnet scoop, shiny chrome bits everywhere etc. Whereas an original Cobra just seems more 'delicate', or something. I had a replica burble past me today, actually, and just wasn't impressed at all. Yet I stopped to get a closer look at the lowered Miata parked at University.

96DXCivic wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: You know I'm ambivalent about V8 Miata's. On one hand whenever I see one I think 'why bother, a 4 cyl Miata is such a great car I don't see the point' On the other, whenever I see a Cobra replica I think 'Why not stuff a V8 in an NA Miata and have a cheaper, better looking, better handling and more usable car' Damn brain cells.

How in the world do you figure that a Miata is better looking then a Cobra?

When I was a teenage I thought the Cobra was one of the best looking cars ever. Now I appreciate the function driving form of the original, but I think they look more than slightly silly.

The NA Miata is to me one of the all time design classics, up there with the 944 and 288 GTO.

wlkelley3 wrote:

nderwater wrote: <hyjack Why is nobody selling a simple tube frame and fiberglass body which drops directly on top of this?? </hyjack

I want to take this and set a classic sportcar body on it. Something like a MGB GT or Opel GT, something like that. Classic looks with modern touch.

I would love to bolt that into something super light that looks like a late 50's early 60's sports racer. I am thinking a body along the lines of a Lotus 11 or a '59 Ferrari 246 S Dino. Put an adequate cage in it for track days. Basically a Locost with curves,

dyintorace wrote: Thanks for the handling feedback. My impression is that the essence of the car, which is its attraction, would be irretrievably broken.

remember, you're also going from an iron block to an aluminum one. so the weight difference is a lot less than you might think, and certainly a lot less than the old iron-block 302 swaps.

Dashpot wrote: Add another 2-300 lbs of weght to the car along with the V8 torque and I bet you've turned a balanced momentum car into a point & shoot special, just like the original Cobra.

um:

Flyin Miata website said: Overall, the car gains less than 200 lbs with 1/3 of that on the rear wheels.

and how much lighter do you think an aluminum VQ is compared to an aluminum LSx?

Type Q wrote:

wlkelley3 wrote:

nderwater wrote: <hyjack Why is nobody selling a simple tube frame and fiberglass body which drops directly on top of this?? </hyjack

I want to take this and set a classic sportcar body on it. Something like a MGB GT or Opel GT, something like that. Classic looks with modern touch.

I would love to bolt that into something super light that looks like a late 50's early 60's sports racer. I am thinking a body along the lines of a Lotus 11 or a '59 Ferrari 246 S Dino. Put an adequate cage in it for track days. Basically a Locost with curves,

Yea I would really dig the classic look too, maybe something along the lines of the lotus elan....

There's no reason that the engine needs to be that far forward if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of elbow room. Here's the way to get the classic thing going on and inexpensively squeeze more out of the Miata/LS package:

http://www.fishersportscars.co.uk/

http://www.sylva.co.uk/

or for something more modern:

http://www.agmsportscars.co.uk/

Of course you'd have to deal with lousy weather protection, but if the Brits can manage, we should be able to!

Keith, thanks for posting this, I sent you a pm because I did not know you were affiliated with FM. I always liked these cars. But I noticed that the Ford 5 liters always sounded better to me. Just my opinion and I could be wrong. On the weight advantages of the LS, what if the 5 liter ford was aluminum?

Aluminum heads for the 5.0 fords are easy to obtain (although not cheap unless used). Aluminum-based 302 blocks are not cheap (roughly a $2K increase over a comparable iron block):

http://www.jegs.com/p/World-Products/World-Products-Ford-302-351-Man-O-War-Aluminum-Blocks/871587/10002/-1

http://www.dartheads.com/products/engine-blocks/ford-blocks/ford-aluminum-blocks.html

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=271721

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/articles/ford/smallblock/0509em_windsor/index.html

I think you'd get better bang for your buck by going with the aluminum heads on a small block Ford.

Keith, Needs moar hairless racoon sunroof delete

awe inspiring...nice work!

4cylndrfury wrote: Keith, Needs moar hairless racoon sunroof delete

I can get someone to tattoo the logo....still haven't figured out the roof mounting, though.

oh mounting is easy, just attach your Flyin Miata tatooed hairless raccoon to the sunroof with some of those 3m double side adhesive strips. Direct contact between the bare raccoon skin and the glass seals up fine. No muss, no fuss!

What, no twin-turbo set up too?

We do beef up the structure of the car as part of these builds - there are strong frame rail reinforcements running the length of the car, the front subframe is stiffer than the original and we'll usually bolt on some "Frog Arms", a front unibody stiffener that I view as similar to seam-welding the frame horns. On Elvis, I can usually tell while driving if someone has left the rear subframe brace off the car after working on it, although that comes through on road imperfections as opposed to power application. Usually, though, the people that claim the "spirit" of the Miata is gone with the V8 haven't driven one that's been well set up I always figured that would be the case as well, but I became a very firm believer in the converted cars quite quickly.

The Ford engine is one that's been used in many Miatas in the past - Monster Miata started stuffing those things in back in the early 90's. The problem I have with them is that they're simply not packaged as well. Yes, they're narrower. But they're tall and seem to exact a much larger toll on both ground clearance and hood clearance. They've also got those weird spinny things that the spark plugs attach to and sometimes even have a doodad that's kinda like a toilet bowl full of fuel on top! If you've ever seen a complete LS motor out of a car, they're an amazingly compact beast. Based on my conversations with Ford builders (they call up for suspension help fairly regularly, as do the electric Miata guys), they do carry more weight on the nose even with aluminum heads.

One word of warning for those who want to drop a classic body on a set of Miata subframes - modern cars are a lot wider than older ones. We actually have an Opel GT at work that's going to get a Miata transplant and the body is far too narrow. An MGB GT has to be widened about 4" to have the Miata parts fit underneath. There is an MG TD-ish car out of NZ that follows this concept, though. I forgot to mention it earlier.

You know why this car is 100% Grassroots? Because the guy building it is here talking to us and answering questions. How cool is that!?! I don't see Foose on here or Troy. (no offense to them or their work)