LS2 V8 Miata

Rat's rear wheels are 15 X 10s. Slicks cause wheelies and front suspension damage (coming down hard), so what-ever's available for long smoky burn-out fun is what usually winds up on the back, Old BFGs I think when picture was taken.

Always enjoyed driving Blown big blocks on the street, even though not very practical, WHO CARES!!! Even though the "Viagra Rat" Vette is 512 CI 1000 HP big block it did better on pump gas than the 383 SBC Cobra. We live in the mountains a little town of about 27K and 15 gallons would barely take you cross-town once, jumping on it a couple of times and coasting on vapors into the local Exxon. Worth every drop! PS You might be able to tell by looking at me, there have been a few years pass between these pictures and my V8 Z-car days were way before the Cobra! I may be older, but I refuse to grow up!

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. The attached picture is me in the a 383 Blown SBC Chevy project we built shooting for the 9's about 13 years ago. Ford 9" nodular 5 Link rear. Driven on the street quite a bit but was sold for obscene price before it made it to the strip even once! (unproven) I've been accused of having no respect for my unbridled willingness to intermingle Chevy, Ford, Datsun/Nissan, Mazda what-ever it takes to get it done. Have a great week-end guys! - Lee

I feel really lucky that my son-in-law has such a LS engine business & great shop, but I gotta tell you a major portion of his LSX business is done in incredible 100 K Sandcars, street-rod, performance cars is about 20%. All these Sandcar guys that visit his shop are immediately drawn to my Miata and they all say; What in the He. . is that! Face it when your desire is to run an aluminum high HP V8 engine in a small japanese car, everybody thinks you're nuts, then they ask you if you'd build them one!! I've enjoyed thinking about the biggest most insane motor I could cram in my Miata (see pix) Bill's red Miata has 415 RWHP with a 377 stroker V8 in it, but one day after driving a friend's 1000 HP blown 512 CI 66 Vette, I took a picture and photo-shopped the Vette's blower onto Bill's Miata. I was curious what it would look like to somebody on the street. Sick eh? Have a great week-end!!! - Lee

Nobody really likes paying anything extra, but there are a lot of custom sized radiators available with fans & shroud assembled that are absolutely worth the extra dollars to protect the big investment in a serious engine. I have a small budget just like a lot of guys but I reasoned since it took so long to save for my LS V8 I damn sure wasn't going to scrimp on keeping it cool and protecting it. Pix of my radiator and also (space utilization comparison) early RX7 with a Turbo Buick Grand National V6 GNX installed (Thanks, Scotty's project, not mine). Have a great week-end guys - Lee

Yeah the salvage availability of good used LS V8s is nill anymore. Aside from the upfront expense, the fuel injection route is a no brainer with the entire package I got from Jeff. It's a 5 wire hook-up. I've seen LS V8s in everything from 55 chevy, 69 Camaros, 64 Vettes, etc. The beauty of a "stand alone" system is just that, it'll run by itself on an engine stand or in a 53 Studebaker. Have a good week-end - Lee

I don't know all the particulars of his business, but I know his friends and associates are really well connected in the GM scheme of things. Many months before the release of the very first Corvette LS7s we went to Jeff's tuner / engine developer and in his test cell he already had 4 crate LS7s he was tuning and selling months before any GM dealer in country had even received one single motor. Jeff also took me to an engine builder's shop around the same time and he had dozens of complete LS7 heads, new in the box and hundreds of LS7 Titanium rods and was at that time, custom building LS2s resleeving them and adding LS7 components, heads & intakes. I don't know I just feel lucky to have access to just about anything, cutting edge GM I want really reasonable.

I agree with your critical function beliefs. Considering all new generation LS V8 cars like Corvettes, GTOs and new Fords are all reliably thermostatically controlled (automatic On/Off) I would NEVER use any "after-market" equipment or set-ups. I have also been spared the catastrophes from running "cheap" fans like alot of my friends that have lost engines, or had over-heating damage done. (Spal for me and OEM GM controls) - Lee

Your thinking Jon, is borne out in my Miata's application. I fabbed & installed these hood louvers and they work great. The area of the openings is equal to the frontal area of the car's mouth. 0 under-hood pressure. Not only do visible, intense heat waves pour out (natural convection) of them while I'm sitting at a stoplight on hot days, my top-end, straight-away speeds have increased by about 3-4 MPH. I also have additional air-inlets integrated with my parking lights The nasty vibrations at high speed and hood bulging are no longer problems. The Miata also has an under-body tray that encloses underneath, starting from below the air dam to aft of the steering rack. I've never run with mine off before so I don't really know the true effectiveness. I should mention after "chasing" a number of small, individual solutions in trying to cope with our "extreme" hot environment (Arizona) that an "over-all" approach with a great radiator, fans & shroud, air inlets, louvers is sure the way to go. Different subject, I once had an "experience" when the metal Z medallion flew off of my V8 240Z's hood (noticed your picture) and shattered my windsheild at around 160 MPH! (Pucker factor 10 as we used to say in the Navy) just a thought. - Lee

I used to help Jeff find and buy "Salvage" LS engines from 98-up Corvettes, Camaros, Trans-ams, primarily with T-56 six speed trans for "Street-rod" or "Toy car" conversions. It was a pain, even a great mechanic is hard pressed to be able to tell just what the "REAL" condition of a used motor/tranny combo is. Some were good engines, as advertised, others were "boat anchors". Every single guy we ever encountered claimed the motor he was selling had less than 40,000 miles on it. It truly was a roll-of-the-dice. You used to be able to negotiate a reasonable enough price that it was maybe worth the risk. But now every knuckle-head that has ANY used LS V8 thinks he has a Gold Brick to sell. that makes spending a little more money to buy a brand new crate engine a lot more attractive and a smart move. We quit the whole used LS engine thing all together and everybody is a lot happier, period . . .

You can have it all. You can thermostatically control your fans, automatically like you said (fixed temps On/Off engine block sensor) or adjustable set-points relay. And it's also easy to wire a fan "over-ride" manual On/Off switch for those intense HOT days at the track, after session cool-downs. You can even wire your manual "over-ride" switched circuit with a time delay relay so if you walk off forgetting you manually switched them on, it'll shut them off after a period of time so you don't run your battery down. Just ideas. . .

Has anybody mentioned putting a piece heat sheild sleeve (Cool-it from Jegs or Summit) on the fuel line? Not even an original idea, Datsun did it as a Arizona "regional" option on the "new car" 72-74 240 and 260 Z fuel lines feeding our side draft carbs. If high temps is really the problem and not just some mechanical fuel starvation issue. It's also not a bad idea putting heat sheild sleeve on your underhood brake lines too.

I think I mentioned about everybody, everybody including GM guys buying GM crate engines in lots (10, 20, 100). They all get various pricing due to quantity and production availability and model (LS1, LS6, LS2, LS7 etc.) The price differences we all see as end user / customers is mostly whether any of the engine sellers decide if they want to "pass along" their buying advantages or continue cutting a Fat Retail Hog. In their defense there are legitimate fluctuations in production / availability associated with model year and platform changes (there are significant differences bewteen a Corvette LS2, a GTO LS2, and a Cadillac LS2 besides price) Just thinking out loud

Reason I mention our radiator set-ups is because we (V8 Miatas) run 400+ HP, headers, accessories in a tiny engine bay a fraction the size of a Z-car's (Miata to Z-car= Car to Truck) in Arizona (routinely see 110 degree days through summer). We run our cars HARD on track days, on roadracing courses (125 degree track temps) all without any overheating problems. Also your discussion while addressing the corrosion possibilities is lacking the most important points of AF / Water mixtures to cooling. Water is THE most efficient cooling medium with a specific heat value of 1.0 Anti-freeze has a specific heat value of .75. That means for every gallon of Antifreeze in your system you are only getting 75% the cooling capability compared to a gallon of straight water. More Anti-freeze in mixture means LESS cooling. And if you're considering higher Anti-freeze concetrations just to prevent rust possibilities you can get just as good corrosion resistance running 100% water with a water-pump lube / corrosion inhibiter available at any auto supply. My Miata's radiator is 27 X 16 with shrouded, dual Spal 13" fans. I don't know how that compares with what you run in Z-cars now. My Ford 289 V8 in my 73 240Z overheated constantly, until I got a new radiator fan combo sized correctly. Just thoughts.

Ultimate answer, which is our "proven" solution here in "Smoking Hot Arizona"; Ron Davis Racing Radiators. Talk to Bill Williamson, Manager 800-842-5166 he's one of my best friends and he drives a 400 HP V8 Miata himself. Hope it helps - Lee

Guys, Guys, just call the man! Jeff Howard (480) 577-9413 He does a lot of LSX specialty engines (custom LSX engines for $100,000.00 sandrails, see pics) and can provide complete, designed documentation including engine test cell, dyno sheets on your new, custom tuned engine package, but, know up front custom engine services ain't cheap. He also owns a polishing company called Mirror Image. If your objective is somewhat like mine, to install a "stock" LS crate motor and re-programmed OEM computer/wiring harness in your Rice Rocket on a budget, he can do a better job of packaging for you than anybody. Recognize though that you make a "quatum leap" when you jump from just a plastic wrapped stock LS crate engine, shipped "as is" to a custom built & tuned, 700-1000 HP twin-turbo LSX! I can tell you right now, ball-park you're talking about $24,000.00 max, maybe a little less. Custom built, dyno-tuned computer, wiring harness, engine test cell verified performance, ready to go. You can get away with doing minor mods like slapping a little "pre-engineed" Nitrous set-up (fogger) on an LS motor but beyond that it's really crazy to think about Turbo and Supercharger applications without doing everything right. You know an analogy, would be like installing an extreme, high lift cam without changing to high perf valve springs. Save some intial bucks but end result; BANG!! Call and talk to him, he's a really smart guy and can get you a great package for YOUR specific project and budget. - Lee

No, it's cool to question, and it is $1145.00 less than Scoggins! We all benefit in tech forums when we help each other out. A class example is like upgrading your brakes. Get the right info from the right people in a good tech forum and your car can be made to outbrake a Corvette and still keep a $1000.00 in YOUR pocket. Have a great week-end! - Lee

It's funny in the V8 Miata conversion community, the myth flies around of doing a V8 conversion for about $12,000 and lots of new projects start, few finish and most owners, even if they DID KNOW wouldn't want to tell anybody the real cost out of sheer embarassment at being SO WRONG !! Oh, the great fun being a sick to the bone motorhead!!

About $18,500.00 above & beyond the race prepped car I started with at about $10,000.00 and I'm not finished yet. Yup them receipts for all those little grade 8 bolts & nuts do add up!!

Duh! That's why they sell so fast. I can't believe the number of goofy people that are perfectly willing to pay close to the same kinda price for some used, greasy LS1 outta a wrecked Camaro or Trans-am. Advertised in the local paper, complete with the story, dude I'm sure it's only got about 40,000 miles on it. This guy Jeff Howard is my son-in-law. He's the owner of Howard Performance in Gilbert. His specialty business is LS engines. He packages engines, headers computers, wiring harnesses, adapters, clutches, everything for successfully installing an LS V8 in anything (example, see my Miata) He is plugged into GM and sells hundreds of motors. He buys engines in "lots", like all GM dealers do. This an individual buy, exceptionally good price on about 12 engines, 5 sold just since I posted. To good to be true? If you're actually ready to buy, instead of sitting around guessing, why don't you just call him, his company has a great reputation and he can answer all your questions, e-mail you pictures what-ever. Or you can sit around and speculate while opportunity passes you by. - Lee

They are brand new GM crate LS1s, 2004 GTO complete with intake, throttle body, injectors, fuel rails, coil packs, wires, water pump, exhaust manifolds (GTO) and flex plate $4350.00 + shipping to your location, or you pick-up local Arizona. Jeff can answer all of your more specific questions (480) 577-9413 Tell him you talked to Pop! - Lee

It's always exciting to see new toys arrive at Jeff's shop and yesterday was no exception. 5 brand new GM LS1 crate engines and a LS2 Blower, intercooler / manifold set-up for Cadillac XLR-V arrived at the shop. I'm getting numb from always being around a dozen or so Killer LS motors, while working on my Miata, it keeps giving me some really nutty ideas, like making me actually consider nitrous, turbos , etc. on my roadracing machine!!! Within 20 minutes and 8 received phone calls, 3 of 5 engines were gone, poof ! Today's another day with 10 more coming. These motors are brand new, crate 2004 GTO LS1s, really sweet. It amazes me how popular these motors really are ( I suspect Ford's new aluminum mod motors probably are too in particular Mustang circles) Got my own wiring harness, PCM and MAF yesterday too and helped Jeff wire and fire up a guys new $70,000 LS1 Sandrail. Whew, standing two feet away when those jet-coated header's 4 inch outlets come to life!! I'm finally starting to get excited about the possibility of hearing my own LS2 Miata fire up for the first time. My own dang car's not even finished yet and I'm running a tape measure to see if I could actually fit the Cadillac's XLR-V blower set-up under my stock Miata hood, I must be truly SICK!! - Lee __________________

I only have a single AN fuel line running from the fuel tank (Walbro 255 in tank pump) forward to my LS2's engine bay. This line is also heat sheilded. I mention this because there is NO returning fuel line to return HOT fuel back to the tank. The by-pass line is integrated in the unit and as in the C-5 Vette uses mounting as close to the tank as possible. It's also much easier on the fuel pump. The integral regulator is non-adjustable maintaining a constant 55-60 PSI at the fuel rail in volumes that can support up to 600 HP. I'm building my car for Arizona, so I'm also using a Ron Davis, dual 1-1/2 tube, cross-flow 26 X 16 aluminum radiator. Dual Spal 13" fans shrouded. Forgot to mention, the OEM C-5 Corvette filter / regulator ($39.00) uses the OEM "quick connects", Russell sells the adapters and we saved Corvette, Camaro stainless steel hard fuel lines from the wrecking yard to "cheap" adapt also. What's great is, it only takes a couple of minutes to completely change it out if need be. Hope the info helps. - Lee Attached Thumbnailshttp://forum.miata.net/vb/attachment...&stc=1&thumb=1

I only have one AN fuel line running to the engine. I mention this because there is NO returning fuel line to return HOT fuel to the tank. The by-pass line is integrated in the unit and as in the Vette uses mounting as close to the tank as possible. It's also much easier on the fuel pump. The regulator is non-adjustable maintaining a constant 55-60 PSI at the fuel rail in volumes that can support up to 600 HP. I'm building my car for Arizona, so I'm also using a Ron Davis, dual 1-1/2 tube, cross-flow 26 X 16 aluminum radiator. Dual Spal 13" fans shrouded. Forgot to mention, the Corvette filter uses the OEM "quick connects" Russell sells the adapters and we saved Corvette, Camaro stainless steel hard fuel lines from the wrecking yard to "cheap" adapt also. What's great is, it only takes a couple of minutes to completely change it out if need be. Hope the info helps. - Lee Attached Thumbnailshttp://forum.miata.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=23388&stc=1&thumb=1 __________________

Si Hablo, "El Sleeper" Nova:mrgreen: What a flyin' POS that thing must look like to the unsuspecting, and the 98 Lb. balls it'd take to drive it hard, to it's potential!!!! I love sleepers obviously, that why I'm doing an LS2 in a little blue "chick car" Miata, hee, hee, hee ! - Lee