Engine rebuild

Well, it would appear that I'm going to be in need of a new motor sometime in the near future. I went up to visit Stevan Boyd at Miata Solutions last weekend, and he confirmed my fear - the noise I've been hearing for the last few hundred miles is internal, and it's coming from the bottom end. Looks like I need a rebuild. :(

Unfortunately, an engine rebuild is beyond the scope of what Stevan wants to take on. I don't have the space, tools, or time to take this project on myself, so I'm looking for recomendations on someone to rebuild my motor. Nothing fancy, just an OEM rebuild. But the kicker is, I need to have the car back no later than mid-March.

Any suggestions?

No sugestions.... but what do you need just a short block??

You know if you need any help there would be several of us available to help you out!

wow...that sucks. What was the noise and how many miles are on the car?

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

No sugestions.... but what do you need just a short block??

You know if you need any help there would be several of us available to help you out!

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I appreciate that, POS. I *might* go the used short block route and just swap heads, but I like this motor, dammit. It's been good to me, and it makes good power. I'd be very disappointed to swap a junkyard block in and lose 10-15whp.

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Originally Posted by jolberry

wow...that sucks. What was the noise and how many miles are on the car?

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The noise is hard to describe. It's an rpm-dependent ticking/knocking/klacking sound that is prevalent above 3k rpm. It's not particularly loud, but you can hear it over the engine when the radio is off. This motor has ~95k on it.

I don't fault the motor at all. It's had four years of severe abuse at my hands. I just want to find a way to have it running again by mid-March, so I can break it in and get the car sorted before the Walnut Ridge Tour.

Couldn't ya just get a rebuilt short block and reuse the head??

Have you ask Gary @ Trackdog I recall hearing that he replaced the engine in his NB. ;)

Wow! Sorry to hear about the motor, at least it's the off season. Hope everything goes well.

You may want to give Don Marvel at MarvelSpeed a call. He is the best Mazda tech around here. He used to be, until a couple months ago, the Master Tech at Town North. He now only work out from his shop at Rowlett. His no. is 972-475-6448. He works on all my cars. A couple of the SCCA guys use him too. He may even able to build you a "race ready" engine!

Bummer! Hope things work out for you. If we can help, just ask.

Check with Gary Shuhart.

I hear he has some experience with having motors rebuilt. ;)

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Originally Posted by black roadster

Check with Gary Shuhart.

I hear he has some experience with having motors rebuilt. ;)

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Ya don't say?! ::Clown:: ;)

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Originally Posted by Treibenschnell

Ya don't say?! ::Clown:: ;)

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Uhhhh..... I suppose I should read the whole thread before replying, huh?::Clown::

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Originally Posted by black roadster

Uhhhh..... I suppose I should read the whole thread before replying, huh?::Clown::

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Never stopped you before! ::Bleh::

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

Never stopped you before! ::Bleh::

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::stfu::

That sucks, but it too can be fixed. I agree crack yours open and see what can be done, always a gamble with a junk yard motor too. Good luck. Oh yeah, do what BR and Bean said, call Trackdogracing and talk to some guy named Gary.;)

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Originally Posted by black roadster

Uhhhh..... I suppose I should read the whole thread before replying, huh?::Clown::

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::Bus:: ::Bleh::

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Originally Posted by altiain

The noise is hard to describe. It's an rpm-dependent ticking/knocking/klacking sound that is prevalent above 3k rpm. It's not particularly loud, but you can hear it over the engine when the radio is off. This motor has ~95k on it.

I don't fault the motor at all. It's had four years of severe abuse at my hands. I just want to find a way to have it running again by mid-March, so I can break it in and get the car sorted before the Walnut Ridge Tour.

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Congratulations! We're in the same sinking ship. Just throw in a wobbling crank pulley for me.:-x I'm getting a crank from Gary and then probably going to have it honed and new rings while I'm at it. I think the Gary said the builder he uses should charge around $400-500 to rebuild the shortblock.

Okay,

I got a quote from Marvelspeed - $1050 for a bottom end rebuild if I bring in the motor, or $1650 for a complete turnkey remove, rebuild, and reinstall. Price includes replacement of all seals, gaskets, rings, bearings, and "typical" machine work.

Considering I'd have to rent a cherry picker, buy a bunch of tools I don't have, buy a bunch of you guys lunch for your help ( :wink: ), and find the time and space to remove and replace it myself, I'm leaning towards paying Marvelspeed the extra $600 to save me the hassle. Yes I know, I'll turn in my TCB badge at the front desk on my way home tonight.

I emailed Gary, and he recommended John Day Custom Engines and gave me a ballpark of $750 if I bring in the motor, but a quick look back through kags1969's posts from last summer's engine swap debacle leads me to believe that John Day was the rebuilder that hosed his motor. I sent him an email to clarify, but does anyone remember in the meantime who did Chris's bad rebuild last year?

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Originally Posted by altiain

I emailed Gary, and he recommended John Day Custom Engines and gave me a ballpark of $750 if I bring in the motor, but a quick look back through kags1969's posts from last summer's engine swap debacle leads me to believe that John Day was the rebuilder that hosed his motor. I sent him an email to clarify, but does anyone remember in the meantime who did Chris's bad rebuild last year?

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Chris's bad motor was bought from an online engine shop (from FL I think). He later bought a engine off ebay built for N/A (high compression). John Day swapped out the rods for ones from 323 turbo rods, and cut the dome from the high compression pistons to reduce the compression... I think he did some other stuff to, but I can't remember what. the engine is done, but not installed. Chris is working on fueling and wants to get it perfect before he puts the new engine in.

Chris posted info on the build on the pointy board.. You can see here.