1.6l-1.8l

[MadMerv]

I'm doing it because my 1.6l engine now has 130k miles and I'm not trusting pushing it very hard.

Obviously you don't know how long these babies can run! Sunny has 201K and I probably push her as hard as anyone The engine has never been apart, only timing belts, a water pump, and a clutch.

And.....horsepower ain't everything!

[Sharpie]

My 1.6 came out at 213k without being opened up too. I only pulled it because my turbo came with a free lower miles motor. I can't drive as fast as Merv, but my car was pushed for 90k I had that motor in there. You don't need to be in a hurry, you got plenty of life in that engine.

[icepenguin66]

You don't need to be in a hurry, you got plenty of life in that engine.

Yeah, like he said, if the motor isn't making any noises and is running fine then keep on zoom zooming!

[black roadster]

Yep. I have 140k on mine and it's still going strong.

Keep the oil changed on a regular basis, keep the other maintinence current and the motor should serve you well for many, many more miles.

If you're concerned you can always do a compression check. I'll bring my compression gauge to the next tech day.

There's something to be said for the 1.6 motor anyway. It's more rev happy than the 1.8 and in someways suits the car better. I love my 1.8 but if I had a 1.6 I know I'd be just as happy. In fact, I hope to add a 1.6 to the stable some day. I've never owned a 1.6 but I've loved the ones I've driven.

I'd spend the money on track time, driver instruction and maybe a good set of sticky tyres. The aftermarket chassis brassis are another excellent and cheap mod on the early cars.

[TheChadVIII]

Yea I'm attending the PCA thing on the 19th. The car came with a brand new set of cheapo tires that I'm having fun with wearing out, hopefully I'll have some made out of a decent compound for the real stuff.

I'm not doing the swap /right/ away, but eventually (I do have most all the parts). Anyone know if I should invest in a 1.8l or aftermarket radiator to keep the extra 200cc's cool?

[Miatamoto]

I'm not doing the swap /right/ away, but eventually (I do have most all the parts). Anyone know if I should invest in a 1.8l or aftermarket radiator to keep the extra 200cc's cool?

The aftermarket direct replacements are for all NAs so I wouldn't put it on the top of your list of things to do.

[Mark52]

I think the swap kit from Flying Miata would be worth looking into. You'll also need a 1.8 exhaust manifold or header. I'm not sure if you will be able to control the EGR system-probably just block it off. I doubt any of the guys at the inspection stations will even know it's not a 1.6l engine, unless they just inspected one ahead of you. Oh, the VICS can be controlled by the $35 rpm switch available from Summit Racing. There is so much info available on this swap on the pointy board it will take you days to go thru it all. I don't know what your situation is, but for what a shop will charge you to do this work you could easily buy the necessary tools, hoist, etc and do it yourself(with a little help from your friends). My 2 cents. YMMV. etc.

[icepenguin66]

There's something to be said for the 1.6 motor anyway. It's more rev happy than the 1.8 and in someways suits the car better. I love my 1.8 but if I had a 1.6 I know I'd be just as happy. In fact, I hope to add a 1.6 to the stable some day. I've never owned a 1.6 but I've loved the ones I've driven.

Blasphemy! I have a 1.6 in the garage and did the 1.8 swap on my white car and would never look back. The 97 motor I put in my 90 is plenty rev happy IMO and the extra hp and most noticable the tq is wonderful. I burned off half my tyre life the first month after the 1.8 swap cause I couldn't stop flooring everywhere!

I have a nice write up on the 1.8 swap I used plus some comments I added to it. Send a pm with your email if you want it.

Like Mark52 said, the FM kit is a must. At least the brackets are, I had plenty of wiring around the house to extend the sensors and Gary had some motor mounts that I picked up. Not sure if the motor mounts from that year will work, but you can get those from FM also. And yes you will need the exhaust manifold/downpipe from the year car of the motor you use. The rest of the exhaust can be welded to match up. Not much different than a regular motor swap. Just have to extend a few wires and in your case wire in a rpm switch.

[TheChadVIII]

So did you use the 1.8l ECU or just the VICS switch, and pm sent for that write up haha.

[icepenguin66]

So did you use the 1.8l ECU or just the VICS switch, and pm sent for that write up haha.

I just emailed that write up. Pretty good explanation on what needs to be done. I used a 97 motor so I didn't have to worry about the VICS, that was 99+ I just had to extend the CAS wires a bit and extend the O2 sensor wire and since I got an entire 97 factory exhaust (which isn't neccessary, I just got it for $20 so...) I also had to have the second O2 bung welded shut.