He needs at least 25 orders to commence manufacture of the parts, and asks for a £1,000 deposit - to be held in a separate account and (quote) “NOT used to finance material or production costs” but must be paid to ensure work starts. IF they don’t get enough orders, then the amount paid will be refunded. Orders are then expected to be delivered with 3 - 4 months. (Don’t hold your breath). Obviously they don’t start till the 25th guy stumps up.
1999 - 2002 S type reconditioned engine only - £1074 including VAT. Seems you also need the clutch housing, but not the clutch assy, which is part of the fitting kit. So assume the clutch housing is extra, as it says on the website.
Overall, the cost will be at least £8,268. plus whatever. Still take your fancy? I lost mine!
The cost is still only half of a LS3 installation, and the cost can be further reduced by fitting a used engine; there are plenty of good Jag 3.0 engines available. In comparison, a 25 year old V6 Tasmin, with, say, the 24v Cologne V6, they can sell for £11-15k. If a V6 takes your fancy, its a pretty good deal, though I wouldn’t ruin a NA with it. More likely to relieve a NB owner of their crumbling investment cheaply, and when the engine, subframe are out, get those chassis legs properly buttoned up (not just a patch job, considering Mazda can supply new legs). A ropey NB-FL can be had for £1000 or less.
The presenter was a little confused when he stated that Mazda was intending to put in a Jag engine. In 1994, before Ford was really on the scene, Mazda put together some developed cars using a Mazda V6 (KL?) from a 929, and with RX7 hubs, using substantially modified bodywork. That was canceled due to the Japanese recession. In 2001-2002, the Ford Advanced Powertrain Development team, put together a NB-FL with a Ford Duratec V6; I think it technically came out of Taurus, mated to a FD turbo gearbox. The engine itself might have had a mixture of Jag, Ford and Lincoln LS parts (I think there are differences in the heads between the S-Type and LS?). An airbobx from the Contour (Mondeo) SVT was used. Was it ever a serious exercise? Cetainly, by 2001, Mazda knew the NB had only a limited lifespan, and was suffering from declining sales in the US. They needed something to boost sales, be cheap to implement (because they knew it would only be around 12-18 months). I suppose the Mazdaspeed turbo was more profitable than Mazda having to buy engines off Ford.
Judging by the crowd, and the long line of traffic behind, plus the obvious gap and staging of either lane on both sides, looks like an organized photo shoot to me, though leading question is where? Obviously stateside - California? And why is there a cable disappearing under the car, or another fault line? Is there a three lane access road to Laguna?
I can even hear some faintly muttered comments from the cars behind! (“For crisake - what’s the hold up?”
Waterford Hills, Michigan. Remember, this was a Ford project, not Mazda. Ford engineering are all in Michigan, Mazda are in Irvine. ie. this wasn’t that much to do with Mazda. Ford had shares in Mazda, but didn’t own Mazda, so there was probably still a bit of a Supplier-Manufacturer relationship (ie. Ford hoping to sell motor units to Mazda, Mazda opted for the inhouse turbo solution).
Yes - but the air intake is presumably to help cool the engine compartment, rather than act as an air intake. The air intake appears to be drawing air from low down on the drivers side near the radiator - a strange place for it.
Footnote - The header post and cost applies to parts only, engine bought separately, but the developer assumes all parts will be a DIY job, so if you need help, or better still someone skilled to do the job, then costs will rise significantly. My guess is between £1,000 and £2,000; more towards the 2 if you are modding an NBFL, and as Saz suggests, replacing the front chassis frames. As even a 2005 model (last of the type) is now eleven years old, bolts are going to be hard to shift, and you will need an engine hoist for sure.
And - you are going to strip some parts off the old engine, they mention the throttle body, and presumably the alternator - no mention of the starter motor, and I’m left wondering if the battery and starter motor are good enough to crank the engine, considering it’s six cylinders, so 50% more compression than the existing block.- That’s an uneducated assumption, not a skilled remark! So you won’t be able to sell the engine as a whole functioning unit, you’ll get X amount less for it. A replacement ECU may also null the immobilizer and I assume some sensors may either have to be removed or replaced with ones more suitable for the new engine, though none of that is mentioned. Let’s hope the instruction sheet (if provided) is better than you get from some DIY outlets. Oh - and the exhaust has to come off, there’s a new S/S system in the kit - Though it says some parts are S/S and others as what?.- No mention of S/S.
So - I appear to be talking it down, but I’m not, just presenting problems I can see and making a reader think about it. A Turbo or Supercharger will gain the same H.P for a lot less blood, toil, tears and sweat and for a lot less money, but each has it’s own individual problems that need to be overcome. Then - last step - you have to re-insure the car. Good luck.
Check out a youtube video series from a chap in the states fitting a ls3 v8 I have the pdf file he used on my pc with the complete fitting instructions to do the job for the video series type in “v8 miata project”
I’m saving up as I want to use a 2016 ls3 crate motor and they ain’t cheep I think a 500 bhp plus mx should be a rather entertaining toy there are a few companies in the states that supply the fitting kits in fact the only 2 parts one of them won’t supply is the modified manifold pipe for a rhd car and the clutch hose which isn’t a problem as I deal with a company who makes hoses and I can tig weld so watch out at next year’s rally you never know
Boom Boom! Good luck - keep us posted. You need to start thinking about F1 design now, with enough downforce to nail that beast to the tarmac! + Suspension, brakes etc. Hope you won the lottery!
Check out that video series it’s amazing to see the finished car and with a 0 to 60 of 4.1 seconds and 11.9 to reach 130 it’s bloody good to see it go aswell
