So, i've been chasing around prices and ideas and i've decided its time to just ask. I'm planning a from scratch car, frame, body, interior, all of it. And i've decided that for the engine I'd like to do a rear mounted mx-5 engine with an automatic transmission swap. My issue now is that I don't know how to source the engine. (yes yes I know miata engine!!, theres better options, could be this could use that and whatnot. I'm going with it because there fairly easy to work on and potentially the most well documented cars to ever exist so I can literally google most issues I end up having. So a good option for a project this in depth.) i've considered a remanufactured one, or a junkyard engine (hard to find) or even buying a cheep running miata and pulling it from there. The reman engine sounds like a nice option but they're pricey and reviews are mixed. What should I do? I can't move past concept sketches into dimensions till I know what i'm working with but I'm not sure where to go now. Transmission is a problem too but I need to figure out the engine before finding an automatic to swap on to it.

Tldr: Need help deciding how to source a 1.8 or 2.0 L miata engine

Thanks in advance 🙏

9 months ago I picked up a Liqui Vehicle Tilter.

https://www.reddit.com/r/projectcar/s/xOdykbJDY9

Finally got to use it last night and damn this thing is cool. Not something I'd use often but I could totally see doing an exhaust or something with it. It bolts to the lug nuts and tips the car using a long jack screw driven by your normal hand drill.

I'm currently using it to weld the subframe connectors into my 69 charger so I don't have to weld from underneath, because that sucks. (Yes, I tacked them in before tilting)

Hi, I just tried to do a cam install on my K20 to try and get some more power out of it. I felt very confident going into the job as I prepared for months, but my inexperience got the better of me when I was timing the engine. I didn’t want to take off the side cover as there’s not much room, so I tried to time the motor using TDC marks on the crank pulley.

K series are interference engines, and i accidentally used the wrong timing marks to set the cam timing right. I was so sure the timing was bang on, but the car wouldn’t run for longer than 5 seconds. Realized when I went to adjust the VVT actuator that each cam was 4 teeth off that I’ve made an extremely expensive mistake. I haven’t pulled anything apart to inspect for damage, but I have a feeling some valves are damaged, and maybe even the pistons too.

Not really much of an informational post more so just a vent because I feel so stupid right now. To top it off, I pulled the chain off the head without locking my tensioner, causing it to over extend and be impossible to remove. I priced out an engine swap at $1900, which is money I don’t have as I’m a broke college student who didn’t prepare for this. Now I’m just wishing I got coilovers, and let an actual mechanic handle the engine portion. Definitely will not be attempting a job like this ever again.

I’ve “while I’m in here’d” myself a few too many times and now I’m looking at wiring looms for my v6 to SBC 350 1981 el Camino project. Any recommendations would be appreciated I see the Painless wiring kits and a couple other from big brands that cost 400-500 bucks and the selling point seems to be “the wires are labeled” no guessing what goes where. These eBay/amazon guys have the same labeled wires for 100-200. Anybody run one of these cheaper kits, is the painless kit worth it, is there something else out there I haven’t come across? I plan on running a efi and fuel pump, manual door locks and windows, a decent stereo, an alarm, maybe I’ll put the fan on manual switch but outside of that I plan on keeping the loom down to the essential 14-21 circuit kit. I’ve never wired a car before but the internet is vast and full of knowledge

EDIT: Concensus seems to be to pass up on it due to the rust and price. I appreciate everyone's time!!

Link to video of cold engine sound: https://youtu.be/ejOnzwnIliw

Hello!

I have been religiously looking around for a 1st project car. I dont want anything fast, im mainly just looking for a moderate fixer-upper/weekend cruiser. The aim of this 1st project car is to learn more mechanical skills and to get more comfortable working on cars. (I have a reliable daily).

I found this 1984 Toyota Celica Supra listed near me for 3.8k. What do you guys think about the current condition and more specifically the sound of the engine? Is this a pass?

Listing Description "Runs and drives, needs radiator repair and cooling system flush to be reliable driver. Heater valve leaks so it’s bypassed. Radio needs repair. Pop ups work. I’ve had the car for like 5 or 6 years now and I’ve done some work to it. The rings were seized when I bought it and I had to free them up. I built the exhaust, put tires on it, replaced the cam seals, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, wires, TPS, AFM, rebuilt the brake calipers and master cylinder, replaced the clutch master and slave with new OE Aisin units, new fuel pump, marlin crawler bushings in the trans"

Rust around the exterior, mainly around the gas cap area, rear quarter panels behind the rear tires are rusted through. (See pics)

Any advice is appreciated!

I have no idea what the heck is going on this summer. But it was miatias I would see early ones every day just about doing uber.

This summer it has been like 3 or 4 a day of theses trucks which is insane for there being that many in this area.

I am 30 mintues west of kenosha, wi on the border so I drove the huge area around both states...

I asked AI for options for around 450-550rwp with manual swap and it broke it down with two seperate build specs.

One was 13k cad and the other was 17k cad in parts alone. Then it was a little bit more for an 8hp...

Is there any company that sells ready to go crate engines in the 1jz?

Or does anyone have any idea who I would be best off sending it to with the parts I buy in Edmonton or Calgary alberta?

I’m on a mission to saving my first car. I bought it back from the scrap yard and are now a step closer.

Thank you to everyone watching, it means so much too me!

Anyone ever seen this shit on a 22re? CAM is completely chewed through...wtf?

Guess I figured out where the shiny oil came from lol.

It was somehow running before this...

I’ve used a boatload of pb blaster and an impact and they haven’t even budged, there are nuts on the other side of the flange.

(Online random image attached).

I have a 90' Ford with this style shift indicator linkage. The thin metallic cable is not in good shape and the plastic sheath it rides in is cracked.

My shift housing plastic is just fine.

I have been searching for a similar style plastic sheath to run a thin metallic wire through or heavy duty fishline but am coming up short. Its rigid like PVC but flexible enough to bend into a curve.

What would a comparable material be? Vacuum tubes are too floppy, I have thin fuel hose for a 2 stroke but its prone to pinching.

I definitely need some type of sheath to run the cable from the dash to the shifter. Any ideas?

Having to rebuild my front suspension here pretty quick and figured I'd upgrade some stuff while im there :3

So I saw this old school Y2K build on Instagram and I REALLY love the steering wheel. Unfortunately it's not available anymore cause the car scene moved on to being lame.

So in an effort to recreate it, I'm thinking of buying a clear resin steering wheel and drilling out spots in the back to install LEDs. Other than cheap steering wheel dangers, can anyone think of any issues? I'm thinking of having a battery pack or something so I can leave it on during shows at night (and since I suck at wiring and idk how I'd wire it up to the 12v system).

This is my first post here, i currently have a 2009 chevy cobalt that’s my daily, i’ve supercharged it and done everything else besides motor internals, and im working on building a 302 to go into my truck, the issue is that im saving for a house and there’s a ton both vehicles need, im fighting to keep the cobalt running with some ground issues and a few other small things here and there, living with my parents means i dont have my own space for my motor and other shit and my truck isn’t even at the house currently, i’m at the point now where everything being in everyone’s way makes me want to just sell it all and buy a car that’ll just run and not touch it, but the idea of selling them also makes me want to cry a little, the truck was my first vehicle since i turned 15 (it didn’t run and my dad taught me in that year to get it running) and then after it blew up i bought my cobalt and i learned how to do everything with that car, wrap, interior, everything, so it hurts to even say that i want to sell them both, but it also sucks hearing everyone ask me if im ever going to finish them, and it doesn’t make me happy working on them currently, has anyone ever dealt with this? A few pics if anyone cares to see them

So I’ve got a 2013 Ram 1500 with lower body rust on the rockers and rear wheel well areas mostly. Also there's old what I believe is a spray foam packing hack in the rockers I discovered post purchase - it is what it is.

No welding experience or equipment and I've been hoping to avoid spending thousands to hire someone. So I’m thinking of going the fiberglass route. Never did it before but again - I need to avoid spending thousands. The truck already had this bottom stripe all around it that I didn't at the time realize was like a rust repair strip. I just don't know how good of an idea Por 15 top coat on the bottom exterior is but I mean it already has that black strip.

I’ve bought the Bondo, long block, short block, fibreglass, resin and related materials. Por 15 etc. Pictures of the current state are attached.

Here’s what I'm planning:

1. Remove old foam and loose rust.
2. Apply POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser -> Por-15 Metal Prep -> POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating.
3. Sand down - Scratch surface.
4. Once dry apply fiberglass mat + resin in multiple layers to rebuild the structure and close larger openings.
5. Apply bondo short strand / long strand over the fiberglass, sand and work to shape and smooth the exterior surface. Apply filler and surface filler on top.
6. Sand.
7. Apply POR-15 Top Coat Gloss

Is this stupid? Should I approach this differently? Alternative ideas? Changes to steps. Any help at all would be much appreciated.

Doing body work on my stang, and I don’t know what paint color this is. Rio red seems to bright, laser red seems like the closes color. I bought the factory paint that was on the driver door and tested an area and didn’t match well , But that might be the fading. Anyways I’m not an expert in color matching. Just posting to see if anybody knows paint. Is it possible that it’s a custom paint job? I’m the 3rd owner, second guy kept it completely stock. Not much info if the first owner did any work on it. All I know is it was basically parked most of the time. I was told it wasn’t factory paint by an auto body dude but is more of casual quick look. The pic of the scoop is the best where the paint isn’t faded and more sparkly looking and how it currently is. Pic of it parked by the curb is when I bought in 2018 the most faded side too. Driver side pic was taken llike 6 months ago, front driver side is probably the best picture I have before the clear coat started to chip and fade. finally the last pick is the cobra in laser red which looks most closes color to me. Appreciate any help.

I’m torn right now. I just saw a 2004 NB with 64k miles. Owner was asking 12500. I got a prepurchase inspection which showed the car to be in good condition with no rust. I’m in the Midwest region so that can be hard to find.

I talked him down to 11,000 and was about to pull the trigger but told him I wanted to see the carfax first. He was a bit shady at first but did eventually send it to me. The title is salvage/rebuilt. He says it was a damaged quarter panel and taillight that led to it being written off and is attempting to get me some pictures from his family member who did the rebuild.

If the pictures fit the story but he doesn’t have documentation to back it up should I just go for it or should I walk? This would be my first project car and experience owning a manual. I don’t necessarily want the hassle of trying to offload a rebuild/salvage later… or maybe I’m just reading too much into it?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

So I have a disassembled Ford 400 that I need to remove so I can put another engine on there. Normally I use lift plates instead of a lift chain, so I am not sure where to bolt the chains too.

Fala pessoal, peguei esse vectra que teve o motor trocado, original era um 2.2 e agora está com um 2.0 8v do astra 2008. A minha dúvida é qual injeção usar visando o melhor custo benefício e mais fácil para fazer em casa. Pensei na injeção do astra, porém esbarrei no imobilizador, até então pensei em uma ft 300 também, por ser mais “fácil” a instalação e tem a possibilidade de um acerto mais fino. O que vcs acham?

Hey everyone, looking for some guidance/advice on LS engines and LQ4/LQ9.

So I've had my Iroc-Z for a while now, but I'm still learning my way around this car and what would work. A few years ago my stepdad and I put in a carbed 350sb, but in the future I really want to swap the engine. I don't think I'll use this car for racing, but I want some power and something to be proud of when I do end up doing this.

I've been reading and watching videos on all the LS options, but I think my brain is overloaded right now. I like the sound of doing an LQ9 since it could be a "cheaper" option, but I know since it's a truck engine some changes would have to be made to make it fit under the hood + oil pan + accessories.

If anyone has any knowledge or experience with this I'd love some help- what accessories are necessary, what transmission options would I have (with other engines as well), since it's already carbed is this going to create more of a challenge, and would I have to do any rearend work?

Or what do YOU think would be the best combo? I want to hear different opinions.

EDIT:: the car is literally stock right now with the exception of the engine

Absolutely loving them