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Originally Posted by DanielDudley
Miata engines come with an entire car. They are cheap and easy to build, and have a huge aftermarket following. You won't get easy gains with a simple exhaust and intake though. The engine is a little gem, and the car is fun to drive. They are tough, and can take boost.
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This is a tempting choice because of 2 reasons. 1) Seat time in a fun to drive car to test the engines is important to me 2) I work at Mazda and have access to parts and Miata gurus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asphaltgambler
My opinion / experience. Early 70's SBC 350 as the machining was poor ( but average for the time) and the castings were better ( quality ). If your goal is teaching / experimenting with increasing HP/TQ - start with the short block, observe how far down into the bore the pistons top out, rough castings, uneven wear on main and rod bearings.
The first step in any performance build is 'blue- printing' the block, deck height, align boring main / cam journals, etc. Also how much power ( and type) will a 2 bolt main hold? How much power will the stock rods hold? How can you gain power by greatly reducing rotating assy friction? How can you move peak TQ /HP by changing rod length ( there are a couple different stock lengths.
How about reducing rotating mass / weight for faster engine RPM acceleration?
There is so much to be gained in performance and learning / basic engineering principles in just the short block. If you have access to a really good machinist this is where to start.
Every good engine starts with a great short block foundation.
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Yes! This! I feel like there is a list of general engine building best practices that apply to all platforms like some of what you just mentioned. These are the kinds of abilities I want to develop so that I can spot trouble or areas of improvement no matter what engine I tear into. Maybe even get to the point where if I am building my own spec racing engine (of whatever kind) I know what little details I can do that will give me an edge and still let me stay within the rule book.
Thankfully there are quite a few engine machine shops in my area. Additionally my 70 year old dad is retiring soon and is a phenomenal machinist, although not the automotive kind. He is super sharp and Id like to help keep his mind occupied as we both learn how to blueprint engine internals.
I have all these great ingredients surrounding me and I just need to pull them together to be able to build cool machines.
