mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
tonight i am doing the final prep to paint the bonnet tomorrow....had a few cracks near the headlights to address...common stress point on a Spit unfortunately...and did some adjusting of the underlying bonnet frame to get it to sit right..the gaps were way off and the standard adjustments were not enough....clearly the bonnet had been tweaked in the past.
I'll post some pics tomorrow after i finish spraying...going for the same "Catch me if you can, Yellow". |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
so, the bonnet is painted, came out ok for an amateur. i have some wet sanding to do but i am satisfied....thoughts on the color? I made it as "noticeable" as possible so those SUV drivers would see me and not run me over like a speed bump. :-)
One issue i wanted to throw out there..i am using the spitfire clutch master-but i only need about half the throw to fully engage the miata clutch....thoughts on fabricating a stop for under the pedal? the miata master is not a possibility-the mechanism is totally different. |
socorob Robbie La (173 posts) Registered: 09/17/2009 04:42PM Main British Car: 1963 Sunbeam Alpine Series 2 Ford 2.8 V6 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
I welded a nut to the side of my clutch pedal, and threaded a carriage head bolt into it, pointing up. I set it where I wanted it and have a second nut on the bolt to use as a jam nut to lock it in place.
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Winston Winston Wood Houston, TX (Clear Lake) (15 posts) Registered: 10/25/2011 12:11PM Main British Car: 1976 Spitfire Mazda 1.8 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Congrats on the successful install, Doug! I have a '76 Spit that I'm putting a '94 1.8 Miata engine/transmission into. Glad to see that there are others here paving the way for me :) I'm actually de-converting my car *gasp* from Ford 5.0 power! I'll make my own thread here before too long. I just received the title in my name after a long process, so I now feel comfortable moving forward with the build.
Quick question -- did you make the stock Spitfire gauges work with the Miata swap? If so, would you mind giving some quick detail as to how you did it? Sorry if you already covered this; if so, I missed it. Thanks! -Winston Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2012 12:39PM by Winston. |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Winston-I did get the triumph gauges working....well, all except the speedo, though I have a plan for that for the next time I take the trans cover off. I'll find my wiring diags for the tach and water-they were pretty simple. I know the water gauge was as simple as plugging it into the sensor at the rear of the intake on the 1.6 engine. The problem is though-the miata runs a bit hotter than a spit engine by design so the gauge was dam near at max before the fan would kick in. It was giving me a heart attack so I bought a new gauge from Vicky brit that had real numbers on it up to 250. It came with a new sensor which you do need to use.....that is the biggest pain, getting the old one out and putting in the new.
Fuel gauge- no change Tach-I'll post tomorrow Speedo- the jury is out for now I am thinking of adding an oil pressure gauge since the engine has the sensor there... Doug |
Winston Winston Wood Houston, TX (Clear Lake) (15 posts) Registered: 10/25/2011 12:11PM Main British Car: 1976 Spitfire Mazda 1.8 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Thanks in advance, Doug. Wiring is not my strong suit, though this project is forcing me to learn :) I'm interested to hear what you have in mind for the speedo. That certainly seemed to be the most difficult to adapt.
I support adding an oil pressure gauge. Most important gauge you can have, in my opinion -- but that's racer mentality for you. |
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mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
for wiring in the ECU and trimming the miata harness..you definitely will need some strong wiring diagram "interpretation" skills...here is a link that i used-printed out and made notes on the margins as i went along tracing circuits....it is a grungy, greasy mess now, but was invaluable.
[www.madracki.com] i believe there is similar ones for other years...as i found-the haynes manual has alot of mistakes in it. The Miata Garage had some similar, great information, pictures and diagrams: [www.miata.net] doug |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
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Winston Winston Wood Houston, TX (Clear Lake) (15 posts) Registered: 10/25/2011 12:11PM Main British Car: 1976 Spitfire Mazda 1.8 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Great information, Doug. Thanks a bunch!
The madracki.com diagrams are great. That's what I am using for my swap. For others that may be interested in a Miata swap, here is a direct link to the various diagrams from 1990-2000: [www.madracki.com] |
Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4575 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
taken down by owner, I expect...
but you can find some of that old content archived here: [web.archive.org] |
Winston Winston Wood Houston, TX (Clear Lake) (15 posts) Registered: 10/25/2011 12:11PM Main British Car: 1976 Spitfire Mazda 1.8 |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Looks like the Turbo Miata guys (or somebody they know) saved the Madracki site's Miata stuff, including the diagrams:
[y8spec.com] Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2014 10:21PM by Winston. |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Hey Nice lookin conversion. Im doin the same thing at the moment. I managed to get the motor behind the rack and as low as possible while keeping the shifter about the same.
Did you manage to marry the spitfire speedo to the mx5 box? Would love to ask a whole other bunch of questions too if that's cool. The most important is "Does it go extreeeeemly quick??" As that's what Im hoping. Cheers. |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Aiden,
let me dig into my notes...i had written up how i hooked up the speedo-it was an adaption of parts from both cables...a bit of a pain in the butt. does it go fast...... you'll see.....i still get a rush when the miata power really kicks in above 3k....it is like a turbo rush... i haven't tryed a "top speed" test as the front end get a bit light(even with the front end lowered) above 90....but i would estimate it could do 120+ if i got it on a track.... feel free to PM me with any other questions....i have it in the garage for the winter and am planning some additional work on it... |
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mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
I used both....the original spitfire wiring for lights, horn, radio, etc. the Miata harness for engine, fuel, cooling, charging.batt. You do have to morph.connect them for ignition key and to power the spit harness. I put the ecu in the passenger footwell, the fuse box and relays in the original battery box. I relocated the batt to the trunk.
The wiring was the most difficult part of the conversion..... |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Doug,
I am at the start of the same swap. Was curious if you had any closer pictures of your motor mounts/steering shaft clearance with the exhaust manifolds? Seems as if I have a pretty good conflict with the steering shaft right at the flange. Any help would be appreciated. |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
i'll post some better pics this weekend and some measurements in relation to some common frame items for you. I had a rough idea of the location and shape of the mounts based on the article in the magazine, then used stiff cardboard templates to get the location and angles right before I fabricated the mounts to weld on....I necessitated many trial fits and banged knuckles before I was confident to weld in the brackets....and some fun maneuvering of the engine on the final lowering onto the mounts-but it was well worth it. the clearances are DAMN tight with the manifold and steering shaft.....
d |
mildo04 doug milligan (36 posts) Registered: 07/26/2010 08:17AM Main British Car: 1978 Triumph Spitfire Mazda 1.6 liter |
Re: Miata 1.6 into a 78 Spitfire
Also-I believe I did do some grinding of that portion of the flange just to give a small amount of extra room....I didn't have to take off too much or have an impact on the integrity of the flange joint itself.
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