Mazda Miata J32 swap

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
I mentioned that my son and I had installed an Acura V6 into a 91 Miata. Thought I would share a few pics of that here.
We used the Mini-tec swap kit. This was our first real deep dive into something like this. Went well for the most part. Still have several lingering details to clean up. Needless to say, 260 hp in a 2,100 lb. body is a blast. With standard tires, it EASILY breaks loose in the first three gears. Traction limited. New tires and wheels are next. At least when my son saves up enough. Working at Chik-fil-A is funding his project. Kind of a sleeper. Only give away that it is no longer stock will the the hood bump addition (not on yet).
We took it over to a friend to show it off. He owns a Honda / Acura repair shop. He put the same engine in his old NSX. Pretty sure you could not see two J32 engines in two such different cars sitting side by side anywhere else!
 

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Brian74

Goblin Guru
That’s pretty cool. I was planning a similar build using the mini-tec kit and 3.5 Honda V6, before I decided on the Goblin.
 

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
Brian: It was a stretch for my and my son's abilities at the time. We learned a lot along the way over a few months. The electric was the toughest since the J32 ECU had to be connected to parts of the old Miata harness. We still have a few minor things to complete but, the car is a little speedster with 260 hp (normally aspirated) on 2,100 lbs of car. And, of course, the project got me pumped up to do my own version of a little speedster in the Goblin. The support from Mini-tec (and BJ and Norman) were lacking (to be nice here). My son has really turned some heads at the local car meets so far.

I can tell you with CERTAINTY that this Goblin build will be a walk in the park with the video instructions, forum support, and the groundwork done by Lonnie and Adam. I have a TC donor, so both the Goblin and the Miata will have 260 hp. Goblin will be lighter, though. Dad should be faster... :)
 
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