Miata Mailing List: December 1999, Message #384

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you seem to be in a real hurry to spend big bucks.

> My Red 1990 miles keep adding up.. especially after the forthcoming
> 1300 mile road trip to Minnesota I plan to do on Monday the 6th.
>
> The tappets make a little noise in the morning when I first start her
> up and I am thinking of having at least the top end rebuilt.
annoying noise, but harmless... can often be cured by a change in oil
viscosity

>  She also
> puffs out a little gray smoke from time to time when I start her up
> cold.  Smoke goes away after a few minutes.
gray smoke is pretty much normal in cold weather... blue smoke is oil
burning and could be coming past the rings or past the valve guides.  have
you done compression or leak down tests?  is your engine down on power or up
on oil consumption??

> But, I also must accept the fact that my VIN is very low and the bad
> crank issue does not play in my favor.  Thus, I am also considering
> rebuilding the whole thing or buying a new engine.

the lightweight sports crankshaft is not necessarily a condemnation.  broken
cranks show up in a very low percentage of these engines. care taken when
changing the timing belt or disturbing the crank pulley will minimize the
risk of failure.  of course, if the pulley is already wobbling then you're
hooped.

> Are new 1.6L engines available?

you should have little trouble finding short blocks, long blocks or used
engines... mazmart is prolly a good bet for a used job.

> Any one have numbers on rebuilding the top end and/or the whole
> engine?
> Can I bolt in a 1.8L into my 1990 chassis?  What would I have to
> change?

check out randy stocker's work... he is the virtual holy man of conversions.
not sure where you'll find him as he's in the process of a move iirc but try
either or both of...
http://www.solomiata.com/main.html
http://members.aol.com/solomiata/miataCSP.html

--
Bob Schnider & Tango
90A Red, eh... #1598
MCA, Sea to Sky Chapter
Deja Vu Racing
http://doc.schdist42.bc.ca/bob/