MX 5 questions

[icedmunkie]

I'm pretty new to these cars but wondering if you guys can help. I am looking to fit an 1.8 engine box and possible rear suspension setup into an Vauxhall Firenza with the possibility of FI in the future.
I have spotted an stripped out car on ebay pretty close to me an was wondering a few things.
If I bought the car cheap and bought an engine could I replace the ecu with an 1.8 one and it will work or is it more complicated than that??
Secondly could I bypass the immobiliser?
Thirdly is the cooling route the same on 1.6 and 1.8's??

Anything else I should be aware of?? It seems a shame to break an car so this is ideal unless anybody knows of an cheap rotten 1.8 car that I could buy for the bits I need?
Thanks in advance
Munkie

[mdh]

Are you sure you want an mx5 engine in your Firenza? I wouldn't have thought it would have been a good match....

Something like a Ford Zetec might be better IMHO. Plenty of them around and they bolt up to a type 9 iirc.

Btw which Munkie are you...the normal one or the one that wore nail polish and women's clothes? ?

[ferny]

Do you mean swapping the 1.6 and 1.8 ECU's around? If so my understanding is nope. There's a mixture of electrics and even number of plugs on the ECU. I can't remember the ins and outs so won't risk giving false info. Do an extensive Google session and you'll get lots of your answers. That's how I did it, but my brain is a bot of a sieve, sorry.

Engines and gearboxes are cheap, the extra bits to get the engine running won't be. That's part of the reason I bought a running car and took the bits off of it.

[icedmunkie]

May 29, 2014 0:07:50 GMT mdh said:

Are you sure you want an mx5 engine in your Firenza? I wouldn't have thought it would have been a good match....

Something like a Ford Zetec might be better IMHO. Plenty of them around and they bolt up to a type 9 iirc.

Btw which Munkie are you...the normal one or the one that wore nail polish and women's clothes? ?

Yes you are right tha they bolt up to an type 9, I think it would be quite a good match. Similar weights both of them. What aspect would you not like about mx5?

curse word I knew that image would come to haunt me.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

[bababoom]

If your going to go down the mx5 route get the 1.6 much better engine IMO

[wheelspinner]

1600 ecu wont fit and 1800

Immobiliser is dependant on the year,a s/h ecu will probably make it run but an aftermarket ecu is probably your best bet.

The 1600 and 1800 have similar cooling systems depends what you are trying to do.if you are talking about position of hoses on rads etc they are essentially the same.

Mx5 Nutz is probably your best bet for a scrapper if you are just after the engine box etc they do come up for a couple of hundred.

In standard form everyone quite a few people take the michael on power output but these engines were designed for turbo power so they either that or a s/c will give you some decent power.

[Hillmanjames]

Ive just fit a 1.8 engine in my hillman hunter. Stil waiting for a propshaft though

As far as costs, you can pick up a complete MX5 engine, gearbox and ancillaries for roughly the same price as a 2.0 Zetec engine on its own.

The MX5 gearbox is quite short and small as well so its an easy fit in old cars like my Hillman.

Ive also ran mine on megasquirt. For the cost, its more than getting keys cut and coded to stock ecu but it is far superior when it comes to tuning. Its also a bonus if you decide to turbo/ sc it in the future as its just a case of bolting it on and plugging the laptop in!.

Ive spent roughly £500 so far on my conversion. That's including all the hardware, the Mega squirt MS2 v3.57 and the petrol money to collect it all.

If you do decide to go the Mega squirt route, don't go plug and play if you can solder. P'n'P units are about $500=700 for an MX5, whereas a standard megasuirt is $279 in kit form. All i did is build mine using the mega manual, us a plug and play base tune and make my own plug and there you go, a Plug and play for 1/3 of the price

James

PS, Heres my build thread if you want a look:
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/166310/1972-hillman-hunter-mx5-heart#.U4eK8PldXgw

[mdh]

May 29, 2014 7:39:28 GMT icedmunkie said:

May 29, 2014 0:07:50 GMT mdh said:

Are you sure you want an mx5 engine in your Firenza? I wouldn't have thought it would have been a good match....

Something like a Ford Zetec might be better IMHO. Plenty of them around and they bolt up to a type 9 iirc.

Btw which Munkie are you...the normal one or the one that wore nail polish and women's

What aspect would you not like about mx5?

curse word I knew that image would come to haunt me.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

Torque! The Mx5 lump doesn't have any, it's all revs.

They're not economical either - mine only got mid twenties.

Gonna see if I can find that pic ?

[rust4life]

There might just be a suitable 1.8 mx5 in the cars for sale section......


I think it's a great engine and box combo and not too bad on fuel imo.

[steed]

May 28, 2014 21:02:32 GMT icedmunkie said:

I'm pretty new to these cars but wondering if you guys can help. I am looking to fit an 1.8 engine box and possible rear suspension setup into an Vauxhall Firenza with the possibility of FI in the future.
I have spotted an stripped out car on ebay pretty close to me an was wondering a few things.
If I bought the car cheap and bought an engine could I replace the ecu with an 1.8 one and it will work or is it more complicated than that??
Secondly could I bypass the immobiliser?
Thirdly is the cooling route the same on 1.6 and 1.8's??

Anything else I should be aware of?? It seems a shame to break an car so this is ideal unless anybody knows of an cheap rotten 1.8 car that I could buy for the bits I need?
Thanks in advance
Munkie

- good plan for future FI as the original base of the mazda B series engine was the 1.6 turbo. As such the earlier blocks found in mazdas still posses the oil drain and feed points just blanked off. Also oil squirters for each piston is an added bonus, over engineered for NA but useful in FI.
- As presiously stated the 1.6 and 1.8 ECU are not compatible, the Latter uses Sequential Fuel Injection whilst the Former uses Batch Fired, and the coil pack on the 1.6 uses a seperate igniter modules whereas the 1.8 coil pack is driven directly from the ECU, amongst other differences.
- the MK1 MX5 (which is the type i assume we are talking about) does not come with an Immobiliser as standard so you would not need to bypass it
- The cooling route for both is the same however i would recommend (especially if you are thinking about FI) revising it as the OEM configuration is not the greatest, this is becuase in an unusual turn of event this is one of the few engines designed for transverse mounting (FWD) that was subsequently adapted to longtitudnianl mounting (RWD).

Most of the qeuries you have asked i've looked at as i am utilising a MK1 MX5 1.6 (B6) engine for my build. I have a comprehensive wiring diagram if you are interested? although i have ditched the Mazda coil pack and ignitor to use some Denso Coil on Plugs.

[ghiabox]

It seems to me that the fitting of the mx5 engine has several advantages over the zetec. Its the right orientation for a start, there's no need for a water rail, or a new sump, or swapping the belt direction for the alternator, and the gearbox ratios are matched to the engine. Yes the type nine fits the zetec but its no performance box unless you get the ratios changed which alone would cost more than the £500 that hilmanjames has spent on the whole conversion. OK the Mazda lump has no torque but that's no hardship as they love to rev and are bulletproof too. You will probably get more power form the Zetec but the 130bhp from the mazda lump is probably double the Firenzas and indeed most 70s saloons, grin factor guaranteed. Good luck and keep us posted.

[mhuk]

I have a 1.6 mx5 engine in my spitfire. Turbo too.
Great engine.

[icedmunkie]

Slight update, I bought an rotten MK2 1.8 car so in the process of stripping it out, so think some bits maybe harder but its getting there. Must update my build thread..

Jun 23, 2014 14:34:28 GMT mhuk said:

I have a 1.6 mx5 engine in my spitfire. Turbo too.
Great engine.

have you an build thread or pictures of the engine bay

[RobinJI]

If you've got plans for F.I. anyway then I'd stick a megasquirt on it from day one. It won't be worth the effort getting the engine running on the standard management only to replace it so soon after. I don't know how much better the mk2's management is, but there's good gains to be had just from a megasquirt on a mk1, especially in the mid range torque. The ECU transformed the 'punch' of mine and made the engine feel a lot less flat than it did as standard.

As for economy, I found mine curse word when trying to get good economy, but if you just drove it as the chassis wanted you to, then it was didn't really get much worse, making it comparable to other cars of similar engine size/performance (if not better).

[mhuk]

Jul 18, 2014 20:55:45 GMT icedmunkie said:

Slight update, I bought an rotten MK2 1.8 car so in the process of stripping it out, so think some bits maybe harder but its getting there. Must update my build thread..

Jun 23, 2014 14:34:28 GMT mhuk said:

I have a 1.6 mx5 engine in my spitfire. Turbo too.
Great engine.

have you an build thread or pictures of the engine bay

Hi, Yes it's mainly on facebook.com/tsmod

Cheers

[icedmunkie]

Finally, got to a point where I can look at this project again. Other projects, life etc have come along..

I have got the car back from a respray, mounted the engine and box in before and it looks good BUT i'm still having issues with electrics. trying to find out what I need to get it running or is it just worth spending the money on an emerald ECU or similar (i'm not up too speed with this electronic stuff too much.. although i'm learning it slowly)

Any thoughts?

[ChasR]

May 30, 2014 13:35:26 GMT mdh said:

May 29, 2014 7:39:28 GMT icedmunkie said:

Torque! The Mx5 lump doesn't have any, it's all revs.

They're not economical either - mine only got mid twenties.

Gonna see if I can find that pic ?

This is true but the 1.8 isn't that bad surely?

As for MPG, I admit they are not amazing ; my Clio 172 would knock the Mazda in a cocked hat there but the MX-5s are not too bad. Mine is getting around 30-38MPG. I generally see around 31-32MPG with my worst tank being 29 - I was idling the car for ages while trying to test the old lamdba sensor .

Jul 18, 2014 21:18:56 GMT RobinJI said:

If you've got plans for F.I. anyway then I'd stick a megasquirt on it from day one. It won't be worth the effort getting the engine running on the standard management only to replace it so soon after. I don't know how much better the mk2's management is, but there's good gains to be had just from a megasquirt on a mk1, especially in the mid range torque. The ECU transformed the 'punch' of mine and made the engine feel a lot less flat than it did as standard.

As for economy, I found mine curse word when trying to get good economy, but if you just drove it as the chassis wanted you to, then it was didn't really get much worse, making it comparable to other cars of similar engine size/performance (if not better).

WHS . However, was your idle OK? A few people have said they could never stop their MX-5 from hunting on MS which they could sort on another ECU (the ME221 for example). If I keep the MX-5 I will most likely go down the Turbo route depending on how much it hurts MPG ; I already have one thirsty car!

Aug 3, 2016 12:41:17 GMT icedmunkie said:

Finally, got to a point where I can look at this project again. Other projects, life etc have come along..

I have got the car back from a respray, mounted the engine and box in before and it looks good BUT i'm still having issues with electrics. trying to find out what I need to get it running or is it just worth spending the money on an emerald ECU or similar (i'm not up too speed with this electronic stuff too much.. although i'm learning it slowly)

Any thoughts?

If you still have an intact wiring loom I'd get the ME221, especially if you are not a far of electrics in general. It plugs straight in place of the stock ECU on the existing loom.

[icedmunkie]

I think I have stripped a lot out of the loom already as I didn't want to use half the stuff for lights etc.. I cannot remember how much I cut out.. Although a new loom cant be that hard to source.

ME221 does look like an option, would this mean i need to use all the sensors such as clutch sensor and gearbox sensors etc?

[ChasR]

I would presume so as IIRC the MX-5 doesn't have a speed signal to the ECU (the switches and sensors are used for idle control in certain instances). You could speak to the retailers of the ME221 about this.

[mdh]

The loom in an MX5 is an utter curse word to remove.

It's basically one big thing front to rear and under the dash, rather than being modular.

Plenty of very rusty '5s on various Faceballs groups. If you sell what you don't need, you'll probably make your money back!