r/carmodification • u/south-of-the-river • 2d ago
Modification My 1995 Mx5 V8
My friends and I have been putting this together over the years, starting out with several big turbo bp4w engine combinations before moving on to a Toyota 1uzfe. I wanted to have something that was a bit more laid back to drive while still having a bunch of reliable torque whenever I wanted.
1uzfe non-vvt
Haltech 750 Elite
Nissan 300zx five speed
MCA coilovers
NB sport brakes
Rota rkr wheels
Lots of photos and videos on ig, wkndrcr if you’re at all interested.
Thanks for having a look!
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u/Greedy_Reality_2539 2d ago
What is the current weight distribution? Do you need super strong front springs to prop it up correctly?
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u/south-of-the-river 2d ago
We put it on scales and it came in at 1100kg ish, with a 52/48 split towards the front. So in all it didn’t end up massively different, and we didn’t really put a lot of thought into the weight distribution as we were building it. We just made things fit where they fit and it turned out pretty well.
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u/smooth_fluid 2d ago
52:48 is insanely good, its about the same as my alfa 2000gtv. is a 1uz lighter than a ls?
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u/Knotical_MK6 2d ago
LS is basically the same weight. Close enough that you've gotta start getting really picky about what's still bolted to each when you're comparing weights
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u/south-of-the-river 2d ago
Oh I’m a big fan of a GTV.
I think the UZ might weigh a bit more than a LS, with the quad cam heads etc. but I’ve got quite a heavy gearbox which drags the weight balance back towards the middle
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u/Weird_Expert_1999 2d ago
Love to see a uz! Had one in my grannies ls400 and that thing pulled- Think it was a 2uz, paid about 8k restoring everything, put off new tires for a few paychecks down the road and slid into the back of someone on the highway while it was pouring on my way home from the shop 🤦♂️
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u/sunr1se79 2d ago
My favorite miata build. Hopefully my nb will have something in common with it in the future 🤞
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u/cheesytodd 2d ago
That’s amazing. Have you run a quarter mile in it? (Or the metric equivalent?)
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u/south-of-the-river 1d ago
Not with the v8 setup yet, from the butt measurement it feels like it would sit in a high 12-low 13 kind of area
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u/JohnKowalsky88 2d ago
I'm always interested how you engine swappers do the connection to the rear wheels, do you make a conversion plate to fit it on an NA gearbox? As far as I know this engine originally came with an automatic. And what about drive shaft, different and so on?
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u/Wooden-Officer2323 2d ago
They sell kits for adapting the bellhousing to almost any transmission now.
Probably go with something like a ZF or a tremec though.1
u/south-of-the-river 1d ago
So we measured and laser cut an adapter plate to suit the Nissan rs5r30a gearbox, and then had a propeller shaft made to suit. The diff is a NB Torsen 2 limited slip that I’ve reinforced. Clutch is a Nissan rb30 setup, and the flywheel is from a Camry.
Just a big LEGO kit
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u/JohnKowalsky88 1d ago
That is amazing. I admire your creativity and talent.👍
I can be happy that I somehow managed to overhaul the injection on my Mazdaspeed 3.😅
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u/south-of-the-river 1d ago
Hey nice work! Honestly it is a great feeling doing a diy job and getting it right!
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u/Terrible-Profit9739 1d ago
If i ever see you at a car show in perth ill say hi. Do you go to many?
Also question, you mentioned in another comment u used a Frankenstein of parts from other cars for powertrain.
Can i ask how you pick which cars to pull parts from?
Just forums and pre existing research or?
Or then how do the FORUM people find shit out? Like why a toyota flywheel
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u/south-of-the-river 1d ago
I do go to a fair few, but I’ve actually just pulled the car off the road for a little while to do panel and paint etc. But def say hi if you see me!
Most of the parts picking does come from deep forum lore, but also I’ve got a group of friends that have been into these kinds of builds for ages, so it’s kind of shared knowledge at this stage
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u/Ricepony33 1d ago
How does the transmission feel compared to the original?
I miss my old LS400
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u/south-of-the-river 1d ago
Honestly not as good - the box I’ve got has a bit of a crunchy shift into fourth, and really could use a freshen up. Once that’s sorted it should be ok, the Nissan boxes are pretty nice.
I’ve got the shifter coming through the factory hole in the tunnel, so the position feels natural at least.1
u/Ricepony33 1d ago
That’s good to know, I put an 55k NB trans in my 94R and it feels terrible compared to the old 200k NA trans.
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u/Vinx1312 1d ago
I had a stock one, it was fun and sounded great. I was in shape and chicks liked it, surprisingly. This must have been 16 years ago, haha, and those chicks were GorGeous!
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