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after not wanting to have another project car after I sold my MX-5 (Miata) a caged (old and outdated) rolling FC3S chassis popped up locally.
The Miata looked like this:
Of course I could not say no, as the price was insanely cheap (less than 500$). It had neither a rear hatch, nor diff or a dashboard. But it had NA half shafts (one is was missing the outside dust cap and the joint was full of dirt), and an NA transmission. Also a beyond repair hood (probably flew off before, 2 corners were badly bent).
I bought it last year and as there are almost no parts for these on this side of the world I either had to wait to get those delivered, or I just did not have time to work on the car. Now I am awaiting the last batch of parts to finally remove it from the jack stands.
What it has/will have in the next days: delrin diff and subframe bushings, welded OEM front diff mount, rose jointed subframe sublink, diff snubber, DTSS delete, adjustable rose jointed toe arms, poly front control arm bushings, poly steering rack bushings, shortened knuckles for more steering lock, control arm spacers with new ball joints, longer inner and outer tie rods. refurbished brakes all around.
The plan is to have the chassis, suspension and brakes sorted, then start an engine swap. Sadly there aren't many rotaries around here, neither people knowing how to work on them, so it will get a piston engine.
The first idea was to use an M52 out of an E36, as I had a damaged one sitting around, but ditched that and sold the E36. Now I am debating on either a turbocharged Miata engine (been done a couple of times already, should fit well, especially a 1.6), or to use a 3.0 Duratec V6 (US guys have them in Lincolns, Mazdas, etc. and we have them in Fords or the RWD version in Jaguars). Saw one person posting two photos of trial fitting a Lincoln LS engine on this exact forum, but sadly no more info on that (is/was a chump car I think). Same engine as the Rocketeer MX-5 swap.
I am leaning towards the Jaguar/Duratec swap, as I only need reliable 200whp in this car for now. Duratecs were the base of the brit Noble sports cars with twin turbos, so they are capable of handling more power (only issue is a strong enough transmission, but the Getrag 221 should be fine with the stock power). The engine is light and short, cheap and available here. Mind: in Europe there are no cheap V8's sadly. I was also only able to get an NA diff, so don't want to overstress that either for now. This is a budget-budget project now, as I did not even plan doing it, was the spur of the moment only that I bought the chassis.
And a photo of the poor FC on jack stands in the garage the way it is now:
Still a lot to do left, but I want to test fit the engine latest at the end of winter and have it running asap afterwards.
So yes, long first post. Hope enjoyed the above.
Best regards
Stefan
Last edited by pitesy; 10-26-21 at 05:51 AM.
Reason: typos corrected
Welcome to the club. If you're looking to do a V8 swap, you might take a look at the BMW M62. It's a fairly compact V8, similar in size to a GM LS1. Shopping correctly can net one with a Getrag 6-speed manual transmission too.
10-26-21, 04:25 AM
I was also only able to get an NA diff, so don't want to overstress that either for now. This is a budget-budget project now, as I did not even plan doing it, was the spur of the moment only that I bought the chassis. 
