I don't want to re-invent the wheel on this. Anyone have any links to information, tips, maybe even a kit? Maybe even an unfinished project someone has? Any help, leads would be appreciated. Thanks, Carl

 

did a google search on "rotary miata" and got this: http://cp_www.tripod.com/rotary/pg14.htm

probably not what ur looking for tho. a miata with a rotary would be awesome. i got to thinking about that the other day when i walked out of an autozone and there was a miata right there in the parking lot. such a small, light weight car to put my sp13b in. i've also considered puting it in a mazda 4x4 truck.

 

there was a magazine that i had a while back that had a carb'ed 13b in a 1st gen miata.

 

kinda the same but opposite, i found a nice write up about putting a B6 miata motor into an 808. pretty sweet. i though almost considered doing it, but wanted a rotary car.

 

Most rotary Miatas are custom trial-an-error swaps done by the owner and there's no clear right-or-wrong way of doing it. There's a kit that became recently available though:
Mazsport's Miata rotary kit. I know of at least one person around here using it with good results.

If you go to Miataforum.com and do a search in the engine conversion forum for "rotary", "Renesis" or "13B" you'll get a few good threads. Here are a couple of good ones:

Recent thread with pics of the Mazsport kit in an NB (2nd gen) Miata

Early Miata rotary swap in progress

Good discussion with input from a member with a completed rotary swap

 

There was a properly built and engineered rotary powered MX5 (Miata) in Australia a few years ago, they were named Bullet Roadster, I think, the entire front end was re engineered with a tube frame, they were sold as a finished turn key project as a new car. Awesome power to weight and a very strong frame also.

 

Check out this link http://www.fastlane.com.au/Custom_Shed/MX5_rotary.htm

 

And here http://www.users.bigpond.com/designj...tsupercar.html

 

that's what my link was.

 

I did this 5 years ago, documented the whole process on www.rotarymiata.com, which has been down and will be for the forseeable future due to a lack of time/motivation.

I have had the car parked over the past year and a half while I went SpecMiata racing, but have wanted to get the rotary car back together and out to some events in the SE. This past weekend MPM (of this forum) and I installed the new bridgeport. If I have the specs correct, it is a T2 engine, 3mm Carbon seals, 90 rotors, 3rd gen housings. I have only driven the car about 60 feet, but am very impressed with the power. The new Hankook slicks certainly helped with the launch I felt.

Anyway, the swap is easy enough with basic tape measure and welding skills.

 

4G just for the kit not including engine, that's expensive!! If it was cheaper then perhaps.

 

The magazine spoken of Earlier was Sport Compact Car. A guy on the west coast made his with the idea of it being a rotary powered shelby cobra wannabe. He did the entire thing including cost of the car and body work for less than $8,000. I'll try to find his contact information. He owns a shop and they can be contracted for doing such swaps or complete builds. I think the entire builds are something like 10 or 12k.

 

If you could get that info that would be great.

 

for the cool factor yes, i would do it.





but besides that, there's really no point. you can just turbocharge the factory iron block motor up to 400hp and still be good on gas.

 

You forgot to mention the engine is bridge ported!

 

man that looks sweet. i like his idea of making an adaptor to use the carb on the stock 6 port intake. he must not drive it in the winter, he didn't hook up the heater hoses. how close is the hood to the alt when closed?

 

Even with the engine set back a bit in the bay, which allows the engine to sit lower, the alternator is very close to the hood. It sits just under the frontmost part of the factory bulge in the hood and probably clears only because of the bulge.

Can use 84-85 GSLSE oil pan flipped 180* to clear the subframe. Oil plug will need to be moved to rear of pan.

 

there was a wite 13B Bridgeported miata at our huntsville autocross. it handled like a miata and sounded like my rx3 with a straight pipe
the engine did look pretty low and set back alot. but it looked clean

 

Thats 13BMiata's car. It use to be the yellowish colored car on www.rotarymiata.com(dead site right now). I've busted a knuckle or two on that car.

 

how heavy are miatas anyway?

 

Earyl models(1990) a hair over 2000#. I think later models around the 2400# mark if totally optioned. 13BMiata's car is in the 1800# area. Hasn't been officially weighed.

 

2200-2250lbs. for 1990-1993
2300-2350lbs. for 1994-1997

how did 13bmiata's car get to 1800 lbs.?? was it gutted and body chassis modified??

 

I was involved in a rotory miata project before I moved to Fl. I don't know if the car ever was finished (it would be running around Ohio). If you are going to do it yourself some things I remember were that the trans tunnel is a lot lower in a miata than in an RX, which leads to clearance issues and the exhaust is on the wrong side. Neither problem was a deal breaker it just required the above mentioned fabrication skills. It could be done pretty cheaply if you can cut/weld etc. and you know how to operate a ruler/ yard stick. Its all the head scratching time that gets expensive when you pay someone else.

 

gutted:
removed all interior incl dash
removed headlight buckets
removed bumper internals
removed metal rear inner fenders
removed windshield header & glass
obviously removed stock 4cyl
removed all factory wiring
Use 9lb magnesium wheels
removed all hinges, latches, etc
removed everything else
etc
etc
etc

Net result was around around mid-1850#, cant remember now, it was too long ago.
It looked like this:




The car was parked for a LONG time, just took it out again yesterday, July 24th. Many, many thanks to MPM for the TWO DAYS of labor, and that was just in the last two weeks, nevermind the whole project. I think we've re-invented this car at least 4 times since it first went together.....

Dunno what it weighs now, but from original total I added Lexan windshield, hardtop (40lbs), removed the Camden blower, removed Racing Beat nose.

It looks like this now:



Car works well but still getting warmer than it should after a run. I don't have any real gripes except for the T2 shifter, which feels like stirring a bowl of soup compared to the original Miata shifter. Had I known at the time, I would have used an NA trans and simply bolted on the Miata trans tailshaft to retain the shifter. Oh well, always more work that can be done.......if MPM is available to help that is.

 

PJ Bonifacio of PJ Bonafacio Autobody in Industry, California. Look up that shop and give him a call. He might be able to give you some help on a completely streetable rotary miata.

Sorry I forgot about looking for the info and I just remembered.