Engine Rebuild/ Swap

[Mr. D Cox]

My 88 GTX has a shot engine, I want some opinions on what I should do. Is getting the top and bottom end rebuilt a good option and worth the money? Can someone give me a rough guess on how much it would cost to rebuild it to original. Not looking for much internal upgrades. Just want a reliable motor to last me. Or should I find another gtx or miata motor from an importer and gamble on its reliability?

[MazdaNoob]

a standard rebuild from an assembled motor @ a reasonable and reputable shop without puling and re-installing the motor will run you around 2500 roughly in this area/toronto/hamilton ect .as for which shop to go to .. i cant help .. i haven't dealt with any in the past 20 yrs

price really depends on whats wrong, what needs to be replaced, what can simply be machined , and how many parts and how cheaply can you source them

a used motor is always a gamble unless they will do a compression test for you on the spot which will give you an IDEA of what condition the motor is in

B6t's are rare to find at the importers so most people simply build their own

with some hard work on your part sourcing upgraded parts for your own block and head if they are still serviceable would be your best bet . new pistons and rods, bearings, gasket set at a minimum.

i would have a shop disassemble the motor and tell you whats needed to rebuild, then source the parts yourself and have them machine and assemble the motor

[Mr. D Cox]

Thank you for the quick reply. How long does a general rebuild take if everything goes fairly smooth? motor has a tick probably coming from the lifters and rod bearings might be shot. It is running at the moment but vary rough and vary low oil pressure once at op temperature. Also has a Little bit of crank wobble. My motor has a miata bottom end and gtx head. I bought it off the guy who had it fir year as a project.

[MazdaNoob]

sounds like a full rebuild . time depends on the shop and they wont really know until they inspect the block .

questions that cant be answered until it's opened up are :
1 is the crank salvageable ( depending on bearing damage it might not be or will have to be turned , if turned how much taken off will affect the size bearing is needed )
2 rods same as above with the addition of bending if at all
3 block condition .. will oversized pistons be needed and if so how much oversized
4 head, warped but machinable , warped not salvageable , guides, valves, cam bearings all have to be cleaned measured

this is all worst case scenario mind you but it is stuff to expect.

oil pump, timing belt , tensioners , waterpump all should be replaced if you dont know the life on them


all of this is basic rebuild info and pretty much required for a " reliable " rebuild...... if you want more power get out your wallet LOL

personally i would look at buying a miata b6 dohc motor and swapping everything over . there may be some small changes to be made and i dont have a direct comparison for you but some others here will pipe in for sure

[azgtx]

If you go with another Miata mill get the automatic motor with the 9:1 CR pistons otherwise the standard tranny version is the 9.4:1 CR. You could also try and source a B6T from a 91-94 Mercury Capri XR2 with some life left in it. I do not know if they were imported to Canada though...that would be the easiest as it would be a direct bolt in with no other part swapping except the distributor harness.

[c.lozer]

What if he wanted to put an FS 2.0 DOHC from a '01 626 into his BF? What other things would he have to swap around?

And what about an '03 Spectra 1.8 DOHC into a BF?

[Mr. D Cox]

Bought another gtx with a gtx motor in it. Plan is to switch the new one with the ****ty one I have. Can someone direct me to a link as to the steps on taking out and putting back in a 1.6l? thanks

[MazdaNoob]

very simple motors to swap . remove anything that ties the motor to the car ( take pictures )
leave everything attached to the motor that you possibly can and still lift the motor out .
remove battery and battery tray
drain coolant undo rad hoses , remove rad
undo the throttle cable , undo the engine harness at the ecu inside the car and pass the harness out through the firewall and hang on the motor , undo the downpipe from the cat, remove/ undo rear driveshaft, pull wheels off and pull cv shafts from trans leaving the short piece in the trans on the passenger side after draining the trans fluid( assuming the 4wd has dual cv's on the pax ) undo speedo cable , undo fuel line , undo heater hoses , remove power steering pump leaving hoses attached and string it off to the side ,undo front and rear motor mounts, power brake booster vac line , purge vac line , take more pictures , take pictures of bolts and where they came out of . use ziplock baggies and LABEL THEM

any wire you unhook from the motor and transmission tape with masking tape and LABEL THEM

hook up cherry picker to engine , take up slack , undo side mounts , check 4x that you haven't forgotten to unhook anything .. lift motor 1 inch ..check everything again have a friend guide the motor slowly out while you lift with the cherrypicker .


there will be a couple things ive forgotten but someone will pipe in i am sure of it

[azgtx]

My take is the same except I find it much easier to lift the car and drop the motor out the bottom. That way nothing gets in the way and one person can do it.

[Mr. D Cox]

Right so I have most of the stuff off. I still have it wired up so I can do a compression test still. The driverside axle is off from the boot coff the trans. What about the other side? Do I take out the whole axle and disassemble it? That's wha I've been told. Is there an easier way?

[DuRWooD]

Leave the jack shaft in. Take the axle out of it.