Flyin' Miata : Projects: The V8 NC Project

January 24, 2011 - Meet our newest patient.
This as-yet-unnamed 2009 is going to get a radical personality change in the form of a 480 hp V8 engine and a T56 transmission. It's the first of the NC (2006+) generation we've converted, and we expect to learn a few things. It's a Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT) car with a leather interior, very luxurious!
It's probably fairly obvious that we have a bit of work to do first. The car took a hit in the nose and was written off. We've pulled off the damaged body panels to see the damage, and it actually won't be too bad to straighten up. Despite the ugly appearance, the car does drive.
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February 15, 2011 - Betty in chains!
Atomic Betty (working name) is at the frame shop getting pulled and prodded back into shape.
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February 17, 2011 - It turns out one of Betty's frame rails was beyond repair.
Lucky for us, Mazda sells replacement parts. You can't always get pieces like this for cars. Thanks Mazda!
It's funny, we don't usually do bodywork at FM. But right now we have three cars getting sorted out for rust or accident damage: Betty, Project 707 and Bill's BMW 2002.
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February 24, 2011 - Betty's home from her nose job.
And she looks good! The whole repair is very cleanly done, and when we get some paint on there you'll never know she'd been hurt.
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February 25, 2011 - That didn't last long.
Tyler's tearing into the car so we can start to prep the shell for the V8. As with the earlier models, we'll pull the complete drivetrain along with the suspension and subframes.
We just realized that we never actually drove the car as a four-cylinder, other than a very messy drive into the shop from the transporter with power steering fluid bleeding everywhere.
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February 28, 2011 - The drivetrain and suspension is out, giving us a good look at what we have to deal with.
Lots of brake lines, for one thing! The NC comes apart just like the earlier cars, with the front and rear subframes along with all the drivetrain as one big piece.
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March 28, 2011 - Big boxes for Betty!
The V8 parts aren't here yet, but we do have all the bodywork to put her back together. Eventually. There are also a couple of trick parts in the pile, which will be unveiled eventually.
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July 18, 2011 - Time for some progress on the car.
Everything has arrived, although we managed not to take any pictures of the subframe for some reason. We're still working out some electrical issues, but decided it was high time to put the engine in.
First, we changed out the stock LS3 oil pan shown here for the fabricated V8Roadsters part with a remote oil filter. The V8R part has excellent oil control, avoiding any possibility of starving the engine under hard cornering. We're building this car for a lot of performance, so we need to give it every chance it can get.
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July 18, 2011 - The NC has a lot more room in the engine bay than the earlier cars.
The extent of the body modifications are seen here. This seam needs to be cut back a bit, and a small dimple pounded into the firewall right at the top of the seam. We made the modifications and shot them with seam sealer before painting. The interior does not have to come out, unlike the earlier cars.
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July 18, 2011 - Tah-daaaah!
The LS3 is now parked in the engine bay with a T56 sitting in the transmission tunnel. There's still a lot to do, of course. You can see here that we have some interference between the ABS module and the right side head. Even the coils get in the way - so we'll have to relocate the module. But otherwise, it fits quite happily!
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July 19, 2011 - With the ABS module out of the way, our stainless steel headers bolt right on.
You'll see the ABS module again later.
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July 19, 2011 - Here's a peek at the V8Roadsters subframe that makes this swap possible.
And did you realize how low the radiator sits in an NC? The top of the rad is approximately level with the upper control arms! The good news is that it looks as if we have lots of room for the rad and fans.
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July 19, 2011 - A view down the transmission tunnel.
The transmission mount falls under the heading of "simple and effective". We do have to drill a half-dozen holes to install it. You can also see how much room there is around the transmission - very roomy. The shift lever comes up right in the stock location. Thanks Mazda!
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November 29, 2011 - Atomic Betty is back on the operating table at last.
Ford 8.8 aluminum housing diff with custom V8R bracket.
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November 29, 2011 - You can see the custom front diff mount here.
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December 5, 2011 - The new GM ecu looks comfy here.
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December 15, 2011 - Check out the new gauges for Betty!
The CAN BUS in the car makes it difficult to retain the stock gauges. So we decided to simply install some aftermarket ones for the time being so we can get the car up and running. But they look so good, they may actually end up staying in the car!
These two gauges are a tach and speedo, but also include fuel level, oil pressure, temperature and battery voltage. You can also read any OBD-II information on the LCD screens and program in warnings for any sensors that go out of range.
Pretty slick!
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December 19, 2011 - In order to mount the gauges, we need to come up with a plate to fill the hole in the dash.
Bill found some nice pretty card stock to use for the template.
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December 19, 2011 - We won't be needing this anymore.
Betty was originally an automatic.
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December 19, 2011 - We've been working on packaging of more than the engine.
The tiny LS3 engine computer is going to be mounted behind the right headlight with the ABS right behind it. That's the bracket for the ABS unit in the picture. GM says it's fine to mount the computer here, by the way.
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