Miata engine in a Mazdaspeed Protege??

[initialsrbs]

I have a meeting with a friend at 3pm, and he just informed me he is going to buy a 1.8l miata engine for his protege!?! I told him to hold off till after our 3pm meeting. I don't think that can be done, or has been done?? The 1.8 Miata engine is set up for RWD, there are no kits for this swap are there? I don't have alot of time to research as I have 2 other meetings between now and then.

Just looking for a confirmation that this will not work. Thanks. Also if you know of any Mazdaspeed protege motors for sale, let me know. Thanks!

 

[njaremka]

not without a crap load of work

 

[Matrix]

I have a meeting with a friend at 3pm, and he just informed me he is going to be a 1.8l miata engine for his protege!?! I told him to hold off till after our 3pm meeting. I don't think that can be done, or has been done?? The 1.8 Miata engine is set up for RWD, there are no kits for this swap are there? I don't have alot of time to research as I have 2 other meetings between now and then.

Just looking for a confirmation that this will not work. Thanks. Also if you know of any Mazdaspeed protege motors for sale, let me know. Thanks!

The motor for the Mazdaspeed Protege is not Mazdaspeed specific. Any 2003 or later FS-DE 2.0L Mazda engine is identical. Why anyone would go for a 1.8L Miata engine that probably costs the same is beyond me. (braindead

 

[Speed3.5]

as far as mazdaspeed protege motor is the same as a regular n/a protege 2.0L engine , there's no difference except the turbo system the engine 2.0L is the same that's why they blow on MSP offten bc its not forged or stronger then the regular n/a 2.0L
In other words just get an N/A 2.0L protege engine and build it up or replace the blown one for that matter.

i don't know if miata will fit, if he has the tools and $$ anything is possible, heavy modification will be needed IMO.

good luck though.

 

[Metallic36]

I think it would be smarter to buy a Miata instead of putting that engine in a Protege. WHY? What would the point be to say you have a Protege with a Miata engine? There's a lot of things that would have to be done. Performance-wise, you'd have to do A LOT, even with the wiring, ecu, etc. I would think. It would be better to get a used Protege engine, or just take the block and go forged. Kinda seems like your friend would be going the opposite direction if he attempted that. (dunno)

Edited: Actually, you could even get a 2001 Protege engine. From an MP3 or something. It's the same engine, except for the oil feed line on the back of the block for the turbo. If he wanted to go N/A, that would be easier than getting a Miata engine.

 

[erick pina]

I allways want to do this too, take the motor out off the mazdaspeed mx-5 and installed into the mazdaspeed protege but it will be expensive.

 

[ND4MSP]

The motor for the Mazdaspeed Protege is not Mazdaspeed specific. Any 2003 or later FS-DE 2.0L Mazda engine is identical. Why anyone would go for a 1.8L Miata engine that probably costs the same is beyond me. (braindead

The 1.8 from the miata is known to be able to handle a fair amount of abuse. The forged goodness inside will help you overlook the 200cc's you'd miss out on. If it were a viable option there would def be a few protege guys running them. A forged fs block would still prob be cheaper in the end though.

 

[NCZ13]

has noone mentioned the fitment issues he will encounter trying to put a rwd engine in a fwd car...

its not going to happen without a ton of custom fabrication

 

[Captain KRM P5]

there are front wheel drive BP 1.8 engines that bolt to the G series trans, ladies and gents. the BP 1.8 was front drive before it was rear drive, and arguably is a way better motor to work with for boost than the 2.0 FS ever will be.

 

[kura808]

hehe the BP engine is much better than the FS for boost applications xD
mazda u should have slapped that in the protege instead ><

 

[Turbo MP3]

Somebody here has a BP in a 3rd gen, but it strictly a drag car with all solid mounts, I believe he's pushing about 400hp on stock internals and a mildly worked Miata head...

 

[NCZ13]

there are front wheel drive BP 1.8 engines that bolt to the G series trans, ladies and gents. the BP 1.8 was front drive before it was rear drive, and arguably is a way better motor to work with for boost than the 2.0 FS ever will be.

i stand corrected =)

 

[ej1power]

heck yeah! i'd do it if i had the money too! man you would then be able to go buy a tomei powered(bowdown) bp miata motor and slap that bad boy in it and feel all warm and tingly inside! or you could even source out some hks miata parts and boost with that too! man if money only grew on trees!(bowdown)

 

[Captain KRM P5]

hehe the BP engine is much better than the FS for boost applications xD
mazda u should have slapped that in the protege instead ><

from 1990 to 1998 thats what they had. basically an N/A ecu on a JDM engine setup for boost.

 

[fr0st]

wouldn't a BPT 1.8 be easy to fit then ?

 

[kura808]

o yea haha my bad i just realized the gtx and the gtr heh..

what about what frost said. do u gotta deal wit harnesses from hell and custom motor mounts. u said its applicable wit the tranny right but what about the other stuffs

sorry i'm a bit interested hehe

from 1990 to 1998 thats what they had. basically an N/A ecu on a JDM engine setup for boost.

 

[neox.286]

The motor for the Mazdaspeed Protege is not Mazdaspeed specific. Any 2003 or later FS-DE 2.0L Mazda engine is identical. Why anyone would go for a 1.8L Miata engine that probably costs the same is beyond me. (braindead

I believe you mean any fs-de engine...2003 was the last year they made it (unless I am mistaken, none of the 3s from 04 - 08 had the fs-de in them...correct?)

I know for a fact that the 2.0L from 2001-2003 is the fs-de, and I am 90% positive the 2.0L from 99-2001 is an fs-de as well

there is absolutely no difference between any of the fs-de bottom ends, which is where the problems lie

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Just tell him to throw an LS-1 engine in there. People are putting the damn thing in everything these days. We may as well have a protege with one lol

 

[Bassmachine]

Sorry to res a old thread but.. What happened to this, what was the outcome? I think that the swap could be possible with a older gen tran swapped in, but if you were to do the swap id go with the 99+ 1.8. I know some people around here are going tube front end so honestly if you've gone that far making new motor mounts wont take much more. Does anyone know of the mounting points on the BP block? One of the biggest problem i can see is the oil pan. It needs to be swapped out with another model that fits and was meant for FWD, or modify the existing one. I know theirs a lot of thinking through these processes but this is the basics of what i think the biggest problems would be with this swap. Can someone give me the FS and BP block side by side or measurements? IF clearance is another issue i suggest cutting the area out around the hood and adding a extractor scoop to the hood. This could also help with cooling but could pose problematic in the rain, no one likes water around their spark plugs. I know i think about this too much, and most likely im not seeing a bigger picture here but what do you guys think?

 

[cougar10agREDUX]

I believe you mean any fs-de engine...2003 was the last year they made it (unless I am mistaken, none of the 3s from 04 - 08 had the fs-de in them...correct?)

I know for a fact that the 2.0L from 2001-2003 is the fs-de, and I am 90% positive the 2.0L from 99-2001 is an fs-de as well

there is absolutely no difference between any of the fs-de bottom ends, which is where the problems lie

there is a difference in the FS-DE motors depending on its year, read the FS-DE revision thread.

also the main bearing support plate between manual and auto has one trans bolt hole that doesn't line up, it's a 14mm bolt, tho. i just made an "adapter". an of course the one for the MSP has the fitting for the turbo oil return.