At the start of this year I found a 5.3L Vortech 5300 V8 engine sitting in my shop storage. I offered an excellent price on the engine for anyone who would accept the challenge of swapping the Vortech 5300 with an appropriate transmission into their own car by the end of the year. The only stipulations were: the car used for the swap had to be an originally RWD car, this specific swap must be well documented on the internet by others who have done the swap before, and who ever takes on the challenge must have the finances up front to complete the swap without cutting corners.
The day after offering the challenge to my three Automotive classes I had a student approach me to ask if he could swap the Vortech 5300 into his first gen (NA) Mazda Miata. I said “That would be a great swap!” The swap has been done thousands of times before and the process, parts and cost is well documented and accessible.
So begins the Vortech 5300 V8 Miata swap!
At the time of this picture: the engine is bolted to a stand, the exhaust headers, oil pan, and windage tray have been removed to be modified or replaced. The student is following downloadable PDFs written by companies that sell conversion parts for the swap. I have read many guides about the process and structural components of the car that must be replaced or improved upon to support the amount of power the V8 will produce over the stock inline four.
Stay tuned for updates!
Mr. McCormack