Engine Removal on 97 BRP Hotside

[bogey]

Yesterday I pulled the engine on my 97 Miata. Here is a record of the progress and what was found.

http://www.thebogarts.net/enginereplacement1.asp

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Ouch. What do you think caused the demise of the bearings? Normally SC damage is piston related.

[Banshee]

Ouch.

Wish I had friends nearby that could do that kind of job. Would be fun.

Good luck with the engine replacement. Seems like a good time to go all out and hit the 250 whp mark.

[bogey]

I think I am going to revert this one back to stock. It is my wifes car and she does not care about power. Drivability is far more important.

As far as the failure - I think is is just another freak failure that can be attributed to 97's. Everyone I know with a 97 has random inexplicable problems.

I don't feel the supercharger caused this issue. Perhaps just magnified a weak bearing.

Just to be clear- this is NOT the FFS coldside install. It was a BRP Hotside with BTB. My 96 is alive and well, just awaiting a replacement ecool injector which should arrive this week.

[socal pat]

Just out of curiosity why don't you just replace the short block?

[bogey]

Because the head is suspect due to the amount of metal circulating in the oil.

I bought a used 96 engine with 70K miles for $750.

It has been tested on the bench dyno and has excellent compression numbers.