Part 2 of the Miata 2.5L Swap - The LONG Road to Repair

This is Part 2 of the Miata's 2.5L build series. For a link to Part 1, please click here to read about my NC Miata's over the years, the road to get to the 2.5L swap, and the clutch failure that actually led me to this point. For context on more of the 2.5L swap in general, please see this post linked here.

I am going to start this by stating this post is not intended to be defamatory towards the professional shop that performed the work on my NC Miata. That said, I will be honest in articulating the issues associated with the shop that I selected to do the work on my NC Miata both during and after the service was completed.

On August 14, 2023, the clutch in my Miata died and I decided that it was time for a 2.5L swap. To quickly recap, the 2.0L engine (referred to with an MZR engine code) is an iteration of Ford's Duratec engine lineup that included a 2.0L (the engine in my Miata), 2.3L, and a 2.5L. Each of these engines share the same dimensions, computers, and engine mounting points with the only real differences being the displacement of each engine. You may ask why Ford was making Mazda engines in 2006; if so, check out this Wikipedia article on the Ford/Mazda partnership from the 2000's.

Over the next 2 months, I called multiple different Mazda specialty shops (local and nationwide) to ask for quotes and thoughts on additional items that should be completed at the same time as the swap. After careful consideration, I decided that I would complete the engine swap myself. Prior to buying an engine, I worked to compile used equipment to perform the job including an engine hoist and engine stand (spent a combined $30 for both). On October 30, I drove from Atlanta to Athens, GA to pickup a used 2.5L engine out of a fellow wrecked NC Miata for $500. 

The decision of loading an engine into a lifted LX570 was one of those moments that led me to realizing the need and ultimately buying a truck... Turns out the oil was still in the block, so there were multiple leaks; fortunately, I thought ahead and laid down tarps, blankets and plastic wrap to avoid potential damage. Once back in Atlanta, my Dad came over and helped me remove the engine from my LX570 and mount it on the engine stand.

After all of the hard work of getting that engine onto the engine stand (not as easy as it looks), I finally had a great opportunity to inspect it leading me to a terrible discovery as part of the head (specifically the exhaust port on the far left) was broken on the far left bank rendering the engine useless... Here's a couple pictures of the carnage:

I notified the seller of the damage and fortunately he was a super standup guy that immediately sent my money back via Zelle ($500) and proceeded to drive from Athens to Atlanta to come pick up the engine in its current state. Come to find out that there are actually some decent people on the internet, who knew!

After this engine mishap, I decided that maybe doing an engine install in my garage as a shadetree mechanic was not a good idea. One of the biggest reasons for this decision was my inability (or reluctance) to work with air conditioning components due to nasty chemicals and not having appropriate equipment to handle those chemicals. I followed up with some of the shops that I had previously called and decided to go with Fab9 who had a small shop outside of Nashville, TN. Fab9 is one of the larger online Miata parts suppliers who not only sells parts but also fabricates a good number as well. In speaking with Fab9, they were confident, experienced, and communicative in all correspondence regarding the 2.5L swap; needless to say I felt that I was in good hands with them.

Before I start listing parts, I want to make it clear that my intention for my NC Miata is to make it as reliable and overbuilt as possible avoiding any potential downfalls or immediate service in the near future. As you will soon see, no dime was spared on my 2.5L build.

I ordered the first round of required parts from Fab9 on November 3 totaling $3,268 which included:

1. New OEM Starter - $162.89
2. Slave Cylinder - $24.90
3. Master Cylinder (Exedy) - $39.59
4. Setrab Oil Cooler - $418.00
5. CSF Performance Radiator - $329.99
6. Duratec Rear Main Seal Carrier - $36.99
7. Exedy Stage 1 Clutch Kit (for 6-speed) - $405.99
8. Progress Adjustable Front Sway Bar - $249.00
9. Moroso Coolant Overflow Tank - $259.00
10. Duratec/MZR Balance Shaft Delete Kit - $36.00
11. Exedy Forged Steel Lightweight Flywheel - $324.00
12. MZR/Duratec Performance Camshafts (Stage 2) - $599.00
13. Water Pump - $56.90
14. RoadsterSport MX-5 Competition Motor Mounts - $189.99
15. Duratec 2.5L Accessory Belt - $36.99
16. Tuning - $79.00

I separately ordered an additional $300 or so worth of items from RockAuto including valve cover gaskets (for the new camshaft and valve cover removal), new air conditioner, and all new belt accessories.

The following day (Saturday, November 4), I went and rented a Uhaul trailer for the trip from Atlanta to Nashville. The next morning (Sunday, November 5), my Dad and I got an early start and set off.

About 4 hours later, we arrived. Upon arrival no one was at the Fab9 location, which was a private residence with a beautiful shop behind the house. No context on where to put the car was provided so my Dad and I dropped the car where we thought best, which was in front of the shop out back and went on our way back to Atlanta.

Over the next 6 weeks or so, Fab9 sourced the engine and performed the requested service. I reached out several times by phone and email to check on status, but received spotty (to say the least) communication back. I was overly communicative because this was the most money and time I had ever entrusted anyone (even myself) on an automotive project; I was anxious... Oddly enough, the best communication or information was actually coming from Fab9's Facebook page where I found some pictures and information on my car during the service.

I even made the Black Friday deals post; albeit with a mention that I wouldn't receive Black Friday rates or prices... A little bit of a bummer, but no complaints from me!

On the week of December 15, I was notified that was car would be complete by end of week and ready to go. To say that I was excited would be a massive understatement. The following weekend I had a wedding to attend, but once Sunday rolled around I had coordinated a ride with the Groom's cousin up to Nashville. As stoked as I was, I had one more bill to pay for the additional parts and labor on the car which totaled $3,497. That breakdown is below:

1. Labor for the 2.5L Install - $1,400
• Originally we had agreed to $1,200, but I was told that with the increase in parts request for installation that there would be a $200 increase. Figured that was no problem with everything being installed
2. Tires (Continental Extreme 215/45/17) - $624.80
3. Used Braum Racing seats - $700
4. Exhaust Manifold Gasket - $18.11
5. Oil/Coolant - $58.99
6. Used NC Miata Club wheels - $150
7. RoadsterSport MAX Power 1.8" Header - $510

You'll probably notice that there's a lot of change outside of just the engine including the seats, tires, wheels, etc.. This build wasn't just a basic build; it was for my perfect NC Miata. I called Fab9 on Friday, December 15 to confirm everything including that it would be ready to drive home on Sunday evening once I arrived.

On December 17, I took the drive up to Nashville. I was anxious, a little worried about the potential drivability of the the Miata, and most importantly excited. 4 hours later I arrived. Similar to the drop-off, no one was there and the keys were in the car; it was a very informal hand-off. Once I opened the door to the car, I realized my old seats were still in with the Braum seats sitting behind the car. I did not bring any tools or anything to swap them out and was extremely confused... Fortunately the Groom's cousin was still with me and we loaded the seats into his Tacoma to drive to the closest Home Depot where I promptly spent $100+ on the necessary wrenches to install the seats only to realize the driver side seat belt hook had completely severed from the base... This meant I had a 4-hour drive in the rain with no seat belt...

Once the new seats were (semi-) installed, I kindly took the old Scion FR-S seats out and threw them away at Home Depot before proceeding to the highway. It was now that I had my first real opportunity to feel the handling characteristics and power of the car. Here were my initial thoughts:

• Power: Great and punchy, but unusable because...
  
  
• Handling: ...the handling was so bad that the car was essentially undrivable. Any time that you attempted to apply more than about 20% throttle, the car proceeded to jerk uncontrollably like a bull in a rodeo. It was fine for cruising, but any thoughts of sporty driving (or just moderately accelerating) were immediately killed due to an willingness to make it home without dying. It really was this bad.

I slowly and carefully drove the Miata back home making two stops including this one at Bucee's:

A little while later, I safely pulled in the driveway (or technically the street in front of the house because I had another project ongoing in the garage).

The following day, I took the Miata over to Mavis Tire who performed an alignment. I figured with the subframe removal and all of the recent adjustments to the vehicle this would be the resolution to the drivability issue. While the Miata was on the lift being aligned, I requested them look-over the work that had been done up in Nashville at Fab9. In reviewing I noticed something very odd; the (super expensive) Setrab oil cooler that I had purchased was not installed. For the first time I was questioning the work that had been done on my car...

Once off the alignment rack, I quickly took the Miata out only to realize that the alignment had helped a little, but the suspension still felt pretty unsettled. For context, with 60% or more throttle applied I was experiencing a wheelie-like sensation in the front of the vehicle (front became very light) due to the new-found torque and Club suspension that couldn't handle the power. I was also experiencing strange handling characteristics anytime that I went over 40 miles per hour (MPH) that I could only explain as being "disjointed." I knew some drastic changes were needed to dial my car back in...

I immediately drove the Miata home and put it on jack-stands to begin inspecting the parts and components that Fab9 had (or had not) installed. My findings were a little bit disheartening:

• Missing Components:
• Moroso Coolant Overflow Tank - $259
• Setrab Oil Cooler - $418
• Broken/Damaged Components
• Driver seat mount - $200
• Driver seat sliders - $50
• Passenger seat sliders - $50
• Missing driver-side seat belt buckle (my own mistake as the seat was trashed in Nashville)
• Not Working
• Air conditioning
• Was later told it just needed a recharge as there was initially a vacuum leak that was resolved
• As of February 28 I have not attempted to recharge yet so I cannot confirm operation

I immediately wrote an email (December 18) to Fab9 to follow-up on this and was questioning the other components that I could not confirm on the Miata including the clutch, flywheel, etc.. Upon response, I found the new starter ($162) and clutch master cylinder ($36) had also not been installed bringing the total of parts not installed to nearly $1,200. During the entire time my car was being serviced at Fab9 my understanding was that all parts/components that were ordered from Fab9 would be installed at Fab9; clearly not the case. Knowing that the Miata now needed a suspension overhaul, I asked if we could reallocate the funds from the parts that were not installed or sent to help offset the cost of the suspension components that I needed. Here's how Fab9 offered their refunds:

• Full refunds
• Moroso coolant overflow tank 
• Clutch master cylinder
• Partial Refund (25% restocking fee plus I pay for return shipping)
• Setrab oil cooler
• No refund
• Starter

For the seat mount and seat rails (~$300 in value), I was told in early January that these would be replaced at Fab9's expense and sent ASAP.

It took some time for me to scrounge together the money to order a set of coil-overs; I had just spent over $7,000 on the Miata over the past month, so squeezing pennies together was the best solution to produce more money... I read through forums, Facebook groups, and just about everywhere I could find trying to research what the best suspension offering would be for an ultimate, reliable, and great handling setup. On February 7, I submitted an order for a set of Ohlin Road & Track totaling $1,710 (with $674 discounted off their normal pricing using my store credit). Finally after a couple months of pause, things were looking up!

Even the box for the Ohlin's was SUPER high-end!

And once opened up, the coil-overs were just as beautiful!

Ironically at the same time that I received the suspension, I received the oil cooler that had been credited to my account. I did not receive any of the other parts (including the seat mount and rails).

As soon as that box of Ohlins was opened up, I began the install. Rather than me giving a tutorial, here's the video that I followed:

It took a couple of passive days of work (probably 6-8 total hours), but the install wasn't bad. Here were a few pictures from the install:

As the suspension was wrapping up, I decided to follow-up on the seat mount and seat rails that were supposed to be provided by Fab9 back in January. I never heard a response. At this point I'm not happy as this is the single component that is preventing me from driving my Miata after nearly 6 months... I said screw it and spent $340 on a new Planted Seat Mount and Sparco Seat Rails from Amazon.

About a week later (February 21), I received the parts from Amazon and immediately installed everything.

Finally the seats were in, suspension was completely installed (coil-overs still needed adjustment), and the pièce de résistance shock tower brace (bought this for additional chassis bracing from Good Win Racing and cost $300) was in! It was time for a test drive!

The 15 mile test drive was good, but I couldn't really tell much. I needed another alignment as it wasn't driving straight and assistance dialing in the coil-overs.

The next day (February 23), I took the Miata to Butler Tire in Marietta, GA for a new alignment and adjustment of ride height/dampening in the coil-overs. The adjustments cost a pretty penny ($590), but the car was actually done... Here was the picture when I picked it up:

It was an emotional experience getting into the Miata after that alignment and everything was dialed in. I waited a moment when I sat down, turned the key, and took it out. The drive started amazingly, but what I noticed is that anytime you exceeded 45-50MPH, the steering became vague and the disjointed feeling I explained before was helped but not resolved.

It was 5:30PM on a Friday, so I did not bring the car back to Butler. Instead, I drove home and did a little diagnosing. I figured the issue may be the steering rack being loose or a bearing on a wheel not being right. After a little more diagnosing, I found the culprit...

Yes, you are reading this tire gauge correctly and I checked 3 different gauges to make sure I was receiving a proper reading. Proper inflation numbers written in the door jam of my Miata are 29PSI for both front and rear. Fab9 (or the shop that mounted the tires on for Fab9) had pumped the tires up to:

• Passenger Rear - 80PSI
• Passenger Front - 55PSI
• Driver Rear - 48PSI
• Driver Front - 36PSI

Butler Tire and Mavis Tire had performed alignments but had no reason to check tire pressures with that service, so I have no ill feelings towards either of them. I assumed that Fab9 (or the shop they used) had properly inflated the tires; clearly not the case. This was a safety hazard and I was livid both at myself (for assuming and not checking) and Fab9.

Here's my final cost breakdown of what everything cost me:

• First Fab9 bill - $3,268
• RockAuto bill - $300
• Second Fab9 bill - $3,497
• Mavis Alignment bill - $100
• Fab9 Suspension bill - $1,710
• Good-Win Racing bill - $300
• Amazon Seat/Seat Rails bill - $350
• Butler Tire Alignment/Adjustment bill - $590

Bringing my grand total for the Miata 2.5L swap to $10,115. Could I have done this cheaper? Absolutely and most people do. Am I happy with it? Well, you'll have to read my next post that finally reviews the Miata...

I do want to add one last thing. On February 28, Fab9 reached out to me requesting back that oil cooler (not installed on the vehicle). I have now been waiting nearly 2 months for my seat mount and seat rails (cost me $350) that were promised by Fab9 and still haven't begun investigating what is going on with my air conditioning (again, I'm told it's just a recharge, but who knows). If Fab9 wants their oil cooler back (that they already took 25% of its value in a restocking fee that was credited towards my suspension), I need to have my seat mounts/rails in-hand and my air conditioning service reimbursed for the service that we agreed upon at time of the swap. 

Again, happy to return the oil cooler Fab9, just send me my seat mount/rails (no longer even need them, but paid $300 for them) and pay for my air conditioning recharge (if that's really all it needs). Otherwise, thank you for allowing me to keep a lesser value oil cooler.