Just buy the car.
Nice! Very, very nice!
As a Mopar fan, wonder if a big inch wedge… 
A 302 in a Miata IS Viagra for that guy.
I don’t know why you are picking on the transplant-engine Miata owners. It sounds like a really cool project to me!
I tend to think that any car with a heater or AC is not a sports car, but I may be too old-fashioned. I have not examined the photos carefully so I bet the cars in the posted picks have neither.
LOL. I tend to think that anything with roll-up glass windows isn’t a real sports car either. I’m not a big miata fan, but I do hate to see one hacked up like that. What do you think the weight distribution of that thing is? It’s probably pretty fast… in a straight line. I don’t know if a stock miata is a “real” sports car, but I’m pretty sure one with a big old iron 302 in the front isn’t.
OK4450: How about a “426 Hemi”. I have an extra 69 “340” I know that will fit.
~Michael (Dartman69)
I find it interesting that all the people saying the Miata is definitely a girl car are posting anonymously. If this stupid new bulletin board system didn’t disconnect people for no reason I’d say that was a real statement about people who think that way . . .
Well, I will say it’s “definitely a girl car” without being anonymous, but I will also say the the OP should buy one if he likes it. Who cares what a bunch of folks on the internet think?
One of my ex-girlfriends had a Miata. We swapped cars for a while (she needed to use my Cherokee) and I never wanted to give the Miata back. It was a BLAST to drive.
Grow some hair and drive whatever appeals to you!
If the suspension were worked on, it has a chance of handling pretty well. An aluminum block 302 would help. Don’t forget that a lot of stuff is probably coming out, like AC and power steering pump. The battery is already in the rear isn’t it?
My latest issue of Mopar Muscle lists an all aluminum 605 cubic inch Hemi that puts out 850 HP at the flywheel.
Wonder what that would do to the rear tires on a Miata! With a NOS bottle added…
(Yep, logged into oblivion again. ok4450)
What rear tires?
~Michael (dartman69 logged out again)
IMHO, if a person decides whether or not to buy a car because of the car’s supposed gender identity, it would appear that the person in question has some significant insecurity issues.
Buy whatever you like, and forget about what others may think of either you or the car!
I heard that the ford V-8’s are virtually “bolt-in” with few modifications. Any truth to that?
Well, I bought one for my wife…Our room mate (a guy), asks to drive it every chance he gets…even after she put in her Hello Kitty Seat covers…
My buddy bought a conversion kit that included all parts except the motor. here is a link to the site for anyone interested.
http://www.monstermiata.com/Monster_V8_Kit.asp
I bought my Miata when I was 19. My friend called it a girl car. I left a 6-foot strip of rubber in his driveway and left it at that.
I’m older now and don’t recommend that you do the same; but the Miata’s performance should put an end to the silly “girl car” comments.
What does your friend think defines a “girl car” anyway? What does that say about someone who would use the term as a pejorative?
I guess it’s a “girly car” in that my wife, who’s a girl, has one. I liked driving it so much I had to get one for myself. That was almost 8 years and 145,000 miles ago. It’s the best car I’ve ever owned. I don’t think the hundreds of Spec Miata racers across the country consider themselves “girly,” except for the girls who race.
Not at all. Not only is the Miata (now called MX-5) a true, purist sports car, it singlehandedly resurrected the whole roadster genre. There were no roadsters on the market when the Miata appeared: The Boxster, S2000, Z3/4, SLK, and Solstice/Sky are all here because Mazda introduced the Miata all those years ago.
http://www.racingbeat.com/Gallery/RB%2090%20Miata.jpg
The girl car/guy car thing, I always thought, turned on cubic inches and horsepower. Miata falls sort of into the sports car class. It’s more about the enjoyment of driving than going fast or impressing the babes. As the former owner of 2 MGBs, an MGA and five Mustangs (including a 5.0 HO), I can say that my Miata is the best car I’ve ever owned - 16 years, 150k and still going strong.
If you like it, buy it.