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PostPosted: February 8, 2018, 4:30 pm 
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Joined: February 29, 2008, 7:15 pm
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Location: Denver, Colorado
I am building a Haynes with Saturn plan mods to fit the Miata. I've seen guys offset to the L side of the chassis for more intake room, and it appears to be all over the map as to how low to mount. I have already given up on keeping the sump stock, but even with a chop job, you only gain about 1.5" from what I've read.

All that said, how low have those that have blazed the trail before me mounted there engine? I will be using the Land Rover mounts to be able to go lower than the stock mounts.

Thanks for the input!!

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PostPosted: February 9, 2018, 8:19 am 
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Joined: February 28, 2009, 11:09 pm
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Location: Connersville, Indiana
How much road clearance at the bell housing do you need? At some point (usually pretty early on) that becomes the controlling factor.

Bill


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PostPosted: February 9, 2018, 5:56 pm 
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Location: Denver, Colorado
That's kind of what I'm asking (maybe in too round-about a way?). What clearance do I need to the road? And how far down can I mount the engine to get the most bonnet clearance but maintain enough road clearance to the bell housing?

Keep in mind, I'm not doing any off-roading, but I do want to be able to drive it occasionally and back and forth to the track if I wanted to.

Thanks for the input!

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PostPosted: February 9, 2018, 9:16 pm 
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Joined: January 27, 2010, 1:11 pm
Posts: 540
Location: Jefferson City, MO
On My Haynes frame with 1.8 Miata engine I am just shy of 4". My car is not registered yet but I have driven it without issue. I do plan to put a skid plate under the engine.

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Build: NA Miata based +221 Se7en


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PostPosted: February 10, 2018, 1:03 am 
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Joined: April 14, 2013, 11:44 pm
Posts: 50
i milled the sump level with the bell housing and welded on a flat plate, loose about 300ml of oil but hasnt been a problem
just cant put my hands on a photo just now


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PostPosted: February 10, 2018, 7:59 am 
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Joined: January 7, 2010, 5:39 pm
Posts: 216
Location: hopkinsville KY
look at this link for an option

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=15349&p=169332&hilit=hpbugeye#p169332

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PostPosted: February 10, 2018, 10:03 am 
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Location: Gainesville, Mo.
hpbugeye, in your link, I didn't see an answer to the question of the alloy used. Can you clarify?

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PostPosted: February 10, 2018, 1:13 pm 
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Joined: April 14, 2013, 11:44 pm
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on mine its 3mm


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PostPosted: February 10, 2018, 3:50 pm 
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Joined: February 8, 2007, 4:20 am
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Location: British Columbia, Canada
I'm not sure what the rules are in Colorado, but when I registered mine here in British Columbia, the rules were that no part of the undercarriage could hang below the lowest part of the wheel rim, such that if you happened to get all 4 flat tires, the car would not bottom out on the undercarriage. The rules in your state may vary.

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PostPosted: February 12, 2018, 9:24 pm 
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Location: Denver, Colorado
FieroReinke wrote:
On My Haynes frame with 1.8 Miata engine I am just shy of 4". My car is not registered yet but I have driven it without issue. I do plan to put a skid plate under the engine.


Do you know if that will clear the bonnet without a bulge/scoop?

Thanks for the answers - I plan on cutting my oil sump as well.

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PostPosted: February 13, 2018, 12:09 am 
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Joined: January 27, 2010, 1:11 pm
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Location: Jefferson City, MO
RandyBMC wrote:
FieroReinke wrote:
On My Haynes frame with 1.8 Miata engine I am just shy of 4". My car is not registered yet but I have driven it without issue. I do plan to put a skid plate under the engine.


Do you know if that will clear the bonnet without a bulge/scoop?

Thanks for the answers - I plan on cutting my oil sump as well.


Once I made the engine mounts and bought my nose cone, I built my scuttle so it would clear the oil fill. I already trimmed off the front of the valve cover. I also moved my scuttle back 6 inches which did not help things. You can see what it looks like in my build thread. That is the great thing about these cars is you can adjust things to make it work for you.

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Build: NA Miata based +221 Se7en


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PostPosted: March 28, 2018, 5:54 am 
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Joined: December 1, 2013, 10:48 pm
Posts: 76
Location: Atlanta GA
My engine sump sits 3.75" off the road. It's LOW!

I haven't had problems in 5 years. Occasionally I'll scrape it on my driveway if I have 2 people in the car but it's fairly tough. Personally I don't like the idea of the engine sticking out if the bodywork so it's a known cost


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PostPosted: March 28, 2018, 10:45 am 
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Location: West Chicago,IL
About 3.5" clearance is where I was loaded. I wouldn't go any lower. The only time I had issues was whn I had a full load on my luggage rack and got caught up on a gas station filling access cover that was proud of the rest of the driveway. I was running a bit less clearance at the time and fortunately had no permanent damage. Driving thru road construction where they raised the manhole covers just before repaving always gave me the willies.

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PostPosted: March 28, 2018, 1:06 pm 
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Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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All depends where the car's driven. The front of my car is 3.75" and doesn't have a problem, but I steer clear of steep driveways or big speed bumps. Also depends upon suspension rate, shock damping, tire choice, and tire pressure, which can all may a huge difference.

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PostPosted: March 28, 2018, 1:30 pm 
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Joined: January 31, 2012, 12:49 pm
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Location: Louisville KY
I live in a neighborhood w/ speed bumps. I'm going with 4" for the lowest part, and probably gonna use bump stops to keep it from bottoming out on a "Dino" hill thing.

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