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Trying to figure out what donor I want to use for my build, Can get a rough NA/NB for 3k-ish here in California. getting a full donor car seems much more cost effective than piece by piece. where is the current value at for donors? seems like NC miata with automatic RX8 rear subframe is a good updated option. 2.5 duratec and NC trans with NA/NB primary donor is extra cost if you already have the 1.8 drivetrain. NC has the odd rear suspension I have not seen anyone adapt as of yet in my searches.

Sold my ND miata to get cash for this project, Don't want to go over and end up with unfinished project considering my overall budget is 15k including tools and shop supply's. So that leaves like 13k for the build. I would like to find a way to get a Duratec in the initial build, but it is hard to find any single donor solution other than a NA/NB miata. NC with RX8 rear subframe, or RX8 donor with Duratec and maybe NC transmission purchased separate. I am aware I need a full donor car for all the little bits like brakes system, parking brake, steering wheel, and all that.

Some input on cost effectiveness of options, and difficulty of adapting NC suspension would be great. RX8's are super cheap and could possibly supply a lot of the chassis and driveline parts. Don't think a duratec bolts up though.

Welcome aboard.

> Some input on cost effectiveness of options, and difficulty of adapting NC suspension would be great.

I fully agree, and I hope some of our members can advise you from their own experience.

Meanwhile, please add your location to your profile, at least your state; you may find you have neighbors here.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Added location. We spoke on the phone last week actually Jack. I am gathering info, shopping for welders, and moving the ball forward.

Yes, we talked on the phone last week in fact. Process is moving forward, about to purchase a mig welder to get some practice before getting started. need a build table, work bench for a couple tools I would rather not have on the floor and some other shop improvements.

Hi Jack, thanks for the nose cone.
I'm building a 2.5L Duratec($348 from LKQ picked up locally w/49k miles 2016 Ford Fusion banged up on the side), 6 speed NC trans($550 picked up locally, got lucky though) and the whole rear end of an NC Miata(crossmember $75 LKQ locally/rest of the control arms with hubs spindles $200 picked up locally).
I really wanted a modern suspension, LSD(Ebay $329 - got lucky again, the seller did not know that it was an LSD/investigated the VIN# on Google, and found the car where it was mentioned that had an LSD), 6 speed trans. I won't be racing with it, so I rather have a cruiser.
Initially I did not consider a few things, it is harder to put together spindle/hub, brake components for the front. Rear is stock NC.
Still figuring out the right components. I will have to modify the caliper(to narrow by 2 mm). I will have to make an extended caliper bracket(disc diameter is much bigger).
At the moment, I have an NA spindle, bushings for the bigger hub bearing from a Ford Probe rear hub, NA calipers and RX7(93-95) rear discs(30 mm bigger diameter).
Offset of the disc is the same as the NA, but 2 mm wider friction surface and 30 mm bigger diameter.
Also, since I'm using 17" wheels for better wheel selection/more modern look, I may run into issues sourcing fenders. I'm not sure yet, if the onse on the market will go over a 26" tire.
RX8 front spindles did not work out well. Scrub radius is over 1.1".

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

Thanks for the info. Do you have some pictures of the rear suspension and how you set it up? would love to use some NC stuff if it isn't too much of a pain. So your just using NA miata front suspension, and NC rear complete including upright? can you use the entire NC rear including brakes? then upsize the front brakes on NA spindles?

Would like to hear about adapting NC rear suspension and mixing with front options

my current thoughts are such. 2.5 Duratec, NC miata 5 speed transmission, (RX8 4.44 or 4.77 diff, CV shafts, and rear hubs) That leves the front up in the air and if RX8 fronts don't work, will NC front work any better? Sounds like it may be a situation trying to upsize NB miata hubs and brakes to match the RX8 rears. Then you still sitting with differant lug patter front and rear.

Sorry, I'm not here daily. I check in once in a while.
This was my inspiration:
https://www.locost.ozcarnut.com/index.html
I'm using a complete rear end from an NC. Purchased the parts separately, crossmember(LKQ $75 picked up locally by me-used car-part.com site), all control arms with hubs and discs as two assemblies from a wrecking yard used the same car-part site to find them locally.
Purchased calipers and emergency cables from Ebay in used but in good condition.
I just need half shafts, which most likely will be a rockauto purchase.
I have just installed some Mini Cooper R56 emergency brake handle. The cables seem to work together(single handle cable, with the two rear cables) decently with the double cable NC ones.
Shortened an NC 6 speed driveshaft, and rewelded myself.
The front is still in progress, but after finding out that the NC spindles have the wrong scrub radius for my setup(purchased wheels and tires to early, and the offset was wrong for this spindle) I was advised to go to the NA spindle.
This needed some research, to find a way to keep the 5x114.3 bolt pattern. Found a site, where it was described on what to do and how to make a sleeve and modify the spindle, to be able to use a rear Ford Probe/Mazda MX6 rear hub for the front spindle.
I have jumped the gun here as well, I should have done some measurements before I machined off .200" off from the spindle. It did not needed that dom=ne on my case. Now I will have to add a 3mm wheel spacer to compensate.
I have found a 93 RX7 rear disc that almost fits, but it is 2mm wider the friction width and it is 300mm instead of 264mm(NA). I will be using the NA calipers, but I will have to make a bracket to reach out further for the bigger diameter disc. Most likely, I will have to machine off 1-2 mm from the caliper piston, or from the caliper to add those 2mm back. I could machine the disc, but I prefer not to, to be able to just replace the disc in the future with a factory part, that does not need to be modified every time.
Rack is way to long from the NC, but I already got it, and I will shorten it. I have already made tools to open the specialty nuts.
I'm at a point, where I'm trying to figure out how to make the front control arms(which design to use), what fixture to use to mount them to the chassis. I have two speedway rod ends that I'm trying to use since I already have them(course I would need to buy two more, if I do use them), but I'm not sure yet what I will use. I was thinking to add some adjustment to the lower control arms, but then I'm thinking, do I really need that adjustment?
I want bushings, because I won't be racing, I want a bit of comfort for street use.
Vsusp numbers are in another thread, if you are interested. I don't know if they are good, but Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F confirmed that they look good.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24428&p=274018#p274018

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

We are working on our fourth car project in the last 10 years. One thing I can tell you is that the small parts that you don't think of will kill your budget. I picked up a Ford Ranger 2.0 engine and transmission for $500 (for a non-Locost project), then the radiator I needed to fit in the nose of the vehicle was $500, fuel pump was $200 (and the fuel pressure regulator, fittings and fuel line will probably cost $400).

So your idea of a single donor is a good one i think, but beware of ending up with worn out parts that you may not want to use. I tried to use a single donor on my Factory Five Cobra build (Mustang donor), but I found that many of the used parts were just not good enough for the quality of vehicle that I was building. So, i ended up buying new brake rotors, calipers, pads, parking brake cables, flex lines, etc. Same with the radiator. The rear axle was not quite wide enough so I bought different axles, etc.

All of which is to say that there is a lot of cost and complexity to building your own vehicle, and the more you mix and match parts from different vehicles, the greater the cost and complexity. At least if you go with one donor, even if you have to buy some new parts, you know what to buy and that it will work with the other donor parts.

Double post