This is the World’s First CARB-Legal V8 Miata Swap
California is a very wild and interesting place when it comes to car culture. Some of the world’s biggest car fans, and greatest car collections, reside in the Golden State. You will also find some of the longest and most colorful histories of car modification, but yet, California has some of the strictest laws in the world in regards to emissions thanks to the California Air Resources Board.
Thanks to the difficult rules and regulations regarding CARB certification process, there are some things that were thought to be basically impossible to accomplish. One of the biggest “unicorn” challenges was the V8 Miata. GM sells a CARB legal V8 engine for swaps, but to qualify for CARB certification, it must be installed in a car that is 1995 or older. Well, the exhaust attached to that GM motor didn’t fit in the Miata.
Well, that all changes now, as the famed Miata tuning company Flyin’ Miata has built what is being called the world’s first CARB-legal V8 Miata swap. There are a few tiny loopholes in the writing of the rules for the E-ROD motors, and FM was able to use that to its advantage. While the catalytic converters have to stay on the car, they are allowed to move them slightly closer or farther away from the headers, so long as they stay within a prescribed maximum distance. With this slight movement, and just a touch of body work, they were able to get the big V8 to fit.
Of course, FM doesn’t just stuff a new motor into the car when they do a swap. Their full conversion include a new motor, transmission, driveshaft, halfshafts and hubs, as well as the cooling system, and the fuel system. They also do suspension and brake modifications as well as full stiffness upgrade by seam welding and reinforcing the chassis.
Still, if you live in Northern California and you see this blue beauty drive by, give it a wave. It’s the only one of its kind right now. Of course, something tells me that now Flyin’ Miata has figured out how to do it, their customer list is going to grow pretty quickly.
Header image courtesy of: Caryn Kealey
Other Images: Keith Tanner/Flyin’ Miata
