Project Thunderbolt LS Miata, Part 8: Reassembly Begins!

Up to this point you’ve seen me tear down, tear apart, strip, cut, beat, weld, and paint my Miata to prepare the car for its new Chevrolet Performance LS3/T56 Magnum six-speed drivetrain. Now that we are done test fitting and modifying things, reassembly can begin. The work is going to happen quickly from here on out, so hang on!

After reacquainting myself with parts that have been stashed away for months, I began reassembly with the brake system, chassis wiring harness, and interior carpet. I then bolted a new Hurst Shifter on the T56 Magnum, installed the fuel system to feed our hungry LS3, and bolted on the frame rails and transmission crossmember for good.

This may be the most exciting part of the build, ‘cause everything we do from here on out gets us much closer to firing this monster up for the first time!

Play Prev|Next

man installing connectors and wire harness into a mazda miata with an ls swap

wiring harness laid out in a stripped race car interior

man running wire in a miata prior to an LS enigne swap

Hurst Billet Plus High Performance Shifter installed

fuel system parts laid out on a workbench

corvette zo6 intake snorkel installed on a mazda miata with an ls swap

chevy ls engine in a mazda miata on a lift

Reinstalling the wiring harness was made much easier by referencing photos I took months ago with the smartphone. Isn’t technology great?

So many connector plugs! I did my best to label everything before I took it all part, which was a big help.

With the chassis wiring harness woven throughout the car and the carpet spread out in the interior, I decided to take a well-deserved nap.

I chose the Hurst Billet Plus High Performance Shifter (HUU-3915060) for gear-rowing duties. It features a billet aluminum base and stop collar, high ratio pivot mechanism for shorter throws, adjustable bias springs for tailoring stick tension and adjustable gear stops. It looks cool too…I’m pretty sure that’s a feature.

Here’s our complete fuel tank-to-engine fuel system that will supply more than enough juice to the insatiable Chevrolet Performance LS376/525.

The star player of the fuel system is the DeatschWerks DW300 electric fuel pump. The pump has a free-flow rating of 340 liters per hour.

Converting our stock Miata’s fuel sending unit lines to -AN fittings was a snap with these screw-on Russell adapters.

Here it is the huge Corvette ZO6 air intake all bolted up and ready to go. Still plenty of fitment work to do, especially if we want the hood to close. I’ve been told that’s important.

You ever just lie on a creeper and stare at the underside of your car? That’s precisely what I was doing here. Great progress was made, but the to-do list is still a mile long.