Youse knuckleheads and your Subaru conversions.
There are some much better options out there for getting modern, light-weight, water-cooled power into a VDub platform.
Like this here one at Cars and Coffee this morning.
First off, you Subaru smart guys are starting all wrong. The motor should go up front. And boxer-schmoxer. Give me an inline four any day. See how there's plenty of room for one? And invoking the spirit of Colin Chapman, we're adding lightness, too. No carbon fiber panels, please - just ditch the hood and decklid altogether. You are proud of that Miata mill, right?
You may have noticed that to show off the engine, we've had to trim the cooling system a bit. No worries, that gets moved to the back where there's more room for it, anyway.
Of course, moving the engine does alter weight distribution a tad. The tiniest of wings has been added to restore some downforce on the rear wheels.
And no need here to hide the original gauge cluster just to keep the ECU happy. With careful reshaping of the original dash, you can work those instruments into a neat installation that blends right in. Even the Miata control stalks are reused.
But I saved the best part for last. No need to sweat over how you'll make the original gearbox work. Here, it drops right in without any turning or adding conversion junk. A direct linkage right into the box! Snick, snick, snick.
If you're willing to think outside of the box a little, there's always a better way.
