Need help on Miata engine value and interest

Acquired this little gem of an 1990 MX5 recently and while it has been a blast, I have been seriously considering the V6 Honda swap that was detailed in an older issue of GRM. But I would need to sell the motor that is in it first and I was hoping that I might get some real world advice from the forum as to what might be worth and if it is of interest to any GRM er's? The details are as follows:

1.8 full rebuilt engine with about 6500 miles, includes; TWM independent throttle bodies, Electromotive Engine management, Unorthodox racing Lightened crank pulley, Jackson Racing 4-2-1 header. Some of the costs involved include (I have all of the receipts):

$1000.00 in head work includes; porting, polishing, multi angle valve job, milled deck surface .025, etc.

$2000.00 in Dyno work

$2300.00 for TEC 3 Engine Management

$2125.00 for 45MM TWM Induction System

$440.00 for Power Pulse Header from Goodwin

$900.00 for engine/block work; degrease, resurface, deglaze & assembly, new pistons, rings, gaskets, etc.

$780.00 for new BP 256 IN. camshaft 9.0MM & lifters & adjustable cam gear

Plus much more in misc. costs,  the car is very fast! 

Photos are below, engine is still in the car.

Thanks in advance (hoping this is the correct place to post this, if not please advise and I will delete and repost else ware)

BTW; the Panasports and Proxes are for sale as well!

I don't know what it's worth, but it's a pretty setup! 

That is really a must have the right buyer engine. I can only think of it going to an EP competitor or someone looking for a show car engine. 

As a second hand buyer, The dyno time is worthless unless everything is sold together but at that point, I'd just make an offer for the whole car. 

Good solid long block with stock cams in 7-900 unless it's built to a specific racing spec by a known builder. Given the head work, Id's say about $1000-$1200. You don't say anything about the pistons, etc so I'd assume they are close to factory. Honestly, Those cams without the ITB's are worthless. Stock or a mild Web cam profile would be much better fit with no ITB's

Tec3 is a little old school now and the popularity has waned a lot. MSPNP is the current king really. Depending how old the system is, that would be $600-800 on the high end. 

The TB's are a real tough one. Those are miata engine building from over a decade ago really. I haven't seen a set in a long time. They will be really tough to move. You'll sit on them for awhile. 

Used header in the area of a couple hundred. 

I'd say you'd get $3000-$3500 overall but it would take a long time to move.

Honestly, I'd be better to keep the car whole and just get a different one and sell this one on. Oh and I'd look K swap over J swap if I was doing a honda swap. Almost as much potential and much better parts availability with less weight. 

Just my humble opinion....

I think anyone who's potentially interested would want to see a dyno chart right off the bat. An engine like this can be a lot of fun if it's a high compression setup. I have a set of those TWMs sitting on my shelves waiting to go back on another engine. They may not be the cool name anymore, but they work very nicely.

Also, I'd recommend pulling that UR underdrive pulley off while you still have a functioning oil pump.

Definitely do some research into the J swap, it has some unusual characteristics.

Hey thanks, guys this helps alot as I really had no idea what to value it at and whther there wouldeven be a market for it,

I do have all of the dyno sheets and all of the receipts specific to the build (a stack about 6" tall!), I was trying to keep the post moderately short and sweet so I did not include all of the details.

The car does go like a bat out of He!! with an 8000-8500 RPM redline.

Back in my younger days I spent some time behind the wheel of several FF's and FC and even an FA car in SCCA competition and this thing is like a street legal FF! (the suspension has been extensively modified also and I have all of those receipts as well) .

Any suggestions as to the best place to try and sell the motor?

Thanks again!

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated, please tell me more about your concerns regarding the UR under-drive pulley? Not sure I understand the problem.

Thanks again

Those billet pulleys replace the stock crank damper. It's there to, well, damp the vibrations in the crank that come from the staggered power pulses. Without it, you run the risk of shattering the oil pump gears which means an immediate loss of oil pressure and a bunch of debris in the system.  It's why you can buy high-dollar upgraded oil pump gears and upgraded dampers, and putting a billet "underdrive" pulley is going in the exact opposite direction.

Put one of those pulleys on a turbo Miata and you won't make it to the next oil change. They live longer in naturally aspirated applications, but high rpm use is a high risk scenario. 

If you want to underdrive your accessories, the best way to do that is to change the size of the pulley on the actual accessories themselves. If you want to decrease rotating mass, that's the flywheel. The crank damper should only be replaced with one that's as good or better than stock.

8500 rpm and ITBs makes for a fun setup.

In reply to bmw88rider :

A solid long black and cams is 7-900 dollars???  If that’s true I have two of them

In reply to joey48442 :

For something with less than 10K miles yes. For a core motor not rebuilt it's about half that or less depending on miles. Just depends on the condition. you can order a rebuilt long block ready to install for $2K all day long. $1K gets a motor and transmission to my door. 

In reply to bmw88rider :

Hmm, I’m selling an 80k mile engine to a buddy this weekend for 500, with trans!

but yeah, didn’t catch the 10k mile part

In reply to Keith Tanner :

 Can you recommend a crank damper that is "as good or better than stock", does Goodwin sell one?

Thanks again!

I don't know if he does, you'd have to ask him. I work at Flyin' Miata. We sell the ATi damper. As a bonus, you might actually pick up some power due to the decrease in spark scatter.

Mazda sells one that's as good as stock ;)

In reply to Keith Tanner :Keith, 

I just got off the phone with one of your people and I will be ordering the ATI 36-2 Pulley kit today.

He was very helpful,

Thanks again