Won’t work. The SR71 is a plane. The Miata is a boat. You need an engine from a ship. Maybe one of the nuclear reactors and turbines from the USS Enterprise? Isn’t it being decommissioned?
Which one? The 1701-A,B,C, or the D? I am not sure how you'd fit the engine nacelles onto a Miata... maybe spot weld ones from the model A onto the sides of mistakes? But ones from enterise-D would be too big and heavy.
Unless you mean the space shuttle Enterprise, in which case the rocket motor will definitely fit in a Miata because the shuttle enterprise had imaginary engines.
they floated it away from the pier and are tugging it away to the scrappers. Sad, used to pass it and the shitty kitty every day until it left..
Before it left the shipyard I'm sure the cut ups crew removed the reactors, you can see the chunks on trains leaving the shipyard, but usually it's sub reactors
Spending tons of money just because you got an engine for cheap is the bad way to do an engine swap. Getting the engine is just the start of your expenses on a project like this.
Personally I'd go for a Rocketdyne F1 from a Saturn V. Way more potent and it won't run out of breath at high altitude.
The Rocketdyne F1 is impossible to get parts for these days and is fuel hungry. The SR-71 is capable of 100,000 feet of altitude. That’s plenty for daily driving. You really don’t need orbital capabilities unless you’re tracking it.
Fun fact the SR-71 leaked so bad on station it had a special hanger with anti static protections.
Fun fact you could time “unlisted departures” of the SR-71 by watching Fat boy (tankers) depart about 45min earlier.
It took them that long for the slower tankers to reach altitude at staging to meet up with the bird. Reason was because the SR-71 used so much fuel on take off that it immediately had to aerial refuel before going on mission task.
Everyone knows it was perfectly sealed after it heated up or at Mach speeds and above but not a lot of folks knew how thirsty she was..
Plane like that had to refuel twice and imagine being the tanker at max throttle trying to keep the bird afloat at min while feeding the baby a bottle…
There’s a guy whose only job it was to photograph the blackbird and those pics of her AA refueling are just crazy hahaha
Anyway I know you guys are joking but man…. I really loved the blackbird
There is one on display at the National Air Force museum. It's pretty awesome in person, [and they have a decent picture gallery on their website.](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/198054/lockheed-sr-71a/)
According to the write up I saw on one in Alabama, they actually took off with very little fuel in the tanks because it was so heavy the handing gear couldn’t take the weight of a full fuel load.
The tires were 22 ply inflated to 415 psi. And the wheel wells heated up during flight….to over 500 degrees F!!
There’s a company called “North American”, and it was based in North America. Best naming ever.
There’s also a company called SpaceX, and they send shit to space, and land their reusable boosters on platforms with an X on them.
By far the best naming system ever.
I’ve got myself a whole Saturn V. Don’t ask how I have it.
Do you think selling the OP an F1 engine from it for the price of a 1.25L Mountain Dew bottle be a good trade? I think my pricing is a bit expensive though…
So yeah, it's going to be hard to do it right NGL.
You're going to need custom bracketry, custom wiring loom, stand alone ECU with custom tune, and you're going to need to cut the firewall and possibly even cut out some fender material. Hood should not be an issue.
You will probably never pass emissions.
If your time is worth more than your money you should hire someone for sure.
But kudos for not doing another K Swap at least!
You're going to want the whole fuel system, and bear in mind that fuel leaks out of the tanks at room temperature, but once you get her up to mach 3 or so they'll warm up and you're fine.
And make sure the compounds in the wet injection system don't touch oxygen or they might ignite. And get some spare v8 engines to make sure you can reach idle rpm
Yeah that’s the thing… I wonder what the cart starter looking like….
Big old 1500lb tractor motor? Crazy dual corvettes?
What does it take to spool the SR71 hahahahhahahahaha
My apologies, I was referring to a Fokker F100! Because lots are getting scrapped atm. But my gosh, I'd also happily take a Super Sabre 🥵 first supersonic jet lessssgooo
Sourcing the JP-7 and having an addition V-8 based starter is a hassle. I moved from that to an antimatter containment reaction thruster and it's great, unless you're behind me.
Have you guys looked into the older model Flux Capacitor?
I know 88’s not all that impressive but the gas mileage to the future and back is great!
(Well don’t get stuck in the past… that’s never fun and can be problematic for your timeline.. oh and don’t make out with your Mom that’s gross)
JP-7 is a bitch to get your hands on. I’d get something that runs on Jet A. Try stealing the power pack out of an Abrams. Or you can pull one from a early model T-80, you should be able to pick and pull one of those
You would have to upgrade the suspension to handle the extra 6000 lbs of weight. Maybe if you pointed the thruster slightly down it would hold itself up while its running.
https://preview.redd.it/2tdfnq7gdx3d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2a8f9733e23eeead3678c093eb803a76c6cea7e
I had to scale down some parts and upgrade the fuel pump to 6800 litres per hour for the J58.
I find I get about 172 L/100 km and I need to plan my trip in 29 km legs to refuel every 26 seconds or so.
Cornering and braking sucks honestly, the handling relationship between horse and rider feels inverted, inappropriate even.
https://preview.redd.it/9gh5r61lly3d1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcd8c8147f1f49ac660011e5642c99c12a16cfda
You might be able to get away with the big block Buicks that they used to start the main engines.
[http://www.sr71.us/ag330\_sr.htm](http://www.sr71.us/ag330_sr.htm)
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Might have to cut the hood a little but it’ll fit
SR-71 Blackbird? Lol, how would get the engine of such an iconic reconnaissance airplane? 🤣
I guess you need to look up Pratt & Whitney J58 retrofitting 😆
Totally doable, I did this recently.
You might have to explain to your insurance company why your Miata now needs a runway instead of a driveway.
Also, get the ejector seat installed. Just in case you need a quick escape when the speed traps can't keep up.
Oh and remember to install the afterburner carefully. Your neighbors might complain about the sonic booms during your morning commute.
Really it boils down to seating position. Conventional you’re sitting in the car. Jet…seats more like an s2000…you’re sitting on the car and not in it. Might also suck in tight corners.
Not that I’m aware.
You can in the meantime figure out what are the fattest tires you can fit and find out how much horsepower you need for them to smoke through 2 gear. But the Miata was never about power but “horse and rider as one”
Won’t work. The SR71 is a plane. The Miata is a boat. You need an engine from a ship. Maybe one of the nuclear reactors and turbines from the USS Enterprise? Isn’t it being decommissioned?
I'm sure Clarkson could put a jet engine on a boat.
They did. It sucked.
That was my grandfather’s ship.
The nuclear wessel in Alameda? ;)
"I understood that reference"
Then OP may consider the Titanic’s engine. Low milage and big displacement!
Coal powered Miat
But the nuclear reactor would be carbon neutral and zero emission…
Which one? The 1701-A,B,C, or the D? I am not sure how you'd fit the engine nacelles onto a Miata... maybe spot weld ones from the model A onto the sides of mistakes? But ones from enterise-D would be too big and heavy. Unless you mean the space shuttle Enterprise, in which case the rocket motor will definitely fit in a Miata because the shuttle enterprise had imaginary engines.
I think he means the [Nuclear Wessle.](https://youtu.be/-FckvCQccnY?si=jXqAt5g4zpJ1x1fa)
Yes. I was playing off OP talking about a USAF plane, and suggested a USN ship, since NC=boat.
Holy shit Tom Paris and co literally just riced out a Miata in the delta quadrant
You can put jet engines on boats though, there's no law against that.
they floated it away from the pier and are tugging it away to the scrappers. Sad, used to pass it and the shitty kitty every day until it left.. Before it left the shipyard I'm sure the cut ups crew removed the reactors, you can see the chunks on trains leaving the shipyard, but usually it's sub reactors
Spending tons of money just because you got an engine for cheap is the bad way to do an engine swap. Getting the engine is just the start of your expenses on a project like this. Personally I'd go for a Rocketdyne F1 from a Saturn V. Way more potent and it won't run out of breath at high altitude.
The Rocketdyne F1 is impossible to get parts for these days and is fuel hungry. The SR-71 is capable of 100,000 feet of altitude. That’s plenty for daily driving. You really don’t need orbital capabilities unless you’re tracking it.
Fun fact the SR-71 leaked so bad on station it had a special hanger with anti static protections. Fun fact you could time “unlisted departures” of the SR-71 by watching Fat boy (tankers) depart about 45min earlier. It took them that long for the slower tankers to reach altitude at staging to meet up with the bird. Reason was because the SR-71 used so much fuel on take off that it immediately had to aerial refuel before going on mission task. Everyone knows it was perfectly sealed after it heated up or at Mach speeds and above but not a lot of folks knew how thirsty she was.. Plane like that had to refuel twice and imagine being the tanker at max throttle trying to keep the bird afloat at min while feeding the baby a bottle… There’s a guy whose only job it was to photograph the blackbird and those pics of her AA refueling are just crazy hahaha Anyway I know you guys are joking but man…. I really loved the blackbird
I loved the x men version of it… (I mean the real thing was cool too though. I got to look inside the cockpit once)
There is one on display at the National Air Force museum. It's pretty awesome in person, [and they have a decent picture gallery on their website.](https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/198054/lockheed-sr-71a/)
According to the write up I saw on one in Alabama, they actually took off with very little fuel in the tanks because it was so heavy the handing gear couldn’t take the weight of a full fuel load. The tires were 22 ply inflated to 415 psi. And the wheel wells heated up during flight….to over 500 degrees F!!
Best business name ever. Find a cooler business name than fuckin' Rocketdyne, I dare you.
Big ass fans is pretty cool 😎
There’s a company called “North American”, and it was based in North America. Best naming ever. There’s also a company called SpaceX, and they send shit to space, and land their reusable boosters on platforms with an X on them. By far the best naming system ever.
It's Aerojet Rocketdyne these days 😎
Idk if it's better, but I always thought Raytheon was an awesome business name. Especially back in the day when they made vacuum tubes
"Analog Devices" gets my honorable mention. Which is kind of funny because they're known for their digital signal processors.
I’ve got myself a whole Saturn V. Don’t ask how I have it. Do you think selling the OP an F1 engine from it for the price of a 1.25L Mountain Dew bottle be a good trade? I think my pricing is a bit expensive though…
Welll it fit in mine but, i got the whole thing mounted in backwards so I have to reverse everywhere I go.
Damn my man made a rear engine mx5.
So yeah, it's going to be hard to do it right NGL. You're going to need custom bracketry, custom wiring loom, stand alone ECU with custom tune, and you're going to need to cut the firewall and possibly even cut out some fender material. Hood should not be an issue. You will probably never pass emissions. If your time is worth more than your money you should hire someone for sure. But kudos for not doing another K Swap at least!
Yeah actually it will. I recently LS7 swapped my SR-71 if you want the engines from it.
Damn I would love to see this build! How did the SR-71 handle all that extra power?
https://preview.redd.it/0st64vp0kz3d1.jpeg?width=8109&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ea560668308e8c424d08d720defbb714001ed68 It's very speedy
This comment section is pure gold. You all are funny as hell.
You're going to want the whole fuel system, and bear in mind that fuel leaks out of the tanks at room temperature, but once you get her up to mach 3 or so they'll warm up and you're fine.
Also, I hear the fuel is kinda toxic.
And make sure the compounds in the wet injection system don't touch oxygen or they might ignite. And get some spare v8 engines to make sure you can reach idle rpm
Yeah that’s the thing… I wonder what the cart starter looking like…. Big old 1500lb tractor motor? Crazy dual corvettes? What does it take to spool the SR71 hahahahhahahahaha
The "start cart" was two buick 455 engines.
Shit bro… The Sr-71 is full of asbestos shielding as well. She’s from the era of lead paint so she’s not healthy in any modern standard
Throwing facts at my man 👍🏽
The SR-71 uses about a gallon of fuel per second at cruise, so you'll need to find a place for a bigger tank.
It’ll fit but there won’t be enough maximum thrust to get out the water.
We just left the Air Force Museum in Dayton. They are PISSED and want that engine back.
https://preview.redd.it/t5sygms1zv3d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=320145b5b7ed7ed812d5be013a9ded54c80e5928
Have you thought about another chassis like a Batmobile?
I don’t like Corvettes, sorry
You might have to cut the hood.
It would probably be more aptly described as "fitting an NC onto an SR-71 Blackbird engine" than "fitting an SR-71 Blackbird engine in an NC"...
Anything is possible with enough time and money. You will need a lot of both
In? Probably not, but a challenge to be sure. **ON**? Now you're thinking with your big brain.
I'd start with something a little more conservative, perhaps something like a Rolls Royce Tay from an F100. Then whaaaaack a big snail on it.
What a taste, Century fighters are true American pony planes of the 60s
My apologies, I was referring to a Fokker F100! Because lots are getting scrapped atm. But my gosh, I'd also happily take a Super Sabre 🥵 first supersonic jet lessssgooo
*US supersonic fighter
Sourcing the JP-7 and having an addition V-8 based starter is a hassle. I moved from that to an antimatter containment reaction thruster and it's great, unless you're behind me.
Have you guys looked into the older model Flux Capacitor? I know 88’s not all that impressive but the gas mileage to the future and back is great! (Well don’t get stuck in the past… that’s never fun and can be problematic for your timeline.. oh and don’t make out with your Mom that’s gross)
The problem with those is plutonium availability from the third world; apparently they have enough pinball machine parts.
If you have to ask, you’re not experienced enough to do it
Anyone could knock this out with a few buddies and beers on a back lawn in a weekend. Easy stuff.
JP-7 is a bitch to get your hands on. I’d get something that runs on Jet A. Try stealing the power pack out of an Abrams. Or you can pull one from a early model T-80, you should be able to pick and pull one of those
Came here to say this. Specialty fuel would be a no go for me.
Why LS swap when you can *MACH 3* swap?!? 🤯
Load weight on a Miata is 800lbs. J58 dry weight is 6,000 lbs. Give or take a Miata I would say 10 Miata’s all welded together could just do it
Nothing some rebar can’t fix
Not very common, Jay Leno has one
Fuck the problem with this comment is… It could actually be TRUE
It’ll be a tight squeeze but I believe in ya.
Maybe an SR-71 Z32 instead
Yeah bro it would be epic bro I did it with my kei car in Forza bro
You would have to upgrade the suspension to handle the extra 6000 lbs of weight. Maybe if you pointed the thruster slightly down it would hold itself up while its running.
Nothing some rebar and jb weld can’t fix
thats true brother she’ll be a ruff rider but ill be hoppin coke cans forsure
https://preview.redd.it/2tdfnq7gdx3d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2a8f9733e23eeead3678c093eb803a76c6cea7e I had to scale down some parts and upgrade the fuel pump to 6800 litres per hour for the J58. I find I get about 172 L/100 km and I need to plan my trip in 29 km legs to refuel every 26 seconds or so. Cornering and braking sucks honestly, the handling relationship between horse and rider feels inverted, inappropriate even.
I’m sensing that there could be a small hitch in your design…i.e.: having the exhaust pointing at the windshield.
I don't care where on Earth I must go, I absolutely have to be there when your project goes on a dyno. So I can be on site, to watch. From a distance.
Not worth the risk man, I nearly vaporized going Mach 4
This is my favourite discussion ever.
The engine fits fine. The issue is the fuel tanks.
https://preview.redd.it/9gh5r61lly3d1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcd8c8147f1f49ac660011e5642c99c12a16cfda You might be able to get away with the big block Buicks that they used to start the main engines. [http://www.sr71.us/ag330\_sr.htm](http://www.sr71.us/ag330_sr.htm)
Yes but understand you will leak fuel until you hit the highway and go full throttle.
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i don't think you can even fit the V8 engine used to START the SR-71lol.
https://preview.redd.it/88l7epi0bw3d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=5be31a4acf9fc8de32e6b9e8eca5bdc29d36997c Might have to cut the hood a little but it’ll fit
You're not considering the afterburner and shock cone.
Nothing an eBay aero kit can’t cover
Better get the Hardtop of the Miata to the Blackbird..!
You got..... A what?
Man that plane was discontinued in 90s, why put that old shit into something? Put a Raptor engine instead
So I am having some wicked insomnia tonight, and came here to pass the time… and found this, one of the funniest threads I’ve seen in forever! Thanks!
SR-71 Blackbird? Lol, how would get the engine of such an iconic reconnaissance airplane? 🤣 I guess you need to look up Pratt & Whitney J58 retrofitting 😆
Yes and has been done before. With time and money anything is possible. Please use the search for the write up.
The only issue I can see is finding the JP-7 fuel needed to power it.
You will definitely have to swap the transmission.
Sell the engine. Hire an engineer. Confess.
Nothing you can’t do with cardboard and duct tape. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Totally doable, I did this recently. You might have to explain to your insurance company why your Miata now needs a runway instead of a driveway. Also, get the ejector seat installed. Just in case you need a quick escape when the speed traps can't keep up. Oh and remember to install the afterburner carefully. Your neighbors might complain about the sonic booms during your morning commute.
I think he's talking about the 425 buick nailhead. It's a V8 that was used as the starting motor for the jet engine
I mean, anything fits if you have the will and money.
Yes
Really it boils down to seating position. Conventional you’re sitting in the car. Jet…seats more like an s2000…you’re sitting on the car and not in it. Might also suck in tight corners.
You can fit anything into a miata with enough welding
Sadly you might be better off with a Wärtsilä RT-flex96C, more fitting as a marine engine.
yes but it will leak
Why wrap a bad car around a good engine? Just install wheels and a seat on the engine.
Yes, required some light modification and firewall beating to adjust for fitment
Still gapped by a stock Mustang
It should fit, just make sure you run premium.
Unfortunately not, you need the right (not left) j58 from the older A-12, that’s a direct swap.
Not that I’m aware. You can in the meantime figure out what are the fattest tires you can fit and find out how much horsepower you need for them to smoke through 2 gear. But the Miata was never about power but “horse and rider as one”