Well....this is/was news to me!
I just recently got the factory service manual and it shows an oil cooler for the DOHC...the oil filter mounts to it. There are 2 'lines' just above the oil filter that i had noticed but never knew what they were for.
Those are coolant lines! The oil cooler is actually just bolted in place on the same 'stud' that the oil filter mounts to.
So we've got factory MBSP, oil jets, and oil cooler! KOOL
The SOHC, however, doesn't have the oil cooler but does have the other goodies. It *looks* like you could mount it along with the 2 coolant lines fairly easily...
Pretty awesome! I honestly don't know too much about the other engines(honda, nissan, etc) out there; so maybe these things are not tooo unusual...just strikes me that the BP is right there with best...this engine is reason enough for me to want to hang on to my Pro.(and there are PLENTY of other good reasons....)

A few other things:
I looked at jay92dx's wrecked 94 LX and it had the same oil pan as mine; so the MBSP must have lasted through the 1st gen model - not just through 92/93.

Also the factory man says 10 minutes for the HLA's to quiet is not unusual - if they don't quiet AFTER 10 minutes, THEN you may have problems.

It says the DOHC compression is 9.0:1 .... It was revised in 97; i guess they didn't get that corrected

VICS switches over at 5000rpm (i think that's been posted already)

Also, i talked to Phillip at Injen Friday and he sounded positive about a CAIntake, but needed to talk to management....

 

what's MBSP and VICS?

you mean someone might actually R&D a CAI for us, wooohoooo!

so that means the BPT will have the same oil cooler option, that rocks, now i have another thing to look at for the swap :P stop giving me ideas

 

Actually, all pre-'94 Proteges have 8.8:1 pistons. Somewhere in the '94 model year, they switched over to true 9.0:1 pistons. Some of the early '94 Miatas also have the 8.8:1 pistons, which were used until they ran out of them. You can't get the 8.8:1 pistons from Mazda anymore, having been superceded by the 9.0:1 parts.

Main Bearing Support Plate

Variable Intake Charging System. This is the thing that changes the length of the intake tract from a long skinny pipe at low rpm, to short and wide at higher rpm. It adds a bunch of midrange torque (or top-end power).

 

cool, thanks for clarifying the acronyms

 

Honestly, i still haven't figured out how the MBSP exactly works....its a plate that sits in between the oil pan and the block....it 'stiffens' the block....without it, the block would not be as strong....i guess the name throws me:
why is it called a MAIN BEARING support plate? how do the 'main bearings' come into play?? aren't the main bearings on the crank?

just a note on the stock oil cooler -
i did a search on the miataforum, and RandyS said its not very effective....because the coolant that flows INTO it JUST came out of the head.
but hey at least there is one....you could probably rig up something directly to it and make it more effective.....

 

Yes i remember you saying that the oil pans were the same, but just for the record jay has a 93dx, just thought i would throw that in...hahaha talk to ya later jason.

 

If you've ever looked at the main bearing caps, they bolt to the block and cover the crank. The support plate ties all the bearing caps together, so that they can't move fore and aft (relative to the engine). It can also tie into the sides of the block to further stabilize things.

So, I guess it should be called the Main Bearing Cap Support Plate or something like that based on position, but since it keeps the bearing caps from flexing, it does actually support the main bearings and reduce friction, as well as stiffening the block.

 

were can find the mbsp?

 

jay93dx - i had a feeling i was 1 year off... let me know when you'll be scrapping the lx; i just might want to have some more fun taking stuff off

thanx Davard for the helpful explanation.

and protejeboy, you'll find the MBSP by taking off the oil pan.