---
title: "1990 Mazda Miata NA with a Silverado Engine and Twin Turbos Is Drag-Race Ready"
description: "Rhode Island-based submarine welder says his Miata is nearly 90 percent modified at this point."
date: "2021-03-07"
modified: "2021-03-10"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin V. Shaw"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kristin-shaw"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/39643/1990-mazda-miata-na-with-a-silverado-engine-and-twin-turbos-is-drag-race-ready"
categories:
  - "Builds"
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "compact"
  - "Convertible"
  - "mazda"
  - "miata"
---

# 1990 Mazda Miata NA with a Silverado Engine and Twin Turbos Is Drag-Race Ready

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2021/03/Miata-turbo-HERO.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

[Enthusiasts love the Mazda Miata](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/37876/why-nobody-has-caught-the-mazda-miata-even-after-30-years-of-trying>): it’s inexpensive, fun to drive, nimble, and reliable. Those who own a [Miata](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/32886/2020-mazda-miata-rf-review-why-its-better-than-a-760-hp-mustang>) understand that the performance envelope isn’t the most impressive, but that’s not the goal when you drive one of these roadsters. A welder in Rhode Island, however, decided that he wanted to have his cake and eat it too with his 1990 Mazda Miata NA, so he swapped out the engine and added [turbo boost](<https://www.thedrive.com/cars-101/35762/how-does-a-turbo-work>).

It's not just any engine, by the way. Owner [Ryan Hamilton](<https://www.instagram.com/ThatLSMiata/>) installed a small-block 5.3-liter iron LM from a 2003 [Chevrolet Silverado](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/36589/the-2021-chevrolet-silverado-1500-gets-gmcs-advanced-towing-tech>) and twin [Borg-Warner](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/29289/2019-indy-500-champion-simon-pagenauds-face-revealed-on-borg-warner-trophy>) S300 EXC turbos. Who needs a hood when you can shoehorn in a whole bunch of power and torque?

![message-editor%2F1615075646076-miataturboinline2.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1615075646076-miataturboinline2.jpg>)
**Ryan Hamilton**

Hamilton got the Miata two years ago when he and a friend decided to trade cars. The friend wanted the Audi wagon that Hamilton had tinkered with and switched out the engine for a 4.2-liter from an [Audi](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33439/audi-has-an-entire-team-of-people-who-just-smell-things>) C5 A6, so they made an even exchange.

The Miata was stock, lacking power windows and air conditioning, but it was very clean, Hamilton says. However, it didn’t have enough guts for him and he felt it was pretty slow.

“I figured I was going to put some kind of engine in it. It was good for autocross but I got kind of bored with the response of the throttle,” he says.

Hamilton started gathering parts; he says he did a lot of research because he didn’t know much about the LS side and figured out in his head how he could do it cheaper. No stranger to engine swaps, Hamilton’s very first vehicle was a Jeep Comanche to which he decided to add a lift kit and switched the 2.8-liter for a 4.0-liter six-cylinder powerplant.

![message-editor%2F1615132899132-miatainline3.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1615132899132-miatainline3.jpg>)
**Ryan Hamilton**

“I used to do motocross until I was about 15, and then started teaching myself everything I needed to know about cars,” Hamilton told me. “I screwed up a bunch of stuff and figured it out on my own.”

The Borg-Warner turbos are on the cheaper side, he says, but they get the job done because he gets more at a lower- to mid-range; they bring the spool time down and improve the torque overall. Hamilton initially added one turbo and then tore it apart and opted to throw a second turbo on the Miata. He made the manifold himself, assembled the kit, and fit it behind the stock radiator.

The Miata has had a street tune and rough tune and Hamilton and believes it is making about 700 horsepower on 93 octane, and faster than that on race-grade 110. He’s ready for quarter-mile drag racing this season at his home track in Epping, New Hampshire with Hoosier tires and drives it sometimes around town with ETStreet Thompsons.

![message-editor%2F1615133965762-miatainline2.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1615133965762-miatainline2.jpg>)
**Ryan Hamilton**

Before long, Hamilton wants to upgrade to a big block engine with a blower. He estimates the Mazda is nearly 90 percent modified at this point, including a 1989 Ford Thunderbird rear end. His day job is welding submarines and ships, so he knows his way around metal. Many of the parts he fabricated at his own expense with a drill press, grinder, and hand tools in his own garage. It's clear he enjoys the process of changing it up.

“I’m just a blue-collar worker doing my own thing,” Hamilton says.

I'm looking forward to hearing about the results on the track this spring.

*Got a tip or a build story you want to tell? Send the writer a note: Kristin.shaw@thedrive.com*

## Author
Kristin Shaw is the former Weekend Editor for The Drive and a current freelancer in both the automotive and aviation worlds. She’s a big fan of anything car-related and calls on her technology background on the corporate side to explain engineering and high-tech concepts. Now living in her sixth state (New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and now Texas), she is thrilled that working from home is now mainstream.

### Author social links  
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