---
title: "Watch This Beautiful Stop-Motion Teardown Video of a Mazda Miata Engine"
description: "No greasy hands to obscure the action."
date: "2017-08-15"
modified: "2017-08-17"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13523/watch-this-beautiful-stop-motion-teardown-video-of-a-mazda-miata-engine"
categories:
  - "Mazda News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "compact"
  - "Convertible"
  - "mazda"
  - "Mazda Miata"
  - "miata"
  - "mx-5"
  - "stop motion"
  - "teardown"
---

# Watch This Beautiful Stop-Motion Teardown Video of a Mazda Miata Engine

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/08/engine-1.png>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

If you have no hands-on [wrenching experience,](<https://www.thedrive.com/video/12945/the-closer-we-looked-at-our-old-mazda-miata-the-more-problems-we-found>) it can be tough to conceptualize how all those oily, moving bits in your engine fit together and work in concert to make your car go. That's why this glorious stop-motion teardown video of a 1.6-liter powerplant from a [Mazda Miata/MX-5](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/13214/mazda-will-restore-na-miatas-in-japan>) getting disassembled by an invisible set of hands is so fun to watch—it's almost stunning in its simplicity.

From the [appropriately-titled How a Car Works](<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTH03chB4PrMBQf6iK7eDCg>) YouTube channel, this project is made up of 2,500 still frames shot over the four-day teardown period, plus another eight days of intense editing to string it all together, its creator [wrote on Reddit.](<https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/6tt7lr/lovely_timelapse_of_a_mazda_miata_mx5_engine/?st=j6e32pc0&sh=979a583e>) The result is a video of the B6ZE engine carefully taking itself apart piece by piece, going from a completed, fully functional machine to a pile of parts in less than three minutes.

We're not sure if it's the smooth synthwave music, the high-contrast lighting, or the way the valve cover magically lifts off to reveal the golden parts within like a treasure chest, but man is this satisfying to watch. Of course, it also helps that there are no greasy hands blocking the action at key points like a lot of DIY engine videos on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/embed/77WmGcR3yUA

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)