Thursday 9 July 2009

Engine in

With the shorter propshaft I was ready to install and mount the engine. New holes were required for the LHS mounting:


My tip of the day is put masking tape down before trial fitting the engine/transmission. That way you can mark the tape and make the drilling easier. These are the holes that have to be drilled in the central tunnel for the transmission mounting:


Before fitting the propshaft I remembered to cut down the bolts for the handbrake mounting. They may look long but my the time nyloc nuts are fitted they shold be about right:


I also remembered to re-fit the clutch slave cylinder before the engine went in. Whi I took this off in the 1st place I can't remember. It was probably because I couldn't get the clutch pipe off when it was in the MX-5.


After slotting the engine in place I wasn't sure if the transmission mounting holes were in exactly the right place. By taking a picture from below (the joys of digital cameras!) I saw I was only a mm out and a slight wriggle of the transmission made the bolts slot in place. I was really chuffed as it saved having to remove the engine (again!) and elongate the holes:


The LHS mounting bolted in place:


and the RHS:


I arranged the transmission slightly to the drivers side so there was as much clearence for the handbrake as possible as well as straightening the propshaft (as the diff is offset to the right):


even then the propshaft only just clears the end of the handbrake mounting bolts:


and there's not much clearance for the clutch:

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