Engine in

The last few days have been very productive, mainly because I got the engine back in. I wanted to get it in for some time, and I thought now was a good a time as any;

Two things had to be sorted straight away. The engine mounts hadn't been drilled, it actually turns out they needed to be slotted as well. The engine is just too narrow for the mounts so they sit right on the inside bars rather than on the welded plates that I added. Structurally this isn't an issue, it's still load bearing through some substantial bars and they're all connected and plated. Even if the bolts somehow fail their more than 3 ton load limit, the engine still can't drop through. But I am still going to weld a washer in the right place, as I'm not sure how Mr IVA would react to a bolt going through a slot rather than a hole. I cut the slot in the mount rather than the body so it's easier to put the strength back in.

The other thing that needed sorting was the radiator mount. It was entirely in the way, and I couldn't safely tilt the engine far enough to get it into the engine bay past the bracket. Two minutes with the angry grinder got me here;

Not the most attractive resolution, but I had the engine in the air so force overcame grace on this one. Still, it didn't take much cleanup. Removal of the welds and some tabs on the bottom of the bracket leaves me with the whole unit being removable;

Holding a radiator and fan doesn't need high strength, but this is still a high tensile bolt into a rivnut in the chassis (ignore the left hand one, I'd not cut the bolt down when I took this photo). The radiator fits fine again;

Talking of rivnuts, I put some more on the centre console panel. With dome fasteners that are pretty much the same profile as rivets I'm happy that it's attractive and IVA compliant;

I also sorted the required hole for the gearstick so that's ready to go too.

Back to the engine. Having it in place gives me a load of jobs to complete. First, clearances. I needed to confirm the clutch pedal and slave cylinder don't want to occupy the same space;

That looks pretty spot on to me. The brake pipe is a bit tight but still plenty of movement space before things get dangerous. 

Next, the steering column. Everyone who had put an MX5 engine in their locost has said the alternator bracket needs to be cut. But if you recall I wanted to move the column to make it extra IVA friendly. The additional angle means that my column doesn't get close to the engine;

I also had a look around the engine to see what was going on. First the plugs and leads need to be replaced, here's an obligatory photo of the leads so they go back on in the right order;

The cam belt kit I have also comes with a water pump, and just looking I can see it's desperately needed;

It looks to be a mix of limescale, dried coolant and who knows what else, but as this is being replaced I'm ok for now. I'll get a hosepipe through the rest of it before going too far.

While I was on this side of the engine I removed the brackets for the air conditioning and power steering, they won't be needed. 

The cam cover comes off for the cam belt too, so I took the opportunity to have a look around;

Turning the engine over manually shows things moving quite smoothly, no horrible scraping sounds. There's no marks on the lobes or caps either. But everything is dry, proper bone dry. If I started it like this I reckon I'd get some issues. I'm going to give everything a spray with clean oil when it goes back together, that should be enough to keep things slippery until the oil pressure builds.

Oh, and last check, the whole short/big nose crank issue. My car is a 1992 so it 'should' be clear, however the VIN is below the threshold. So the only way is to visually check;

This is an 8 slot pulley, along with a 1.4 inch bolt. Both point towards a 'good' crank which is a relief.

Next jobs then. With the engine in place I have the following to do;

1. Coolant pipes. This will be from the rad to the engine, through the VW coolant bottle, and back round. I do need to buy the pipe, but I also need to figure out the routing before I know how much I have to buy. 

2. Breather delete/reroute. There's a couple of cam cover breathers that I want to sort, they seem a little excessive in my application but it'll be up to 'the internet' on whether they can be removed completely.

3. Fuel pipes. Simple really, I have the hose, two ports on the engine and two on the tank. No real problem, although I do need to find some suitable fuel hose clips for it's journey down the transmission tunnel. 

Here's the two pipes as they came off the car;

Depending on what I think is easiest, I might connect the new hose to these connections, or remove these lengths completely and connect new hose direct to the fuel rail. I'll reuse the corrugated tube to protect the new hose, but I think that will be the cleanest solution. 

4. Clutch pipe. I've got a length of kunifer ready to make a clutch pipe. The routing will be simple, although I do want to include a 'loop' like the factory pipe uses. This will make it easier to fit and give it some movement.

5. Exhaust. I have everything but brackets for the exhaust so that can be built up and welded together. Oh, and I've just thought... the exhaust usually has a load of IVA stuff to deal with, but mine is inside bodywork!! Therefore I've got a lot of flexibility on what to do. 

Here's the first part of the exhaust ready to bend and exit out the car;

Just on the subject of exhaust, I have been looking for a flexi exhaust section that could fit in the gap that I have. But after doing a lot of reading online I'm not sure a flexi is needed. The original MX5 didn't have a flexi, and apparently it's more about how transverse engines move. The rocking of a transverse engine puts the exhaust under bending stress, whereas an longitudinal engine is more of a twist. Given how an exhaust is secured, a small twist can be tolerated a lot better than a bend.

The build manuals don't mention a flexi joint, and just trying to find a Haynes roadster with a flexi is coming up remarkably thin on the ground. So for now I'm going to leave it and go for a hard pipe all the way through. That's not to say one can't be mounted afterwards, but at least for now I can go for a standard exhaust with no cleverness involved. 

6. Engine electrics. When I took the engine out I left a lot of the associated electrics connected. But it's not attractive, there's still a load of wires that need to be removed, and the fuse box needs to be mounted. 

7. Engine servicing. So that's the cam belt full kit, plugs, leads, and all the fun and games. 

8. Propshaft double check. I just want to make sure I got the measurements right, then I'll get it sent off and cut down. 

That seems like a nice amount of work to get through, and it's nice to have some variety in it. Welding metalwork can get a bit dull, at least a lot of this is more about designing and building the smaller details.