The Mite
Part 5
Engine Fit
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This is the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Miata engine - note the cracked intake manifold. I got another one with the engine. These engines are from cars produced and driven in Japan. They have such strict emissions and safety laws that cars are often destroyed rather than fixed. They then export the low-mile engines to the waiting crowds in the U.S. |
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The engine and tranny bolted together. |
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The first
test fit...I used an engine hoist with a load leveler like this: Torin Big Red 2-Ton Foldable Engine Hoist with Load Leveler.
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There's a lot of trimming needed to allow this engine to fit in here |
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I'll have to make a header to route the exhaust around the front side of the engine and around the steering shaft |
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Gotta get it much lower to clear the hood |
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First trim of the tranny tunnel |
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Second trim of the tranny tunnel - I'm glad I welded the support frame under the car |
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Starting the trimming of the battery/heater shelf to clear the cylinder head |
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Here's a line marked to trim away part of the passenger footwell to clear the intake manifold |
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The cut out area on the passenger footwell |
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Test fit again..... |
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Need to make room for the clutch slave cylinder in the lower area of the passenger footwell |
| A couple of books like this really helped with figuring out how to fabricate and modify the car | |
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Filling in the holes |
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The filled in area for the intake manifold and the clutch slave cylinder |
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A quick engine mount - It will be beefed up later. It uses a rubber engine mount from an old Chevy 4 cylinder engine |
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Here's the tranny set into place. I've got to make a new tunnel and move the shifter forward. |
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I had to fab a new tranny tunnel that would fit around the Mazda tranny. Here's the bottom of the tunnel. |
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What the top looks like |
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A closer view fo the top. The shifter should come out somewhere near that hole. |