Emily's 04 VR SE

[emily_mx5]

^ well thats creeping me out,
back to car stuff

Prothane Polyurethane Sway bar bushes
Such a bitch to get in, I didn't disconnect the sway bars or the endlinks haha.
Only noticable difference is no squeaking! the oem bushes were ruined so bad the sway bar rubbed on the metal bush bracket.

[brendanstacey]

Ok, what I meant to say was I can only go to Sydney Uni too if you were there, otherwise I would only go to Sydney Uni, not Sydney Uni too!

I've been there for 3 years, that last comment was a joke lol.

[emily_mx5]

cool story bro

[the_darkside]

Haha, be nice.

[brendanstacey]

jeez..I was just explaining how I was just joking

[KevGoat]

Ok, what I meant to say was I can only go to Sydney Uni too if you were there, otherwise I would only go to Sydney Uni, not Sydney Uni too!

[kazman]

Poor bloke's copping it haha.

Back on topic, I love all the little touches you do with the car, things that most people wouldn't really think about. It makes me feel bad for my green/tan NA missing out on the love

Also I'm excited to see these wheels fitted, the suspense is killing me!

[stilletto_rebel]

jeez..I was just explaining how I was just joking

And that's why I never talk to girls - it only gets you into trouble...

[emily_mx5]

Engine Removal
Surprisingly not that difficult at all!

1) Disconnect battery (forgot this step lol)
2) Mark bonnet alignment on hinges then remove bonnet
3) Drain and remove radiator/fans
4) Drain engine oil
5) Remove air intake
6) Unbolt and remove extractors
7) Unplug all wires/sensors from engine
8} drain gearbox oil
9) unbolt and remove prop shaft
10) remove centre console then unbolt/remove shifter
11) unbolt gearbox from ppf and undo more wires
12) unbolt motor mounts
13) undo fuel lines and loop the hard lines together.
14) remove engine and gearbox in one go!

It took 5.5 hours from start to finish.
I think that is an excellent time! I had help from 4 other people, only one of which had taken an engine out before, so we were all learning as we went along haha.

Dat clearance!


getting there


nearly...


Go home miata you're drunk

[emily_mx5]

Engine Teardown
First step was to strip the 1.6 engine of everything that I needed to reuse:
Throttle body
injector loom
Timing belt, idler/tensioner pulleys and water pump, as they are less than a year old.
Alternator/PS/AC brackets and bolts
dipstick neck
coolant hard line
2 blanking bolts
The BP motor I bought was a factory turbo, so had coolant and oil feed fittings in the block, lucking our B6's are also turbo motors in other mazdas, so i could use its blanking bolts!


The clutch didnt have much meat left on it, and the flywheel had a few hotspots


Heres the problem right there, super worn keyway


A clever solution to stop the crank spinning whilst undoing the front pulley.


No engine!


This is was 2 and a half engines looks like dissasembled in a single garage

[KevGoat]

Heres the problem right there, super worn keyway

Makes me fearful of what I'd find with mine

Awesome job you guys did getting it all out!! Not sure I'd want to undertake it

[emily_mx5]

Engine Built pt. 1
So this was, umm, easy.
With the help of mr Martin ofcourse, it only took a couple of hours!
Makes me wonder where the 4k price tag comes from, which was what i was quoted from a couple of machine shops to assemble it.

Lowering the crank in and connecting the rods.


Compressing the piston rings - probably the most fiddly part in the whole assembly.


Inserting the pistons into the block. A gentle tap with a mallet is all that is needed.


Gasket-goo-ing up the sump.


Headgasket. Durapro OEM spec.


Engine done! well the important part anyway haha.


At this point, Martin left to go back home for the christmas period, so I was left alone.
I was quite nervous about doing the rest alone, but I gave it a go and it wasnt very hard

TIMED!


here is a comparion between the mx5 timing plates and the astina ones.
mx5 has a cut out for the waterneck, astina doesn't and is larger because it supports the front cam cover.


NA6 shortnose vs Astina BP longnose.


I got some Mazdaspeed competition engine mounts from Flyin' Miata at the same time i ordered my conversion kit.
My original mounts were ruined. Slight differences between the B6 and BP metal mounts.

[Dweezle]

Looks the goods!!!

Surprised us when my brother and i put one together how simple it is.

One thing though, we did what you did by smearing the sump sealant.
It leaked.
After speaking to a few engine builders we where informed it should be a continuous unbroken bead around the block.

Just something i wish we knew first time around

Did not leak after redoing the sump.

Good luck with the first start!!

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

[emily_mx5]

Hmm ok, thanks for the tip. We did smooth it out once we had the goo covering the whole sump. That's what the workshop manual said anyway.

[Matt]

Didn't see an oil pick up when you were putting the sump sealant on. Did you remember to fit it?