This is a such nice project .... all way!
Oscar

 

Day 5 - To prime... or to prime more?

Day 5 begins with the removal of all custom parts/stock bits that need some loving in the front of the car. This includes all of the spacers/brackets that relocate the steering rack, the mounts for the rack, the steering column (where the extension was added), and the stock tow hook.





We affectionately call this -The Christmas Tree-:



While those parts are "hanging out" (ha), we start final prep of the interior using white rags and prepsol. This is the absolute most important part of the prep process, if there is any foreign matter on the bars/welds (oil from skin especially) the primer won't adhere. Basically we went section by section until the rags came out white:









Once they were ready, Jose split off and started to put the dash back together with it's resurrected dash bar:





And I began spray all of the cage boxes with Rust Reformer to be sure that all rust in these areas was neutralized. This was necessary because there was spots we couldn't get to and clean up since the cage was so close to the body of the car (a tribute to BSI's fabrication skills).

 

I then moved on to primer after giving the RR some time to set up. It's amazing how much primer these bars absorb when stripped down:











....Out of paint

Since Jose was done with the dash and I was tired of painting we decided to put the car on skates and turn her around in the garage. This is necessary to pull the engine out because both the hoist and the stand are inside of the garage.

Mount up!



Ship out!



The twirl:













The finish:



After the hilarity of pushing this thing around, we decided to take some delirium pics:







Then my valiant assistant went home..

 

...But alas, I pressed on.

Building the engine hoist:





Jacked up the front of the car to try to figure out how many bolts hold the transmission bell housing to the engine.

The motor mounts:



I removed our new transmission mount and took a few bolts out that I could reach on the bellhousing but there are a few towards the top that are impossible to get to at this point:



Because of our modified subframe it is not possible to take the engine out with the subframe in the car. Out she comes!:









After that, we were able to lower the entire powertrain. This is made possible by the Miata's power plant frame which eliminates the need for a front differential mount so then whole unit can pivot on the rear differential mount.



This is where we had to call it quits after we realized that we didn't have the chain necessary to attach the hoist to the engine.

 

This guy's on the same message board my bro's on, he's been building this for like 2 years now, to find his posts to the begining of the cars concept requires some searching around the page... this guys a baller, and is doing what i've always drempt of doing.... enjoy.

http://www.dpcars.net/

 

Day Six - Engine Day™

Sunday began with a focus on the transmission bracket. When the car goes to paint, the transmission will be in it so we'll need this piece to be all cleaned up and ready for next week:





I then hit it with the Rust Reformer and we moved on to the front subframe.



The idea here is to remove the A-Arms to facilitate cleaning up all of the cutting and welding done by BSI on the subframe.

















That thing needed lots of work, the cuts were rough and it was full of 17 years of grease and grime. Most of the grease, it turns out, came from the ball joints which all had broken boots.

A quick word from our sponsors (notice the homosexual lemonade in the middle, nice Jose):

 

Once my dad arrived with a chain, the focus shifted to the engine:









We were having a bit of a problem because we hadn't noticed that the top started bolt actually goes through to the bellhousing. This makes for a total of 9 bolts holding the engine to the transmission bellhousing.





Another problem, we hadn't disconnected the clutch slave cylinder and fork so they were hanging on to the engine for dear life. Once we realized that she popped open like a cherry.













Oh what a feeling (notice the ACT Clutch & Toda Flywheel) Chris' car sat outside for a while which explains the spider webs and eggs inside the bellhousing:





Now to swing her over to the engine stand which will be her home until the car gets back from paint:





Me manning the controls (notice the race car driver's diet )



All bolted in:





Draining the oil (so it stops spewing out of the busted oil filter)



I've NEVER seen that much oil come out of any S2000 engine, that's a 6qt pan....

Until next time!

 

 

Great project and one I have contemplated many times as I have spare S2000 engines and an SR20DET just sitting there begging to go into something. We even went so far as to put the SR20 in a junkyard Miata just to see if it would fit. It fit and the shifter popped out right in the middle of the hole. All that was needed was the same modification of the subframe to clear the oil pan or a different oil pan.

I know it's a little late to be chiming in, but why didn't you sand/soda blast the rust off. I did that on an old 78 Z and it made the job soooo much easier. I used pool filter powder for the blast medium and it left it smooth and was easy to blow out.

I understand the process on the Rust Reformer, but none of the shots seem to show the rust turning black so it worries me that it might not be working. I used Permatex's Extend Rust Treatment to "destroy rust" and it worked great. It is a separate treatment that does turn the rust black and then you primer over. It does not turn shiny metal black, only places with oxidation. Unfortunately mine sat unpainted in the garage for several years but that allowed me to view the Rust Reformer's process. It stayed black with no advancing rust. The shiny parts developed a mild rust coating that a quick pass with fine sandpaper took off.

My son just moved to Palm Beach so when I visit sometime we may just have to come view the project. How far are you from there?

 

looks like fun I want to drive it