I have been watching all of the ace projects out there and ecided it's time to bring mine to the table.
I bought a partially stripped 1978 Mk 2 in 2007 as a 2-3 year project. 3 years later and it's still a 2-3 year project!!!
I finished removing all of the bits and pieces and got it onto a home made rotisserie. This was great, I ciould acces all of the rusty bits, and find the rest of the rusty bits.





I decided that the trans tunnel wasn't big enough so cut it out and made a new one to fit







Notes to self: check that the heater still fits before you weld the new tunnel in. Doh!

Seems this was just the beginning. Stay tuned for rust adventures

Hey Matt!

Keep the pics coming!

no need for a heater brother lol.

Too late now, I have cut the new tunnel out and will be modifying Mazda MX 5 tunnel to fit. This is from a front cut that I bought. I will use he 1.8 twin cam and gearbox, and any other bits that might be useful.

Need a heater for compliance, but may have found a way around it. I might be able to use the Mazda one.






Here is the engine. Need to move gear shift forward about 100mm. Could be interesting.....





I have made some bracing and gone a bit silly with the welder along some seams.

Shifter is not as bigger problem as u think, all you need to do it shorten the shifter rod and move the housing forward so the rear bolt holes on the housing go into the front holes onto the gearbox

sounds odd so i will take photos of mine to show.

cheers
Mish

Mish
Photos will be good. I have lifted the motor into position today and found that the thermostat housing sits too far forward, and the sump is too square at the front. This prevents the x-member from lining up with the engine mounts.











Options are:
1. Cut and shut sump and thermostat to fit.
2. Move the engine further back in the engine bay by cutting firewall and reconfigure heater bubble, etc. Yuck!
3. Throw my hands in the air and buy a Duratec to adapt with mazda gearbox.

I have spoken to the engineer (thanks Paul) and he is happy with my plans. If I run with the factory computer which was part of the front cut, there will only be some issues with the brake upgrade. Can get bias box engineered with rear dics. he prefers to see a front rear brake system from the same vehicle which is proven to work already, but will look at any setup. Tramp bars are ok, but 5 or 6 link will require lane change tests.

I have cut out the mazda tunnel. Now need to trim to fit.



I am thinking about cutting out the original radiator mount to fit the mazda radiator too. this is about 150mm wider.

Does anybody know whether I need to weld the front guards back on . or can they be bolted? I have heard they are part of the structural rigidity, but would like some knowledge before speaking to engineer.

Hi Matt

Re the guards - I recon you'll need to weld them back on as they're an intergral part of the shell and provide substantial rigidity.

Cheers

Thanks Paul
I have ordered Burtons catalogue, but would like to get a photo of your rear disc mounts to show engineer. I would like to try to use Mazda rear and front if possible. See how we get on.
Cheers
Matt

Matt

Did you want a PDF of the brackets for the engineer also?

Using stock front 2.0L brakes and the R31 rear conversion should yield an acceptable F-R balance if using a common master cylinder. What are the specs of the MX5 as I assume he means using these brakes? I feel he will want to do it all from scratch if changing to a non boosted dual master set-up regardless.

Also, from speaking to the guys here (who run BP's in race cars) they recommend ditching the front mounted outlet and using the rear as per the FWD format. This provides a much more even distribution of engine cooling. Not sure if it's an option for you but ........?

Matt, looking good will be a cracker when finished eventually!!
we want to see more pics of your brilliant rust removal/fabrication work and what you have done with fitting the forest arches.
well done fella,hang in there[;^)]
Ben