The Build – July 2025

/ Build, Parts refurbishment / By

1st July 2025

Not quite a single day update, more of a roll-up of the last four days or so. Basically stripping down the engine further ready for paint – and then paint it!

Here are a few pics of the engine prior to final strip down – so I can remember where to put it all when time comes to put it all back together:

Image of front of engine showing thermostat cover.
Front of engine showing thermostat cover.
Image of LHS front of engine showing (random) bracket location.
LHS front of engine showing (random) bracket location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing water mixer manifold & crank position sensor location.
LHS front of engine showing water mixer manifold & crank position sensor location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor connector location.
LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor connector location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor location.
LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor location.
Image of VVT camshaft sprockets.
VVT camshaft sprockets.
Image of timing cover timing marks.
Timing cover timing marks.
Image of rear of engine head showing water inlet and coolant temp gauge.
Rear of engine head showing water inlet and coolant temp gauge.
Image of front of engine showing thermostat cover.
Front of engine showing thermostat cover.
Image of LHS front of engine showing (random) bracket location.
LHS front of engine showing (random) bracket location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing water mixer manifold & crank position sensor location.
LHS front of engine showing water mixer manifold & crank position sensor location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor connector location.
LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor connector location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor location.
LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor location.
Image of VVT camshaft sprockets.
VVT camshaft sprockets.
Image of timing cover timing marks.
Timing cover timing marks.
Image of rear of engine head showing water inlet and coolant temp gauge.
Rear of engine head showing water inlet and coolant temp gauge.
Image of front of engine showing thermostat cover.
Image of LHS front of engine showing (random) bracket location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing water mixer manifold & crank position sensor location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor connector location.
Image of LHS front of engine showing crank position sensor location.
Image of VVT camshaft sprockets.
Image of timing cover timing marks.
Image of rear of engine head showing water inlet and coolant temp gauge.

BTW, the bolts to connect the engine to the stand are M12x100mm 1.5mm pitch thread. Quite hard to get hold of for a decent price. These folks came up with the goods though – GWR Fasteners.

Cracked on with cleaning and priming the engine block and head, this after a day stripping off all of the ancillary parts and carefully setting the bits aside in take away containers….can’t fail!

I ended up having to remove the oil pump as one of the timing cover bolts sheared off at the head (thankfully) and two cover crush tubes were well and truly rusted into the oil pump too. The covers has been previously removed (judging by the mulitple paint blobs on the camshaft sprockets) and the casings were cracked and damaged around most of the bolt holes. On the plus side it was a lot easier to replace the crank front oil seal with the pump on the bench.

Due to the vagaries of getting spray paint delivered to the island (and perhaps because of the colour I’ve chosen….), the top coat will need to wait until I’ve been across the Solent and collected from a ‘mainland’ address!

So a few more pics of the final prep for spray with VHT paint (well primer for the timebeing):

Image of engine parts carefully boxed on the floor of the garage.
Engine parts carefully boxed on the floor of the garage.
Image of oil pump removed to extricate a broken bolt and rusted in timing cover crush tubes.
Oil pump removed to extricate a broken bolt and rusted in timing cover crush tubes.
Image of front of engine block and head stripped an ready for paint.
Front of engine block and head stripped an ready for paint.
Image of RHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of RHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of LHS of engine prepped for painting.
LHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of RHS of engine now primed with VHT primer.
RHS of engine now primed with VHT primer.
Image of front of engine head now painted with VHT primer.
Front of engine head now painted with VHT primer.
Image of engine parts carefully boxed on the floor of the garage.
Engine parts carefully boxed on the floor of the garage.
Image of oil pump removed to extricate a broken bolt and rusted in timing cover crush tubes.
Oil pump removed to extricate a broken bolt and rusted in timing cover crush tubes.
Image of front of engine block and head stripped an ready for paint.
Front of engine block and head stripped an ready for paint.
Image of RHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of RHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of LHS of engine prepped for painting.
LHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of RHS of engine now primed with VHT primer.
RHS of engine now primed with VHT primer.
Image of front of engine head now painted with VHT primer.
Front of engine head now painted with VHT primer.
Image of engine parts carefully boxed on the floor of the garage.
Image of oil pump removed to extricate a broken bolt and rusted in timing cover crush tubes.
Image of front of engine block and head stripped an ready for paint.
Image of RHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of LHS of engine prepped for painting.
Image of RHS of engine now primed with VHT primer.
Image of front of engine head now painted with VHT primer.

4th & 5th July 2025

More time spent stripping, cleaning and priming engine parts ready for rebuild. Also fitted a new gearbox output oil seal.

Image of new gearbox output oil seal.
New gearbox output oil seal.
Image of VHT primed inlet manifold and VVT parts.
VHT primed inlet manifold and VVT parts.
Image of primed inlet manifold.
Primed inlet manifold.
Image of primed inlet plenum.
Primed inlet plenum.
Image of new gearbox output oil seal.
New gearbox output oil seal.
Image of VHT primed inlet manifold and VVT parts.
VHT primed inlet manifold and VVT parts.
Image of primed inlet manifold.
Primed inlet manifold.
Image of primed inlet plenum.
Primed inlet plenum.
Image of new gearbox output oil seal.
Image of VHT primed inlet manifold and VVT parts.
Image of primed inlet manifold.
Image of primed inlet plenum.

15th – 22nd July 2025

Another brief post about recent build activity. A lot of painting of engine parts ready for fitting, and waiting for various service items to be delivered. New water pump fitted along with new timing belt and idlers. Engine then timed up following watching these two excellent YouTube videos:

A+ Racing’s Miata Cam Timing Tricks and Myths For The Beginner.
Project380 TIMING BELT AND WATER PUMP : MX5 Miata HOW TO.

As usual a few pics here of progress. I hope to get the gearbox, flywheel and clutch installed this coming weekend and finally reunite engine and gearbox. Who knows, they might make it into the car too!

Image of crankshaft TDC timing marks
Crankshaft TDC timing marks
Image showing camshaft TDC timing marks.
Camshaft TDC timing marks.
Image of newly installed timing belt & water pump, all timed and ready to go!
Newly installed timing belt & water pump, all timed and ready to go!
Image of newly installed timing belt covers.
Newly installed timing belt covers.
Image of newly reinstalled camshaft cover and VVT assembly.
Newly reinstalled camshaft cover and VVT assembly.
Image of engine with refurbished and painted parts reinstalled.
Engine with refurbished and painted parts reinstalled.
Image of crankshaft TDC timing marks
Crankshaft TDC timing marks
Image showing camshaft TDC timing marks.
Camshaft TDC timing marks.
Image of newly installed timing belt & water pump, all timed and ready to go!
Newly installed timing belt & water pump, all timed and ready to go!
Image of newly installed timing belt covers.
Newly installed timing belt covers.
Image of newly reinstalled camshaft cover and VVT assembly.
Newly reinstalled camshaft cover and VVT assembly.
Image of engine with refurbished and painted parts reinstalled.
Engine with refurbished and painted parts reinstalled.
Image of crankshaft TDC timing marks
Image showing camshaft TDC timing marks.
Image of newly installed timing belt & water pump, all timed and ready to go!
Image of newly installed timing belt covers.
Image of newly reinstalled camshaft cover and VVT assembly.
Image of engine with refurbished and painted parts reinstalled.

23rd – 28th July 2025

Pretty straightforward few days:

  • Renew gearbox input shaft oil seal.
  • Hire engine hoist, take engine off of stand.
  • Fit new crankshaft rear oil seal, fit oil pick-up, fit sump.
  • Fit new lightened flywheel (4.2 kg), modify the clutch fork, fit new standard clutch and thrust bearing (don’t forget the moly grease!)
  • Reunite engine and gearbox. This Sally McNulty YouTube video helped with this – good idea to use a ratchet strap as a handle for lifting the front of the gearbox.
  • Fit into car with trolley jack to lift gearbox onto its rubber mount as the whole assembly slides in. A two person job as someone does need to feed the propshaft into the output of the gearbox whilst the engine is being lowered and pushed rearwards.

All went pretty well other than having to remove the gearbox again to grease the thrust bearing….doh! Also I’d recommend not fitting the crank angle sensor or alternator to the block before fitting the engine – just makes life a little easier.

Here are some pics:

Image of the 'man cave'.
The ‘man cave’.
Image of engine on stand with mounts fitted.
Engine on stand with mounts fitted.
Image of newly installed rear crankshaft oil seal.
Newly installed rear crankshaft oil seal.
Image of newly installed replacement lightened flywheel.
Newly installed replacement lightened flywheel.
Image of newly installed clutch assembly
Newly installed clutch assembly
Image of engine and gearbox on hoist ready to be installed.
Engine and gearbox on hoist ready to be installed.
Image of engine now installed in its new home.
Engine now installed in its new home.
Top view image of engine now installed in its new home.
Top view of engine now installed in its new home.
Image of the 'man cave'.
The ‘man cave’.
Image of engine on stand with mounts fitted.
Engine on stand with mounts fitted.
Image of newly installed rear crankshaft oil seal.
Newly installed rear crankshaft oil seal.
Image of newly installed replacement lightened flywheel.
Newly installed replacement lightened flywheel.
Image of newly installed clutch assembly
Newly installed clutch assembly
Image of engine and gearbox on hoist ready to be installed.
Engine and gearbox on hoist ready to be installed.
Image of engine now installed in its new home.
Engine now installed in its new home.
Top view image of engine now installed in its new home.
Top view of engine now installed in its new home.
Image of the 'man cave'.
Image of engine on stand with mounts fitted.
Image of newly installed rear crankshaft oil seal.
Image of newly installed replacement lightened flywheel.
Image of newly installed clutch assembly
Image of engine and gearbox on hoist ready to be installed.
Image of engine now installed in its new home.
Top view image of engine now installed in its new home.

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