Headers...uh oh

Something is wrong here...can you see it? Yep the "custom fit" headers hit the steering column. After speaking with the header builder it was decided the best solution would be to dimple the header since they would need the car to design a new header. They are not local so I couldn't supply the car. I was worried about damaging the ceramic coating but was told it should hold up and after heating with a torch and a few hits with a hammer & impact socket, it seems to have done the trick. We shall see.

Well it’s been awhile since the last update, sorry I’ve been a slacker!

We now have the engine/transmission officially mounted and installed in the car. First attempt needed some slight mods to the firewall but nothing a couple of hits from a BFH couldn’t handle.

So now I need to start connecting all of the accessories, wiring, and plumbing to the engine. For the wire harness I enlarged one of the existing holes in the firewall that was used by the AC unit (since am not keeping AC) and ran the engine harness for the ECU through. The ECU will be mounted where the original Mazda unit was located, on the passenger side footwell area. I made a mount for the ECU out of aluminum and some aluminum diamond plate for a cover for a passenger’s feet to sit.

Heater core lines

Up next was connecting the heater hoses to the heater core. The Mazda heater core in/out is located on the driver side while the in/out on the engine is on the passenger side. The “easy” solution to this is just run heater hoses under the hood to the factory Mazda location on the driver side and work fine. However I did not want rubber hoses draped across the top of the engine and the location on the driver side of the firewall is pretty tight to connect to. The alternative solution that was used is to run new copper hard lines from the heater core on the driver side to the passenger side under the dash which gives a straight connection to the engine. It took a few tries to get the angles right but it came out ok. I had the copper line pressure tested as well. They held 80psi of air for awhile so I should be alright...I hope!

Interior:



Driver side heater core in/out:



Passenger side:



Under hood:

Engine accessories

Installed the accessories. I used a GM kit that is made for a 2005 CTS-V from Pace Performance. This accessory drive is tight against the front of the engine for the needed space to the radiator.

New Gauges

Gauges are also needed for this beast. The factory Mazda gauges could have used except for the speedometer which is cable driven. Adaptors are made for cable speedometers but I have read mixed reviews and wanted to have a new aftermarket set anyway. I purchased a set of Speed Hut gauges including a new 3 3/8”speedometer, 4”tachometer, fuel, water, oil and voltage. Since I had new gauges why not a new cluster to house them? So I designed and built a new cluster to mount the tach, speedo, fuel, and water in the main housing along with warning lights and turn signals. The oil pressure and voltage gauges will be mounted in a separate enclosure in the center console, to be built soon. After lots of sanding and painting, the new cluster came out nice.

Original versus new cluster:



Primed:



Painted:



Placed in dash for a trial fit with new gauges (still need to mount indicators):

Transmission Install

Time to install the clutch/flywheel assembly but first I need to install the pilot bearing. Since this engine was originally used with an automatic transmission, there was no pilot bearing present which made things a little easier.


All that needed to be done was insert the new bearing into the crankshaft. I made sure I had the right part for my app since there two styles used by GM. I'm using a T56 from a 02 Camaro so that used the smaller of the two bearings available from GM.


After a few taps from a hammer and a piece of wood, bearing installed.


I decided to use the LS7 clutch/flywheel setup from GM. If it can handle the 505hp of a Z06 Vette, I figured it should be strong enough for my set up.



Next up was mounting the transmission to the engine. Sounds easy but we fought with this for a couple of hours. Problem we had was lining everything up perfectly, splines on the trans and clutch, engine in line with trans, and pilot bearing inline with input shaft. When I first torqued the clutch assembly, the clutch must have moved slightly offline, even with the alignment tool. I disassembled the clutch from the engine and re-installed it being careful of the clutch disc's placement. That did it and the transmission went on.


We then did a trial fit of the engine/transmission in the car. We lifted up the front of the car and rolled the engine in underneath. Worked like a charm!


It fits!


Next up: Wire up the engine harness, mount accessories, and install exhaust headers.

Odds & Ends

Some minor things done....

Wrapped brake lines and fuel lines in some heat protection sleeves.



Made a new ignition coil bracket for the passenger side. The stock mounting bracket for the truck engine had the coils sitting too high and caused interference with the fuel rail inlet (circled below). So I cut a new bracket out of aluminum and painted it. It looks like it will work ok.


Next we got the engine off of the stand and onto the V8R subframe and removed the front bumper cover off of the car. The idea here is to roll the engine/transmission underneath while lifting up the front of the car. At least thats the idea.