Do yourself a favor and work on your load leveler first.

Lightly grease the shaft, and add some decent washers on either side of the stops. It'll work 100% better this way. If you use it as-is out of the box, once you get the engine/tranny at the angle required to remove it, it jams up and you can hardly turn it.

Edit: also, with your load leveler, it's not the hardest thing to remove yourself, although I'm speaking from experience.

 

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely take a few minutes to tune up the load leveler.

 

I compression tested the old motor before pulling it so I would have that info when I go to sell it.

All 4 cylinders were spot on to the factory spec of 192PSI... not bad for a 21 year old motor with nearly 100K miles on it. (It did get a refresh of the head a few years back though)

 

As I prepared to pull the old motor I decided I needed additional information. The Haynes manual just wasn't cutting it. I did a quick search for a factory manual and ended up purchasing Keith Tanner's book and also the Enthusiast manual. Both have been excellent resources and in general easier than Googling or posting a question to a forum. Even in today's digital world a good old fashioned manual is still a useful tool when working in the garage.

One clever tip I picked up in Keiths book suggests using angle brackets to mount the 1.6 coils on the 1.8 head. I made simple angle brackets fabbed up the old fashioned way with my band saw, drill press and grinder (looks like I can still make things with my hands without using CAD or CNC tools)





In order to use the new 8.2mm Taylor 1.8L wires I purchased with the 1.6L coil required swapping the signal wire between the left and right coil. The Miata is wasted spark so cylinders 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 fire together. Not only did I swap the signal wires I also swapped the order (4,1,2,3) they were connected to the coil.



Final test fitting:


I then cleaned up the brackets with a file and sand blasted them to prepare for powder coating later.

 

Oh that's disgusting. #1 should go on the far left post, although it looks like it's too short. Then #2 and #3 should swap coil posts. Ew.

 

I can swap 2 & 3 haha. #1 I dont think will make it .

 

I have more updates to post but I am going to jump ahead here. My friend and I pulled the 93' 1.6L and trans last night.






It went fairly smoothly. After separating the trans and motor I noticed a good bit of oil (not sure if gear or motor) sitting in the bell housing.



After pulling the clutch I am inclined to believe it is gear oil as the rear main seal doesn’t appear to be leaking that bad, just a little seepage. I have seen gaskets for the trans that I believe may need to be replaced based on this finding? Is this a common spot for leaks on the 5speed?



My current plan of action unless someone can make a case for something else is to replace the seals and install it on the Turbo 1.8L I am installing. Since I didn't build the bottom end on the 1.8L both it and the 5speed seem to have similar limits of around 250hp. If I crave more power down the road build a bottom end with a 99 head and install it with a 6speed.. maybe?

Are there any differences between the years of the 5speed that makes one more durable than the others?

 

I like the clear pictures you keep posting. Seriously, good job, keep it up.

Quick question: can you do me a favor and measure the compressor inlet OD on that FM turbo? I can't figure out if it's 2.25 or 2.5 or something else.

 

Thanks. Yeah I can measure that this evening no problem.

 

2.5"

 

thanks

 

Tonight I began transferring parts over from the 1.6L to the 1.8L. The 1.8L didn't have an intake manifold brace when I bought it from the junkyard. I assumed the 1.6L brace was the same. Tonight After looking at them closer and removing the 1.6L brace I realized they are not the same.

Here is the 1.8L motor missing its brace.



Here is the 1.6L motor with its different brace.



Any suggestions on where to get a brace for a reasonable price? Does it have a specific name other than Intake Manifold brace?

 

Here's a suggestion:

Remove it like 90% of the people on this forum.

Not being an ***, that's just the suggestion you're going to get from everyone.

 

Yup, remove it and use that sweet-*** CNC rig to machine off the mounting holes.

 

That's simple. Thanks guys.

 

nb4 injested throttle body hardware

 

I have one in brand new condition off an NB2, no idea if it will fit, but if it will and you want it, hit me up

 

Thanks for the offer. I like the idea of not putting one back on if it doesn't create any issues. Access to the oil filter and alternator should be greatly improved without it and it saves a few pounds hah.

 

Deleted and replaced below b/c pictures were messed up.

 

I replaced the fuel injector connectors with the new ones for the Fuel Injector Clinic injectors.

I stripped back the majority of the plastic wire coverings to gain access to the wires underneath.



I used non-insulated crimp connectors and my ratcheting crimper from Amazon to make the connection and then finally heat shrinked the connector.





I also lengthened the wires to the temp sensor as well to reach the location for the 1.8L sensor.

When I was all done with the connections I ran new wire sheathing to protect it.





Re-installed and connected to FIC injectors.