Ya ya, I bought one too. Mine needs quite a bit of work though. Its relatively rust free. Nothing major. The transmission in it is bad but it came with a good one. Right now i'm just stripping the engine bay down to get at that transmission.

Today I pretty much just removed the skid pan, some of the turbo heat shields, the radiator, the intercooler and associated plumbing, some shitty wiring from the previous owner, the grill and the AC system.

Having all of this out of the way makes it look like the tranny R&R is going to be pretty straight-forward. I'm more used to doing transmissions in RWD cars so this looks like it is going to be awkward getting it to stab onto the engine.

Anyway, pics!

How the engine bay looked before I got into it.


The engine bay as it sits right now.



The rusty master cylinder and brake booster. Yuk.


This turbo is teeny tiny!


Some of the wiring I removed.


Cracked turbo manifold. Pretty sure i'm just going to have to make a new one using Sched 10 stainless. I have all the pieces lying around except the turbo flange. The way these are cast leaves no room for thermal expansion and contraction. Doubt i'd bother replacing a broken manifold with another one that is just going to break eventually too.


What is this "bucket" area behind the headlight on the Left side? Could be a good spot to hide tools or something =P


Anyway, thats just the beginning. It will get more interesting as I redo the turbo stuff and build a new exhaust etc. Eventually I believe I will be retrofitting either RX7 calipers (I have a set in the garage) or Escort GT calipers on VR4 rotors.

Edit: guess I should post some pics of the exterior as well.

 

If/when my brake job happens... I'm doing a ford festiva non-floating rotor on all 4 corners. Allows you do get rid of the LAME captured rotor and is an upgrade in size.

Just a random thought.

Reminds me once again... i need to go pickup the spare GTX. Sigh, so lazy.

 

That is the same idea behind using the VR4 rotors. They end up being outboard instead of the stock inboard configuration. They are also substantially larger than stock.

 

Then lead on and document

What spindle set are you using?

 

The stock GTX. Bob told me he's converted a GTX to use AWD protege hugs/spindles which eliminates these horrible wheel bearings we're stuck with. Unfortunately the AWD protege is just as rare as these :(

Check out the VR4 rotor vs stock.



Also, here are some variations of the RX7 caliper. I'd come up with a much better mounting solution than either of these, but it looks like a pretty good fit.




This is the RX7s in the rear.


All from this thread:
http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/sho...t=40913&page=1

 

GTXs don't mess around with manifold cracking, do they?

A bead blast cabinet and a can of spray paint would be heaven right now, huh?

 

On the cracking; the B6T manifold is a pretty crappy design. There is no way to make relief cuts in the head flange to allow for thermal expansion/contraction so every one of them is doomed to crack right down the middle eventually.

haha, I figured you'd get a kick out of that nasty engine bay. I really want to pull everything and clean/re paint it but I really just want to get this thing on the road for the winter. I'm so close to just buying a miata long block and swapping it in so I can just pull everything out and go over it with a fine tooth comb. I dont have the time though and I want to finally get into snowboarding this winter so I'll need this car for trips up the mountain in the snow.

Yes, a bead blast cabinet would be heaven.

 

Damn, you two are really makin me want to go find one of these!

 

They are not a project for the timid, thats for sure. I've still never driven one. I'm really hoping the work pays off in the end. I'm pretty sure it will but you never know =P I could end up selling it for something else AWD like a legacy. I've jizzed over these for about 10 years now so i'm pretty sure i'll love it

 

Are you pulling the engine to do the transmission? If so, beg/borrow/plead/steal a pressure washer. Spray the bay down with pure simple green, wait 15 minutes, and pressure wash. Repeat. Use compressed air on the rust junk, maybe a blow dryer, to keep it from rusting more.

Then buy stock in Armor All.

 

when you drive it for the first time dont compare it to a turbo miata! lol

i dont need to be thinkin bout getting another project yet. my hands are to full already, but when my car is close to where i want it im gonna need to pick somthing up to keep me from wanting to change stuff on the miata.

 

Some unfortunate compression numbers today.

155 155 90 115

That 90 jumped to 155 with some oil in the cylinder :(

 

Bummer :(

Swap a Miata motor in for some more fun.

 

I'm on the hunt for one right now. If nothing else I'll just swap the long nose crank and new pistons into the GTX engine.

This is a common problem with these cars. They like to burn up cylinder #3 for some reason. The GTX engine in my miata had a bad #3, bbundy's cars have ruined #3 cyls as well. He suspects its something to do with the intake manifold feeding air better to #3 than the rest.

 

Awesome...but man what a rough car.

Hope it polishes up and turns out to be a gem.

 

I know, you really have to look hard (and be slightly mental) to see the potential in this car. If there weren't only >500 of these registered in the states I wouldn't have bought it but the rarity encourages me to bring it back.

Also the interior is actually in great shape.

 

Phew, motor is finally out. Really wasn't any more difficult than a miata engine pull, perhaps even easier. Having more space in my garage would have made this much easier. The whole drivetrain could easily slip out under the left side frame rail.

Illustrating the tiny space i'm working with. My bench was only 2 feet behind that hoist. Just barely enough space to maneuver it.


Engine on the ground in the engine bay while I decided how I was going to get it out.


You can kind of see how it would have slipped under the frame rail easily if I had the space and a skateboard.


Decided it just needed to come out the top.


Tiny little turbo and cracked manifold.


I really want to put this oil feed hardline on my miata. I'm going to either make one or find one from a B6T.


And the engine/trans on the floor. It took a million turns of the hoist to get the motor turned 90 degrees from the way it was sitting in the engine bay.


Lots of cleanup to do. Need to get my hands on a pressure washer.


Overall it wasn't a bad job. Again, its really weird working on the same motor thats in my miata in this configuration. The starter and alternator are remarkably difficult to get to when the motor is in the car.

 

You just reminded me of the time I had to replace the alternator in my GTX (twice). Had to remove and engine mount and pry the engine forward with a 2x4 to get it out the top. Crazy.

 

I'm thinking this might be in my future.

 

I think you need this, comes with extra tranny too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-M...#ht_3728wt_939

and then you can sell me your upper 1.6 cam gear cover, rods, and cams.