by far the hardest part was removing all the gasket material from the rear of the bock. it took longer then all the other stuff put together, i must be doing it wrong. any tricks or chemicals I can use next time to get that crap off?

 

razor blade and some sand paper does it every time

 

You could try "being manly".

 

yeah obviously that is what people use, thought perhaps someone might have a clever tool that helps. like one of those razor blade holders or some type of chemical.

 

and how does one scrape a miata gasket like a man? do tell hot shot.

 

you could use a razor with a handle attachment. i find that gasket remover is junk as old gaskets will come off with some work. no need to buy a $5 can of crap that some elbow grease can take care of.

 

Scrape it like a bauce!

 

I scraped and scraped using a blade and some light sandpaper but took for ever and even when I said f-it and installed the housing there was a small amount of some compound, looked and sanded like jb weld still on the surface. everything was flat so hope it holds.

I think my razor blade was a little worn out so next time i'll make sure to have a fresh one.

 

Scraping gaskets wears them out quickly. Get a 100 pack and change them quickly so your not messing about. Then scotchbrite once you get what you can with razor.

 

yeah good idea. I bought a 100 pack about 3 years ago and somehow my last 10 have lasted a year. ha time to add blades to the shopping list.

 

Step one is to remove the bolts on the powerplant frame on the transmission side. Step two is to use a floor jack to lift the tail of the transmission. This will open the area between the engine and firewall and allow you to actually get your hands in there and work.

 

 

on I went out and tried to use my electric planer and it did not go well.