Stripping the MX5 Part 4.1: Removing the Engine 

                                                                                                                 

The engine was almost ready to be removed first I had to disconnect everything underneath the car that run to it. I pushed the cables down from the parcel shelf to the bottom of the car, which normally run to the battery. I followed the cables along Power Plant Frame (PPF) unclipping and unplugging as I went.

I moved onto the exhaust pipe system, which is made up of four main sections: the manifold, the down-pipe, CAT and the muffler / silencer with the tip attached.

Cardigan CORGI gas approved engineer.

The muffler section came off easily by unhooking hangers and removing the two bolts on the flange connecting to the CAT. However removing the CAT wasn't as easy, the two flange bolts connecting it to the down-pipe were badly seized. A bit of penetrating oil, time and some force with a breaker bar they eventually came off. 

Things got worse with the down-pipe flange connecting to the manifold. One of the bolts came out but the other turned out to be a nightmare. The bolt went through a bracket connected to the transmission housing, through the down-pipe flange and then through the manifold flange. The head of the bolt was badly corroded when I tried to remove it with a socket set it came out slight then simply crumbled away and quickly became rounded off. Unfortunately the area around the bolt was too tight to fit a drill in, which meant that drilling out the bolt was not an option. 

Cutting was the only real option, but I didn't have anything that would be able to fit in the tight space and cut the nut off. I also didn't want to have to cut through the flange as I needed the manifold for the build and I didn't want to have to repair it later. The only thing holding the exhaust to the engine was a bracket connected to the transmission housing. The only thing I could fit in the space was a junior hacksaw. I must have spent nearly half an hour cutting through the bracket. The limited space meant that only about five of the teeth were actually cutting.

Eventually it came free but the manifold and down-pipe were still attached. I managed to drag the manifold up and rotate it to expose the troublesome bolt. I cut it off finally separating the two sections, headache over for now.

I'd taken off front brace bar and started removing the PPF. I used my book Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.8: Enthusiast's Workshop Manual to help me. Also a really useful video on removing the PPF on youtube: Miata How to: Remove Power Plant Frame (PPF).

The bolts attached to the transmission weren't easy but they came out. The next headache started with the bolts attached to the differential. The bolt closest to the front was difficult but the rear one was impossible. I had managed to loosen it with a breaker bar and continued to turn it until I realised it was just spinning. The mushroom shaped nut on the top had splines and they weren't engaging. I was afraid I might have stripped them making it almost impossible to remove.  I managed to fit an F style clamp in there and clamp down onto the nut. This helped stop it spinning enough to be able to remove the bolt. Examining the nut revealed that some of the splines had been damaged from trying to remove it.

Next was removing the PPF from the car. I used a pry bar to free it from its mounting points. I had to wiggle it around propshaft, which wasn't easy with the lack of working room.

 

With the PPF gone the only thing left was the propshaft. All four bolts required penetrating oil, heating with a propane torch and a breaker bar. It was unbolted but still attached by rust, one hit with a block of wood and lump hammer and it was free.

Finally the engine could be removed.