Pulling the Miata motor, what would you do, "while you're in there?"

I'm pulling the Short nose 1.6 to put in a long nose 1.6, I found a cheap one locally and it prevents me from the added expense of a new header, test pipe, various other small bits and a dramatically more expensive motor.

I want to remove the charcoal canister and any other unneeded bits.

I plan on doing the FM lower radiator hose (eliminates 2 connections) and fresh motor mounts. I'd also like to delete all the cooling stuff that goes up to the intake manifold and throttle body.

Any decent threads on the coolant and charcoal questions? Things I may run into and how others have tackled them, type stuff?

Anything else you would do other than general inspection and cleaning?

If you remove the charcoal canister, you'll have to find some place to put the vent for the gas tank. I may have maybe just tucked it into the front subframe at some point - but there's absolutely no technical reason to do this and it'll probably make your garage smell like gas.

Check the condition of the rubber plugs under the intake manifold and on the back of the manifold as well. They're a lot easier to reach now.

I mainly wanted to do it just to clean up the engine bay some?

Might as well clean up and respray the engine bay. I like white since it shows leaks more clearly.

z31maniac wrote: I mainly wanted to do it just to clean up the engine bay some?

Please leave it in there and spend your efforts on something worthwhile. Like: Timing belt & water pump? Clutch & slave? PS hoses? Heater hoses, thermostat, coolant reroute?

Or any other PIA knuckle busters you'll hate yourself for if you miss them.

Clutch? Lightweight flywheel.

I did the same thing last year; replaced a short-nose 1.6 with a used long-nose. I bought an engine gasket set and all the external seals on the motor were replace along with the timing belt and water pump. I figured this was the time when it would be easiest to reach everything. Once the engine was in the car I wanted to just drive it and not worry about anything but oil changes for a couple of years. I also changed the heater hoses because the ones on the car were starting to harden.

It's easy to mangle the soft brass pipes on those heater hoses. We always cut them off and replace the hose.

Definitely do a full maintenance - all external seals and belts.

No go on painting the engine bay, I'll just clean it well.

I'll swap over my coolant re-route, lightweight flywheel and stuff that is already on the car. Heater hoses are fresh (rubber ones that is), no PS steering.

Timing belt/water pump/seals aren't a bad idea, hadn't decided if I wanted to mess with it as hopefully this is an interim step until a built 1.8 goes in.

As for the heater core hoses, I'm debating pulling all that stuff out and continuing the move toward track-only car.

Replace the small rubber plug on the back of the head. They go bad and let all the coolant out. I've JB Welded a bolt in there in my old racecar. Or you can use the port for a temp gauge.

Front and rear main seals would be a good idea. CAS o-ring (I that would be in a gasket kit).

Heater hoses are nice to have on a track-only car, because it gives you a supplemental radiator for when it's overheating. :) It's also pretty useful if you're there in the winter and want to run the defroster. Personally I wouldn't pull the heater core out unless I was building a full on production-type race car.

Are you likely to turbo the 1.6 at any point? If so, then you might want to consider drilling the oil pan before the motor goes in. You might also consider drilling it right in front of the motor mount, rather than all the way at the front (provides a better always-down path for the oil, but can only be done out of the car).

Are you doing a leakdown test on the new 1.6 before you put it in?

New clutch? Pilot and throwout bearing? Transmission input seal? Clutch slave cylinder?

Shim the oil pump relief valve? Take out the oil squirters if it's never going forced induction?

Good call on the heater core. What about deleting all the coolant hoses that go up to the intake manifold and throttle body, I figured less connections = less possible failure points, part of the reason I'm getting the FM Silicon lower hose.

The clutch and all that stuff on the current 1.6 only has about 100 miles, so I'm just going to swap it and the 9lb flywheel over.

No turbo, or plugging oil squirters. The point of this 1.6 would be just to get me through the end of next season so I can do XIDA's over this winter, then build a 1.8 over the course of next year and drop it in the following winter.

All these posts and no one said "Put an LSx in there!"

I am sorely disappointed.

Dammit Brandon, I only came in here to say that and you beat me to it!

In reply to ultraclyde:

z31maniac wrote: Good call on the heater core. What about deleting all the coolant hoses that go up to the intake manifold and throttle body, I figured less connections = less possible failure points, part of the reason I'm getting the FM Silicon lower hose.

I pulled the daisy chain of 3 hoses that went front-to-back on mine, it's fine. The one to the throttle body is to stop it from icing up in cold weather -- I live in California, so that's not a problem. Losing the factory oil warmer isn't really a big deal either.