Cut a hole in the trunk

I’ve got a couple of hours to spend on the car today and the next step is to cut the trunk for the rear battery rack. I measured the distance between the frame rails and it’s 28” - should be enough room for 5 batteries. Since you can’t really see the edge of the frame rails from the trunk, I used a drill from below to mark the corners of the cut. Using a metal ruler and a sharpie I marked out the area to be cut. I used a hand grinder with a cutting blade a little sloppy, but I can grind out the wavy edges later.

Drain tank and plug holes

I’ve got the car up on jacks as I pull out the exhaust system and fuel lines. I was originally planning to pull out the gas tank to use that space for 3 or 4 batteries but it looks like a bad idea. You need to pull the read subframe, differential and transmission to get the tank out! Plan B was to cut the sheetmetal from the interior and trunk area and pull the tank from above, but the tank is shaped like an inverted T and won’t come out from the top. I never liked the idea of having batteries in the passenger space anyway and there would need to be some tricky racks and tie downs for the batteries in that spot. I decided to leave the tank and put the 3 – 4 batteries under the hood by the firewall instead. I bought a siphon pump and drained the tank. I bought some rubber plumbing plugs at a hardware store and removed and plugged the vent and fuel inlet.

Ordered adapter

Electro Automotive http://www.electroauto.com/ has the dimensions for an adapter that will connect an electric motor to a Miata transmission. This is a tricky part since it properly off set to position the clutch and flywheel where they were before. Plus, a special flange is needed to connect the flywheel to the motor’s shaft. Best to leave this to a professional.

Engine out

Today’s the day, but that’s not my picture. It’s from a great Miata site, www.miata.net. Also, I didn't pull the tranny, but a great picture, just the same... Anyway, rented an engine hoist for $35 and spent the next 6 or so hours pulling it out. The instructions in the Miata Enthusiast's Manual were real good, except for the part about disconnecting the relay under the dash to disable the fuel pump. They wrote it using an English car and said they weren’t sure if it was the same for a US car. Well, it is. It’s a bright yellow relay, just like an English car. Other than that, it went out nice and easy. Took the flywheel and clutch off, since I’ll need them later, and called the buyer to bring his truck over – saves money on the hoist rental if you can get it to the buyer within the same 24 hour period.

Drain AC system

Found a guy willing to buy my engine for $100. I might have been able to get more, but I can’t get really started until the engine is out and it’s easier to sell it when the buyer can hear it run in the car rather than sitting in the corner of your garage. The waiting is getting to me, so need to let it go. So the AC needs to professionally emptied because the R12 coolant is nasty stuff. Found out there are only two places in SF that do it. I picked one, topped off the coolant (leaky water pump) and drove off. After $35 and an hour it was done. Car rides pretty nice, too.

Order wiring diagrams

No wiring diagrams in the manual! What were they thinking? Luckily, you can find most anything on the web. Got a set of diagrams by a company calling themselves Automotive Hobbyists. http://www.ahdol.com