Engine Overhaul & Painting

 Being an absolute beginner when it comes to engines, this task was quite daunting. After breaking the gearbox and removing the clutch and flywheel I got the engine on a stand and took plenty of pictures to remind me of where everything should go. An MX5 Haynes manual was very handy as well....

There was evidence of either current or past minor oil leaks and I wanted to paint the engine, so I stripped everything back to the block to give it a good clean and paint.

I decided to replace the timing belt, water pump, alternator belt, oil seals (cam and crank shaft) and any gaskets. I also bought a refurb kit for the VVT gubbins. I re-used all the other components but had to buy a new lower timing cover because the old once was cracked. The alternator got a good polish.

I painted the main block semi gloss black after a coat of primer using Frosts automotive enamel.

I then use VHT engine enamel primer, top coat and lacquer to paint the alloy head, engine cover and some of the other engine components. The top coat colour was aluminium because I still haven't decided the car colour and cast aluminium will go with anything. My wife used some of the brake enamel paint to very carefully stencil the embossing on the engine cover before a few coats of lacquer.

Took me a while, but pleased with the results! Let's hope the engine still works after my amateur efforts...

I'll sort out all the coolant pipes and wiring harnesses once I have tested fitted the engine and gearbox. I have a feeling from other builds that I will be having some fitting issues with some of the coolant pipes and clutch lever.

Brake and Clutch Master Cylinder Final Fit

Once all the brake lines had been run, I performed the final fit of the brake and clutch master cylinders. I had to purchase a new aftermarket clutch master cylinder because the original was past service. I decided to get a new slave cylinder as well.

The brake master cylinder needed no spacing from the chassis to get the pedals to a reasonable position.

The clutch master cylinder needed the reservoir rotating by 180degrees to clear the bulkhead, and spacing out from the chassis by approx 20mm to get what felt like a good pedal and throw on the pedal (once the engine and gearbox is in I will check again).

I bought some aluminium spacers from eBay and used M8 bolts and washers torqued to 20Nm.

Brake Calipers

 I decided to re-use the brake calipers from the car which whilst pretty crusty, but looked to be in good condition otherwise. Also, coming from a Euphonic model, they were the larger bore sports brakes.

To tidy them up I set about them with a wire brush wheel on my angle grinder and did a bit of degreasing before attempting the disassembly.

Unfortunately I found that one of the rear calipers had been replaced with a non-sport version which meant I had to purchase another one. Very annoying. At least the bores of all the calipers were in good condition once I had them in pieces.

Disassembly and refurb was a bit of a faff but bofi racing were very supportive. The main issue was me believing the seals were too large for the bore. A bit of effort and they were also sorted ready for painting.

I decided that they would be red (although I haven't decided on the colour of the car yet). I bought some paint from Brake Caliper Solutions (BCS) which was Ferrari Rosso Red, A filter mask was needed to stop being overcome by fumes.... the results are nice I think.

Only time and brake fluid spills will tell if I have done a good job or not.