Engine install details

I found the issue with my transmission not wanting to mate to the engine. It was my fault. Using the transmission jack, I got the transmission perfectly lined up with the engine block, threaded all the bellhousing bolts in by hand and proceeded to tighten them down thinking that would just pull things together easily. It would have worked if the splines on the clutch disk and the transmission input shaft happened to be lined up or at least pretty close to lined up. Unfortunately, they were exactly NOT lined up and the slow compression by the bolts drawing things together just crushed the splines and made it impossible for them to engage the input shaft. I can probably clean up the splines with a file and salvage this clutch disk but I didn't have time to do that now. I threw the old clutch disk in since it showed very little wear anyway. It's got a good 80-100k miles in it still.

 

A quick clean up of the starter. Wire brushed it and hit it with some chassis black. I replaced the mounting bolts with new ones.

The Power Plant Frame was nasty dirty from the oil leak so I pulled it out and cleaned it up. Having it out made maneuvering the transmission back into place a bit easier, too.

I had sort of underestimated the amount of work involved in getting the engine fully dressed and everything hooked back up. I spent a whole day and a half doing just that. I installed the starter, A/C compressor, PCV hoses, belts, brake booster lines, clutch slave, Power Plant Frame, exhaust header, O2 sensor, and fuel pressure reference sensor. I still have to install the radiator (ordered a new all-aluminum KOYO 37mm radiator) and associated hoses, plus the heater hoses but I'll do that when the radiator gets here.

Using the '99 head and intake manifold leaves nowhere to mount the PRC solenoid valve, so I relocated it to where the carbon canister was. It has to be within reach of the wiring harness and it has two vacuum connections so it has to be in this general neighborhood. Hopefully it won't matter that it's vertical instead of horizontal. This valve helps the engine start under hot-restart conditions and doesn't do anything most of the time.

Finally, I filled the transmission with Amsoil MTG 75W-90 gear oil. It's very easy with a proper pump.