Page 1. Introduction
Page 2. Engine Removal
Page 3. The Swap kit
Page 4. Engine/Tranny Purchase
Page 5. Engine Install
Page 6. The Paintjob
Page 7. Cooling & Exhaust
Page 8. Wiring, Clutch Hydraulics, Misc.
Page 9. Start-up, first drive
Page 10. Photoshoot
Page 11. Performance Results & Videos
Page 12. Conclusion

Finally the big day came for the first engine test fit. I wanted to get this done before the engine bay way painted, would hate to have to modify something or accidently scratch something later down the line! Here is the clutch assembly and flywheel installed.

Engine and tranny mated together after much alignment frustrations. I had a friend come over for help with the installation, thanks to the other Matt for his help. And thanks to my other friend, the load leveler, it made for such an easy installation!

Since the engine is so tight up against the firewall, I found myself "modifying" the bracket which came with the load leveler with a vice. I changed it from 90* to 135* and used the shortest possible bolt (3/4") so that I could get the leveler assembly off once the engine was in place.

The engine mount and cradle were off by a little at first, but loosening everything up allowed enough play to install the engine to the subframe.

Reinstalled the LS6 intake manifold, to assure fitment. It was tight, but there was no firewall lip modification or MAP sensor relocation required.

Shifter looks to be very well centered with plenty of clearance in all gears... looks pretty nice too! The tranny is in 3rd gear, you can see why the bend in the shifter and additional clearance was required.

Next, underneath the car, the custom length driveshaft and torque arm was installed. The "heim" joint is adjustable for length. This is a picture at the tail of the transmission, the next picture is the torque arm at the differential.

Here is why I prefer Granny's kit over Hinsons kit. This is the method used to support the transmission. The bracket shown goes from the cabin and through the floor pan; although three drilled holes on each side are required, I think this is a much stronger Hinson's design which requires bolting the transmission brace to weak mounting points (designed my Mazda to ONLY hold up heat shielding!). There was a slight tranny brace clearance modification needed, basically just trimmed the one side closer to the bolt.

Remember when I said there are two required cuts?  Well here's cut #2... basically making a little bit extra room for the shifter. Later on I found out I took out about 2x the amount I needed to... but this is covered anyway ;).

I used a steeda Tri-ax shifter assembly (Fbody) with a tri-ax handle and Cobra 6sp knob. I used this shifter with a "dog-leg" in it to better fit the slightly forward transmission location.

Next Page: The Paintjob