Lets get this job going!
Pulled the driveshafts and gearbox on Friday, made up a wood version of the Mazda SST to hang the engine from with 3 mounts missing!
Here's one of the little buggers
Got the alloy sump plate off and assessed the damage. Some gouging along the outer edges from me trying to split the sealant, but nothing on the inside edges or all the way through
Gave both faces of this part a lap with some wet & dry sandpaper glued to an alloy extrusion and got it nice and flat. Some gouges are still there but there's no raised sections that could cause any issues.
Got it all cleaned up and put back on with new RTV squishing out nicely
Hopefully this fixes the issue! I put a bit of extra RTV where the block meets the oil pump and rear main seal housing, these areas weren't entirely flat so a little more sealant should hopefully fill in the gaps and stop any seepage
Now for the fun part, getting the gearbox back on! My trolley jack decided to retire and won't hold any sort of weight, so a scissor jack and some ratchet straps were employed.
This suuuucccckked. If you have to do this, get someone to help or at least get a trolley jack that works
All seated in and tightened down. Waiting to see if I can get a oil pickup gasket from the Mazda dealer before putting the lower sump back on. Still waiting on that O2 sensor as well...