Well, the engine is out together with the entire front axle/cross member assembly. We stripped the engine bay of pretty much everything, just a couple of cables, parts of the wiring harness and pipes that we couldn't be bothered to pull in from the cabin. Then we did a bit of welding to strengthen things up. Nothing fancy and nothing that would frighten the likes of Andre or Al but it should get the job done and most of it will be hidden under the fenders anyway.
The POR-15 is getting real old now. We went over everything with chassis coat, which means I painted the entire engine bay, by hand, TWICE on Saturday. Next day off that I get we have to pull the car to the other side of the shop and do the passenger side of the car (Hong Kong real estate prices make for small workshops - a lot of you guys have private garages that are bigger, I kid you not!) Then the underneath of the car has to be painted. It's slow work but I am finally making some progress.
We have deleted the ABS. The big computer/distribution block in 'my' passenger fender well has left a big space that looks like it will be perfect for an external oil cooler mounted horizontally with a fan underneath fed with air through the right hand vent on the hood.
It may also fit the accumulator and remote oil filter if I'm lucky. We are looking at putting an ARC style airbox in the other corner now that the battery has gone, fed from the other vent.
We also tried to test fit the intercooler which has me completely baffled. The mounting tabs on the cooler don't match anything on the JDM chassis (not a big deal as I intend to use an L-shaped angle iron support to mount and protect the intercooler anyway). I think however I'll need to get the new engine in and work out the mounting from there together with the pipe routing and JDM bumper cover to make sure I trim the chassis in the right places.
On a final note, I have some carbon fibre JDM style vents. They will be somewhat obsolete on John's hood above but at the same time I think the JDM vents make for an aggressive look. So I'm seriously considering fitting the vents further back on the rear of the hood. My friend put his vents there on the hood of his Supra powered Aristo and they look really good. I don't want water dripping onto the engine there during the rain though, so however ricer it may be, I think I'll just drill and surface mount them without cutting any holes in the hood underneath.