I shall embellish the post when I've stopped gigglroffling
Right, I have now collected myself. So, after the progression that was made after receiving the engine mounts I was elated, as it was a step closer to getting to the crux of the situation - seeing if the car would return to life. As per a previous post, when I tried to start the car the solenoid on the starter would fire but the motor wouldn't turn. I was unperturbed though as I hadn't bolted the two earthing cables from the gearbox and engine yet. So, after sorting those out I returned to starting the engine (albeit with the EFi fuse pulled out to not flood the engine with petrol) and, it cranked!
The two word post obviously a reflection of my excitement at said moment in time. Changing my underwear, I then spent the majority of the day charging the battery and cranking the engine over in order to build some oil pressure and get it running through the turbocharger as an obvious sign of such a case. Once this was achieved (as seen in the preceding post) I halted going further. What?!! You didn't start the car ASAFP?!! Are you insane!! Yes, but only in the membrane. That and seeing as I was missing one measly bolt from the rear engine mount, I figured it'd be wisest to first get that engine mount bolt in place which would then allow me to fit the Anti-roll bar in place, as well as the Tanabe brace and so on, and THEN the exhaust system, so that I wouldn't wake up my cat Sammy who would invariably unleash 7 types of hell on me for disrupting his 23hr nap.
Yes, I know, I don't do wise, but, essentially, I wanted to build up a suspense for myself ^_^.
So, bolt purchased, and installed, and onto the Anti-roll bar. Where are the bolts? *Sigh*. After a few minutes of faffing about I found them on the scuttle and proceeded to installing them...which was an exercise in patience/restraint. Not, as you may presume to save from damaging a component by rushing through the procedure, but rather from stop oneself from starting a genocide. It was just one fiddly annoying thing after another; first lining up the bolts for the anti-roll bar mounts with the silly brackets not willing to conform to your command. Then it was getting the droplinks to sit perpendicular to the lower control arms so they could sit properly once tightened. Pffft, whatever, its on and tightened, I can adjust it later. 
Onto that lovely Tanabe 4 Point Lower Control arm brace! Oh this thing weighs nothing, it'll be a breeze to install! Done! Oh no wait, the exhaust actually has to be WITHIN the brace. Damnit, take 2. So, I have to lift the exhaust over my head whilst blindly trying to thread the bolts in, grand. Wait. It doesn't fit. ARGH! Yes, I have figured out why this is an EP91 fitment only then, as the EP82 engine mount carries the exhaust hangers on it, which get in the way of the mounting bolts. Fabulous! So, Dremeltaim. One hanger came off easily enough, but the other required several million cutting discs to get through, and plenty of hammering. And then they were off, and the brace fit (and yes, I'll be weighing those bits of the hanger I removed ^_^)! Now onto attaching it. Again, fiddly but not too difficult, other than the bolts that fix the lower control arms in place, as the anti-roll bar forces them out of alignment. However, one bolt decided to be especially uncooperative, with the flange on the brace JUST covering it slightly. Yargh! Ignore for now >_<
At this point, I suddenly submitted to my excitement and decided to hell with that cat, he's scared of engines anyway, BAH to you. Before I could so much as even fathom to ignite the engine, I obviously had to fit the oil return. Ah...Yeah. It's actually such a terrible decision made by myself to have this far-too-long hose made up. Essentially, it's so long, that you have to compress it a whole lot just to get it to where you think its lining up, only to tighten it and realise it isn't and has stripped some threads. YAY! To hell with that though, I want to start this ish. 
So, got the battery in place, leads connected, camera in position, trip over a box (editted out obviously), then...STATTOH! As evidenced in the video, I found it quite hard to contain myself, letting out a little pleasure squeal. For those who claim I'm miserable, you saw me climax, so stfu. However, this pleasure was short lived as it was clear to see there was a leak or two. It sufficed me though, it started, therefore I am a master of wiring kkthx. Anyway, that leak was rather annoying - it seemed the gasket for the turbocharger coolant line flange had expired, and I didn't have anything to replace it with. That and I was missing a coolant line rubber, so used one from a PCV valve. Which was too skinny, and not strong enough, so collapsed and inevitably shot pressures way up. Bah to j00! Not only, but it seemed (inevitably) that the oil return fitting was leaking too. So, off came the turbocharger/manifold (to hell with separating them) and off came the coolant lines, and I applied some silicone sealant in a very crude fashion, re-installed the lines and attempted the next morning. Even worse. BAH again.
At this point, what little neuroelectrical stimuli I had in my cranium managed to light up a tiny eureka LED - I'll just loop the coolant line! Is it safe to do so? *Tap tap tap* People on TGTT have done it with no ill effect, done. I also ghetto-fixed the oil return fitting with a rag and a hose-clip just to stave off leaks for a bit. Yes. I ACTUALLY did that. Look, see!
So, with that out of the way, I ventured forth, looped the lines, topped up the water in the radiator, and restarted the engine. All seemed fine and well - I gave the throttle a bit of a tug and response seemed well, though strangely idle would rise if I raised the engine speed gradually, falling back down if I again quickly jerked the throttle butterfly. Meh. I was pleased with the pressure emanating from the valve cover breather too - Rick informed me that the whistle he heard on the video pointed to good crank pressure, ube - and so I continued letting the engine idle for a good few minutes till I worried about the temperature and shut it off. However, we have sprung more leaks. MOAR?!!
Meh, the engine starts, that's a win for me, so GTFO downer moments. It seems that I didn't affix a hoseclip on the water pump hose onto the thermostat, but upon attaching this the leak continued, so that will warrant a further investigation. I also decided in the meantime to fill the brake master cylinder reservoir with some fluid for, I don't know, something to do. So I did. Now to check that leak. Holy Shart, it's still leaking, and what's this, a leak from the driver's side? Odd. Crawl underneath. Ah. That's brake fluid. And it's in my hair. And face. And in me. Lovely. Why is this leaking. WHY ARE YOU LEAKING. Putrid little fiend of my life. Could this point to my earlier brake issues which largely prompted this Sainosu-based destruction over the last few months? Hmmm. Anyway, I want to do something, so, I cleared off residue from the lower control arm brace, waited for the leaking to stop (*sigh*, new bane of my life >_<), and commenced with that silly Tanabe brace. So, off it came, out came the Dremel, or rather, to my hand came the Dremel as I couldn't be bothered to tidy up previously. Grind my lovely new Tanabes, and, re-assemble. Vittoire! Loosely tighten the nuts, jiggle in those annoying lower control arm bolts, and, torqued! 
In the meantime, I also went on a little panic-induced spending spree, starting with two AN8 to barbed fitting and a silly expensive Samco elbow to replace that braided return fitting (worst. purchase. EVRAR), a flexible silicone hose for the coolant lines. Oh, and I put a deposit on an HKS FCon V-PRO ECU. TF?!. Yup ^_^
So what next?
- Hopefully receive my hubs shortly and get those installed
- Affixing all the ball-joints and brakes and so on
- Get the wheels on
- Lower the car, get the muffler on its hangers
- Raise the front end again, get the exhaust system on its hangers, and installed on the downpipe, tighten both
- Lower the local population count of some pigeons and annoying warbling birds that disturb my peace
- Try to cure some leaks by fitting new hosing etc
- Lower car and fill the gearbox with some Royal Purple loveliness
- Hit the car if it leaks again
- Then, I don't know, figure new things out, and new things to waste money on
OHH! And how could I forget - my car is actually a vibrator now. The dirt. The SACRED dirt that is imperative to the cars' notoriety. Was actually being shaken off, by this vibrations. I'm copyrighting this, Ann Summers is only a couple of miles away. HAH!
Also, no more bugs on my window sill (<_<)
Also, another bug on my window sill:
^_^
It cranked
A bit of a tame heading by all accounts, but after the heart transplant, the momentum has been slowed somewhat by the fact the engine wasn't fully installed yet and as such limited the other jobs that could be done. However, in the spirit of maintaining progress I decided to do a couple of things whilst I waiting for the Trevvy Special Mounts. So, I installed the CT9 and manifold in place, ready for when I can torque everything down, and loosely assembled the downpipe - reason being that I've always needed plenty of manoeuvring when tightening the downpipe and exhaust assemblies.
After which I was left with not much to do at all, other than wait for the new mounts, as attempting to attach any lines or cabling could create snagging or tension and plenty of crying at broken parts during the inevitable movement of the engine when installing the new engine mounts. And after about a weeks' lull of progress, I was greeted by a lovely sight: 
They actually just appeared on my desk, super cereal! Ok, not really, but anyway, I was ecstatic, yet another push forward for some progress! So ecstatic infact that I went straight to install them, and as is obvious with such cases, rushing a procedure is a quick way to issues. And so it began. There were no bolts for the new C56 Bracket for the gearbox (which was omitted on purchase), but that would prove redundant as I just pilfered the requisite bolts from my old gearbox - the guy made me wait long enough to collect the gearbox. However, seeing as the mount design on the Optional-LSD gearboxes varies slightly, typically ONE bolt wouldn't work, but I had enough to at least affix the mount and bracket in place.
Once done, I then had the issue of attempting to line up said components in order to get the fixing bolt through the mount. Which proved fruitless - the old mounts were so worn that jacking up the engine resulted it in doing so lop-sidedly and not sitting within the bracket. On this basis I figured it'd be best to install the other two mounts first as then the engine should then just lift straight up!....O_o
So, I dropped down the gearbox side and removed the mount, swapped the new mount onto the bracket and tried to jack the engine back up. However, the mount was fouling, so much so that even with the car starting to lift - and hence, the weight of the car forcing down on the mount - it still wasn't slotting into the bracket. I cried to Harvey via text who replied in a typical derisory fashion explaining something about using a "drift" and muscle and I don't know what else as I don't pay attention. So, armed with a B&Q pry-bar, I tweaked the bracket a little bit whilst raising the car and eventually it slotted in, and with a bit more adjustment I lined up the bolt and tightened it in. 
The engine side mount was a relative breeze, and after which the rear mount was an easy install. 
You may have noticed something in the pictures as well. Yes, I got a new desk and I damaged it during assembly (>_<). I also however, got in the latest prototype of the Transparent Cambelt Covers I'm getting made, and whilst I do like to look fabulous, I do not condone the mixing of Orange and Pink, it looks vile. The cover does look lovely though, barring some fitment issues. 
Straight after getting the mounts in I quickly bolted in the braided clutch hose and bled the clutch - yes, I am a superhuman, I bled the clutch, ON MY OWN. With a one-way bleed-hose naturally ^_^. Sitting back down after a quick clutch bleeding though, mondieu, that is a ridiculously heavy clutch pedal. TF!? It was only an organic uprated clutch! Oh this is going to be amusing...Oh yeah, this is only a single paddle clutch disc. My 5E will have TWO discs ^_^
Resuming from whining to myself about the newfound heft to the clutch pedal - take that you that lambasted the previous Granny-light pedal feel, I have a MAN'S pedal now - I was left with not much else to do, yet again. Why? I hear you think (yeah, I'm in your head) - it's that bolt missing from the rear engine mount. In essence, the anti-roll bar sits directly underneath it, so I cannot tighten that assembly until I have the bolt. Which means I cannot lift the exhaust system onto its hangers. Which in turn means I cannot affix my Tanabe Lower Control Arm brace. So on. Unfortunately, my badly timed (on a Friday) and frantic research for a bolt proved fruitless, so it will unfortunately mean another progress-free weekend.
Then all of a sudden, it came to me in a daze - I could attempt to crank over the engine! Z0mg! Once I collected myself up from my girly hysteria, I started plugging the loom back into the appropriate connectors, bolted the fuel line onto the fuel filter an so forth, to the point that essentially the engine was ready to turn. Having charged the battery I connected the battery negative in a rather rudimentary manner and attempted to turn the engine over (with the coil disconnected and EFi fuse pulled out). Nothing. The starter solenoid fires, but it doesn't turn. You would think I would've been disappointed (ofcourse I frickin' am, it didn't turn over!!11one!) however...nothing caught fire either! So I am not left dismayed, as I neither tightened the bolts onto the starter, nor did I bolt down all the earthing wires that attach to the gearbox and engine mount. My darling Rick is supposed to assist me shortly in trying to get the engine cranked over, so once he arrives, stops laughing/crying/aggravating hysterically at the sight of the wiring loom, we'll attempt that again. If all else fails, Trevvy's going to have the pleasure of labouring over my handiwork ^-^
With that out of the way, and the engine safely in situ', I ventured forth to remove yet more evil superfluous weight out of the car, namely the rather substantial looking exhaust heatshield mounted underneath the floorpan. Getting over an initial claustrophobia I moseyed on with my ball-joint separator to easily extricate the first of fixing mounts. The rearmost mounts utilised a pair of 10mm bolts/nuts and were easily disposed of, but the middle fixture was a bit more laboured, and required a bit of Dremel coaxing with a cutting disc, and then a lot of massaging with the pry bar, but it too was then removed. If only its substantial appearance transferred to equally meaningful weight savings - damn aluminium - though 646.8g does surpass the culmination of the latest of weight saving measures ^_^.
With that completed, I also figured it would be an ideal as time as any to fit the new Cusco Brake Master Cylinder stopper, this time in contention with the bigger Levin Master Cylinder. Installation was straightforward but a bit of careful orchestration of the tightening of the bolts was required as the much reduced clearance afforded by the greater master cylinder meant that the stopper spacer needed to be forced in slightly, but no matter, it fit! Though I think I may have stripped the threads on the end of the engine mount bolt >_<.
Finally I have arrived to the present, after a 1.5month lack of updates, and so, what is left? Not much in essence - get the engine cranked over and primed, get the engine to fire and warmed up, and oil checked, get the wiring sorted out, get the driveshafts/hubs in/on and a couple of little jobs. Essentially, barring the wiring loom, all that is left is menial fitting of parts and ancillaries and the car is hopefully ready to terrorise the general populus.
And, this is a bug I saw on my window sill 
^-^
P.S. New weight saving total is now 10.1866kg ^_^
A peculiar movie, with an awesome what's her face in it - the defining moment of this particular motion reel being when what's her face realises that the populus in their existence never die, they are just reborn, in a somewhat contrived Buddhist evangelistic sort of way.
And from this rather pompous, and tenuous link what can be implied is that, whilst not really, reborn, as it still finds itself an impossible rubbish entity, the POS does at least have its new heart! For once, I'll let the pictures do the rambling:
Ahhh, deceived you, that turbocharger isn't going to be used. Ever. As the world will have actually imploded by the time I get the car ready to receive it. 
Suffice to say, this has been the Zenith of a very long gestation period of modifying the car - attempting not to sound too preachy or conceited here, bare with me - granted what essentially is going back in the vehicle is basically what came out previously, but this is a rather important transition as this should hopefully be the beginning of the eradication of a plethora of issues, and of grave importance is that I even achieved some of it with very little external assistance (thanks to assface Harvey above for helping getting the engine in though) - I can say I have come to grasps with working on the car, I am no longer scared! True, I am extremely relaxed in progress, but things can only get better....can't they?
O_o - I just read that.
ANYWAY. Get that moment off of me. After getting the engine in, not much else was or could be done - seeing as the only engine mounts I had to hand were the former, completely worn out ones, barring the rear one (as its going with the LSD Gearbox), the engine is only temporarily in place, as one can presume by the ratchet strap mount. On delivery of the BYP/Energy Suspension mounts I can truly say the transplant is semi-hard. Err, Complete. However, Harvey did fit on the shifter cables, and I became a little infant...ok, LITTLER infant, sitting down in the car and feeling gears again! It felt fabulous. We also got the old Track-rod ends off of the car and I loosely fit on the new ones - yes, ignore me saying I fit them in the last post, its a lie. Suck it.
So, onwards and upwards to the moment I can crank the engine over ^-^
Z0mg, sounds like a desperate situation if you were to give caution to the title O_O. But no, it's the only collection of words I could drum up in 5 seconds that contained the prominent precursor to this topic.
Yes, at long last, I have installed the proverbial straws, hurrah! And what an astounding difference they have made!
*Cough*
Anyway, the clutch is finally installed, and what an obstinate little miscreant getting the gearbox proved to be, mainly in lieu of that retarded little Fracking Flywheel backing plate!
Anyway, in order to establish a little chronological correctness, I started out whichever day this was by installing the AutoStaff Intake Manifold Insulator gasket - on first glance it looked to follow the same principal as my former "Daox" gasket (which shall live on in the 5E), albeit slightly thinner. No doubt it'll perform the same duty. However, having the engine OUT of the car will make installation FAR easier. So, intake manifold off, applied the normal stainless gasket on the head-side, gasket in place, and applied some liquid gasket to insure a leak-free fit, seeing as the phenolic material isn't very conforming. 
I re-assembled the intake manifold temporarily, and without torquing the bolts/nuts too tight in order to let the liquid gasket cure properly. The next day I removed the intake manifold, removed all the overflow liquid gasket and then re-installed it, torquing it to the appropriate values. Now, back to that fracking Clutch assembly.
Before so much as to attempting to tackle the installation of the gearbox onto the engine, I knew it'd be an absolutely recalcitrant bugger of a job - trying to wriggle a 40kg lead weight to line up a 20mm shaft into a tiny hole in the end of the crankshaft that you cannot see. I've included as many detailing words in there to attempt to cover the innate perversion that can be drawn from the process, but, anyway, *Giggedy*. All the while this was happening on a pallet, with an engine held up by a brick. Yeah. Ghetto mechanics. So, attempt #1: Lined up the clutch plate as best as I could and tightened the clutch cover only moderately to allow for movement of the clutch disc to ease alignment. An exorbitant amount of faffing about then followed suit in order to find the best way of attempting to lift the gearbox up and into the engine, ending up with me using the crawler. About an hour or so later of frantically jiggling the gearbox into the clutch cover, I finally manage to line-up the shaft and get the gearbox on. Great! Now pull it off, torque the clutch cover and get the gearbox back on.
Remove the gearbox, and the clutch disc falls. Cazzo. So, take two pretty much follows the same process, though with a lot more jiggling as I now tightened the clutch cover bolts further to not get a repeat performance. In the end I managed it, after almost attempting suicide several times, and I duly torqued the clutch cover and put the gearbox back on. Fabulous, all I need to do now was to bolt the entire assembly together!
Little did I know that the flywheel backing plate is a devious little prick and decided to be the obtrusive thing in the world. EVER. It just wouldn't line up, at all. And with the engine/gearbox assembly weighing as much as the earth, and the plate protruding just beyond the two so the weight of the assembly disallowed any adjustment, some rather primitive adjustments were attempted - grinding out, hammering it around - all to no avail. So I was left with only the chance to tighten up two bolts and leave it as is. 
That is all O_o
