The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) needs to come out. All step by step instructions for yanking the engine are thanks to Hakuna Miata.
There were more than a few hours and curse words expended to get to the point. Some Mazda engineer should be shot for making some of those bolts blind and inaccessible!
The one thing we needed off of the engine was the flywheel. That was going to go right back in the shiny new electric motor.
The bolts that attach the flywheel to the engine are very tight. A socket with an extra long extension is more than a match for it, however.
Of course we didn’t need the gas tank anymore, either. As it turns out, the proper way to remove the gas tank is to drop the axle and rear end. The improper way is to cut it out. Which is what I did. Nest time, I’ll drop the axle. Just saying.
This is the view of the fuel tank from inside the car. The tank is behind the seats, and underneath the compartment shelf. You can see that we’ve removed the seats for better access. It isn’t necessary to remove it, but some folks do it to reduce weight; the tank weighs 27 lbs. I also wanted the space for batteries.