[low and slow]

Hey guys whats up! I'm making this because I raised my motor for oil pan clearance recently and I decided to take pics step by step. There are 2 other motor raise threads out there: one by the Slamburglar Harrison, and the other by Breezy. I found some parts to be confusing to a huge noob like me so here is my attempt at a NOOB FRIENDLY writeup.

What I used: Pb blaster, 15mm socket (it was either 15 or 14), Power Drill, 11/63 drill bit, 11/32 drill bit, Dremel tool, 6 washers....bingo bango bongo

Step 1: Get that go-kart up on jackstands (decently high because you will be putting a jack under the motor)

Step 2: Loosen the 2 motor mount nuts and remove nuts and washers: 1 nut and 1 washer per side. (PB BLASTER!)

Step 3: Put a handful of rags on the jacking platform. Slide jack under car and position under the driver side of oil pan. (The motor will either lift to the right or left depending on which side you put it on). Its best not to put it dead center because it might not free either of the studs from the subframe. (Im not saying you HAVE to jack it from the oil pan, I just found it to be a nice spot for engine direction control...this could possibly break your oil pan. Though mine held up fine.) Now start jacking it up with the jack surface still on the driver side of pan. Your motor will start to lift and tilt. This should free the stud from the driver side subframe. You will be looking at this.

Step 4: This is the only part of the job that takes a little bit of time. You have to hollow out the metal area between the 2 circular holes in the previous picture. BE CAREFUL TO ONLY CUT OUT THE MIDDLE SECTION THAT LIES BEHIND THE "CUP PIECE", if you cut into the cup you might end up with a wobbly motor mount. First I grabbed an 11/63 drill bit. I drilled two small holes in the center of the mid piece we will be cutting out.

Second I grabbed a 11/32 drill bit to open the holes up a little more to give me less work in the end.

Third I grabbed the dremel to carefully grind out the rest of the metal that remained. While your doing this you might bump into the black piece of metal that the stud actually goes through on top of the subframe, this piece most likely slid off the stud when you jacked the motor up. IMO this is alright because it actually protects your cutting tool from bumping the threads on the stud .

keep cutting

(I actually got it even smoother than that as you will see in the later pics)
This was just my method of cutting that I thought would be easiest. I'm a huge freakin noob so you guys might have a much easier method of cutting the mid piece out, this was just my way.

Step 4: Grab some washers! All the hard work is over and now you just need to decide how high up you want your oil pan. I original chose 2 spacers...but I ended up using 3 on each side.

I originally had 2 of them taped together because when you put them in as individual washers they sometimes fall off the stud...up to you guys, they are just washers! haha.
Now that you have the driver side cleared of mid piece and the stud is a decent bit out of the slot, slide your washers onto the stud (MAKE SURE THE BLACK METAL PIECE HAS THE STUD GOING THROUGH IT BEFORE YOU PUT SPACERS ON. Lower the jack. Sometimes you need someone to push on the motor while lowering to make sure it goes through the slot.

Step 5: Put the jack surface on the passenger side edge of oil pan. Jack up motor. THIS SIDE DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY CUTTING. You will need to raise it higher than shown in this picture becaues the stud is not far enough out of the slot to reach up on top of the subframe and slide the washers on.

Simply slide the amount of spacers you wish to put on and lower the the motor back down.

I chose to use 3 spacers and it got my oil pan completely above my subframe. Oil pan is no longer visible when looking under the car from the side. I might step it up to 4 washers, we'll see.

HAPPY SLAMMING!!!!!:hello kitty:

Dustin

 

[ryanXstorey]

I like the write up

 

[_spyder]

Sweet, I'll definitely be doing this soon.

 

[Frankie850]

Awesome man! The only other one i read was super un-detailed and lacked pics lol. I think im gonna try this this weekend. Thanks!

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[low and slow]

Thanks guys! The only reason I never raised mine sooner was because I really didnt fully understand everything that actually needed done. I hope this clears things up for a lot of people that were timid like me haha. My stress levels instantly went down while driving knowing my oil pan is safer. :lol:

 

[sw96]

Great writeup. I did the same thing except I used small metal blocks instead of washers.

Mine is about the same height as in this picture and clears my GarageStar skidplate perfectly.

 

[low and slow]

Thanks Man! Yeah it seemed to be a good height to test out. I Think I might get a skidplate soon also, for protection and to blow peoples minds with sparks at night time haha =]

 

[Frankie850]

You dont think going with 4 washers will be too much do you? I just wanna stay safe lol

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[low and slow]

You dont think going with 4 washers will be too much do you? I just wanna stay safe lol

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

The main reason I chose 3 was because I wasnt sure if the stud would poke through enough to get the nut back on securely if I did 4. The stud actually had a good amount of threads poking through but I was just so pumped to put my new wheels on that I said forget it and kept 3 on haha. You should be just fine with 4.

 

[low and slow]

Ko knee gee wah also, being the silly willy I am, I didnt realize we had a DIY section hahah. Mods can move this thread to DIY if you guys want. 10Q!

 

['lilRedRide]

Wont this prematurely wear the trans mount and drive shaft?

 

[ryanXstorey]

Does it matter? Bc slammed bro.

 

[PatBroChill]

It won't...there's a reason, but I can't remember it. It was posted in breezys thread I believe.

 

[low and slow]

Does it matter? Bc slammed bro.

lol yes.

It won't...there's a reason, but I can't remember it. It was posted in breezys thread I believe.

I think people were talking about the pinion angle being affected. And people were saying that the height of the motor does not affect pinion angle on this car so raising motor should not be problem. Not to mention all the people that have been running raised motor for long time.

 

[blown lsj]

Awesome

 

[mrm331]

Wont this prematurely wear the trans mount and drive shaft?

Miata's do not have a trans mount, and the driveline angle is deturmined by the PFF which does not allow the pinion angles to change.

The entire Miata drive line is positioned by four points, like the corners of a rectangle. They are the two engine mounts and the two differnential mounts. The nose of the diff is held in alllignment with the output shaft of the trans by the PFF.

-Jason

 

[1vicissitude]

The only thing I could see this being bad for is the actual motor mount and diff mount.

Motor mount because now all the force is only supported by the surface area of the washer instead of the surface area of the whole mount.

Diff mount because now there is a constant load pulling the center bolt at an angle. For those with stiffer diff mounts this could also mean extra vibrations.

Is this enough to be a problem for anyone, probably not. Unless your mounts are in bad shape, then I could see this being the mounts final nail in the coffin.

 

[ChrisJuliano]

Good job sorry I couldnt come out to chill<3

 

[Rezist09]

Damn nice and easy.

 

[low and slow]

Good job sorry I couldnt come out to chill<3

my miata doesnt associate with lift burglars anyway....