Wheels went back on, and the last few bits of subframe under the exhaust, and it was ready to come off the stands for the first time and see what happens, we had a little test up and down the drive to check we had at least one forward, a reverse and a working clutch. It was one of those moments when you almost cant believe it works!
We had a little run out, and aside from a couple of small issues to sort, it all seems to work well, we have a low oil level warning lamp which needs desoldering, as its having a hard time coming to terms with the loss of the rotary, theres a scraping from the front passenger brake, which will hopefully be nothing of a job to sort. my only real concern is the alignment of the gearbox and engine, which must be slightly out, causing the input shaft to rattle when in neutral sometimes, im not even going to hazard a guess at how long it will take to chew up the box, but replacements are less than a tank of fuel, and ive managed to get the bolt patterns for the engine and box, so we shoud be able to get a much more accurate CNC'd replacement.

The car actually feels very civillised to drive, I think the long intake and the drop down from the 3" downpipe to the 2.5" standard mazda exhaust is keeping the off boost noise down nicely, but on boost it still roars well. There is a fairly large boost leak on one of the lower intercooler hoses which will have been sapping some power, which im going to sort tomorrow along with the brake.

Then hopefully it will be time to get it MOT'd and all the engine swap paperwork done and on the road.... Well suited