Quick update

There’s still no word on the status of the  mounting kit, so I guess for now I just have to suck it up and wait. Today I started cutting the engine compartment to make clearance for the engine. It was a lot harder than I thought, the sheet metal is reinforced and having the car on jack stands does not provide enough room. I found it was easier to first drill out all the tack welds on the reinforcements to detach them from the actual sheet metal. This makes cutting and bending away the metal much easier. There was quite a bit of water in the enclosed compartment, which got me a little worried, but thankfully there was no rust.

Today I only had enough time to do a rough cut on the left side, but hopefully tomorrow I can finish it up if I can find my rotary tools. I also plan on making a reinforcement brace to replace all the missing sheet metal and also make relocation bracket for the e-brake.

Quick markup of the area to be removed. This doesn’t have to be perfect, just make sure not to cut too much on your first go. It will be much easier to clean up your cuts after.

That puddle on the floor is all the water that came out when I can the wall. Thankfully there was no rust behind.

Here you can see the reinforcement behind the sheet metal

I didn’t have much time today, so this is all I managed to do. Hopefully tomorrow I can do the other side and clean up the cuts.