Things have been busy over the Summer (plus hot) and I also decided to tackle a small side project prior to taking much else of the car. There was a section of dirt on the side of my house in front of where the car was currently parked that I've been wanting to pave for a while and I decided now was the time to get it done. After getting a few quotes that were quite a bit more then wanted to pay, I decided to do most of the prep work myself and just hire a couple finishers to help with the poor. Was definitely a bit of work, but not too bad and now that it is done it is a much nicer place to work. I'll likely add some type of work bench as well, but not yet decided on that.

After that was all done I went ahead and pulled the engine, trans and front subframe all together out of the car. Since it had no nose on it, that was super easy. I let it down with jack, before connecting the engine hoist to it and pulled it all out as one big piece. After that I pulled off the trans, and lifted the engine off the subframe and attached it to a stand. Now all 3 are ready to start getting further torn down. I'll likely start with the subframe/suspensions since I pretty well know what I'll be doing with it (strip and powder coat).

The flywheel had about 1/16" of rush + clutch disc remnants on its surface. Looked pretty awful, but I guess it should clean up ok. Clutch is going in the bin.

Overall though I still have very little sorted in my mind on the direction I want to take with this build. I believe I will keep the tii engine and rebuild. I'd like a bit more power out of it, but nothing I've read about so far stands out to me as a good option. Suspension / brakes should be easier. I haven't actually ever driven one of these before, so I'll likely look for a few I can try out to get a better feel for what I like/don't like about it about the powertrain/handling.

I'm equally undecided on the body, but am 95% sure I will change the color. I wouldn't normally change a color, but since it will be completely stripped and it will need so much body work I don't feel like I will be significantly affecting its value in any negative way. I like brighter / bold colors and there were so many great colors on the 2002. I'll likely pick a different factory color, but who knows at this point.  I was originally thinking of going with euro bumpers, but now I'm leaning towards no front bumper. I also, like most prefer the round tail lights and may modify the rear for that. Not really 100% on that either at this point.

Anyway there is so much to do before I need to make most of these decisions, so I've got some time. Main thing is what parts I will need to start to source given the direction.