hell yeah! looks great
any chance of a pic of the back? - spose its a bit hard to see how it lines up with the water pump hole with it bolted on...

this is ultra black - its a permatex branded product, but any oil resistant silicone is fine

https://www.permatex.com/products/gask ... -silicone-gasket-maker-4/

You could use the gaskets - that will help to confirm that the bolt holes will line up correctly - but there is no need. Just use ultra black gasket maker glue. thats all im using

nice work.
So you will have the alternator and the water pump sitting down to the bottom on the exhaust side.
Sounds like a winner. if you want air-con with your setup then matt (not a biggie for most) then you will need to move the aircon pump to the other side - the top on the intake side would prob be the easiest.

still - im keen to see how the modified plate fits up in the two part system and water gallery in the back you have devised - that is very cool.
On that, have you changed the thickness of the plate from the original design to accommodate that, or have you just milled out with the existing thickness of the plate.
My plate - of which the original drawing you have comes from is obviously already done. If i am to modify that, I hope I have enough meat for that.

The mazda nuts all use a 36/1 toothed timing wheel over the std CAS for better spark control in worked motors.
https://www.mx5performance.com.au/prod ... -trigger-wheel-mazda-mx-5


I want to use the Mazda CAS - just cause its easier at this stage, but I may need to move to the toothed timing wheel to get it to talk to a computer.

D, If you are unsure about the alternator position and thus the water pump location, yeah, the alternator position is different between the two, bottom right for early a10/12 front dizzy type or top left for late model/mid dizzy type blocks.

im keen as mustard to see some photos of the final product and how the two parts fit together!

That looks just a little bit fancy!

The idea of the two part setup is just to reduce milling costs?
since you don't have to buy such a thick slab and mill 90% of it out.

I especially like the cutout you have done for the water gallery - thats the bit im most interested in.

looking forward to see the changes made and how it all works out with the two part design you have in mind

that depends on everything.

for this setup, you will need intake and exhaust manifold, head, bunch of pulleys and belts, custom head gasket and the plate.

For the original setup - not this modified version as its yet to be finalized.
To get the plate milled up in Australia - expect $600 give or take
pulleys and belts ~ $150
head 2nd hand ~ $200

after that it depends on what you want. efi or carb, turbo or not, dizzy or leccky ignition,

like anything this custom, there will be hidden costs depending on how much work you do yourself.

I reckon I'm in this for around $2500 already and I have a box of parts and a bare block on the workshop floor.

Im working towards a turbo, efi, electronic ignition setup - it would be less if you went NA carb.

I picked up a head from a late model ford laser with the B6 for not much.
the Fourth generation (KJ/KL/KM; 1994–1998) laser also ran with a B6 and apparently has 'roller rockers' of sorts.
the Fifth generation (KN/KQ; 1998–2007) has the ZM-de engine you speak of as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Laser

I haven't done anything with the head yet. Its still as grotty as the day I picked it up. Ill clean it up this week and take some photos of that one as well - It might be an easier option / supply of the B6 head.

Not that it matters much to me - im still going with my early KC laser head as ive already done all the work to it- but it may yield some good info / options for others