Got some time in the garage in the last week, as well as this weekend, so managed to place the engine and gearbox back in the car, assembled as much as I needed for the crucial first start.
Manual shifter looks right at home
Spent most of today figuring out why it's not cranking.
I had initially planned to keep the auto ECU in place for the first start to ensure engine runs, and then swap to the manual ECU, replace the EWS box, ignition barrel and locks.
Unfortunately, it was a no go. I couldn't be bothered bypassing the auto park/neutral switch, so just went ahead and switched over to the manual ECU, plugged in the ignition chip receiver with key, and then realised that the donor car had EWS II while the compact has EWS 3D.
A little googling later, found a wiring diagram and switched all the EWS wires over to the right terminals in the plug, spliced some together, slightly cut the plug to fit and cranked again.
This time - success! Sort of.
Car was cranking but not starting. I could smell fuel so I pulled a plug wire and checked for spark - got spark.
Ran over the basics in my head, checked all the plugs on the engine, and had a eureka moment when I thought that maybe my supply/return fuel hoses are backwards.
Switched them over (got a nice splash of fuel in my mouth, mmmm...) and voila! Car runs, sounds very nice without the exhaust lol. Neighbours might not appreciate, so I didn't keep it running for too long.
Can't stop grinning, the worst is over. All that's left is to actually put the car back together, replace the leaking clutch slave (couldn't get one on Saturday) and I may be able to take it for a drive before next weekend! Then I can finally start thinking about the fun stuff...