Many enthusiasts are born when they have to get oil underneath the fingernails when something goes wrong with their car for the very firs time. This enthusiast in particular is rocking an older Miata with a tired engine and has decided to rebuild it himself, in the garage, all alone.

Through the magic of time-lapse video (and the soundtrack of AC/DC’s Back In Black to start), the engine is stripped from a fully-dressed bullet down to nothing in a matter of minutes. The video begins with the engine on a hoist in the middle of the shop, and proceeds through the entire disassembly process, whereupon the bench goes from empty to full of four-cylinder engine parts quickly. The owner appears throughout the video and is the only one to work on the engine, although during the reinstallation someone else makes a cameo, as does a young lady who appears quite bored with the whole deal.

The owner states that the engine was rebuilt “because I feel like it”, and in the process he included a new set of ARP head studs, DNJ piston rings, new Eagle H-Beam connecting rods, and Fel-Pro gaskets throughout. He also learned to pay close attention to replacing all of the fasteners that are removed from the engine when he neglected to install the oil pump bolts during assembly. This caused a massive leak and forced him to pull the engine out of the car for a second time.

In the process of the engine removal and reassembly, the owner likely learned a number of valuable lessons; most importantly, be meticulous, and secondly, don’t sacrifice speed for quality. Unfortunately there’s no footage of the engine actually running, but the happy smile on the Miata’s face at the very end says all is well in this machine’s world.