Nothing detremental? What do you mean by that? As far as I can tell, that's the only thing that appears wrong with the engine and its location is consistent with where the oil came out.

Yes, it's a FRAM filter . I was going to change it, but I'd owned the car for two days when it popped a part of that sheet metal cover off. I don't like the way the oil looks in the pictures, but the night it happened it didn't look nearly as bad. The engine was fairly dirty as well.

 

Post a couple of pics of the intake/uim and the engine mounts.

That is the first 7 i have seen that has side skirts, wing and a rear skirt, but no front air dam, interesting. Looks pretty clean.

 

That crack in the picture isnt a crack in the rear plate.Its just a sheetmetal cover.If you remove it,youll see the flywheel underneath.

If the rear plate did crack,the oil would have sprayed from the upper rear corner of the plate,near that sheetmetal cover.There are numerous oil passages in that area,the entire oilling system passes through that corner of the rear plate.The failure could have ruptured several oil galleries and sprayed highly pressurized oil in any, or all directions.
The crack may not be readily visible until you remove the transmission and/or flywheel.It also may not be visible at all, until you clean the oil and gunk away.It could be on the side of the plate,near the oil filter pedestal or it could be in the rear of the plate,near the flywheel......

 

I'd like to take more pictures, but the car is now at my engine builder's shop in Yuba City, about an hour away from me (college starts again tomorrow, no time to take apart the engine).

The car may look pretty clean in the pictures, but believe me it needs work. There's a dent that needs to be pulled on the driver's side fender, the paint is getting to be pretty awful, and the front bumper is rather...weathered. Considering how low the car is right now, I'd have to say that putting on an air dam may make the car way too prone to scraping on driveways/speed bumps. This summer, I'll take a week to change the rear hatch out, gut the rear half of the interior, and paint the car. I'm not trying to make a show car (in fact I'm purposely going to keep it looking a little old/stockish), but it does need some work as it stands.

Steve, it's interesting that you say that about the oil spraying everywhere. When i opened the hood, the oil shot on to only one part of the hood, and sprayed in one very central area (around that cracked flywheel cover). I'll be sure to post updates on what the engine's made of/where the plate cracked.

 

Damn son you got dem Sparco Dragon seats. Hellra hot!!

 

What's the tapped hole just below the wire in the rear plate picture? I could swear I read something about that going to an oil passage.

 

Thats where the cover plate is supposed to be bolted on.Looks like the cover's ear got snapped off,creating the "crack".There are no oil passages that far over on the engine.The main gallery is on the far edge,under the MAZDA logo.From there,the main bearings are fed via passages that go 45* down and to the opposite side.The only internal oil passage that makes it past the centerline of the engine is in the front cover,and it feeds the OMP.
If Im not misaken,that sheetmetal cover is to block off the old "topmount" starter hole,used in the early 70's.The large-ish threaded holes used to mount such a flimsy little cover,used to mount the starter on the old engines....Mazda just never changed their casting molds for the irons after going with a tranny mounted starter.

 

oil feed line to the turbo?

oil pressure sending unit?

oil filter pedastal o rings?

 

Sorry to be way off topic, but your 7 is gorgeous.