Project: Daily Driver

[BlueVelocity]

I've begun the teardown of the car. Dirty! So many virgin bolts, it's just mind blowing, like it's never been apart before. I even speculate the rear 3 spark plugs have never been changed. I forgot about all the useless bracketry mitsu installs on these cars. Took the evening to prepare to remove the engine. It'll come out tomorrow night, it's just about down the long block and tranny now. Took me almost an hour just to wiggle the T-case off. The bottom alignment pin was really stuck in there.

On the high side of things, I ran the car through full tesing of the electrical. The active aero works! Both the front air dam and the rear wing. The stereo took some minor rewiring and works now, steering wheel buttons and all, even the factory cd changer works. It's missing the front left wheel speed sensor, thus an antilock light is lit. (if anyone has one let me know) The switch is missing for the rear wiper as well, need that too.
Everything else seems to be in working order. Turbo's have almost no shaft play, a very welcome sight. The car came with a set of Einkei's, 17's, 5 spoke, those will go for sale soon. I have a set of 18" OZ's to throw on there. Overall, so far, decent progress, pleased with the purchase. The real test will be when the block is out and I see the damage. I will be rebuilding it 100% while it's out. Figured I might as well, it does after all have 154k on the odo. So far, so good!

I'll try and get some pics up soon.

Erron S.
(special thanks to Mike Baker for the help this evening):D

[Paul]

it does after all have 154k on the odo. So far, so good!

Erron S.
(special thanks to Mike Baker for the help this evening):D

Didn't know you had a new project car. I wish my mileage was that low - I bet James does too.

Mike who???

Paul

[rlarsen]

This thread is worthless without pics. :D

What are your plans for the motor? Just a factory rebuild?

[BlueVelocity]

LOL, Mike who..

Yes, just a factory rebuild. Rings, valve seals, all bearings, all gaskets, oil pump, etc.
Should be up on the road in 2 weeks.

Posting pics in my 'gallery 'o fun'.

Now click my scales! lol

Erron S.

[Dane Becher]

I wish my mileage was that low - I bet James does too.

Paul

No kidding. Almost 80k less than my 1g. I still find it hard to believe my Talon is nearing 230k on the original untouched long block (besides timming belt stuff). 20k more and I'm at a 1/4 million!:eek:

Anyone know what James' mileage is now?

[BlueVelocity]

2 Pics of the new 3kGT-VR-4 are now loaded in the 'gallery 'o fun'.

Thanks Mike!

Erron S.

[rlarsen]

Damn, that's a nice-ass car for 2.5K, blown motor or no. Good find.

[BlueVelocity]

I know! The funny thing is I was about to ship one from Carson City, NV. is similiar condition for $2200. There was also another one in NJ for 3k, white with red leather. It was just so nice to find one 20 miles away and in such good shape body wise.

Erron S.

[BlueVelocity]

Got the engine out last night. More pics in the gallery too. Came out without a hitch. The rod bearing isn't spun, it's now gone, the motor ate it. I see some flakes in the oil pan, but otherwise it's gone, no sign of it. Just pure crank vs. rod smacking around in there. Honestly, doesn't look too bad for a forged crank. Rod is hammered though. I have a spare rod/piston and i'll use that as a replacement. If I don't find another crank, i'll see if this one can be reground. I'm working on that today. Good stuff, lots of fun!

Erron S.

[BlueVelocity]

Got the long block torn apart and cleaned all components. Updated pics in the gallery. The mains and rod bearings are wasted. The crank is wasted, .090 out. Looking to pick up a new crank today. All parts cleaned and accounted for. I honed the block saturday night, 30 degree cross hatch, 220 grit, tri-axis. I'm ready to start the build up now.

Whoot!

Erron S.

[BlueVelocity]

UPDATE:
The block was dropped off today at Western Engine, i'll have it back tomorrow. If you guys haven't dealt with them, you're missing out. I've taken everything i've done and a few buddies there too, good people. Terry down there has hooked me up on numerous occasions.

I've discovered another difference between the 92's and 93's. The pistons and rods are different. I had a damaged rod and piston from the new 93. I had a stock set from the 92 laying around so I figured I would swap one for the other. Well, turns out, the 92 rod/piston combo was 12 grams heavier.
Also the 92 has rings in a higher location on the pistons. This means the compression is slightly different between the two. Once broken down to individual components, the 92 had a lighter rod, and a much heavier piston. The piston alone was a full 6 grams more! I took pics and will do a full write for 3si and will cc it here too. Very strange differences from mitsu factory engines. Luckily Terry had a 93 rod for me, what a stud. I'm doing .020 stock pistons which he also had in stock. Did I mention he also got me a polished crank for $75, also in stock.

Tonight I began the full cleaning of one of the heads. Get this, took 2 hours to get 2 of the lifters out. They were in so tight, I pulled the plungers clean out with a pair of pliers. Took a dremel, cut slices into the cap, and that gave me enough to hammer it with a screwdriver and get them to turn. Whew...That sucked! I'm currently looking for a new oil pump, and once I find that, the assembly will begin. Good times, great fun!

Erron S.

[Kibo]

Funny thing is, 6g really doesn't sound like much of a difference for most things--i.e. on a bicyle, the weight of identical components can easily vary by that much from the manufacturer. Engine building is on a different plane. ;)

When you said you honed the block, I assumed you did that at home. What work are you having Western Engine do? Just curious...one of these days I'll actually get around to building an engine. :p

[BlueVelocity]

Actually, factory spec is a 1-2 gram tolerance for the piston/rod combo. A 12 gram difference would cause massive vibration, especially if it's on the small side of the rod. They are weighed and balanced at each end to keep the engine smooth, speaking from a rod only standpoint. That much weight doesn't sound like much, but at say 7k rpm, that's huge. Which is why it's so vital to double check the weights on every component.

I honed the block at home with my tri axis honer. Once that was done, I became nervous with the amount of the scaring the oil starved skirt had left in the block. Probably would have been ok, but you know me, better safe than sorry. I going .020 over, with new pistons, and a replacement rod. All balanced and back to spec now. (actually better than spec, right on the money) I'm uploading the pics now so you can see the marks on the cylinder wall, and also the discrepency in the piston ring location.

Erron S.

[BlueVelocity]

Forgot to mention, take a look at the complete pic of the 2 pistons. Especially at the bottom of both pistons. You can really see the difference in how much spacing was left at the top of the wrist pin seat.

Erron S.

[BlueVelocity]

Long weekend! Picked up the block, new pistons, oil pump, and rings on friday. Assembly all weekend long. Got the entire thing back together, now sitting on the engine stand. Engine bay all clean and ready to go now.

Found the rear turbo to be less than cooperative. When cleaning it, I discovered the oil coming out the exhaust housing. Not good. Found a quick replacement and back in business. Special thanks to Jared and Jason for the turbo. Also thanks to Kenny and Chris for the local delivery. :D

More pics uploaded in the gallery...

Erron S.

"Fingers swolen, knuckles busted, stupid nut, so fricken rusted"..

[BlueVelocity]

More progress!

Last night Shawn and I dropped the motor back in. This after having to make a new alignment pin for the crank and flywheel. I couldn't the other one out of the crank. Not bad though, just made it 1 thou over the size and pounded it in, nice fit really. I managed to button up the bottom end as well. Just bolts on from here out. Couple more pics up in the gallery.

Thanks Shawn for the help!

Erron S.

[97TurboTalon]

No problem, it actually went pretty smooth sliding that engine in there.

[BlueVelocity]

It's done! Had a couple small leaks that are buttoned up. Took it up to full temp last night. Today i'll try and drive it. Sounds good, only one of the pulleys is noisy.

Erron S.

[dsm_gsx97]

So you'll actually go back to having a life? I'm doing the same thing with my new '91 Talon "Project Daily Driver", but I WILL take breaks to mess around with ya guys still. *poke*

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2820/cartmansuigh8ci.gif

HAHAHA HA HA HA HAHAHA HA HA HA HAHAHA HA HA HA SCREW YOU KYLE!

[BlueVelocity]

So you'll actually go back to having a life? I'm doing the same thing with my new '91 Talon "Project Daily Driver", but I WILL take breaks to mess around with ya guys still. *poke*

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2820/cartmansuigh8ci.gif

HAHAHA HA HA HA HAHAHA HA HA HA HAHAHA HA HA HA SCREW YOU KYLE!

Hey now, i'm almost there. :D
It only took weeks. Removal, tear down, block bore/hone, source a new crank, pistons, oil pump, valve seals, cleaning, etc., all the junk that goes along with it. Reassembly, reinstall, test drive. On a motor that is shoe horned in there, that's not that bad. You could have come to help, that would have made it faster. (poke-poke) LOL:p

Erron S.

[r1elkins]

Erron, what's the word on your car? Up and running yet?