So I finally had enough time to write up a progress thread of my engine build up. The whole reason why I ended up having to rebuild the motor this year was because of a burnt 4th cylinder exhaust valve, so I decided I might as well fix all the problems now while I had the time…i.e. valve seals and oil control rings.


So it begins, with what my motor looked like just after pulling it from the engine bay.










How the engine bay looked, dirty as expletive, with wires everywhere















Random pics of the dirty engine










With the head off

























The crankshaft, bearings, girdle, main cap, oil pickup and windage tray





































The almost bare block













How my garage looked after removing everything off the block and head, then putting them in label sandwich bags











What kept my battery charged the whole time while building my engine




Modified by wildoutwhitegsr at 2:43 PM 4/26/2006

 

The other parts I took off the car for the time being.

The starter opened up














The old driveshafts and intermediate shaft



The knuckles and upper control arms



The brake caliper brackets, rotors, lower forks and my Hayame full coilover suspension



The clutch and flywheel









Now onto the progress pictures

I took the block to my backyard and got some engine degreaser and brake cleaner to clean it up. Then rinse it off with some high pressure water.

How it looked after I finished cleaning it up and done drying











Notice the rusty looking cylinders; it was just surface rust, so I wasn’t worried at all. It came off by just wiping it with your finger. I was also boring .25 over so nothing the machine shop can’t get rid of.
Now onto the most time consuming and looked over parts of building a motor; cleaning up the threads of the head studs and main studs holes.

First got to make sure you buy the right sized tap. In my case it was 11mm x 1.5mm. Confirmed by the Helms manual and checking the old head bolts and main bolts that came out of the block.







More proof, the head bolt screws into the main bolt hole perfectly. All the confirmation I need.

 

Chasing the threads of the head bolts hole





The shavings that came out of all the 10 head studs holes (sorry for the blurry pictures)







Onto the main bolt holes, it’s the same process





The results, this is what came out of each main bolt hole. Shocking isn’t it







How the threads looked after, nice and clean



In the meantime the head was sent out to my local machine shop and this is how it looked when I got it back






































Next the block was sent off and this is how I received it back from the machine shop

















The heads done for now until I put it on the block.

The parts I ordered have arrived, sweet.















My replacement distributor king dizzy. My old one was on its way out. Gotta love 3 year warranties.



My injectors before



My injectors balanced and cleaned.




My new jdm itr pistons along with wrist pins and new OEM piston rings











My parts box

 

Time to put the block back together. How it looked when I got it from the machine shop along with the serviced oil pump and new rear main seal





















Installing the oil squirters





Cleaning up the main bores and bearings for plasitgauging







Bearings





Installed in the mains





Bearings lubed up in preparation of the cleaned up and micropolished crank





Thrust washers are next





Installed





Crankshaft in place







Plastigauging in process







After I finished plastigauging all the mains, they were cleaned up of any excess plastigauge and then lubed thoroughly with engine assembly lube as well as the girdle





Since I had the machine shop install the new pistons on the connecting rods for me, along with installing the piston rings and checking there gap, its one step closer to final assembly. Here they are



Cleaned up the surfaces in preparation of the bearings



Then I needed to remove the cap to install the bearings








Now time to clean up the cylinders for the piston and rod assembly









Then lube up the cylinder walls with WD40



Piston ring compressor





Wiping WD40 on the piston ring compressor





Time to install the pistons, ensuring that all the piston rings are facing up and that the gaps are properly orientated





All installed



Then made sure to use the ARP assemble lube on the nuts and thread bolt end, to have the correct torque for the plastigauging. If you look carefully, you can see the plastigauge in the background



Rod cap on



Lubed up nut





Placed on the rod



Me torquing down the rod bolts to ARP specs



The best way I found to loosen the cap after plastigauging.

 

This is after I had got the cap loose





After finishing all the plastigauging for all the rods, I made sure to apply enough engine assembly lube to the journals



Connecting rod end play within stock specs





Finally I can move on to the rest of the engine block assembly. It took me about 3 hours to plastigauge all the bearings. Done twice, some three times for accuracy.

How the pistons should look within there respective cylinders now that they are torqued down properly



Now for the pictures of the other little/random things that go onto the block


































Now I move onto the oil pump, I prep the surface by cleaning it up then placing the high temp sealant around the matting surface.

***forgot to take a picture of that, my bad***

Oil Pump Installed along with a new oil pickup gasket





Oil pickup cleaned along with the bolts & nuts





The same treatment is applied to the rear main seal





Rear main seal installed along with the new oil pan gasket and windage tray



Oil Pickup Installed



Oil Pan installed along with my magnetic Spoon drain bolt





Onto the golden eagle head studs





Gotta replace that o-ring on the oil orifice



Oil Orifice installed



Next it’s time for the headgasket, only OEM for me





Yup it’s facing the right way



Time to put on the head



Don’t forget those dowel pins



Me lubing the **** out of the washers and nuts



Head installed



Time for the cams, lube up the cam journals



Same goes for the cams





Installed the cam holders along with the cam holder plates (note the bolts to hold on the valve cover are on wrong, should be on the inner holes)



Valve cover put on



Flywheel Installed



Pressure Plate and Clutch Disk Installed





Putting the transmission back on the block by myself and trying to take the picture at the same time



Practically done pictures















Other things I did while the engine was out





















You didn’t think that I would leave the engine bay that dirty did you?











Picture in engine bay

***will put up when I get home from work***

 

great build

 

holy ****

 

wow, very nice build up!

 

Wow...Nice build and good work doing it by yourself

 

*appaluse* best thread evar! sooo many pix!
________
Free applebees gift cards

 

nice pics!!! reminds me of when i tore mine down.. GL on the build yo

 

holy **** i wish i had the time and money and experience to do that pretty cool