Keep up the good work man

Thanks Johnny!

After 10 years of ownership, 260000 km on the clock, and the longest road trip from Toronto to Los Angeles, i finally completed rebuild of my 96 good old 7-bolt block.

Today i picked it up from the machine shop called Coast Motor Supply.

Few pics:












Just a fresh mostly OEM rebuild with balance shafts deleted. I provided my own parts and the shop only did machining and partial assembly. List of parts used in this build coming soon.

Nice work Alex!! Machine shop was pretty quick too eh!
Very curious to see your parts list.

I gotta ask though, why Mr. OEM did you remove the balance shafts? Ever since I known you it's always about keeping things the way they were designed, what convinced you?

Thanks Bryan,
The original balance shaft bearing spun so keeping it was never an option on this block

Front wheel well cleaning and POR15. Need this done before Brembos go in. Passenger side done, just need to spray Rubberized Under Coating once its dry.



Wheel brushing 20 year old crap off.





Marine Clean & Metal Ready


Taping





por15



Waiting to dry

One out of two major milestones completed. The following includes:

- evo 8 wheels powder coated satin black
- VENTUS R-S3 tires
- ABS delete with SS lines
- 3G Eclipse master and booster
- Fender rolling to clear 245 tire
- front wheel wells restoration
- front brembo calipers with JDM Galant knuckles
- evo 8 rotors
- evo 8 rally armor mudflaps
- lots of cleaning and painting with por15

Next i need to assemble my engine. I will have questions to post for sure.

Enjoy the pics

That looks proper! Nice job man, awesome pics.. And that chair you have for working the wheel wells looks like a game changer!

How was the fitment of the Evo mudflaps? Look pretty good all installed.

Thank you Kyle
The minute i saw that chair on amazon I knew it was the one i always wanted in my garage.



Not a bolt on, I had to get creative to get them mounted the way i wanted. Some holes lined up on the front but not for the rear. However, It was easy to work with because it's all plastic

Front


Rear

Looks great man.

Thanks Johnny,

Here is the latest progress so far:
I got my freshly rebuilt motor all put back together with l19 studs and OEM mls headgasket. Electrical sensors, belts, oil pump, gaskets etc, have all been replaced with new OEM. Some parts such as intake manifold, 1G throttle body, and water pipes were restored and powder coated thanks to Jason D.

This weekend i reinstalled my 6 puck clutch with 2100 ACT PP, bolted flywheel & tranny back to the block and dropped it all as one unit back into the engine bay. Transfer case, axles, and all suspension components have also been reinstalled and torqued to specs. Within a week or so i should be able to give her a first crank....can't wait

Some pics:

Wicked shots!! Engine looks like it's new from the factory!

Looks very fresh! Great work bud

Great work man

Yeah that's some great progress Alex!

Thank you for the kind words gents
Few things that came up:

1st: The long block was pre-lubed by machine shop, i did not prime it when i was putting it all together. Do i just crank the starter without spark plugs and main fuse removed to build up some oil pressure? open to recommendations.
Also, i heard the best way to break-in new rings is to drive it hard off the line. This option may not be the best for me because my suspension must be aligned first. At least first 20 miles will be eaten away by a trip to an alignment shop.

2nd: i wanted to get AC working again so i got used AC compressor off the 97 GST from local junkie. It appears Mitsubishi changed AC systems in 2Gb. The compressor does bolt up to the 2Ga bracket but lines don't bolt up. I ordered 2gb lines from ebay so hopefully that will do the trick. Here is the comparison of two compressors:


2Ga on the left

I usually prime the pump with a drill or pack the oil pump with grease and just fire it up, kinda too late if it's already in there now. Some say assembly lube is good enough and just crank it with no fire/fuel for a bit first, some just start it right up.

Just did a BSE on my cousins car due to a spun BS bearing a week ago and did the grease packing method, had oil at the head within seconds, just started it directly.

Pure sex, good stuff Alex.

So Purdy

Thanks Mike, glad to have you back in the game


oh yeah



Thanks for the info Jason. I'll crank it without fuel & fire first before starting her up. Looks like the best option to follow so far. I'll keep everyone posted.

Any recommended oil to use on first 20 miles? i know must not be synthetic so wear can occur

Just buy the cheap generic part store oil for the first 20 mile run, 10w30 or 10w40, whatever is on sale and conventional. After that I would recommend a good high zinc content oil, unless you are concerned with destroying your cat.

Sure i'll run cheap none synthetic oil for first 20 miles & drive hard to set the rings.
As far as cat goes, i am still rocking full stock exhaust system & my Smog test is due by end of next month. Can i run 10w30 Mobil 1 after first 20 miles or continue with conventional oil?

What oil change interval i should follow after 20 miles? I find mixed numbers but most suggest 20/500/1500 miles

Thanks big guy


Now I've got a question regarding the break in procedure for a new engine.

Let's say your car has a new clutch along with the new rebuilt engine.

You're supposed to drive hard and let the revs climb then drop over and over, but how the heck are you supposed to do that when you have a "new" clutch that you need to keep under 4k rpms while you're breaking that sucker in???

The initial fill is generally kept in for a very short interval (less than 100 miles), then swap in some new oil (conventional) and a filter, and drive on it for ~1000 miles. After that, your break-in period is over; run whatever you like.

During the break-in period, you want to be doing pulls in boost and then engine braking.

If the oil pump wasn't packed with grease, I wouldn't bother turning the engine over without spark/fuel. I find there's not enough RPM from the starter motor alone to pull oil up into the pump when it's not primed. Fire it up and get it up to about 2000 RPM; you should see the oil pressure perk up almost immediately. The assembly lube will do its job.

Driving it hard enough to set the rings and beating it excessively for the clutch are 2 different things.

That first 20 miles is the crucial point in setting the rings, going on and off boost steadily is not going to hurt a new clutch, as long as you're not slipping the clutch and launching it, I wouldn't worry about it.

Drive it hard, it's called a break in for a reason, the only thing seating the rings is cylinder pressure so don't baby it.

I was told to keep it under 4k rpms by Tim Zimmer and no boost for the new SS/TZ combo.

So for clutch break-in it should be okay going into boost and higher rpms past 4k?

Sorry for the thread jack, but am curious, because I don't recall reading about engine break-in with a new clutch as well.

Had the same clutch, took it higher than 4k for damn sure, raced the sh!t out of it for 3 or so years and it survived.

Setting rings takes precedence over clutch in my opinion.

Good to know *thumbs up*

Thanks for the info.
The pump was filled with grease, i verified that.
How about cranking it for about 5 seconds and than firing it up with gas?

I always prime my oil pump on the stand with a drill on the oil pump. You learn a lot this way, like how the pump can't push air past the oil filter and actually needs to be primed with packing lube or oil in order for it to get going, otherwise you will get no oil at the head at all.

Small things like leaving the t belt off and priming oil pump is one of those things I leave till the end right before I start the motor. I even set my thrust bearing by leaving the pan off and using clutch pressure and I don't idle the car forever on a rebuilt tranny that was completely dry and just got fresh fluid.

Attention to detail is what makes these cars last

The worst is those DSM builds where the engine has seen so much idle time in the garage while a bunch of DSM buddies hang around trying to diagnose little issues and tell you how mean your cams sounds.

Don't worry about idle and crap on a first start like most people. In fact try not to idle at all. Make sure there are no leaks after first startup, change the oil and go out and pound on it HARD.... Don't be a sissy on the first startup and first pounding, otherwise your motor will be the same

It's been a rough start so far with almost no sleep. Appreciate the help from Terry/Jason/ and Stephan so far.

First idle video after 12 miles of beating on her.


Latest Idle Video after 20+ miles of breaking on conventional oil and refilled to fresh 10/30w mobil one oil.


Cams sounds way too aggressive for stock rebuild. Tried blocking EGR port but it made no difference. No vacuum leaks that I can find. Vacuum at idle seems low around -14. I had -18/20 prior rebuild. Timing at idle is fluctuating between 6 to 20 degrees and old engine 5 -8. Once driving (above 1500rpm) she runs good and pulls normal for 15 psi. Idle is aggressive and a bit shaky. Balance shafts delete.

You went to a synthetic after only 20 miles? You'll want to leave it on conventional longer than that...

There seems to be mixed recomendation on oil. I went with synthetic after initial hard beatup. My biggest problem is idle, it should not be idling like that on stock cams. I can't take it down to anything less than 1000 rpm ((( at least she didnt push coolant during brake in period

I'd personally rather go with a high zinc conventional than mobile one synthetic.

Did you boost leak test it yet?

After you do a BLT I would double check your timing too to make sure it's still good.

I know, at least 1,000 km's!

Also, from watching your videos you're idling the car too much and the rings are probably not fully seated yet. With the Mobil 1, they might never seat 100%. You're doing exactly opposite of what is intended for a new motor.

Other than the minute or so it takes me to set base timing, I don't idle a new motor for the first 1,000 km either.

I gave it enough beating within first 25 miles so at this point i am done beating on her until i figure out the problem. I do believe beating on her is the right way to set the rings but i also know there are lots of engines out there running with solid compression using "alternative break in" methods including my original block.

Just so everyone knows, after spending several months on the massive project that i just did it makes VERY VERY uncomfortable doing the suggested "break in" method by "driving hard off the drive way" especially when the first start up did not go well as expected!

At this point i can't think about oil, I don't mind dumping synthetic and going back conventional but i am not doing anything until I fix the problem shown in the video.

As already mentioned, check timing, BLT, make sure everything is tight and you're in fact running off of SD or MAF (I can't remember what you're running)
The oil talk is the oil talk, and we're already past that point.
Are you getting a sensible AFR with that idle?

Timing was off, got Alex sorted out last night