I destroyed my engine the first time cause I got by BS jammed and it held the valves in place while the pistons were still turning. Let's just say it was byebye for my valves

 

lol, i already paid for the balance shaft timing belt, and if it keeps the plastic from rattling i'd rather keep it...besides small power gains here and there don't really interest me if it means any kind of sacrifice, regardless of how small...again, i'm going to be boosting, with that i should be making well over 200 horsies, but to be honest i'd be happy with 210-220 as long as the ride is comfortable, and feels stock...the premise of my build is to be what the ralliart should have been all along, lol...modest boost, LSD (AWD would have been nicer) but fast-ish, fun to drive, nice looking alternative to the EVO, as it is in the current generation...great improvement over the OZ rally, what a joke...lol

I saw my first Rally on SPEED when i was probably 13 or 14, and i fell in love with the evo 7...years later they ruined it with fast and the furious, but to this day, the 7 is my dream car...when i'm a corporal i'm buying an 8 and doing a bumper and hood conversion...it won't be a true 7, but it'll look just like it...this RA that i own, i purchased because i was getting posted and needed to leave my other lancer for the wife and kid, i was actually going to buy an OZ rally of the same year for the sunroof and cruise control, and swap parts as i upgraded it...but when i test drove the RA, it was like night and day compared to an OZ...so here i am, with about 2 years until my promotion, i'm going to turbo my RA, leave as much as i can alone to preserve comfort, and that should tie me over until i get my EVO...then i'll have 3 lancers...lol

 

*UPDATE*

I got the head back from the shop today, and does it ever look great...lol, as i said before for whatever reason, i didn't bend any valves, and the machinist was able to grind and lap them without any issues...here's how it looks...

 

and here's my progress on the aesthetic aspects...

brakes:










And i got bored and decided to pain the exhaust manifold as well...after cleaning it up though, i almost wish i could leave it this dark glossy, but still kinda rusty color...but i will be painting it black...

 

Nice man looking good I also need to do a clean up on my brakes and stuff, gotta wait until after Vegas though.
Can we see what paint your using too?

 

What kind of primer are you using on the parts that will get hot?

 

I'm using VHT flame proof primer...and VHT caliper paint, and on the dics i used the flameproof primer and duplicolor engine enamel...i'm going to do the valve/rocker cover today probably...

canadian tire sells this stuff, but some stores have the paints, but lack the proper primers i had to go to a really big canadian tire store to get it, they don't have it in trenton...duplicolor makes an "engine primer" for their line of engine enamels, but i can't find it anywhere locally...i'm hoping the VHT flameproof will do...

 

Well, i just have one thing to say...what a pain in the ****...if i had the money to pay someone to do this, i would...lol, finally got the transmission out...but it wasn't easy...i'm used to trucks and old muscle cars...these mitsu's are my first front wheel drive compacts, and i was not expecting it to be this complicated...i mean it wasn't all that bad, but like some of the positions i had to assume just to get a wrench on a nut....i would advise anyone who wants to do something like this on their own, to make sure you have: lots of beer, nowhere to go, and nothing better to do, a buddy who will work for free (brother in law works great), floor jack, jack stands, and every type of wrench imagineable in 12mm, 14mm, and 17mm...the hardest part was the rear mount, which i discovered was toast anyways...

so yeah, i'm cracking the transmission open tomorrow, so stay tuned for more pics...

 

Yesss keep it up bro and keep these great pics coming

 

WOW!

Almost word for word you said the same things I was telling my father yesterday morning about working on this car man.
Giant PITA for sure.

I did the timing belt last Friday, first time in over 7 years I did one, the top engine mount kicked my *** to remove. Post game analysis though I think it was my fault, I was rusty, I did not have the engine supported. When I was reassembling, I had the engine on a jack and it went on very easily.

Whenever I can get another car as a daily driver, and wont be under pressure to make sure it's up by bedtime, I will DEFINITELY take mine apart and add some bits. But I dont know WHY they make cars so hard to work on now. (Now = mid 90's onward)

I never aspired to be a contortionist but it becomes a must do when you are working on your car without the special tools and a lift these days. All in all I think when I can do it as a hobby and not a chore, things will improve. Cherish that brother in law of yours, I dont know anyone that likes cars near me, never mind someone who would help.

 

Cranswick, thanks for posting so many pics man, especially since they are well focused too. I know taking pics is not easy in situ, I wanted to do some last Friday but I was already miserable from the engine mount troubles, then had my hands filthy etc and time was running out. To all you guys who take the time and effort to get some pics while working, THANK YOU.

 

good stuff man. keep it up!

 

We gotta pull my tranny soon too. Lucky I have a mechanically inclined uncle who will do it for a bottle of jack Haha

 

it's not that bad, a few wire harness brackets, shifter cables and 4 bolts to the motor, the biggest pain in the *** is the rear mount...

Anyways here's what the inside of the transmission looks like, we checked the shim tolerance on the differential case, it's good, so i'm just basically waiting for my parts...if i had the 3rd gear synchro, input shaft bearings and all the oil seals, we could have had it back together and ready to go today...though among my parts order was a clutch release bearing, so i can't put it back on anyways, plus the rear mount is toast....







So, here's the old open differential...it's literally open, lol...but as you can see the speedometer gear is actually part of the casting on the differential, and that's why it doesn't have a part number...so again the correct part number for the speedometer gear is MD717879...



here's the LSD ready for install...

 

Got my flywheel resurfaced today...looks good, the machinist didn't like the "tin back" lol, appearantly it's a beach to machine...so he charged me a bit more than he would if it was solid...

Also, my parts only just shipped yesterday, so yeah, i have a bit of stuff to do on the front of the block, like taking pulleys and belts off, so when the parts arrive i just put it all back in, boom boom boom, right?