keep it up bro!

 

Thanks... Keep checking back because I should have this up to date by the end of this weekend

 

Tom, thanks... I can't wait for the big missing piece of the puzzle I am worried that your kit might make too much power for my Evo IX MR 6 speed transmission. Do you think that a tranny cooler will prevent some headaches down the road? Or do you think I will be fine with the 6 speed. I plan on drag racing about once or maybe twice a year. The car will primarily see street/weekend cruising.

 

Week 2 Continued.... Valve Cover Removal

Since my EVO would be down for a few more weeks I decided to pull my valve cover for two reasons. The first obvious reason is to replace my camshafts with HKS 272 exhaust and intake. To date, I have not started this task but plan on shortly once they are ordered. The second reason why I pulled the valve cover was because a WR Team teammate of mine, Jason Diem of 4evercustoms does great chrome/polish work. To match the theme of my engine bay (polished clean look) I sent my valve cover to 4evercustoms to be chromed and polished. I should get the cover back in about two more weeks.

And now to the valve cover removal pictures.....

Below is my old setup that I will use as a before and after shot once I am done.



The first step was to remove the ARC spark plug cover. If you remember from installing this piece there are small washers that lay between the spark plug cover and valve cover. Take your time so that you do not loose any of the washers.

Next I disconnected the wiring harness from the ignition coil. Make sure you remember to lable all of your wiring harnesses.




Once the spark plug cover was removed, you can now remove the outside bolts of the vavle cover. Suprisingly these bolts were not hard to break loose. However the location and length of the bolts made it difficult to remove from the cover. I had to remove a few wiring harnesses to make room for my socket. I used a deep socket for this task. Notice the sparkplug cover bolts are back in their holes. This is a very easy task and great habit so that you do not loose any of your bolts.



As mention in the last photo removing the bolts on the outside of the valve cover may cause a problem. Below is a shot where I accidently dropped a bolt. The pit saved the day because I was able to locate the bolt right away. After about 20 minutes of trying to fish the bolt out I finally got it.



Back to the task on hand.. The next step I did was to remove the 02 sensor wiring harness and the plate that holds the sensor to the valve cover.



Next I removed the sparkplugs and ignition coils from the valve cover. Notice that I taped over the holes. Murphy's law is a big player whenever working on cars so do yourself a favor and have some painters tape handy to cover your holes.



Removing the sparkplugs and ingition coils are important because there are bolts underneath that need to be removed. Before yanking on your cover make sure that you have every single bolt removed from the cover.



To break the seal and removal of the valve cover, simply lift up by the cam gears and the cover will lift off.



Below is the cover completely off exposing the camshafts.



At the time I did not know when I would replace the camshafts but I did know that I needed to send my vavle cover away to be chromed and polished. Notice my new blue painters tape and black garbage bag valve cover haha I highly recommend this to anyone that is not going to replace your camshafts as soon as you remove your cover. This will protect from any bolts, washers, etc from falling into your engine.



I did not replace the bolts that hold the valve cover on because of the high probability of dropping a bolt into the engine. Instead I put them in a small bag with a label on my board.



Below is the before shot of my valve cover. Stay tuned for the after shot and more of my progress.

 

do cams while its off.

 

It's on my list - check out page 1 for everything thats being installed.

 

subscribed

 

Mick,
Big power has been done on 6-speeds though the 5-speed is admittedly stronger. The biggest factor for its longevity will be how hard you are on the transmission.

Tom

 

Agreed, just watch that 4th gear. You don't seem like the type that'd beat on it though so my guess is you'll be fine, especially since you say you aren't going to be drag racing but 1-2 times at most. Great project though, keep up the good work!

 

From what I understand (and this may be beating a dead horse) 4th gear is usually fine with drag racing. Extreme heat, if I'm not mistaken, is usually what causes it to go.

 

Week 2 Continued.....Radiator Removal & Fluid Drainage

The next few photos will show how I removed my radiator and fan. The first step is to locate the drain plug. It is located on the passenger side at the lower right hand corner. In the picture below it is where the screw driver is pointing towards.



I used a wrench on the plug because its only plastic. You have a higher chance of stripping the plastic with the screw driver. Make sure before starting this task that you have a bucket to catch the fluid. Removing the cap will make the fluid come out faster. You have to watch that your bucket can handle the extra flow once you remove the cap.



I waited about a half hour and came back to the garage to remove the lower radiator pipe. Make sure you have a bucket handy for this step as well because there is still fluid in the pipe.



After removing the lower radiator pipe I removed the upper pipe as well. I am replacing the upper pipe with the ETS polished pipe to flow with my engine bay goal.


The next step before removing the radiator was to disconnect the fan wiring harness.



With the fan wiring harness disconnected the radiator can now be removed by pulling straight up out of the engine bay. Remember that the catch can needs to be un bolted from the engine bay and there are two bolts that hold the top of the radiator to the frame.


So much more rooom

 

see thats what i need is a pit...........looks like it makes work alot easier under the car uh??....LOL

 

Awesome job
keep it up

 

Yea it definately makes working underneath your car a breeze. It also helps with finding dropped bolts.

 

Thanks man and keep checking for updates... Come home safe