Good luck bro... just take your time and don't rush the boost.

 

Thanks, Boe. The funny thing is I've never rushed this (6 mos and counting), yet it still happened. Oh well. Nothing to do but wait for my rings and get back to where I was.

Boost will be low (6-7lbs) until after break in at least. The wastegate's still set at 7lbs so I may just leave the boost controller alone for the time being rather than even trying to set it.

 

Just a suggestion for RTV when you are putting the pan back on try this Permatex Right Stuff
http://www.permatex.com/heavy_duty/E...&item_no=25223
It is the most unbelievable gasket maker ever. Use it where you tapped the pan too and forget about it EVER leaking or oozing.

 

I already have gasket stuff, but thanks. If I ever need to reseal it again I'll definitely check out the permatex stuff.

 

Most recent update:

Pistons are all installed and oil pan is cleaned and ready for reinstall. I want to replace my drain fitting before I reinstall the oil pan and my connecting rods need to be torqued to spec then retorqued, but I'm basically restarting the rebuild. Too bad I'm behind schedule now, and I'll be bumming rides for a couple days at the very best. More realistically for a couple weeks whilst I rebuild.

 

Here's a more recent update of my progress.

I put the oil pan back on the next day (June 15th), and I spent the next day waiting for it to pour and wondering if I should attempt to swap the Lancer cam and cam gear into the Mirage head. Then I got sick. I'm recovering from sinusitis as I type this. After closer inspection I realized I'm a blind fool. The head was damaged, but I spent so much time looking at the valves that I neglected to realize that bits of piston had pressed up against the deck and put dents in it. I decided it's best to just put the Mirage head on the car for now and get the Lancer head worked whenever posssible.

btw, AVB...turns out the gasket I bought was Permatex. The oil pan tap I just JB Welded though. The new fitting looks sexy.

 

damn hobie.. doin extensive DIY work on your car. madd props from me coz i cant even install a damn exhaust by myself, let alone rebuild the whole car . good luck with the rest of the rebuild and feel better mannn. btw, you have a stock lancer cam or did you order aftermarket from rpw?

 

andrew my love, i will be right up there to help you!

 

majestic: Stock Mirage cam, and thanks. It's easy. Left to loosen, right to tighten.

2wenty: I'll be waiting...wearing a smile.

 

Update: The Mirage 4g93 head is on. I'm still haven't some thoughts on whether the cam profile is the same/similar, so I don't know if I'm going to keep it in there or swap the 4g94 cam in. Right now though I'm going to let it be. I'll put the intake manifold back on today, exhaust manifold on too if I'm lucky, and then the downpipe. After that it's all reconnecting AC, power steering, radiator, fans, and every other freakin' thing I pulled so that I'd have room to work. I'd like to get the car back on 4 wheels and on the ground again so I can get some other stuff done to it as well, but I won't do that until I have the exhaust back on at very least. Getting there, but still far from the finish line.

 

keep up the good work

 

Well progress seems to come in spurts. One day I'll get a lot done and the next I will get stuck for an hour and get very little done. Most of what I'm doing now is rebuilding so I suspect the pace should be relatively quick until I get to the manifold/radiator/fan ordeal again, and recharging the AC will probably be a PITA too.

Hoping for the best as always, but expecting the worst.

I've also installed my AEM FPR (PN 25-300) on the fuel rail, and found my -6AN to 1/8NPT fuel line t-fitting seems to be the right size, so it's just a matter of putting back all the major stuff piece by piece, and then reconnecting all the harnesses. After that it's gauges, start, retune. Whoopie.

 

Damn Andrew, nice work. Sounds like it is coming along, slow but sure! I just wanted to wish you luck as I know how much of a pain in the @$$ cars (in general) can be when trying to get things back on wheels and running. I've been following the progress and it looks like it is now headed towards the finish line, so keep up the good work and keep us updated!

 

Isn't the mirage head shorter than a lancers? May have some DP issues

 

MWB: Thanks. I always appreciate kind words, and so far things could be going worse. I keep hitting snags, but nothing that can't be fixed so far. Today I hit some more snags which i'll detail in my update at the end of this post.

The Mirage block is what's shorter from what I've been reading on the Mirage forums. This helps explain where our extra displacement and longer stroke come from as well. I didn't bother to measure the heads. I see no reason for concern though.

Today's progress was...well...I got somewhere at least. I put the intake manifold back on, sans underside bracket. It's not even completely on. I don't know WHAT I did out there for 2 1/2 hours, but I didn't make any major progress. Part of that is probably because I was without assistance. Most of the time I have a friend or two to help me out as well. So I put the gasket on, pulled the manifold back out from where I let it sink against the firewall, took 5 minutes to get it untangled from fuel and coolant lines, and then spent another 5 minutes juggling the gasket in one hand and holding up the intake manifold with my other. Then came the bolt tightening...oh man. The top is easy as pie, but the bolts on the underside, underneath the runners, are even harder to put back on than they were to take off. What a pain in the ***.

I cut my fuel line to install a fitting for my fuel pressure gauge, but the inner diameter is smaller than I thought. Now I either have to buy fittings ad -6AN hose or get a smaller fitting, which may or may not exist, for the sensor...

The other hangup involves the lack of markings on the 4g93 cam gear, and my inability to set it as it would be at TDC with real certainty.

I also realized I have a couple bonus bolts floating around and 1 or 2 missing bolts which are probably amongst the miscellaneous. At any rate...it's been a long and only semi-productive evening, and I need some coffee. Over and out.