bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

LOL thanks! Im pretty excited about it. Is that VR-X in your thread AWD or just FWD? I would love to get an old mirage body and build my spare 4g69 for high compression and run it in rallys i think it would be awesome!

And ive been cradling a water bottle all day... Im ready to get better my sinuses just arent agreeing yet.

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Well I finally got to feeling a bit better after going to that Rallycross on Saturday, so I decided to make some actual progress on the Eclipse. I went out to the garage, warmed it up a bit, then got to work. After pulling free a dozen hoses, bolts, and lines the head finally came free! Here are some pictures of what I discovered...

Split Headgasket


Block and Pistons.


Valves... :/


Head


Im hoping someone can give me some hope because to me this looks pretty bad. I put the engine at TDC and I still cant get any of the rocker arms to move, Im going to try turning the cam tonight and see if its just really tight for some reason, maybe check the valve lash. And those pistons look pretty ugly too. And overall the whole engine is covered in oil and the water pipe seems to have some type of gunk or corrosion in it. So im starting to doubt the reliability of this engine even if I do replace the head gasket now... :/ Maybe Im just over thinking it and it will be fine if I clean it up. IDK. Thoughts?

CrAnSwIcK

iTrader: (5)

you should maybe have the head and block decked before replacing the gasket...if you want to just sell it, I would say clean it the best you can, and put 'er back together...

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Oh I havent updated this in a bit.

Well after freaking out about the head I decided to more closely inspect it. I did a leak test on the valves. The only ones that didnt leak were the cylinder 2 and 3 intake valves. And in the closeup picture of the valves you can see some prickly stuff collected on the valves. That is actually the coating on the valves, where the engine was ran so hot it started to seep out of the "pores" in the metal. And I couldnt really check for cracks without cleaning the whole thing first. But it wasnt looking hopeful.

At this point I got kinda depressed. Debated on whether to try my luck at a junk yard with another head. Or the thought crossed my mind to attempt a DOHC swap. I didnt really wanna invest that much in it. And that is when I remembered that I met a guy earlier this year who owns a cylinder head shop called National Head (shameless plug for a great shop!) The owner is a really nice guy. I shot him a message and he got back to me super quick. So that next night I drove up to his shop which is about 20-30 minutes from my house. And showed him the head, he had an amazing knowledge of cylinder heads and could tell what happened to it just by looking at it. He then said they could either attempt to repair this one and replace the valves, or he had some already build on the shelf that he would swap me for. So I decided to swap him as it seemed like it would end up being the cheaper option. Plus the new head had stronger valves, and springs, a brand new cam, and he threw in a port and polish for me. So I go to pickup the new head probably this weekend.

In the mean time I decided that I am going to delete the power steering pump from the car, the A/C is already gone so this will remove an entire belt from the crank pulley. And I am thinking about trying one of the DIY balance shaft deletes that I have seen on DSM forums. Im also going to take the intake mani down to my grandpa (he has an awesome workshop) to clean it, and port the TB side to match the V6 TB that I have. Im also going to attempt to delete the EGR system, 1) to keep exhaust from recycling back through the head, and 2) to delete some extra pipes on the intake manifold that run straight through the plentum disrupting the flow of air into an already awkward design.

Once all that is done the motor will go back together. Then the exterior and interior mods will start. I want to mod the front bumper to allow more airflow onto the half size radiator, and remove all the sound deadening material from the inside of the car, maybe a few other things just to clean it up and make it look nicer. By then I plan to have a tactrix cable. I'll fix the ECU to ignore the EGR since it wont be there, hopefully find a decent 93 octane tune on club3g (if not I might try making one down the road), then get it licensed and back on the road.

I at least feel like I am starting to make SOME kind of progress on this s#!t can now. lol

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Im thinking about pulling off some sort of knock off EvoX setup. Small vent over the exhaust and small vent over the radiator. IDK we'll see.

Anyway Im supposed to go pickup the new port and polished head tonight.

I thought that the crash bar was somehow welded to the frame. But after looking a bit closer it actually had two arms that insert into the frame of the car and i was able to unbolt them from under the frame and remove the bar.

Dropped off the oil pan to see how things looked on the underside. Nothing looked out of place or messed up. Im thinking about removing the balance shafts while i have the oil pan off. It'd get rid of two unnecessary 8-10 pound rotating hunks of metal, and eliminate the small balance shaft belt.

Also took off the power steering and idle pulley bracket last night. Where I thought I would be able to loop the lines and delete power steering on a set of hard lines I dont think I will be able to do it there now. One of the hard lines uses a clamped in hose and the other one is pretty awkward looking. So maybe I'll need to pick up some adapters and a couple feet of tubing afterall... :/ Oh well.

I also need to find some tools to work on my intake manifold. I need to port out the throttle body side to match the V6 TB. Then Im wanting to delete the EGR so I plan to cut off the piping for that and find a way to get it out of the stupid-tiny plentum... Then Im going to make solid motor mounts for the front, back, engine, and transmission sides. Once all that is done I'll start putting the motor back together and begin work on the suspension and brakes.

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

So over Christmas I did some talking with my brother (the one who messed the car up to begin with) He seems to have grown up a bit since he has gotten out into the world and started working. He wants to be involved with the car again and as long as he is putting in money I see no reason not to let him. I'll eventually sell it back to him and get myself another project car after the RA is turned into a monster.

Plans as of right now are to get the car on the road again. Then further modifications will be decided upon with my brother since he will be buying it back off of me. I am doing all the labor on it though which I will be getting paid for. He's trying to convince me to put a "Hollow Motorsports" badge on the car like I run my own mini performance shop or something. LMAO

ENGINE:
======
Balance shaft delete
Clean up the pistons and block surface
Collect gaskets
V6 TB
Delete EGR
Modify Intake Manifold
Reassemble
Install radiator
Relocate Battery
2 1/2" exhaust, large resonator, muffler

SUSPENSION:
==========
Tie rod ends
Install lowering springs
Install disc brake swap
New brakes and rotors
Fill motor mounts
Delete power steering with loop and breather.

INTERIOR:
========
Sound deadening removal

BODY:
=====
Mod front bumper for more airflow (for radiator, and CAI)
Mod rear bumper
Remove antenna and fill hole
fill old wing holes
Vent hood
Cover or replace dented fender


Eventually the car will get repainted, get some new wheels, better suspension, and maybe a turbo kit down the road. But that wont be until my brother buys it back off of me and is paying for those mods to happen. In the mean time I will be driving it while the RA is receiving some TLC.

nekkidlad

iTrader: (4)

good luck with all that man...hope it all works out

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Nekkidlad!

Not much of an update but I finally got all of the power steering lines, pump, and reservoir removed yesterday. Gunna take the ends of the lines to a Fastenal so I can get some adapters to loop the lines, then T it off to a filter. Everything Ive read says this method makes for a better feeling in the steering wheel than simply looping the line or removing the belt from the pulley.

Also got my Tactrix 2.0 cable in. So I will be able to tune the computer when its all back together. Because this will be possible I am going to delete the EGR from the intake manifold and try to cut out any piping related to the EGR (I guess I'll also need to tap the head so that I can block off the EGR port there). The intake mani design on this car is hella weird it has the tiniest little plentum with really long runners, but that tiny plentum has two or three pipes running through it obstructing airflow into the header-like design of the runners. Talked to my brother the welder. We discussed possibly adding some length the the plentum to make it have a bit more space behind the throttle body like most manifolds I have seen. Dunno if it will happen but we'll see.

Also Im still wanting to do the balance shaft delete while the motor is tore down and the oil pan is off. Im debating on whether to buy a kit or just order the pieces for it since the stubby shaft, bearings, and freeze plug can all be ordered separately... Just need to look up part numbers.

Something else I am going to do is install the battery in the trunk. So Im debating on whether to run the + line directly off of the alternator or just connect it at the old battery terminal like I did on the RA...

nekkidlad

iTrader: (4)

probably cleaner to run it straight to the alternator...but probably more practical(less work) to run it to the normal cable terminal

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Picked up some adapters and hose barbs today so that I can delete the power steering pump and reservoir and instead loop the lines together. I'll take some pictures tonight when I get home so I can show you all what its going to look like.

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Alright here is the pic of the adapters. The two on the left plug directly into the steering rack. The top left one will connect to the T fitting, then the T will wrap down and back to the lower left fitting. I'll then move the wheels and make sure the loop and rack is filled with power steering fluid. Then i'll run a long piece of tubing upward and mount the breather filter on the top of the system. This should keep the fluid moving without any resistance and pressure, and it is open to air should the fluid need to expand or contract any. This will make steering slightly heavier as there is no assistance from the pump. However it will be much easier than trying to work against the pump and long lines if you left them installed in the car and just removed the belt from the pump's pulley.

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Ordered a short shifter and knob, and the balance shaft delete kit. After the delete is done I'll have to order gaskets as the motor will be ready to start going back together. I think Im going to go ahead and order a new water pump while Im at it. Figured its likely the one on there is factory, and it may have been damaged since it was ran dry. Precautionary.

nekkidlad

iTrader: (4)

hope the new WP doesnt blow out on you like mine did on firts startup...
i suggest getting a new OE one...
when i did my timing belts i got a reman'd WP(only because it was a bit cheaper), and the high pressure valve blew out as soon as it heated up...so me and otter had to tear it all down and re-use the original water pump..which had ~100kmi on it..was ok and was ok till i sold the car but i was being preventive too...tho it didin't work out...

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

I'll have to do that. I'd hate to have it all fall apart after doing all this work lol.

My brother had a mechanic that I graduated high school with over the other night. (brother wrecked his S-10...) The mechanic seen my car and said, "Damn, I didnt know Josh was into cars. Does he want a job as a Mechanic? I could get him one." LOL I thought that was pretty funny. They wouldnt want me as a mechanic anyway. Im slow as hell.

Anyway about the car. The plan is to start cleaning up the deck this week, and start filling the motor mounts with window weld. Balance shaft delete should be coming in soon so I'll go ahead and start taking off the oil pump, and maybe knock out the bearings for the front one. Im hoping to have this stuff done this week, balance shaft delete next week, then next pay day I'll order the gasket sets and start putting it back together.

nekkidlad

iTrader: (4)

that's the least of your worries...
you'd get into the groove...
i stared out slow too...and honetsly to a certain extent i still am(plus i don't have too much experience...being in the field for only ~6yrs...and before that never even working on a car)...

but honestly working on cars all day makes me want to work on mine that much less...because i see expensive cars all day that people don't take care of..
but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that i keep my cars as good running and looking as i can...where most mechanics i know drive beaters because they know the car is junk and dont care enough to fix it...