rebuilding engine

[A. Van]

I'm going to be rebuilding my engine this winter, and I need a little help. I've never rebuilt an engine before, but me and my sister b/f are going to do it ( he does know how to work on cars ). I will be buying many manuels and refering to sites for help and probably asking you guys lots of questions.

I'd like to now what parts you guys would recomend or what I'll need. I want to start buying some of the parts now so I'll have everything by winter. I plan on getting performance parts to replace the stock ones. I'm also gonna try and get a front mount IC and possibly a 16g turbo..maybe, but I do want to upgrade the turbo and injectors/fuel pump...I have a ATX.. I'm looking to get around 350 at the crank too

Thanks for all you help guy and gals

 

[rdrkt]

Everyone is going to have an opinion on this. Personally I would not recommend rebuilding the 7 bolt. I would find a cheap 6bolt block and do a 91 rod 95 piston rebuild. That would minimize costs and would be able to hold the power your looking for great.

 

[germain101]

i agree...when i did my 6bolt, i got a real good deal from this company: http://www.ffwdconnection.com/ ...if you call them, ask to speak with daren or leave a message and he'll call you right back...he's real cool and very helpful...i got everything to rebuild my motor (full gasket set, pistons, t-belt kit, lifters, bearing,you name it)for a little over 1k shipped to me...hope this helps some

 

[turboholic]

-Try to use as much dealer parts as you can especially on oil seals, so you know they fit right, if you're planning to assm the short block yourself, make sure you clean and reclean the block off all the metal debris in those tiny oil passages. Here is a list of those JDM motor importers, last month, some local DSMers bought 2 JDM 6 bolt for $850 each, 5 sp tranny + transfer case for $250, they are off the 90 JDM GVR4. I think the transfer cases are the switchable type.

-Kevin.

 

[KenTSIII]

Exactly why are you rebuilding the motor? Old addage.. "if it ain't broke... don't fix it" As it sounds like you are mainly looking for performance instead of needed repairs... then I'd recomend going w/ bolt ons & leave the engine alone until the need arrises for a built motor. I know of several people that make over 400hp on the stock motor. Hell Andre makes 420 on a stock 2g motor running pump gas. DSMs come w/ pretty built motors from the factory & don't need the reinforcing like hondas & alot of other NA cars.

 

[A. Van]

My car has 72,300 miles on it, and I guess I get alittle worried about wear and tear, I'm the 3rd owner. I know how I drive and take care of my cars, but I don't know about the people before me. I get worried about high miles too...soon it'll be the big 100,000 mile mark..... My car really does need a tune-up and all the belts changed

I've been doing some reading and I still don't know the difference between the 6-bolt and 7-bolt. Is the 6-bolt from the 1g's? Whats JDM? I assume a 6-bolt will fit right into my car. Will the aftermarket parts I put on my engine now fit onto a 6-bolt? I'm thinking yes, but aren't sure.

How good are the ATX's? I've heard people saying that they'll handle 300+hp. Does anybody know if it's hard to swap in a MTX?

I just worried about adding too much power on an old engine and have the engine not be able to handle it.

I read in another post that someone wanted to know how to get a 12sec ar and someone made a list of parts...I'm thinking about using alot of the parts off that list.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[A. Van]

Turboholic: In the link you provided, is there a better shop to go throught then any of the others?

 

[NDgsx]

Do a compression and leakdown test. Your engine isn't going to magically fail when you start making more power, if it is in decent shape now.

 

[turboholic]

Originally posted by A. Van
Turboholic: In the link you provided, is there a better shop to go throught then any of the others?

-I don't have experience with any of them, I wouldn't buy an used motor over the phone, b/c every used motor is different & you'll get what you paid for, the person I mention above went to that shop 3-4 times until he found the one he felt comfotable with. You have to look at the motor yourself, beside, you might get lucky and find an 16G, I would suggest you contact those vendors and tell them you want to see the motor, warranty ? core charge ? etc... Those tranny+transfer case combo is switchable between AWD & FWD, more detail in VFAQ.com

 

[KenTSIII]

my car has 167k on it & is still running low 12s... & I've been beating the hell out of it since I purchased it with 110k a few years back. I still have 150 compression across the board..

6bolt motors are from 90-92 & 7bolt motors are from 93-99. The 6 bolt motor has beefier rods & they hold up to the abuse alot better. 2g 7bolt motors are notorious for crankwalking.. esp w/ heavy duty clutches & almost always crankwalk after being rebuilt.. again "if it ain't broke... don't fix it" It's getting to the point where 76k is considered low milage on a DSM. I personally think you should leave the motor alone & concentrate elsewhere. But I would do a leakdown & compression tests to see what condition the motor is in... my bet is that it has close to new compression w/ very little leakdown. And don't count the AT tranny out.. there are a few people out there running 10s w/ the ATs.

 

[larryd]

Originally posted by A. Van
My car has 72,300 miles on it, and I guess I get alittle worried about wear and tear, I'm the 3rd owner. I know how I drive and take care of my cars, but I don't know about the people before me. I get worried about high miles too...soon it'll be the big 100,000 mile mark..... My car really does need a tune-up and all the belts changed

uhm at 72k the last thing you should be worried about doing a rebuild.. dont ya know the phrase if it aint broke then dont fix it?? And ofcourse if nothings broke your not going fast enuf.. they both work together.. I would just do the belts and a basic tune up.. no need to put in a different block with different internals and all that..especially for only 350hp at the crank as you stated..

 

[JET]

Yeah, like these guys said, don't worry about a rebuild yet. Throw on a Big 16g, UIC pipe, turbo back exhaust, EGT, injectors and SAFC. That should put you right around 350 hp pretty easily and still be very reliable. If you think you may want to go bigger, I would go with a different turbo though.

 

[RocketDSM]

I can't agree with the bigger turbo thought. I've seen plenty of Big16G setups that could cream some of the larger turbo designs. It depends on how you build the system around it. A lot of the turbos above the 16G cost more than I know a lot of people can reasonably afford. I say get a Big16G, and just keep building it until you are either happy with the performance, or want more and the 16G just can't do it in any way.

 

[A. Van]

Thanks guys

I'll get a compression/leakdown test done before I start modding the car