Well, I decided to be productive and got some extra material and made a nice battery tie down. I was going to relocate it down to the firewall area, but figured, hell, it's not that important to do it; Plus it'd take a lot more effort. In case anyone is wondering, you have to get a smaller battery or relocate your stock battery when you get an SMIM (or at least the JMF one). This is the Duralast GOLD battery from a 2000+ civic. Same cranking/amp power as the stock battery, but half the size.
90* aluminum strap
aluminum bar
5/16-18 full threaded rod
nuts
fender washers
2 wing nuts
self-tapping screws
Cost ~$13
I eyeballed everything but it came out great.
Painted the bottom straps black for OEM look.
This isn't as fancy as JMF's bling kit, but it works!
____________________________
~Tom
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Ever have mini-throw up? Or felt that sinking feeling in your stomach? Well, that was my Merry Christmas EVE
I filled up the engine with some regular pennzoil 10w-30 non-syn and was ready to prime the engine before putting the tbelt on. I go and grab the air ratchet and put on my 14mm wrench. All of a sudden while I'm letting the pump spin and looking for oil to plumb to the head, my hand gets wet with oil. W...T...F...?? I look down to see this. A nice HUGE crack at the castle plug area. Wait, did I over torque it? No.. I have no idea why it split like this and it lead to another 2 hours of down time pulling off the oil pan, crank pulley bolt, etc. and finally removed the front case. I'm going to call extremepsi on wednesday and hopefully they can work out a warranty or something. I wouldn't mind buying a new one if it was my fault, but I can't see how any of the work I did caused this thing to crack.
Shit, since I have been following this thread so closely even I just got a sick feeling in my stomach for you. I think most DSM'ers have one of these stories that makes no sense and causes you to lose it. Sorry to hear that.
Nonetheless, better now than when you're driving down the road.
dam tom tha sucks, that had to be a factory defect i never seen a case brake like that, as far as the rest of the build goes the car is looking great man
Shit, since I have been following this thread so closely even I just got a sick feeling in my stomach for you. I think most DSM'ers have one of these stories that makes no sense and causes you to lose it. Sorry to hear that.
Nonetheless, better now than when you're driving down the road.
Now that I've recovered from that nasty surprise, I agree. It sucks when it happens, but at least its over with. Hung @ extremepsi is seeking a warranty for me, so I hope that goes through
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1gnasty
dam tom tha sucks, that had to be a factory defect i never seen a case brake like that, as far as the rest of the build goes the car is looking great man
Yea Juan, that's what I'm thinking too. I guess we'll all find out what Mitsu decides in the next coming days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 90laserRSfwd
great thread, nice info on the battery too.. glad to here I don't have to spend $200 on a small battery kit when I install my SMIM from JM Fab.
Thanks JMFab hands down has an awesome kit, but if you're a cheapass like me, this works too
Starting off, I promised bruce (oldman) that I'd get the proper timing tin covers on the next build, so here they are! damn, I think this is the first time I've ever used 'em. You can see the left and two right ones pretty clearly here.
Got the new one in from extremepsi; here we go again..
A lot of people have suspected that the first case front case gave because of excess pressure and/or contact with the castle plug and BSE stub, but to be sure, the bolt has to be on the inside lip. I did that the first time, but it doesn't hurt double checking.
BSE parts:
Castle plug installed. Again, hand tightened with high temp sealant and then hammer/flat headed into place.
Replacing the balance shaft seal with the plug:
Putting the oil gear and stub shaft in should be flush against the casing:
A nice recommendation was to make sure the oil pump casing was flush to the front casing surface without any pressure or aid. I had to wiggle it a bit, but here she is. Again, blue loctited bolts to 18 ft/lb.
The oil pump gear has a slot that you have to line up on the shaft in order to slide it down:
I used blue loctite this time because it was a major PITA to get the red loctited bolt off. I guess it really does its job
Hold it down and torque the nut with a 12mm wrench to 28 ft/lb.
Another new alignment pin:
New gasket, I've gotten really good at judging the tackiness/time frame
I put the timing belt covers on. If anyone is wondering, those large gashes are a result of the AC tensioner slipping and causing near fatal death to my timing belt last summer. I have since cut the timing cover into two sections because it makes taking the lower cover off when the engine in the car much much easier.
Running new vacuum hose. Remember that the vacuum line going to the brake boost has a check valve in it. DO NOT FORGET!!! You cannot have positive pressure going back into your brake booster.
Tidying up and gearing for the trans and engine installation Now I just have to get the cherry picker back from my friend.
Patiently waiting...
I forgot to put spark plugs in. Here's the good ol' "gap to .028 picture" Using a feeler gauge IMHO is a much more accurate way of gapping plugs.
Nice thread, but you put the bolt on the alternator on backwards! the long one that has an almost square head.. the square head is supposed to be held in place by that little lip on the alternator bracket! just thought I'd point that out for you....
Thanks again for the support guys BTW, if anyone has any constructive comments, don't keep them to yourselves! I'd love to know if there are things you all would have done differently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jst4Cyl
Are you using an OEM front case or Topline?
Also try Never Dull made by Eagle the next time you go to polish a shiny metal or such, made my Magnus shine up real nice.
BTW, it's looking great
Thanks for the suggestion As far as front cases, the two that I've used on this build were brand new OEM units purchased through extremepsi.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 90laserRSfwd
Nice thread, but you put the bolt on the alternator on backwards! the long one that has an almost square head.. the square head is supposed to be held in place by that little lip on the alternator bracket! just thought I'd point that out for you....
yes I know it is backwards. I purposely have always put it on backwards so that I can tighten the nut easier when the alternator is in the car. I think you're the third one to tell me, so I decided to go back and change it so that the square side sits flush to the alternator. There, ya happy!?
Update to follow. We did a shitload of work today (me and 123bobby123) so bare with me while I update.
Reused the clutch fork (<2000 miles), new clip, new OEM TOB, and new OEM fulcrum.
Assemble as shown, no magic to it, just put it in the holes so the TOB stays on the fork. I used this valvoline moly lube on the pivot hole and inside of the TOB.
Old vs new fulcrum. DogboxRacing put a shim on it, but I didn't feel the need to (opinions?)
Water pump pulleys (alternator and power steering). Note the notch that needs to line up and how the pulleys need to mate, otherwise the belt will be skewed when you put it on.
Put the dump tube on. I'm kind of weary about the placement of the exit. To answer a question before, yes it's a custom piece. I bought it off of visiondsm.
Cleaned the engine bay, removed all unecessary electronics on firewall, moved some stuff around.
BREAK! new years.. yes, that's me on the right, yes, I had a lot to drink
Finally got a picker back and now it's to do so some real work!
Use a tire or something to put the engine on, position it so that you can have access to the crank pulley bolt and enough room to mount the trans.
Put the starter plate on. It is held on by 2 tiny bolts, so don't torque 'em too much.
Put the flywheel on and gently tap it around with a mallet to make sure it's on flat. There is a dowel pin to guide the flywheel on.
6 new OEM flywheel bolts and red loctite. Torqued in a hexagonal sequence at 30 ft/lb, 60, 80, and then 100. Make sure it's torqued in steps to ensure you don't warp the flywheel.
Put a 1/2 bar on the crank shaft to stop the crank from moving.
The machinist stepped the flywheel to .612, you can kind of make out his sharpy on the center of the flywheel.
____________________________
~Tom
Last edited by blcknspo0ln; 01-13-2008 at 11:33 AM.
Put the clutch alignment tool in the disc and then put the disc + tool through the center of the flywheel.
Slide the pressure plate on. There are 3 guide pins to be wary of. I took a mallet and tapped the PP on. Again, I torqued the 6 bolts in a cris-cross pattern, first to 10 ft/lb and then to 20 ft/lb. These do not need to be insanely torqued down!
The girlfriend helps! I put the trans on the picker because it's too much of a PITA to try to man handle it on.
Make sure you have the two alignment dowel pins (guide pins). These are probably the most crucial pins, so that you will ensure the longevity of your clutch.
Bolt the starter on
____________________________
~Tom
Last edited by blcknspo0ln; 01-03-2008 at 06:52 AM.
Nice... glad to see your reversed the alternator bolt, even though you'll be cursing me out if you have to take your alternator off and only get to turn the bolt an 1/8 of a turn at a time because you can only fit a wrench in between the downpipe and alternator... Looks awesome so far, keep the updates coming man
Anyone know how this bolt gets put on? It's the rear dowel pin hole. The strange part is that the block is threaded. I just put a long bolt in there, but does anyone know if the trans has threads on the opposite side? Strange if you ask me.
123bobby123 saves the day!
blcknspo0ln.. um... yea!
Finally dropped in the bay:
First motor mount we put in was the rear one:
Then the front one:
Once those two are in, you can let the engine off of the picker. Get a jack and jack the engine up by the driver most side of the oil pan so that the engine can pivot and rock so that you can get a good angle to put in the last transmission mount. Once you do that, do battle with the driver's side engine mount.
Put some solid brass shifter cables on with new cotter pins. There are two 12mm bolts holding the assembly to the trans.
If anyone is wondering, the starter does not need a seperate ground. It grounds itself, so all you have is the power strap and the clip from the engine harness. There is a separate ground from the same harness, but you can ground that just about anywhere.
Put the ss fuel feed line on the rail:
Put the pass axle back on. Use antiseize on the spline so it doesn't get rusted out.
I skipped a huge part of the electrical because I simply hate it. I got dazed and confused for about an hour just trying to figure out where all the freakin plugs go. Sorry for not taking pictures, I was busy throwing tools and punching my fender
Heres the LICP from the SSAC kit. About 4" has been hacked off to "customize" the kit and it has been powdercoated ink black by liquidpowdercoats.com
AFPR bolted on with some new fuel line.
Heres a pic of a slave rod with the boot pulled back. Here's also the point where I called it a night because I realized I have to unbolt the slave just to put it back on the car, hence the need to bleed the clutch system again Oh well, mind as well do that too.
You were asking about the one engine mount bolt. Yes the transmission is threaded also the bolt is one size smaller than the other three bolts by one size so if the other 3bolts are 6mm the blinde one is 5mm.
You were asking about the one engine mount bolt. Yes the transmission is threaded also the bolt is one size smaller than the other three bolts by one size so if the other 3bolts are 6mm the blinde one is 5mm.
Thanks for the info, I've gotta get back there again before I button her up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EclipseGSX012
WOW great write up man!!!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 90laserRSfwd
Can't wait to hear the numbers and track times this thing lays down, how's the progress ?
Well, I've been without a p&s camera for a couple of days now (Oldman won't give mine back and my parents took theirs from me) and I wasn't about to go out with my DSLR and take pictures while working In terms of progress, I am almost ready for startup. I've bolted all of the following back up (as far as I can remember)
I've encountered several surprised along the way. I guess throughout moving everything in the garage, my 1000 mile old radiator had a leak in it. 123bobby123 was filling my radiator with coolant and it just kept seeping out of an unknown point. I was pretty disgusted so he ended up ripping it out and I put an order in for a visteon racing radiator from MAPerformance. I'm super interested in seeing how this 1" racing core is going to work. After that debacle, I decided to not waste time and do a boost leak test. A couple fixes here and there and it turns out that my 2k old machv seals were leaking out of BOTH sides. No doubt due to my latest reinstallment. I suspect that the seals are not meant to be removed and reinstalled due to how they are deformed when you put them in. I'm going to call JNZ tomorrow and get em ordered. Another thing to do is to eliminate that clutch accumulator. I need to get one of those ss lines that eliminates all of that jazz and clean up that portion of the install. Other than that, I've just been waiting on parts and a camera. Startup should be within the week, hopefully.
JMFab hands down has an awesome kit, but if you're a cheapass like me, this works too 
Oh well, mind as well do that too.
