New Project

[98gst14b]

Picked up a 91 awd 5spd the other day. Head is off the car due to the timing belt being improperly installed, turned over, and bent both #1 intake valves and one intake valve on #2 and the synchros in 1st gear are shot. Car came with the head /w bent valves, all the bolts/parts, t3/To4E turbo no shaft play, spare tranny /w cracked bellhousing, fmic, maft, profec b, w/b a/f gauge and other little things. I was wondering what you guys think I should do first. I was planning on pulling the engine/tranny. Rebuild the tranny (or at least the syncros.) And rebuilding the engine to some point. Should I drop some eagle rods in while I'm at it? what about the pistons? (in good shape.) The bottom end of the engine is in perfect shape but I want to see 400+ hp with the turbo I got. Without spending thousands what do you guys think I should do here before I machine the head and put it back on? Thanks for the help.

 

[xe0]

If the bottom end is good like you say, your goal of 400hp is attainable on the stock bottom end. The eagle rods would be more piece of mind and if you planned on making more it would be good future proofing.

If your on a budget I would take everything apart and assuming it all looks good, replace bearings, rings, water pump, timing belt, tensioner and a gasket kit to replace seals.

Make sure you take it to a reputable machine shop that warranties it's work.

Adam

 

[98gst14b]

Any prefferd specific brands to use on the bottom end? What would be first to fail under stress in the bottom end? And what about the head? Buy another used one, Replace just the valves on one and two, Or buy a full set of valves/valguides/guide seals? And what would I need to machine at a machine shop? Thanks

 

[xe0]

Most of these questions could be answered by searching...but I'll bite since i'm bored.

The weakest part of the bottom end is the pistons, then rod bolts, rods, etc. Since your on a budget, I would take apart your head and see what damage was done. If it truly only needs the valves replaced and the guides are fine then just replace the damaged valves.

If your going to take your head to the machine shop have them inspect and clean it, magnaflux it for cracks, and install new guides and seals if needed.

As far as getting parts for the bottom end, seals and bearings I like OEM mitsubishi, but plenty of people have run Topline without issue.

Adam

 

[98gst14b]

Thanks....it has begun

 

[98gst14b]

Alright... I'm starting to get the engine back together and have a couple questions. When I began to re-install the rods I noticed the rod caps have an "I" and "E" stamped on them, initially I was thinking Intake and exhaust, but the caps seem to be flipped around-E on the intake side and vise versa. Have I made a mistake? Is this the proper way the caps should be installed? The pistons have an arrow pointing away from the flywheel so I know I'm good there. Also, when I double-checked piston-to-wall clearance everything seemed to be within spec. except when I measured the clearance perpendicular to the skirts I got something like .004 but at the skirts .0015. But when I measured close to the piston ring area I had about .002 all the way around. I realize these pistons are "egg-shaped" but is this normal, is it a good idea to re-use these pistons? And my last question-after honing the cylinders I have one cylinder with a very miner vertical scratch. I fear that to get rid of this I need to bore hence buying new pistons/rings/etc. Is this nessesary? Or do you think I can get away with it? Thanks for all your help!

 

[mikEclipse99]

you always could bore them out just to be safe. and if youre gonna i can hook you up with a set of wiseco .20 over pistons

 

[98gst14b]

But are the scratches a big deal? And what about the caps?

 

[98gst14b]

*UPDATE*

Alright I got everything back together, rebuilt the tranny and pressed new syncros, installed new clutch and cranked her over. She runs OK I got a lot of work to do . The car started smoking badly when I first started it, blue smoke. Drove it around the block and the blue smoke turned to white. Its not a little were talking clouds of smoke here. I started worrying about my ring job/valve guides, etc. But I removed the intake filter and found that there was oil puddling there. Theres my answer-blown turbo seals. But my question is what are my options here? The turbo is difficult to identify which would make it hard to find a rebuild kit, and for the price would it be better to just go for another turbo? The turbo I have is a t3 flange with a round lip-style exhaust outlet with a coupler clamp, TO4E 56 or 57 trim. There is a label that just says Turbocharger Model : To4E + a serial. Theres no Garrett or Turbonetics or AR stamps anywhere. I will try to get pics if I can. Considering my mods in the profile and a HP Goal of around 400+ what turbo, if I had to get another would you guys recommend? What if I kept my t3 manifold? Would it be necessary to switch to a t3/t4? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[booostedGSX]

Post up some pics of the turbo, I'm sure someone will be able to give you some help.

 

[98gst14b]

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[98gst14b]

^There it is i removed it and ran the engine w/o headers to see if the engine is blowing smoke is it dosent look like it is. Then I covered the oil return and blew into the inlet and heard air coming out of the compressor and exhaust housing, is this normal or is it leaking oil?

 

[talonstalon]

to u wanna get rid of one of the trannys????

 

[98gst14b]

The other tranny is in a million pieces

 

[talonstalon]

ok just wondering ### mine is stuck in 1st and has a hole in it(last owner didn't know how to drive)

 

[98gst14b]

Can ne1 identify this turbo and verify my "leak test?"

 

[98gst14b]

UPDATE-Its the 2nd day since I registered the car and was legally able to drive it. Engine/tranny is great everything is working properly, I will post some pictures soon

 

[98gst14b]

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[SupremeDsm]

Ewww who murdered the body of the car for the intercooler piping? It looks horrible you should get that fixed before the rust moves onto our front engine rails and starts to eat them away. Just some advice everything else looks good.
Whats up with that 2nd hood scoop? im not meaning to bash on your thread just so you know.

 

[98gst14b]

Ewww who murdered the body of the car for the intercooler piping? It looks horrible you should get that fixed before the rust moves onto our front engine rails and starts to eat them away. Just some advice everything else looks good.
Whats up with that 2nd hood scoop? im not meaning to bash on your thread just so you know.

Both were from prev. owner, I'm still trying to re-do everything in the right way . The front there I'm thinking about just cuting the folds away and re-painting it. As for the hood Im not sure yet...it dosent seem like a practical piece considering it would just scoop water in the rain . I may weld a piece of metal/bondo/paint/etc or just go all out and get another hood.