1SIC1Gb
10+ Year Contributor
- 354
- 73
- Jun 25, 2012
-
Houston,
Texas
The car was in Michigan so I had the seller drop it off at a friends house in Chicago, then I took a uhaul trailer and went to get it. Moral of this story, never buy a car that you havent personally looked over. I made the mistake of taking the guys word for it and the pictures looked decent so I went for it. The problem is being from Houston, there just arent many AWD dsm's around let alone an Auto AWD so i had to look elsewhere.
As far as goals for the build, I will be using it only for 1/4 mile and occasionally going to a few meets but not daily driving the car at all. Every year i will be attending TX2k just outside Houston and having a good time. I have a limited budget for the car so its going to be a long build up. Heres some pictures of the car when i got it and started the tear down.
Some more
Now onto some upgrades. Got rid of those terrible bent steel wheels and got some FD RX7 wheels with new Falken Ziex 612's. Really made it a new car to drive. Also fixed about 10 oil leaks . Took the bumpers off and cleaned everthing up. Removed the crash bars and about 30 lbs of sand from the rear bumper!!!
At this point, I got DSM Link V3 and got the ECU socketed for the Eprom Chip to be installed. Tried tuning a bit but as we increased the boost past 13psi, we noticed the dipstick popping out and blowing oil everywhere. Then I did a leakdown test and noticed all kinds of air going past all the rings and jumping between cylinders. I decided to just try to find another longblock with this being a drag car, it would be nice to have 2 engines, one to build and one to run!
Amazingly i found a 6 bolt complete longblock just down the street at a junkyard for $300.00 !! Score!
For the Junkard Longblock, I decided to do minimal work on it. The only non bolt on thing I did was ARP headstuds.
Bought an 8 blade HX35 Setup on here with a BEP .55 a/r housing, FP Manifold, Punishment recirc. o2 housing and Tial 38mm MVS W/G. Bought the oil feed and return lines and fittiings from ExtremePSI.
Also all new timing components with a gates racing belt. Did the balance shaft elimination while we were there. Reused front cover and oil pump with new gaskets.
Got a megan downpipe and custom made a 3" bolt on dump for it.
Picked up a VRSF FMIC, nice product very happy for the price!
Also dropped in (not exactly) a 450LPH Walbro E85 Fuel pump. Also got some FIC 1050's. Fuel Lab fuel filter and filter to rail line, also Fuel Lab AFPR and rail to regulator line.
Just before the swap, i noticed the trans acting up so i got one off here shipped to me. That way i have a spare engine, trans, and transfercase for future issues!
Kiggly mod'd the trans and WOW! What a difference! Shifts like a dream!
Finally got everything together about a week before TX2k13 and to the shop to get tuned! Wasnt overly impressed with the dyno numbers. 327whp and 399.8 wtq but the car felt great!
Went to the event, had a great time! Couldnt spool it much off the line because the track wouldnt hold it, so my 60' times were 1.9-2.1. Still was able to pull off a 11.75@116. I was very happy.
Suspension and brakes coming soon. The car pulls great but its a little scary with the crappy suspension and brakes. It really needs more top end power so cams and an intake manifold will be coming this year if its in the budget.
Cant wait for TX2k14. Should be fun!
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