Bunch of strong men here.. Go rent a hoist and save yourself a back ache.

Do not buy.

I don't think you read his post, he wasn't asking for your opinions on posted speed limits.

I use Redline Shockproof Heavy in mine. .4 Qts is all you need!

Is the flywheel cover bent or misaligned? This might cause it not to fit flush. Other than that I'm not sure what else would give you hang ups. Do you have the transmission dowels still in place? I always leave my driveshaft in, I hang it up with wire, slide the case on, pop the output shaft in...

I would see if you can smooth it out and then tighten the spring in the seal. This is a shitty situation no doubt.

It will a lot harder on your bearings as well.

Change it.

I'm leaning towards valve seals.

I would argue keeping the Balance Shafts would improve reliability. They do serve a purpose. Replace the belt and dont worry about them.

Don't sell it dude.

Keep up the maintenance, check levels often. Change your timing and balance shaft belt. KEEP THE BS shafts. They were put there a reason.

Let them sit in parts cleaner for a while and try to get the dirt out of the roller bearings, that's all i would worry about.

Bad transmission

The TPS is never meant to be an airtight seal. If you're leaking air from there it will be the shaft seal on that side.I had a real leaky TB shaft seal there once and tried to remedy it by trying to 'seal' with the TPS, i RTV'd and even cut a small rubber gasket to fit the edge of the TPS...

The routing is silly, I would get something else too.

I have only done 2 wheel bearings in my life, both timken parts. 1st one failed, 2nd seems to be ok...

Pony up $600 and take it to a body shop, they will do it right and you will be happier in the end.

Beautiful work, nearly brought a tear to my eye.

It looks a little slack to me, but it is hard to say. I usually measure mine where the manual says to measure it, which is on the hydraulic tensioner side. The measurement of deflection is about 1/4" if I recall...

It just started knocking, or did it knock before you bought it and didn't notice?

What does that thing do??

I would bet bad MAF, try replacing a good one and see how it runs then.

Might have some knock going on, and the ecu pulls timing.

Well all that mean is either you have a poor engine -> frame ground strap, or your spark plugs are not making good enough contact with head to make ground. So check your ground locations and get new plugs too.

If your still having trouble believing this, try driving a DSM with a cracked exh manifold, cracked enough to leak exhaust. You will definitely get poorer mileage due to running rich. I have seen it first hand a couple times, buy a car, terrible mileage, later find out my exh mani is cracked...

Exhaust leaks pre O2 sensor do affect the A/f ratio. Delta 488 Explains it well:"Exhaust leaks can make the sensor read lean or rich depending on the exhaust pressure. Usually lean at idle/low throttle/cruise and rich at higher load/boost. How lean or rich is tough to say but it will certainly...

I would go on ebay and grab some valve guides and SS valves (not oversize) off of enginebldr (think that is his name), then just get a head shop to reassemble everything for you. Probably will be the same cost and less risk as finding some old used head with unknown mileage and issues.

Cable TV is a waste of time and money. We don't have a TV in the house, but enjoy watching lots of good shows... UK Sherlock Holmes, Walking Dead, Weeds.. etc...

Rod bearings are torqued up and the clearance is in spec?

While your down there anyways, why not? Taking the timing cover off anyways..

100% you need another Headgasket and possibly check head for straightness. My guess is that the previous owner blew the headgasket due to a pre existing problem, the HG got repaired and the problem once again blew the gasket for you.So either something in your setup is causing the engine to...

Don't just throw a shim in if your setup was shifting correctly in the first place. You should never need to shim unless something is out of spec in your flywheel or clutch adjustments.I would do a real good clean of the tranny, make sure there are no ripped seals, no ripped cv boots...

I primed mine after it sat for a year while doing a timing belt job, i didnt think get any oil shooting up to the head, I figured it was because the dril couldnt spin it fast enough...I think you're gonna be ok.

I use Prestone/ Tap Water 50/50 good to -40 degree Celcius.. We have great water on tap so I am not worried about mineral buildup...

I wouldn't pay more than $500. But then again it seems people give away DSMs where I live...

All the 4g63 DSM cam gears are the same in respect to the numbers of teeth. The early 2g intake cams gears are different due to the cam position sensor.The adjustable cam gears allow larger cams to be dialed in for greater camshaft timing accuracy. Not something you should be worrying about...

Great work. Your headlights are worth more than most of my DSMs.

I wouldn't bother spending time or money on a block like that. Too risky for me. I would rather get an old tired running block and rebuild.

Lucky? Red was the worst of all the interior colors. I usually saw it in Lasers.

The SAFC 2 is purely a piggy back system, it alters the signals going to ECU in order to 'trick' it into running either richer or leaner. If it is set at 0% it shouldn't affect anything.Before you start messing with it, get a wideband O2 sensor!

Make sure your using the clutch alignment tool that sticks through the clutch splines and into the flywheel hole.

Sounds like one of the balance shaft bearing oil galleries isn't plugged. I had the exact same issue.

I would say your TCU is toast, sounds like its stuck in 3rd which is limp mode. Throw another TCU and see how that works.

Good to know!

Por 15 it!

That might be easy if you weigh 260 lbs and your brother is a chiropractor... For anyone else, use the right tools, turn the front diff up 45 degrees and it pops in.

Look for some Sportlines or H&R springs, both offer a slight drop. As for the struts, regular oem KYB replacements will do the trick. This setup is fairly modest but it is effective, and probably your cheapest route.As for the install it is fairly straight forward. Most part stores will loan...

Use a hoist and go out the top. Remove your hood too. Piece of cake, but double check all your wires are disconnected.

Looks like you did a great job on it, very clean. Not my preference though.