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pksystems 1997 Eagle Talon TSi AWD street build

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How did you get setup with your own powder coating equipment?

Homemade blasting cabinet with cheap gravity fed gun.
Air dryer, and the biggest air compressor you can run off 110v.

Eastwood after blast to clean the parts after blasting with crushed glass media.

Eastwood Hot Coat powdercoating gun. Most of my powder is from powderbuythepound.

Used extra large natural gas oven converted to propane (it came with the propane orifices). The directions with the hot coat gun state DO NOT use a gas oven, but as long as you aren't shooting the powder into the oven, it is fine.
 
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Started preparing to open up the transmission. The LSD's need to find a new home that isn't in my basement.

This thing was supposedly rebuilt 25,000 Kms ago. If it was, it doesn't look like they cleaned it up at all before they opened it.

The bellhousing was caked with clutch dust, and the entire outside with oily sludge. I didn't want to open it with all that nasty crap on the outside, so I spent a couple hours scrubbing it down with degreaser and rinsing it off. After it looked good enough I dried it off and gave any steel (splines/shifter) a coat of oil. Ready to open.

trans01.jpg

trans02.jpg

I will clean up the rest of the oxidation on the case when I have all the gears pulled out. I am also considering adding some AN fittings to the case for a possible oil cooler at a later date. The passenger side bumper opening is available for a cooler. :)
 
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Opened up the patient. First time I've opened up an transmission. Only issues were the dowels sticking, and I missed one bolt trying to get the center case off. Also, the nuts on the gear sets (called Stake nuts) are 36mm. I figured I had a socket that would fit these in my bin of axle nut sockets. I didn't, so I had to go purchase a new one. These things are HUGE.

trans.jpg

Dirty, but I think he's in good health. Very small amount of metal shavings on the magnet, and no visible damage to any of the gears.

Front, and Center diff both look oem.

Anyone see anything that doesn't look OEM for a 97 Tsi AWD?
 
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Cleaned up center case as good as I could with degreaser and stainless scrubbers/brushes. The filter area near the front differential was packed with loose bits of sealant. I'm not sure if it's from me cleaning it, or one of the previous owners, but I made sure it was all clear. I was going to media blast this section to get rid of all the oxidation, but since I don't want to have to try and clear out that area again, it is good enough. I will be getting some fittings welded to the center section for a transmission cooler. Same size cooler as I'm using for engine oil.

Cleaned up the end cover with degreaser, but didn't hit it with the scrubbers. I will blast this section, and give it a coating of clear powercoat.

Pulled front diff. Wrapped the crown wheel in a rag, and secured it in the bench wise. Removed the 8 bolts securing it to the old diff with a breaker bar.
Tossed the old front diff aside.

Pressed speedo gear and bearings onto the new Quaife diff. Cleaned up all the crown wheel bolts, and whatever that preservative Quaife uses off the mating surfaces. Loosely bolted crown wheel on the new diff. I need to pickup some thread locker before I torque them down.

quaife.jpg
 
Drilled some holes in the center section of my transmission case. Had a friend Tig some new fittings onto the case. Ready for oil cooler.
trans_top.jpg

trans_bot.jpg

Opened up the center diff. As I thought, it is set to maximum hardcore mode. I will re-arrange the clutch packs to something more street friendly.

kaaz.jpg

I've noticed this riveted in mesh filter over the front diff crown wheel isn't in the transmissions of several cars on youtube. Did Mitsu stop using this, or do people remove it?

mesh_filter.jpg
 
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Ordered the most expensive oil I've ever purchased. Kaaz GL-5 80W90 Gear Oil. $131US for 4L shipped. Plus the UPS brokerage (~$45 more)

Disassembled, and degreased the center differential. Then gave it a light coat of oil to keep it from rusting. Whenever the Kaaz gear oil arrives I will coat the clutch friction surfaces. Hopefully I don't need to drive around in figure 8's for 30 minutes, if I give it a good enough coating.

*Edit*

I'm about to close this thing up forever (to install), so I figured I'd put some high res pics of the insides on here incase anyone else finds one of these things and is trying to figure out what it is. It has 966 stamped on the upper casing edge. I haven't found this anywhere on the net. I'm assuming it's a serial#, but I doubt 966 were made.
*Warning* some of these pics are 1MB+

mystery_diff_hires.jpg mystery_diff_clutch_plates.jpg mystery_diff_bottom_washer.jpg mystery_diff_clutch_tolerance.jpg mystery_diff_top_cone_spring.jpg mystery_diff_top_view.jpg mystery_diff_side_view.jpg

Since I've opened it up, I've been in contact with KaazUSA to try and verify if this is one of theirs.

It is not. These things are so rare, there is a couple incorrect posts on the internet that all use the same pictures.

The Kaaz DMB2020 and ATS MCB8210 are basically the same diff. The assembly diagrams are identicle. One of them looks like it has some extra grooves in the center section that isn't on the assembly diagram. I assume this is to help channel more oil into the oil ports. Of course, I might be wrong, it might not be a Kaaz, or an ATS, but I'm running out of diff makers. :)

Here are some of the differences I've found:
Notches on the casing that lock the top and bottom together
The surface of the pressure rings are smooth
Missing washers
Different bottom cone spring
The ATS part# signifies it is a 1.5-way. The Kaaz diagram looks like 1.5-way. My diff is 2-way.
The ATS/Kaaz uses (12) M6 Socket Cap screws. My diff uses (12) M8 Socket Cap screws.
The biggest difference is the clutch plates. They are the wrong size, the grooves are different, and the inner notches are rounded.


I have added some yellow, or arrows to the pictures to point out the differences.

kaaz_diagram.jpg kaaz front diff internals post-89-0-49169700-1428925831.jpg kaaz_plates.jpg zua11035-img600x398-1382451965jvsw7t56073.jpg zua11035-img600x398-138245196407bsoa56073.jpg

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm leaning heavily towards Cusco. It is NOT a Cusco Tarmac, which is an open diff. The Tarmac has a part# of 510 020 A

The Cusco MZ center diff for the CD9A/CE9A is a 2-way clutch type diff. Part # LSD 143 A
I think this is an older version of the MZ. They have since added more clutch packs, and notches on pressure rings/clutch discs for the "oil through system"

The middle picture below shows a similar age Cusco for our cars. Clutch discs look identicle, but the pressure ring has ring grooves. Newer Cusco MZ (below right) pressure ring grooves looks identicle to mine, but has the oil through notches.

cusco_mz.jpg photo 10.jpg LSD_Type_MZ_Breakdown.jpg

Anyway. I haven't heard back from Cusco.jp yet. Maybe they'll tell me it isn't theirs. :)

Could be some even rarer Ralliart, MFactory, DIY (I doubt that)

I'll end this post with some relaxing words from Kaaz.

Power and speed are mans obsession.
We are in ecstatic with the technology.
Trust in our dreams. ;)

kaaz_oil.jpg
 
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Decided to open up the oem center diff to see how it works, while I wait for the last diff bearing.

oem_mitsu_center_diff.jpg

The stock center (open diff) with the viscous coupler removed, you can spin the side gear, and the spiders inside the case will spin. This is with the diff fully bolted together. I didn't put the viscous coupling back on, maybe this will add a bit of locking effect on my bench.

As I've been playing with the center LSD, I've noticed it's pretty much locked sitting on a bench. With the end of the case not even bolted on you can get some wobble in the 4-spider, but you don't actually get any rotation until you lift the side gear partially up. I don't think there is any way the clutch packs are going to move that much, when it's fully bolted together.

My understanding of the stock center diff is unless you get a fair bit of slip front/back, the diff stays open. If you get a large enough difference of wheel spin front/back, the viscous kicks in and starts to lock, sending power to the wheels that aren't slipping. I'm trying to figure out what this center lsd is going to do.

My setup will be as follows. Helical (Quaife) front, clutch pack LSD center, and evo 3 clutch pack LSD rear.

This should be similar to a late model Evo, minus Active yaw control (rear) and the active portion of the center clutch pack they use. Minus ABS/traction control...etc...

I've found this video, and I'm assuming my diff should behave similar:



Am I totally wrong in thinking the center will act opposite the way it did stock?
 
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I couldn't find any tubing the right size in my scrap bin, so I made a bearing install tool for the center diff.

Took the top bearing (that was recently removed) and cut the inner race free. Put a barrel sander on the drill press, and ground the inside larger. The old race is larger then the bearing mounting surface, so it won't get stuck while installing the new bearing. Pulled some large square tubing out of the scrap pile that fits across the wide side of the old inner race.

bearing_tool.jpg

Bearings both installed. Center diff fully assembled. Ready to figure out what shims I need for center, and front diffs.
 
Since this transmission was supposedly rebuilt 25,000kms ago, I was assuming new bearings on the new diffs would be all that was needed. I figured while I'm measuring for new shims for the 2 new diffs, I would make sure that the other bearings were in spec.

I noticed when I was disassembling/cleaning the center case section that there was some wear from the intermediate gear on the aluminum. The steel gear semi-polished part of the aluminum case.

trans_case02.jpg

The center diff had a non-oem spacer, so something was done to the inside of this transmission.

Upon doing the solder crush tests, I knew something was wrong. The measurement for the intermediate shaft was just under 0.08", which is almost twice the size it should be.

If the transmission was rebuilt, the bearings should have been checked. It did not develop this much play in 25k kms.

bearings.jpg

Front and center diff already have new bearings. I picked up the rest of the bearings needed to finish the "rebuild" of this transmission from TMZ Performance (twicks69)

Upon pulling the gear stacks, I noticed some wear on the aluminum case at the bottom of the intermediate shaft.

trans_case.jpg
 
Started pulling bearings. Not too hard. Attach bearing splitter to cage of bearing, and rip it apart. Then put bearing splitter on upper lip of inner race, and pull it off. :) Normally you would pull on the inner race, but there is no room on the intermediate shaft to get a splitter under the lip.

To remove the outer races, I used a heat gun to warm up the aluminum case, and carefully pried them out.

The inner intermediate bearing wasn't falling apart yet, but it had LOTS of play. The tapered rollers all have uniform pitting on them, so I don't know if this transmission had a bunch of metal flowing through it, and then they just tossed the parts back in with the old bearings or what. I will give all the gears a good cleaning before I reassemble everything.

rollers.jpg
 
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New seals, and bearings are all installed. I ended up using all the old inner bearing races as tools to press on the new bearings. You only want to press on the inner races when installing them. One of the input shaft bearings was a non-oem bearing, so some work was done inside this transmission earlier.

gears.jpg

Gear stacks reinstalled. Ready to measure the shims.

trans.jpg

Ordered a new K&N filter, and new seals for the injectors.
 
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Opened up the trans and took some solder crush measurements. Then I redid the solder test again to make sure.

Here's the numbers I got:

Front Diff bearing:................0.04205 AVG..... Shim: MD720940.....0.0362
Input shaft bearing:.............0.0437 AVG...... Shim: MD710457 .....0.0492
Center Diff bearing:..............0.0563 AVG ..... Shim: MD718527.....0.0622
Intermediate Shaft bearing:.0.0359 AVG ..... Shim: MD720957.....0.0421
Output Shaft Bearing:..........0.0487 AVG ...... Shim: MD726169......0.0527

I used TMZ's preload/endplay amounts for a street car with <400 TQ at crank

With the old bearing, the intermediate shaft was approaching 0.08, so it was toast.

While I'm waiting for the shims, I will try to figure out what I'm doing with my exhaust.

Picked up an EVO 3 turbo awhile ago, with exhaust manifold/O2 housing. The manifold isn't an EVO 3, but it does have the large collector. I suspect is from an Evo 1 or 2.

evo_em.jpg

The O2 housing doesn't have an Evo 3 part# on it. I have MD300201 which is 1 digit larger then an Evo 1 or 2 housing. I'm not sure if this is considered an upgrade over a ported 2g O2 housing.

The Evo part is on the right in both these pics. 2g on left. You can see with an evo3 gasket, the turbine side is larger on the Evo part. The 2g wastegate port is actually a bit larger then the evo part. The downpipe outlet is identicle on both. My understanding is the Evo3 outlet is larger.

evo_o2.jpg 2g_o2.jpg

The downpipe angle on the O2 housing is a little bit different. Here is my dilemma. Is it worth it to hack my downpipe and reweld it to match the evo angle, or port my 2G housing? My plan was to bolt the 2G housing onto the downpipe, and make a jig out of scrap tubing. Slice the downpipe and use the jig to make sure it aligns in the same position with the evo housing bolted to it. Weld it back together.

o2_angle.jpg

While I have a jig made, I COULD add a free flowing catalytic converter to the downpipe. I already have the part, I just need some flanges.

Unfortunately our socialist provincial government has gone full enviromental and has decided to tax the hell out of anything that harms mother earth. That means natural gas to heat your home, gasoline in your car, electricity for your home and anything that gets transported by trucks (food). Coal fired powerplants are all being shutdown. I guess we will sell all our coal to China and let them burn it. I don't mind hurting earth if I have to pay extra for nothing. Catalytic converters are not mandatory here. /end political rant.

The car came with an Apexi N1 catback, and some unknown cat-delete downpipe. They are both mild steel except for the stainless muffler. There is a section missing in my picture. :)
I think the downpipe is Apexi, or Punishment racing, but I don't know for sure. If anyone recognizes it, let me know... tks

apexi_catback.jpg downpipe.jpg
 
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Started cleaning up the exhaust manifold/O2 housing. After I gave the Evo manifold a good scrub down, I determined that it has 2 cracks in it.

Options: Attempt to mig weld the Evo manifold with stainless welding wire (found a youtube video where it apparently works) or port out my RVR/2G manifold. The RVR manifold doesn't appear to have any cracks in it, and should have a higher nickel content to help prevent cracking.

RVR ported. The opening is the same size the Evo was with the fire ring. The Evo manifold is prepped to weld. Next time I have stainless wire in my mig I will attempt to weld it for fun.

manifold.jpg

Both O2 housings were crack free. I considered porting the 2g housing, but there is just too much material that needs to be removed to get the same flow as the Evo 2 housing. If I did port the 2g, it would have been paper thin between the turbine/wastegate ports. I did port the edges of the evo housing a bit to match the gasket. Since I am using the Evo housing, I will have to reweld the downpipe to match the new angle.

02.jpg
 
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I need to order some flanges for cat/test pipe, so I figured I might aswell order gaskets, and other small bits I need. Flanges locally are ridiculously priced, so I'll order it all online. Jig for the downpipe modification is done. It is a masterpiece. I should sell it as a work of modern art when I'm done welding the downpipe. :)

dp_jig.jpg

I figured I'd order new gaskets for the throttle body, which I was going to clean up in the next week. When I picked up my Evo 3 intake manifold, the seller said he couldn't find the Evo throttle body, so he gave me a 1G TB instead. Same 60mm opening, so I figured no prob. It's missing the ISC. It's been sitting in my garage on the shelve while I do other stuff for a couple years. Now that I'm looking closer at it, I've noticed it is definitely not a 1G TB. It has a flange for a hose clamp, instead of a flat surface for a throttle body elbow. Closest 1G part I could find is a 1G Non-turbo TB. There are several differences on the 1G NT.

After looking thorugh a bunch of pictures on google, I found out what it is. It is an Evo 1-3 throttle body. I found pictures of an EVO 1 on dsmtuners, and it does use a hose clamp over silicone elbow. I have the punishment racing FMIC/piping kit, which comes with a larger TB elbow. I don't really want to hack the piping I have and use a silicone elbow, so I will probably just look for a 1G TB.

evo_TB.jpg

I've started the search for an engine. I was originally going to pickup a JDM 7-bolt locally, but it appears JDM 7-bolt engines for our cars are getting rare. None of the local places have any instock, and the couple I've checked in Eastern Canada are also out.

I've started looking at used engines. There is a 2.3L 6-bolt engine locally I'm tempted to get. It's a bit less then the JDM engine was going to cost, but the owner isn't totally sure what has been done it. It was built by one of the previous owners. 2.3L sounds nice for street use, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to get it rebuilt. The JDM shops at least give you a 30 day warranty, whereas this 2.3 would be As-is. There is also the issue I would need to modify the engine to bolt into my 2g.
 
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Added a couple more cross braces to the jig, to help account for the flex pipe moving. You can see in the picture how much the angle changes on the Evo2 housing. The side that is making contact will have to move up approximately 1/8". The studs are in the correct alignment. I will make the cut on the gnarly looking welded joint. I don't know if this down-pipe came like that, or if it was chopped/rewelded once already.

chop_chop.jpg
 
Engine has been purchased.

I couldn't pass on a 2.3L 6-bolt stroker.

I haven't looked inside it yet, but here is what it is supposed to have:

2.4 liter crank
Wiseco stroker forged aluminum pistons 2.3l
Eagle rods
Balance shaft delete
Rebuilt head
160 compression on all 4 cylinders

I can't use my Evo intake with this head. I will find a 1G intake, and run the car with that setup. Eventually I will open up the spun bearing 7-bolt head I have, and see if it's useable. If it's salvageable I'll clean it up, rebuild it, and it will eventually go on the 6-bolt block with the Evo intake. This should give me even more low-mid range.

The engine also came with a Jay racing alternator relocater, and a semi chewed up Fidanza lightweight flywheel. The fidanza looks like the pressure plate was overtorqued, and made some indentations in the aluminum.

Anyone think this is still useable with a new friction surface? This is the newer style with the 3 large lips (Instead of the 9 smaller sections). File down the raised area by the arrow, and use a little bit of jbweld in the indented sections? Wetsand it on a piece of glass so all the mount points are flush with the undamaged lip sections? I don't think the balance will be changed much at all. I'm also missing the 3 stepped dowel pins. I will probably just make some.

fidanza.JPG

The for sale ad had pretty small pictures, and it looked like it had a dirty, shaved valve cover in the pics. It actually looks like someone took an angle grinder to it, and went a bit deep in some areas. I might see if I can fill in the low spots with jbweld, and do a proper block sanding/powdercoat it. If not, I will pull the baffles from my 7-bolt cover, clean it out, get the baffles rewelded in, and powercoat it.

The engine also includes a pre-crushed water pipe, so this engine did have a large turbo on it. :)
It's actually a 1G non-turbo pipe, so I'll be looking for a replacement.

The plan is still to use the Evo 3 16G with this engine. It should spool very quickly.

stroker_01.jpg

stroker_02.jpg
 
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Made some intake/exhaust blockoff plates to help keep water/sludge out of the ports. Scrap MDF with neoprene bonded to one side, cut to match the gaskets. Plugged injector holes with silicone powdercoating plugs.

Started degreasing this thing. This is just the first round. I will give it a couple more scrub downs and take the steam cleaner to it. The black paint is still in decent condition. It was probably painted when they did the 2.3 conversion. I will give the block another coat of paint. I am leaning towards grey, so if there is an oil leak it should be obvious where it's coming from.

intake_side.jpg

exhaust_side.jpg
 
Pulled the pulleys, and timing cover. Degreased and steam cleaned the timing side of the engine.

Found a crack in my crank shaft pulley sprocket. I'm assuming that sprocket is garbage? Anyone know if they are interchangeable between 6 and 7 bolt cars? I can pull one from my junk 7-bolt if they are.

cleaning01.jpg

cleaning02.jpg
 
Degreased/steam cleaned the rest of the engine. It's clean enough now that I don't fear chunks falling into the engine when I open it up.

Pulled the oil pan.

I definitely see balance shaft delete, aftermarket (Eagle?) H-beam rods and ARP bolts. I think the crank is OEM. If this in fact a 2.3 stroker, it is a G4CS crank out of a Hyundai, or early Mitsu. I was hoping for a forged aftermarket crank, but this should hold whatever a E3 16g can dish out.

crank.jpg
 
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I like how the car is coming along. Will be following this thread to help with my future purchase
 
Great progress, can't wait to see what else is in store. This thing should rip with that motor/turbo combination.
 
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