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"Lucky" Sevens Talon

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Hope those 2g N/A pistons will hold up to the boost!!!
 
Hope those 2g N/A pistons will hold up to the boost!!!
That was my initial hope too. The reason why I put those ones in is because I could not find turbo ones anywhere around me and I didn't have the time or money for ordering from the States. I'm running it on the highest octane possible to reduce knock but so far its running alright. I have a feeling that its pulling timing though.
 
Haven't updated this much since I'm still mostly working on getting the car into good shape (i.e fixing stuff), but today was a very good day so I thought I'd share.

First and foremost I wouldn't have been able to do it without Bobby(ec17pse)'s help, so many thanks to him!

We finally did a boost leak test on the Talon and of course, it was leaking BAD. Many tiny cracks along the stock plastic upper intercooler pipe, as well as the usual BISS screw and I hadn't properly closed off the 3 vacuum ports on the intake. Luckily, Bobby had a spare 2G intercooler pipe, and his was in good condition.

I've circled some of the spots that mine had cracks in, so it's a good place to check if you're having similar issues.

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The system seems quite stable now at 0.8-0.9 bar (11.5-13psi). Before, the boost was barely hanging onto 7 psi of boost, so this new addition of air (that should have always been there!) is very welcome. Definitely noticeable. I still feel my TPS might be off, so that's next on the list to adjust and fix!

So, conclusion? BOOST LEAK TESTS!!! LOL
 
I've already done a few repairs during last Summer, but hadn't made this build journal yet. So I figured I'd add some pics of what I have already done. PLEASE UNDERSTAND that I got this car in very bad shape, with a lot of missing/screwed up parts. I was doing this in Bulgaria (my home country) and parts, even used, were very rare. Luckily I had a friend of mine help out a lot with some of his old parts from his DSMs. Basically I was just trying to fix it and make it run. In the long-run, everything will be replaced with brand new/refurbished parts!

One of the most ghetto things I've probably done was the EGR delete. I will let the pictures tell the tale:

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Painted it black because I'm obsessed with painting things black.

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It was a late Sunday evening and the only flat piece of metal I could find was a $1 butchers knife from a shady street shop.

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Didn't turn out that bad; I also got a strange new addiction to RTV'ing the shit out of everything (which I learned is not a good habit!).

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EGR, battery bracket and TB elbow all painted satin black.
 
Small but good progress today, mostly some engine bay management and troubleshooting. Many thanks to 'ec17pse' for helping out and supplying some of his old parts. This build is currently pretty much possible because of hand-me-downs as DSM parts are very rare around here.

Took out the factory charcoal canister and evap canisters to open up some more room and they generally weren't needed or used. Put in a smaller sized battery so I can put the original cruise control module back on (previous battery was too big!). Tightened up the accessory belts, replaced some vacuum hoses with red ones to spice it up a bit and checked the stock T25 turbo for shaft play, which it definitely has:

Also noticed that the clutch slave cylinder is in fact leaking around the piston, so I'll be swapping in a new slave soon. Oddly enough the clutch fork seems to sit dead center in the fork hole.

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Finally replaced the original Infinity head unit with an aftermarket one (paired with some Alpine speakers, the sound is way better now!). Unfortunately that left a big opening under it, and I was wondering where to place my boost gauge, so I made a simple panel out of acrylic and it dropped right in. Will probably put more gauges there in the future, I think it looks cleaner than having an A-pillar pod, but the drawback is that it's sort of away from your view.

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Replaced the broken fuel pump retainer cap. Not quite sure but based on these zipties and the sound it makes, I'd guesstimate it's some sort of aftermarket pump. You can sort of hear the whine in the video.

 

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Got a new Harmonic Balancer fitted to the car as well as polyurethane mounts for the engine (except the trans side). No more excessive engine movement in the bay, yay. Also in the process of putting a new muffler on the back so currently driving it without any. Here's a quick video showing all of this.



Additionally, I used to have a very weird low-frequency noise and vibration when shifting into 4th at a lower RPM. After installing the new Harmonic Balancer, this completely disappeared. So harmonic vibrations are definitely something to consider when modifying a car.
 
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Got the new exhaust cannon welded in today (2 friends helped with the welding). Could have adjusted it a bit more to point towards the center but the already existing inlet pipe was at a shitty angle. Either way, it's sounds just right; not too loud, not too quiet. A good deep rumble that's just begging for some 272s and a turbo whistle!

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Been awhile since I've updated this but I had graduation in-between as well as a race event with my team. Long story short, the car made it across Europe again and is back home now. It runs and boosts fine for the most part. Biggest issues at hand currently are the degrading paint and possibly looking to swap with a fresh stock 7 bolt and start building that up as mine is on its last breaths.

Got a set of Enkeis, not only for the looks but also so I can have the extra clearance and install some GTO front 4-pot calipers and the big 313mm discs. I've only test fitted them so far, only need to go and have the adapter bracket cut. Here's a pic of how it would look like:
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I rebuilt the turbo as well (first time doing it was a huge PITA if you don't have all the proper tools!). I did fix the axial play, however I did not manage to fix the odd sound that I originally thought was from the turbo impeller hitting the housing. Still, a good learning experience and it's good as new now!

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Recently I've slowly started to restore some rusty bits and pieces like bumper brackets, solenoid plates and some plastics. Sanded everything down first, maybe I went overkill but I did 100-360-800-1000 grit on all parts pretty much. Then applied primer and painted gloss black. Wish I had access to a sand blaster... Also straightened the fins on the radiator/intercooler and cleaned them thoroughly before spraying them as well. Looks better and gives a bit more protection.

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Additionally, I still have that odd issue with the clutch system, where often when I press the clutch pedal, it sink to the floor, making my engagement point right off the floor. Then it fixes itself on the second push. I had already replaced the slave cyl. with a brand new one but that didn't fix it. So I thought it may be from the M/C or the lines between both cylinders. So I cleaned the M/C thoroughly and it seemed in great shape (car is low miles anyway). A friend gave me his old reinforced clutch line which connects both master/slave cylinders and bypasses the accumulator entirely. The clutch feels better when shifting but the issue of the pedal sinking is still there. Not really sure what it could be, maybe I need to bleed it more? Or maybe because my flywheel was stepped too low? I don't know, but I'm really hating this clutch as I mainly do city driving and it's pure hell. Wish I could get my hands on an auto tranny right now...

Anyway here's a pic of the clutch system setup as of now:
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And lastly a few more pics of the refreshed engine bay:

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For comparison, here's a picture of the engine bay when I first bought the car. I'm quite proud of how far we've come with this car over a year.

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A few other bits need painting such as the Cruise Control, Brake fluid reservoir bracket and possibly polishing or painting the throttle body and intake manifold, but really can't get myself to do those right now. Need to start saving up for a full repaint (torn between the stock black or something tan/beige, for some reason I think it would look great). And of course, a new engine needs to go in...
 
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Big brakes are on! Not sure why it took me so long to get the brackets made as it literally took 1 day to source the material and have them cut out. Well, then another 2 and a half days of battling with stupid flared nut fittings but oh well. I designed my own mounting bracket for the calipers. It's also a cheaper alternative to run these 3kGT brake calipers with a custom bracket than to go for a Galant knuckle with big Brembos. Anyway, always nice to have some custom things on the car, right?

Alongside the caliper brackets, 4 spacers needed to be made so the caliper sits evenly on the disc. New brake lines needed to be made as well, which go from where the hard line ends inside the wheel well, all the way to the caliper with an inverted flare fitting (stock 2Gs use banjo bolts, hence the need for new lines). In the pictures it may seem the fitting is not fully all the way in, but in fact it is and is sealing properly against the inside flare. Also had to make some new sliding pins for the brake pads, as the calipers came without (that's what you get when buying sight unseen from Ebay, LOL). Also as I previously mentioned, I managed to find some EVO 8 Enkei wheels which have just enough offset to allow the installation of these brakes, so keep that in mind if you want to do this swap. A minimum of +38mm offset on an 8" wide wheel is needed. There is about 5mm distance between the back of the wheel spoke and the front of the lettering on the caliper, which is almost too close for comfort. Also a 17" wheel is a minimum as well, otherwise it wont clear the caliper again.

But all in all, the swap consisted of the following parts, and it cost me the following amounts:

1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO 4 piston front brake calipers - $106
Brake pads - $26
Brake discs - $140
Brake fluid - $5
Material for bracket - $5
Fee for brackets to be cut - $24
4x M12x1.25 bolts + crush washers - $2

Total, about $300 (excluding wheels), which I think is not too bad for a nice big brake upgrade. Considering you can sell the old discs and brake calipers for possibly 2/3s of the price, you can invest into getting some better discs or even calipers for the rear as well. It's also a good idea to get a better brake pump (from a 3G for example), but that will come down the line.

Now, on with the pictures!

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Still in the process of repairing things, I'm sure I'll actually start the 'upgrades' at some point, but for now, the most important thing is keeping the Talon road worthy and in tip-top shape.

Possibly the biggest fix I had to do (which was simple enough but a HUGE pain because of the way I did it), was the fuel tank. Every time I filled up to the max, gas would spill. Every time I launched, it would spill. I could smell strong fumes all the time, which didn't really bother me that much but all my friends and family were always complaining. But most importantly, I was getting much worse mileage because of all the spills and the fuel was literally evaporating much quicker. Turns out, a whole rubber hose was eaten off and missing (damn raccoons), as well as the little plastic elbow was chewed. Luckily I managed to glue it back up with a normal soldering iron which worked out perfectly. Unfortunately I couldn't source OEM hoses so I replaced everything I could with new standard hoses. There's a bad kink at the filler neck hose, but hopefully I can find the proper OEM hose in the future. Also painted whatever I could just for extra measure and longevity.

Lastly, I did this all with just two short jack stands and a shitty jack. I did not want to drop the whole rear subframe, hence why it was a major pain to get the tank off and especially back on. It's definitely doable, but be prepared to curse a lot, also a friend pushing/pulling helps tremendously. Or, do like normal people... drop the damn subframe! Enough words, here's some pictures.

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Well, the time has come. She's done ~12,000 miles since I've owned the car and since the engine rebuild. I can proudly say that during that time and miles, the car held up great and didn't throw any unexpected problems. In the meanwhile I had to fix old issues such as the fuel tank and boost leak, but that was taken care of. It was an issue even before I owned the car.

But the time has come to up the power, to an extent at least. ~220 hp in AWD form is really fun and around town is probably enough, but it's a DSM... IT NEEDS MORE! :hellyeah:
I'm on a tight budget, however, and there isn't a set deadline for when the upgrade will be done. Maybe by end of December, maybe by April... I'm not sure but I don't mind. I have plenty of time to do things.

In short, the upgrade will mainly consist of EVO 7 rods and pistons, as well as an EVO 3 TD05H 16G turbocharger. I've already ordered those and waiting for them to arrive (huge thanks to Bobby - ec17pse for helping with shipping!), and the remaining funds I have will probably go for gaskets and piston rings/conrod bearings. A bit difficult finding those here, so I'll see what I can come up with.

Thus, I wont have the opportunity to get DSMlink or an EPROM ECU at this time. I will run the 16G at wastegate pressure, with the stock 2G MAF, ECU and 450cc injectors. I believe my fuel pump is a 190lph unit, so that should be okay for now. Later on when I finally get DSMlink and a wideband O2, I will be able to start tuning and optimizing the settings and going for more power.

I started pulling the motor apart. Valves look a bit rough but I managed to clean most of the carbon off them as well as the head. A razor and some scotch brite pads was all it needed, then some degreaser and a thorough rinsing to get all the pad fibers out of the passages. I'll be giving the block the same treatment tomorrow, after pulling the conrods and pistons.

Here's some pictures!
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Work on the head continues! Done with lifter cleaning. Nothing a bit of diesel, gasoline and rags can't deal with. Oddly I found 1G lifters in my 2G head, at least I presume so because they have the smallest pinhole exit on the heads. Wish I had a diamond-tipped drill to do the Kelvin Williams lifter mod. Maybe next time. Up next is finishing cleaning the valves and doing the small oil port mod.
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In the meanwhile, got the rear brake upgrade done. Essentially it's the same as the early 1995 2G big rear ventilated discs, 284mm diameter and 20mm thick. But I got the caliper off an 8th gen Galant VR-4, and some new Blue Print discs and pads, to match the front setup. A bit of stencil work and even the lettering looks right. It's a complete bolt-on job and definitely a worthy upgrade if you don't care too much about increasing unsprung rotating mass, haha.

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Alright, so shortly after pulling the head and engine, I noticed excessive crank axial play. The cylinder walls were scored, the bearings all toast and the journal surfaces were way worse than I imagined, after having the crank cut and polished 12k miles ago. It was too much of a risk to keep using this block and crank, so I junked it and started looking for a new one. Finally found one, it was from a 1996 Eclipse GS N/A Euro version. The seller recently imported it and is parting it out. He even sent me a video of starting it up cold and frankly the car sounded fine.

I got the block and crank only from him. Started inspecting it today and I'm really surprised. Turns out the N/A EU 4G63 blocks also have oil squirters! Same ones as the turbo blocks. I always thought these wouldn't have squirters since they aren't using turbo pistons, when in fact N/A pistons have a much thicker crown so theoretically they should be stronger and not fatigue as much to thermal wear. Either way, I don't mind the squirters; will be running no balance shafts so it's a good way to drop off some of the increased oil pressure.

On first glance, it looks like this engine has never been apart and I think the journals look fairly good. All of them pass the fingernail scratch test. There's some discoloration on the main journal and I haven't measured diameters yet but I feel this block will be the one. The cylinder honing can also be seen quite well with some minimal piston thrust wear. Hopefully I can begin assembly later this month! Here's a few pics:

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Damn, I work so slow... It's my first time doing all this so I guess there's no point in rushing, but there's also a limit on how much I can do based on the space/tool/budget constraint. Previously I tried lapping the valves with the handle but they all leaked. I don't know if I did it wrong, if I didn't do it long enough, if the valves or guides were the issue etc... They didn't look too good anyway. A friend gave me a set of 1G N/A valves for me to try and lap them. I believe they are OEM; however the intakes are stamped with 6Ts, whereas most other valves I've seen are just 6T. Not sure what the small s stands for. Anyway, I took it a bit more seriously, lapped them all with the drill + suction cup and moderate pressure. Some of the valve seats were pitted so I had to apply more pressure. First pass on low speed, second pass was a finishing pass at higher speed using fine lapping compound. Should be good (will still do a final leakdown test after installing springs).

Also finally got to properly clean the block and head. Some long brushes and an hour at the car wash with a few coins. All the rust, dirt, oil and scotch brite particles came right off. Luckily we went past a shop where a friend works and they were all sitting idly, so they let me use the air gun to blow the parts out of any water. I mention things like this, because it's important to always give credit to those who help you out, no matter how big or small. Be it advice, free parts, tools, or even just helping me put the block in the car and driving it to the car wash. Help is always greatly appreciated!

Additionally, I couldn't find anyone to lend me an engine stand, so I bought one. Really didn't want to spend any more money on tools I'd only use once, but it was necessary. Assembled it earlier today but I couldn't find any long enough bolts to mount the block to it, so first thing tomorrow I'm gonna go grab some and put the block on the stand. I will then mount the oil pan temporarily and paint them both with some high-temp paint. Not looking for a pretty result, just want to give them a bit more protection against rust and whatnot. Otherwise I believe I have everything else to finally assemble the damn thing. I have no idea how we're gonna take it off the stand and drop it in the bay since I don't have an engine hoist, but that's a problem for another day.

Lastly, I left the turbo and manifold with a guy with a mill machine who said he'll see if he can port the openings to 7cm and remove the little step for the ring. I ain't got the right power tools or drill bits to do it by hand. Again, proper polishing will be done later down the line. Speaking of which, the work I did on the head is amateur and not the prettiest, I admit. However I'm sure it will still be a slight performance boost. With what I had, I managed to get rid of most of the casting lines inside the intake/exhaust runners, and smooth it out just a tad. I also tried polishing the combustion chambers with wet sand paper. Didn't turn out too bad. We learn as we go... ON WITH THE PICTURES!

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Work continues. Just a few pics for now, tons more to follow soon. I realize there's nothing really interesting or new that I'm doing, however this is also sort of a personal journal for myself so I can go back and see the changes done over time, and use it for reference. It's also a good way to compile related photos to the car and build. Who knows, maybe later on in the future I'll be doing some new and bold things, I've always wanted to do a supercharged+turbocharged setup on a 2.4 stroker LOL...

I went to the machinist to see how work was going on the porting. Spent all day at his shop and I think he did a fine job. He didn't have a lot of tools so he did as much as he could on the machine, the rest I finished off at home. It all turned out fairly well. Again, the main goal was to mostly get rid of the ring step and port the openings a bit more. We noticed that porting to 7cm would be way too much and not leave a lot of meat on the sides, so we left it at 65cm. 7 is overkill anyway. Full polishing was not my goal, so I just smoothed the entry ports. They have all been painted with high temp paint (as well as the block), and are currently drying. Pictures of those later on!

Also got a small plug to close off the high pressure stock T25 feed from the oil filter housing. The fitting itself is flared but with some thread locker it should seal nicely. Afterwards I did the exact same thing to the new front oil case that the previous owner had done. He got a simple plug machined and RTV'd it in place of the front balancer sprocket. It never leaked so I figured I'd do the same. Had some leftover gasket material and cut 3 small gaskets for the pickup and return line on the turbo. I've done this before and it worked, even tho they ain't real pretty.

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Even tho they didn't get sand blasted, old parts with fresh paint always look good in my book! Added heat/corrosion protection too. Also, what do you do when you can't find OEM gaskets anywhere? Why, you go to your local Armenian professional gasket maker of course!
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Slowly but surely, we're gettin' there! Shortblock almost fully assembled. Just waiting on the rear crank seal and I can put the freshly painted oilpan on and seal that baby up. Head is ready to go, too. Thoroughly cleaned 1G lifters, some cams which I believe are not from a DSM head, also 1G valves (6Ts). Will be mating the head to the block with an Ajusa headgasket, the reinforced type which I was told holds up great to plenty of power. Additionally I ditched the EGR valve completely and went ahead and had a new block off plate cut out. Turned out pretty nice, with a bit of sandpaper polishing too and some nice countersunk allen head bolts. Plan is to have the engine in the bay by the end of this month. LET'S GOOOOO! :hellyeah::laser::talon:
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Well, long block is more or less assembled, it was fun. It's ready to be 'tossed' into the engine bay. Really wish I had a darn engine hoist right now. Gotta wait for this weekend when I get some friends over so we can take it from my little work area to the car (like 10 yards away...). It's not in the picture but I also got the intake manifold on since that would be a pain to mount while on the car. The exhaust manifold and turbo will be mounted afterwards, they are easier anyway, so less weight while carrying.

In another thread I mentioned I wont paint my water pipe, but I had some leftover spray so I just sprayed it, why not. Got some reflective tape on it too, I think it's aluminium or maybe silver. Not sure. And modifying/repairing the 6 bolt timing cover was a success! My 2G cover was literally just 1 small piece, it was unusable and not protecting anything. I had this 6 bolt cover lying around; used a soldering iron to glue it back together, The only real mod you actually need to do to make it fit a full 7 bolt (block, head and mount) is to cut the center hole slightly towards the left to have clearance for the mount, as well as trim very little from the lower inside part of the cover, it rubs against the top right bolt on the oil filter housing. We're talking trimming around 1/4 inch or so.

All the other bolt holes line up the same, besides the center one on the water pump (pictured lower down). It's not a problem, the other 9 bolts hold it nice and snug. Oh, there's two downsides to running a 6 bolt cover in a 7 bolt engine. You HAVE to take off the two timing mount studs in order to install it, so that might be a nuisance for you. And the second part is that there's still a slight gap between the bottom part of the cover and where it meets up against the oil pan/pump. It's not huge, but it's still a gap. Should you mod and use a 6 bolt cover in a 7 bolt? No, not if you have easy access to 7 bolt 3 piece covers (or the hyundai ones). Personally I don't, and it's the best I could do. I even sprayed the damn thing to get it a bit nicer.

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Last set of updates and photos before this weekend's engine drop (not literally, please for crying out loud may we NOT drop the engine...) LOL. Had the stock 16G outlet cut, turned 90 degrees and welded back on. Some high temp paint on it just in case, ready to be coupled to the intercooler piping. I'm still unsure whether to run 2" from turbo to intercooler, and then 2.5" to TB, or do 2.5" all the way across. Speaking of which, got an intercooler today. I wanted a 3.5" core, but rather compact since the Talon bumper/opening is wider but shorter, whereas the Eclipse bumpers are taller but narrower. Guy said he ran it up to 430 crank HP, so it should be fine for my 16G goals.

Engine is literally ready and waiting. Not putting anything else on it to decrease weight while we carry it over. Oh, got a very sleek solution to the lack of boost source on the Evo 16G. There was a write up here about how to do it, but I chose a slightly different and easier method. Essentially you drill out one of the existing holes (an M6 tapped hole facing the front of the turbo, where the coolant line bolts on), and thread in a boost nipple/fitting. In most cases, the smallest barbed fitting possible is a 1/8" NPT, which requires drilling the hole bigger and tapping it. However, what I did was buy a simple 2-way barbed fitting, 3mm opening, and it had a center section which was just 6mm. So you just run an M6 die around it, make the threads, then cut off the other end. Thread it in with some sealant, either thread locker, teflon or resin glue. It looks like a factory fitting! Also, side note, but on the stock 2G intake snorkel, if you take off the rubber ring on the end, the thing fits perfectly over the 16G inlet. I'm pretty sure Mitsu engineers were well aware that these swaps would happen constantly, LOL.
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FIIIIINALLY! She's got a heart:hellyeah::rocks::D! Block and trans went in by the end of Saturday, and today (Sunday) I finished mounting front and rear mounts, starter, axles, various cables and plugs. We're almost there. From tomorrow I'll have about 6 days to get all the intercooler piping made, mount the cooler, connect it all, pressure/boost test it and do the engine break in procedure, I've read a lot of people here swear by this one http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm. It makes sense, I like it.

Anyway, 3 of us managed to lift the engine (without trans) from the stand and carry it over to the car. Kinda heavy but doable. Then the same 3 of us (with a 4th person guiding the engine) managed to drop it in the bay. The driver side mount acted as an anchor, and I had some wooden blocks underneath the pan to keep it steady. THIS IS WHERE I RANT ABOUT HOW STUPID IT IS TO LEAVE ALL 3 MOUNTS ON THE TRANS SIDE........

It took the rest of the day and 6 guys in total, a huge metal bar, a few old timing belts and a strap to manhandle the damn trans in place. I'm just SO grateful that all the lads showed up (2 were passing by but stayed 'till the end) and we managed to get it all in. Couldn't have done it any other way. I also decided to clean up some little rusty spots and spray it while the engine was out. Little bit of protection never hurt.

Oh, two last things before I dump a load of pictures. Some might know this, but when taking out the trans, you don't need to completely unbolt the front drive axles from the hubs. It's much easier to unbolt the front control arm, unbolt the middle bolt on the lower later arm (that connects the shock fork to it), and both tie rods. This way, you can angle the wheel/knuckle outward enough so that both axles can be taken out of the center diff splines. And the other thing, on the last picture, you'll see two corrugated wire tubes. The big one on the bottom sits there as a factory location. The one above it actually sits in front of the frame, below the power steering cooling lines. I saw that there's enough space for both sets of wire harnesses to go in the slot, so I tucked it underneath. Much cleaner and more protected this way. Also leaves more room for a FMIC.

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What a ride. Right at the final steps things started to go wrong but we pulled through! Video of the first startup right here:

The only problem with the start up was that when I swapped in the EVO 9 pump (huge thanks to my friend from Serbia for donating it to me :D), I had switched the + and - wires. So I wasn't getting any fuel at all. Quickly fixed that and she started right up!! No knocking, no ticking, no grinding and most importantly no leaks. I double checked everything after the first 30ish miles, following the (http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm) break-in guide. I did some steady accelerations and deceleration but kept an eye on the boost level. It wanted to go over 1 bar of boost (+14.7psi) because I was running no downpipe for that time. Later in the day I went and had the stock 2" downpipe modified to fit the 16G housing, so I need to do more boosting tests to see if the boost creep will be controlled now.

I did an oil and filter change after the first 30 miles and I've attached pictures of how it looked. I'm not sure if there's anything wrong but it looks weird. Almost as if there's 2 types of liquids mixed together? I was worried it might be mixing coolant in the oil, possibly at the oil filter center bolt. But I made sure to loctite it and tighten it well. Also you can see some fine gold-ish particles, but they weren't that many.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure I've got 1 or more boost leaks. I designed the charge piping to have as little couplers as possible. In total I've got 1 90 degree reducer coupler from the 16G outlet to the first 2.5" pipe, then a straight coupler on both ends of the intercooler, and then one last straight coupler right at the throttle body elbow. Also potentially there could be a leak at both the BOV flange gasket and the turbo outlet one. I need to do a full boost leak test to confirm this.

Car also needs an alignment after replacing both tie rod ends and I still need to paint the charge pipes black and tidy up the front a bit. I modified the stock ducting/shroud to fit and channel air better from the intercooler to the radiator. But for now, she started up with no real problems. I'm super mega happy. More testing needs to be done to be sure, though.

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