4g63Powered
10+ Year Contributor
- 316
- 5
- Jun 17, 2008
-
Bel Air,
Maryland
So, to pick up where the last blog left off, I have a GSX shell and a boat load of drive train parts scattered across my parents' garage and basement. The engine is on a stand, the transmission in a corner, the exhaust and turbo laying in the basement, and the new baby patiently awaiting it all.
So, where to start? Well, I took one look at the engine all alone on the stand, and being a self-respecting DSM'er, had to fiddle with it. The summer of 2005 saw the pistons and rods replaced with units from Wiseco and Crower, respectively, yet the head remained defiantly stock, save for new valve stem seals.
That was simply unacceptable. So a couple of days of hawking the classifieds and some (im)patient waiting yielded not one, but TWO packages waiting for me! Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the 'boring' box, but you bet your butt that I took pictures of the fun one.
What could it be?
FP2's, son!
(The boring box was 16ea. revised 3g lifters)
The cams and lifters blew the DSM budget for about a month and a half, so I had to look at the box sitting in my apartment anxiously waiting for the chance to install them. Once the budget was replenished, I got all the timing parts needed to complete the install, plus a swanky new cover to replace the busted stocker. (The tensioner and pulleys were all younger than 15k miles and checked out ok prior to re-installation.)
Needless to say, I couldn't wait to make the trip back to Pennsylvania and slap those babies in! Finally the stars aligned, and I scored a 5 day weekend over Veteran's Day, so I had more than enough time. Off I went.
Naturally, the fun started with the cams and the lifters. I didn't snap any pictures of the lifter install, but come on, that would have been quite the boring picture. Here's a couple shots after the intake cam was installed.
Next up was the timing. This was my first t-belt job, and let me just say I was very gracious that the engine was out of the car. The grudge is from a failed cam seal that was oiling down the engine for a good 6k miles before I pinpointed the problem.
Now all that was left was to button up the engine and slap on that shiny new timing cover. Follow that up with some pulleys and we're just about done with the weekend's task.
After calling it a night, I retired to watch some college football (this work was all done late Friday and throughout Saturday). Sunday's a day of rest, but how hard could it be to drop in an engine?
Well, all those proverbs about not counting your chickens until they're hatched are proverbs for a very good reason. The fact that there was no rear engine mount on the chassis had escaped my attention until this point. Needless to say that was more than a small issue. Luckily, a couple hours later I was back on track thanks to a local DSM'er. Slapped the heart into the Eclipse it was all over but the crying.
Tune in next time for "When was the last time this thing was cleaned OR Why I love Simple Green."
So, where to start? Well, I took one look at the engine all alone on the stand, and being a self-respecting DSM'er, had to fiddle with it. The summer of 2005 saw the pistons and rods replaced with units from Wiseco and Crower, respectively, yet the head remained defiantly stock, save for new valve stem seals.
That was simply unacceptable. So a couple of days of hawking the classifieds and some (im)patient waiting yielded not one, but TWO packages waiting for me! Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the 'boring' box, but you bet your butt that I took pictures of the fun one.
What could it be?
FP2's, son!
(The boring box was 16ea. revised 3g lifters)
The cams and lifters blew the DSM budget for about a month and a half, so I had to look at the box sitting in my apartment anxiously waiting for the chance to install them. Once the budget was replenished, I got all the timing parts needed to complete the install, plus a swanky new cover to replace the busted stocker. (The tensioner and pulleys were all younger than 15k miles and checked out ok prior to re-installation.)
Needless to say, I couldn't wait to make the trip back to Pennsylvania and slap those babies in! Finally the stars aligned, and I scored a 5 day weekend over Veteran's Day, so I had more than enough time. Off I went.
Naturally, the fun started with the cams and the lifters. I didn't snap any pictures of the lifter install, but come on, that would have been quite the boring picture. Here's a couple shots after the intake cam was installed.
Next up was the timing. This was my first t-belt job, and let me just say I was very gracious that the engine was out of the car. The grudge is from a failed cam seal that was oiling down the engine for a good 6k miles before I pinpointed the problem.
Now all that was left was to button up the engine and slap on that shiny new timing cover. Follow that up with some pulleys and we're just about done with the weekend's task.
After calling it a night, I retired to watch some college football (this work was all done late Friday and throughout Saturday). Sunday's a day of rest, but how hard could it be to drop in an engine?
Well, all those proverbs about not counting your chickens until they're hatched are proverbs for a very good reason. The fact that there was no rear engine mount on the chassis had escaped my attention until this point. Needless to say that was more than a small issue. Luckily, a couple hours later I was back on track thanks to a local DSM'er. Slapped the heart into the Eclipse it was all over but the crying.
Tune in next time for "When was the last time this thing was cleaned OR Why I love Simple Green."
