1st time engine rebuild. Please advise!

[Munster000]

Hello all,

I have gone through 3 dsm's (tsi, gsx, rs) and 1 dodge stealth. Currently I do not own a dsm because of financial reasons. I have a garage with all the tools necessary. I have some experience working on dsm's and I enjoy doing it. I have done things like tranny swap, turbo swap, brakes, fuel injectors, intake, electronic wiring (safc), fmic install with 2.5" piping, etc. So I am some what competent.

I plan on buying a dsm in the future and I would like to know how to work on engines. In the meantime I would like to go out and buy a cheap 4g63 engine and attempt to rebuild it. I'm doing this more for hobby reasons (personal interest) than anything else. I don't plan on making it a nice engine, or even working for that matter. I want to become familiar with the parts, components and how it all works. I am looking for advice for a first timer. I'm not looking for info on how to do it....I can find that info by doing a search.

What I am looking for is info like,
1) What to look for in the motor I'm going to buy. Or...where to get it? Maybe junk yard?
2) Should I attempt to actually rebuild it? Or should I just take it apart and put it back together like 20 times?
3) Is there something specific I should do like replace headers first?


I plan on buying a hoist and engine stand for my project.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

[Munster000]

I thought maybe some of you would like to see my garage.


Anybody have ideas for me?

 

[tristanmb81]

table tennis, anyone???

 

[hatch]

First step, make room for DSM...heheh. The table tennis will have to go.

Get a Chilton repair manual, it will come in handy. If you can find a mitsu service manual that would be nice. You can get it free online, but I don't think I'm supposed to talk about that here.

When the oil pump went out on my engine and caused damage, I removed the engine and tore it down to a bare block, but sent the block out to get rebuilt so I have no experience with actually rebuilding the block.

Come up with a system of keeping up with nuts, bolts and other small parts. I used ziplock bags and a sharpy marker to keep all the little bits from a certain area together and wrote on the bag. I used boxes to keep track of the larger stuff. I had that system in place and still managed to lose stuff, made many trips to the hardware store to get more bolts and stuff. So when you get ready for reassemble you might want to go ahead and go get some various size high grade metric bolts just so you will have them just in case.

Anyways this is all simple stuff and you may already know, just throwing it out there. Oh and if you can have someone who can help you or even just look over your work as you're doing it. The reason I say this is because I would get in a hurry and not look at the Chilton manual prior to putting something back together and do something wrong. But usually my dad would come look over it and ask questions and point out stuff. But there were times where I had to take something back apart because there was something that was supposed to go on before it.

 

[Munster000]

ok, thanks for the help. By the way, the ping pong table folds up and goes in the corner out of the way. Haha

 

[97 4G63]

I would try to pick up an engine at a local junk yard try to find an lkq junk yard they get a lot of cars daily if they have one in your area your sure to find a deal from them..
Make sure you pull the head and take a look at the cylinder walls for wear but usally if you find a 4g63 at a junk yard most likely it will have a snapped timing belt and bent valves..

 

[xdxoxuxgx]

There's nothing to it but to do it, the best way to learn is to actually do the work, with the help of a Chilton next to you.

 

[Nofear20]

I wish I could do something like this. No garage, tools, or time to do it though. Maybe someday.

 

[marshall13]

I didn't see a solvent tank anywhere in the pics, but if you go to O'Reilly's and get you a gallon bucket of solvent, it would be helpful so you can better see the condition of parts that you might be able to reuse. If you are like me, a clean build is a happy build.

 

[absolute_DSM]

I think the biggest thing about engine building is the specs. The .001 and .0001 of an inch is what matters.

I would look into learning oil clearances, piston to wall clearances, ring gaps, etc - and why people use what clearances and gaps for HP reasons.

Then look into learning how to use the tools that are needed to build an engine such feeler gauges, ring filer, straight edge, micrometers, bore gauges, honing tools, etc.

Also, learn what sealants are needed where - such as copper spray, RTV, thread lock, Permatex, dialetric grease, etc.

But of course you can never be too prepared, you have to get in and get dirty and just do it. I would suggest getting a JDM engine and rebuilding it. That way you have pretty much all the parts you need to actually throw it in a car, youll just need to rebuild it.

EDIT - Make sure to get in a good with a machine shop also. They have the machines you cant afford to bore, deck, mill, line bore and my favorite, the hot tank. If they laugh at you and dont know anything about a 4 cylinder, move on to the next shop. But you WILL need a machine shop to help out. Especially if you arent good with measuring, they can back you up and make sure you have the right measurements.

 

[turbosax2]

This thread doesn't cover the ENTIRE build, but it is an EXCELLENT source to refer to (along with Chilton's / Mitsubishi manual):

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cyl...6707-project-rely-ability-6-bolt-rebuild.html

 

[eagletalonjohn]

munster, you must not own a dsm. your garage is to clean i didnt see any broken trannys.. strongly recommend moving the ping pong table,or using it to rebuild your motor on it.

 

[Munster000]

munster, you must not own a dsm. your garage is to clean i didnt see any broken trannys.. strongly recommend moving the ping pong table,or using it to rebuild your motor on it.

Yeah, I haven't worked on a dsm in that garage for almost a year now. All my dsm parts are up in the rafters. There is a transfer case sticking up below the miller sign.

By the way, the pong table folds up and moves into the corner (where the orange chair is) in less than 1 minute. I can fit two cars in there no prob.

 

[voodoogsx]

Maybe I'm missing the point here, but in rebuilding the engine 20 times(or even once) without actually testing it, you may learn to rebuild it wrong if learning how to rebuild it was your goal. You would never know since you never tested it. I would be curious if all of the measuring actually had any effect, good or bad.. Even with the chiltons manual, you could do something wrong and keep repeating it without actually testing it to make sure it works. I think it's safe to say that we've all done some silly things even in doing the simplest tasks....at least after reading this current thread in the forums.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/han...g-youve-ever-done-while-working-your-car.html

Me personally, after working on something of this magnitude, spending hours, days, or weeks , I'd be dying to know if I did it right.... heheh but thats just me.

 

[Munster000]

so I should test it after I'm done. Okay, good point.