Showcar Build 95 Eclipse RS turbo show car build

[jesse12345]

This is what was on there. Definitely new to me ill check out the end play.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Well, you can definitely rule out damper separation at least. That has no rubber element.

It's probably been a while since anyone saw one of those. They were popular 2 decades ago. I'm not sure when production ended but at least a decade ago.

The crankshaft is a larger diameter at the seal race. That's what holds the sprocket in place, sandwiched between the damper/pulley and the flared race. If your crank is walking towards the transmission, it will cause contact with the oil pump.

 

[jesse12345]

Well, you can definitely rule out damper separation at least. That has no rubber element.

It's probably been a while since anyone saw one of those. They were popular 2 decades ago. I'm not sure when production ended but at least a decade ago.

The crankshaft is a larger diameter at the seal race. That's what holds the sprocket in place, sandwiched between the damper/pulley and the flared race. If your crank is walking towards the transmission, it will cause contact with the oil pump.

View attachment 743928

So ill probably want someone in the car pushing the clutch in to see if there's any play or should I take the pan off? If I'm understanding you correctly there's a taper on the crank that theoretically shouldn't allow the sprocket to be put on any further than the taper will allow? Maybe the pulley was pushed on to far? I'll check it all out tonight once I have the head pulled. Thanks for the help.

 

[jesse12345]

I talked to my buddy more and he told me this has happened to him before hence why the head looks like it was rebuilt recently. I dropped a spare head off at the machine shop today and ill see it at the end of the week. I know there has never been a timing cover on this thing so I'm going to check everything out and make sure this doesn't happen again. On the bright side I see there are in fact neon pistons in it so at least they aren't the og factory ones, I probably would have cracked a ring land by now.

 

[Dericsh]

Bummer, looking forward to hearing about what else you find in there.

 

[jesse12345]

I got the head bolted back on tonight one of the cylinders doesn't feel great so ill probably rebuild the spare block I have this winter. I'll run it out for the rest of the summer. Honestly what I have seen so far I really don't trust this build, it's kind of a bummer. I didn't get much crank movement also so I'm kind of wondering if maybe the unorthodox pulley adapter is just slightly deeper which may have pushed the crank sprocket on further. That's just my guess I measured it with my stock one and they seem very close. I also got bored while waiting for gaskets so I started sanding the roof since it was all chipped up and in bad shape.

 

[jesse12345]

Well I got it all back together last night and now I have some weird misfire I didn't have before. It's always something. I know it's not timing, I triple checked and turned it over by hand a couple times. I used everything off the other head. My wideband reads pretty rich so I don't know if an injector just decided to shat out for the week or what. I'll do more testing when I get home.

 

[jesse12345]

I found out my misfire. All the gaskets are new but I guess they aren't as good as I thought.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I'm betting your problem is with the valve cover bolts and not the tube seals.

If you plan to dabble with a 420A at all, you need to get rid of the stock valve cover bolts and get full threaded bolts. The factory stepped bolts bottom out too early. I went through countless gasket sets before realizing this.

 

[jesse12345]

I'm betting your problem is with the valve cover bolts and not the tube seals.

If you plan to dabble with a 420A at all, you need to get rid of the stock valve cover bolts and get full threaded bolts. The factory stepped bolts bottom out too early. I went through countless gasket sets before realizing this.

Yeah im thinking your right the gaskets under the bolts were extremely hard. I did replace them last night along with a little silicone under the tubes and the leak was gone. I never had that issue before with the last engine so I didn't know it was an issue. On a side note the car runs great again, I'm glad a little leak was all it was.

 

[jesse12345]

Oh and a little update on the crank sprocket, everything is right where it should be and nothing is hitting. I did put the timing cover back on for a little added insurance.

 

[jesse12345]

Well im finally getting back to this guy since my other build is pretty much complete. I feel bad since it sat outside all winter unfortunately.
First thing I'm going to start on will probably be yanking all of the interior out since a bolt ripped out of one of the seat mounts in the floor. After that's all done I'd like to fully sand the roof and the sideskirts to actually paint them correctly.

The engine is still pretty solid but last summer I was having issues with it going lean in boost, so ill be checking the fuel pump out. I have no idea what is actually in there, I was told it was a walbro 255 but I need to actually verify. There's alot on the list for this car and since it's the closest to being complete, I might as well keep going with it.

 

[DrewmHolland]

Hey I noticed in one of your pictures the boost reference for your wastegate is on the turbo and reference for your fmu is on the intake manifold, I figured out a while ago it works better the opposite way around since the hot side of your intake gets pressure sooner and usually sees an extra 2-3 psi because of air density pre intercooler. it really helps when you need that last bit of fuel pressure and stops you from going lean, you can also manage your actual boost pressure better since the reference would be on the intake manifold itself

 

[DrewmHolland]

Well im finally getting back to this guy since my other build is pretty much complete. I feel bad since it sat outside all winter unfortunately.
First thing I'm going to start on will probably be yanking all of the interior out since a bolt ripped out of one of the seat mounts in the floor. After that's all done I'd like to fully sand the roof and the sideskirts to actually paint them correctly.

The engine is still pretty solid but last summer I was having issues with it going lean in boost, so ill be checking the fuel pump out. I have no idea what is actually in there, I was told it was a walbro 255 but I need to actually verify. There's alot on the list for this car and since it's the closest to being complete, I might as well keep going with it.

View attachment 763063

I also have a 255 high pressure and figured out that it maxes out at 105-110psi, also it’s a stupidly loud pump so that’s a dead giveaway if you can hear it screaming at you.

 

[jesse12345]

I have both my wastegate and fmu tied into the boost only reference which is off the turbo. Thats exactly how I had it on my talon and it worked great on there so I figured I'd do it the same on this one. My fmu may be trash too because when I do get on it my fuel pressure rises but my wideband shows really lean. I know it's not lying because when I pulled the plugs they were straight up white. I'll start digging into that once I get the car in decent shape.

 

[DrewmHolland]

What injectors are you using

 

[jesse12345]

Stock injectors for now. My issue is it hits real lean but I hit zero boost. I have 3 of those spa fmu's that I swapped to make sure those weren't the problem. The only thing I haven't checked was the pump. So I'm hoping that's my issue. It'll drive like a normal stock 420a but once I try giving it anything it goes lean and no boost.

 

[DrewmHolland]

The stock injectors really can’t support over 7psi (you’d be at 95psi of fuel) I found that you can use 24lb mustang injectors and set your base pressure to 33psi with no issues, idk what your goals are but my injectors were cheap as dirt and I’m glad I switched to them

 

[DrewmHolland]

I base everything off of this chart, it’s really accurate and helps me know what my target fuel pressure should be

 

[jesse12345]

My target is to get the car back to at least boost at 5 psi where it was when I got it. Right now it's at 0 and goes lean so thats what I'll have to sort out. Otherwise I'm not looking for big power or anything, it had a factory rebuild like 15 years ago with neon pistons.

 

[DrewmHolland]

Sounds like it could be the fuel pump then, I can’t believe it’s going lean with no boost at all but I mean it makes sense if the pump is failing

 

[jesse12345]

So how do you have your fmu plumbed? What fmu are you using I've tried the vortec that came with the car and now the spa, both of them did the same thing as I tried to get into boost. It's just weird how my fuel pressure goes up but It'll go lean and not build any boost. Maybe I have something plumbed wrong I'm not real sure. I even tried a fuel rail with and without the stock fpr.

 

[DrewmHolland]

I have a spa turbo fmu with a reference line straight from a fitting on the turbo, I ditched the old FPR and just use the fmu

 

[jesse12345]

Thats exactly how I have mine so I'm hoping it's just a fuel pump issue. I'm just still very confused why my pressure goes up but then it goes lean maybe I have it hooked up backwards. I'll have to look at it more.

 

[DrewmHolland]

yeah it’s gotta be the pump dying also I was looking at your pics from earlier and I’m not sure what pistons those are, I thought the neon piston mod used srt4 pistons but yours look like flat tops