99 GSX Rebirth/Clean-Up/Build

[bettfootball]

So I got the car back in December and finally got to buttoning things up since it started warming up. I have to do all the new break-in stuff with the new long-block etc. Wanted to get ahead of it and have it dialed in before summer hits. Car is filthyyyyyy.

I finally got around to getting the recaros in. I used the planted brackets as they were the only ones available. I had to cut the seat belt bracket off of those, as I was using the factory recaro seat belt buckle mount. The seats sit a solid 1.5 - 2 inches higher than OEM.

The slider lever hits the brackets when you slide them all the way to the rear, I will probably leave them like that as I will never have them slid that far back.

Some other notable items, I fixed the turbo drain line as I had a tiny leak on the previous one.

I also bought a 6466 gen 2. No idea when I'll get to this, but it was a good deal and I wanted to ditch the Holset at some point.

Unfortunately when I was doing my initial start up there was a massive leak from the brand new head... turns out the new shop I used (and was highly recommended) used some random cam gear seal. Note the OEM exhaust cam seal versus this random wrong intake cam gear seal....

So they came and picked up the car within 2 days and are going to fix their mistake and get it back to me so I can get going on it, again....

Peace.

 

[fourgsixty3]

Weren't you having cam seal issues on the other motor? At least the shop is standing behind their work. Hope to see you enjoying your car soon dude.

 

[Ludachris]

So I got the car back in December and finally got to buttoning things up since it started warming up. I have to do all the new break-in stuff with the new long-block etc. Wanted to get ahead of it and have it dialed in before summer hits. Car is filthyyyyyy.

View attachment 762720

I finally got around to getting the recaros in. I used the planted brackets as they were the only ones available. I had to cut the seat belt bracket off of those, as I was using the factory recaro seat belt buckle mount. The seats sit a solid 1.5 - 2 inches higher than OEM.

The slider lever hits the brackets when you slide them all the way to the rear, I will probably leave them like that as I will never have them slid that far back.

View attachment 762721

Some other notable items, I fixed the turbo drain line as I had a tiny leak on the previous one.

View attachment 762722

I also bought a 6466 gen 2. No idea when I'll get to this, but it was a good deal and I wanted to ditch the Holset at some point.

View attachment 762723

Unfortunately when I was doing my initial start up there was a massive leak from the brand new head... turns out the new shop I used (and was highly recommended) used some random cam gear seal. Note the OEM exhaust cam seal versus this random wrong intake cam gear seal....

View attachment 762724

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So they came and picked up the car within 2 days and are going to fix their mistake and get it back to me so I can get going on it, again....

Peace.

 

[bettfootball]

Weren't you having cam seal issues on the other motor? At least the shop is standing behind their work. Hope to see you enjoying your car soon dude.

Yep,

First shop was just junk. They rushed the build as they were moving across country. They didn't RTV correctly per the FSM. They did use OEM seals though.

New shop seemed to make an honest mistake. They say Mitsubishi probably packaged a seal wrong. They RTV'd correctly, just have the wrong seal in there. I'm really not sure how you could install two different seals as they are identically, but at least they are working on it. Hope to have it done any day and back in the garage!

 

[bettfootball]

Drove it out of the garage for a wash!

 

[fourgsixty3]

I saw a video of it running on insta. I was happy to see her idling after all the issues you were having. Did you get a chance to take it around the block?

 

[Ludachris]

Drove it out of the garage for a wash!

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Looking sharp!

 

[bettfootball]

I saw a video of it running on insta. I was happy to see her idling after all the issues you were having. Did you get a chance to take it around the block?

I didn't take it out yet. Maybe soon.. I need to find a huge parking lot so I can do some break-in items. New clutch, new rotors, new engine... Lot of break-in items need to be completed and it's tough because I am right in the middle of the city .

 

[jesse12345]

Are you right in Minneapolis? I get all sweaty trying to drive through every single time, it's like the indy 500 over there.

The car is looking awesome! Hopefully one day we all could cruise, it's all muscle cars and subarus over here.

 

[bettfootball]

Are you right in Minneapolis? I get all sweaty trying to drive through every single time, it's like the indy 500 over there.

The car is looking awesome! Hopefully one day we all could cruise, it's all muscle cars and subarus over here.

I'm in Edina a few blocks west of Minneapolis. Yeah, not sure where I'm going to go for a break-in /shake down testing haha.

 

[jamel16]

Drove it out of the garage for a wash!

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Car looks amazing. Pulling the car out for its first bath after completion has to be the best feeling.

 

[bettfootball]

Took the car out for a 10 mile drive last week! Really no major hiccups. Only a few things:

• Alternator crapping out. Won't charge enough, you can hear the fuel pump change tone when you press the brake pedal / switch the lights on / flash brights etc. I ordered an MCR 160AMP Saturn Alternator, super excited for that.
• Struggled a bit to dial in the idle / BISS. It's an s90. Trying to find a happy medium of idling correctly and not having the BISS whistle like crazy.
• Brakes need to be bled a little bit more as of now.

Once I felt comfortable with it, I focused first and foremost on breaking in the brakes. So I did a ton of 30mph stops down to 5mph. I wanted to get that over with so I can get a feel for if I needed to bleed them more, which I do.

I took the car back home because of the low voltage issues after 10 ish miles to check for leaks etc. I'll be waiting for the new alternator and will be bleeding the brakes more in the meantime.

I was also pleased to see that the car made it out of the driveway without scraping. I will probably lower it half inch in the front now that I know it won't scrape.

Another thing I had to do was replace all the AEM bolts to be slim SS button head bolts because for whatever reason they hit the timing cover from factory. I loctited all of these for peace of mine. Seems like some were a little loose. I also had to trim the timing cover for the cam bolts which stick out a bit as well. I give myself a 8/10 on trimming. I actually torched a socket and pushed that through the timing cover hoping it would be cleaner, but I still ended up having to use a dremel. Anyone have an idea how to make these look better?

 

[We're on Boost]

Another thing I had to do was replace all the AEM bolts to be slim SS button head bolts because for whatever reason they hit the timing cover from factory. I loctited all of these for peace of mind. Seems like some were a little loose. I also had to trim the timing cover for the cam bolts which stick out a bit as well. I give myself a 8/10 on trimming. I actually torched a socket and pushed that through the timing cover hoping it would be cleaner, but I still ended up having to use a dremel. Anyone have an idea how to make these look better?

Yeah it's funny to me that they went to all the trouble of designing this cover and then didn't allow any extra room in it for these things that cause a bit of extra width with some of the aftermarket wheels. I went to all the trouble of making my cover wider but it's pretty ugly, you'd hate it . I also made the feet sturdier though, much thicker.

 

[fourgsixty3]

That thing is sick man. Since you have the holes in the cover already maybe clean it up with a hand file or a Dremel on low speed with a little water to prevent it from melting.

 

[DreamChaser7]

I’d probably try a piece of 220 and my index finger working the inside and just easing the edge to start.

 

[bettfootball]

I've been waiting on some stuff to get in, as well as getting a few miles on the car. I still haven't hit 50 miles but I had a few hiccups.

-New wideband o2 sensor
-Relocated wideband sensor to as close as possible to the turbo. Right in front of the subframe is where I mounted it.
-Fixed a small exhaust leak at the turbo v-band and the second v-band at the end of the downpipe
-TB leak, had a loose clamp.
-TB BISS adjustment and idle stop screw have been giving me a bit of a challenge, but seems to be all straightened out.
-Alternator was taking a crap on me.

I picked up a new MCR 160A Saturn alternator as I have a prius EPS setup on the way and my stock sized alt seemed to be not keeping up. I could hear the fuel pump change noise when using some accessories etc.

I flipped the bracket for now. Seems to work just fine...

I'm going to get it back on the road tomorrow and check voltage and belt tension etc so I can hopefully start wrapping the wiring harness. I plan to go to a meet this weekend.

Peace!

 

[AndrewG]

Prius not Volvo set up?

 

[bettfootball]

Prius not Volvo set up?

Prius setup seems way easier. Maybe I’m wrong idk.

 

[steve-o_95_GST]

Prius setup seems way easier. Maybe I’m wrong idk.

I am actually just finishing up a Prius EPS install I started over the weekend, just have the lower u-joint shaft and the wiring to finish up. I was going to go the route of the Volvo electro-hydraulic set up, but have one of Bobby's racks that eliminated the hydraulic circuit. Prius EPS requires modification of your steering column and the steering shaft, where the Volvo unit is a self contained unit you just need to run power and hydraulic lines to. I made a bracket to mount the Prius column and the most difficult part was joining the cut sections of the DSM and Prius shafts together properly. They are different diameters so getting them lined up and joined without a noticeable amount of runout took some effort. I can PM you with some pictures if interested.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Brady, I'm running a MRC 160 too. How is yours wired? One wire to a fuse and one to the battery? How do you see voltage? On DSMlink I'm assuming. Thanks Vic

 

[bettfootball]

Brady, I'm running a MRC 160 too. How is yours wired? One wire to a fuse and one to the battery? How do you see voltage? On DSMlink I'm assuming. Thanks Vic

I just have the single 4/0 from alt to battery. I'm definitely not seeing full voltage until it is above 1,050 or so RPM.

 

[Justin DuBois]

I've been waiting on some stuff to get in, as well as getting a few miles on the car. I still haven't hit 50 miles but I had a few hiccups.

-New wideband o2 sensor
-Relocated wideband sensor to as close as possible to the turbo. Right in front of the subframe is where I mounted it.
-Fixed a small exhaust leak at the turbo v-band and the second v-band at the end of the downpipe
-TB leak, had a loose clamp.
-TB BISS adjustment and idle stop screw have been giving me a bit of a challenge, but seems to be all straightened out.
-Alternator was taking a crap on me.


View attachment 770142

I picked up a new MCR 160A Saturn alternator as I have a prius EPS setup on the way and my stock sized alt seemed to be not keeping up. I could hear the fuel pump change noise when using some accessories etc.

View attachment 770143

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I flipped the bracket for now. Seems to work just fine...

I'm going to get it back on the road tomorrow and check voltage and belt tension etc so I can hopefully start wrapping the wiring harness. I plan to go to a meet this weekend.

Peace!

The leverage needed to hold the alternator at the right spot is the short bolt that goes through the T-block, bracket slot, backed up by a nut/thredded ear of the alternator. The long bolt in the t-block that goes to the open notch is just to set the tension. As you said - this should just be "for now" until you get a proper bracket. Also note - when you remove the bracket by taking out the water pump bolt - that bolt also helps the water pump seal against the block. Be sure torque it back down to spec and anticipate some coolant leaks.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Oh ok, thanks. I'm doing the same thing on mine.

 

[bettfootball]

The leverage needed to hold the alternator at the right spot is the short bolt that goes through the T-block, bracket slot, backed up by a nut/thredded ear of the alternator. The long bolt in the t-block that goes to the open notch is just to set the tension. As you said - this should just be "for now" until you get a proper bracket. Also note - when you remove the bracket by taking out the water pump bolt - that bolt also helps the water pump seal against the block. Be sure torque it back down to spec and anticipate some coolant leaks.

That bolt holds the water pump on?!?!

 

[Justin DuBois]

That bolt holds the water pump on?!?!

This one: