(Another) Rebuild post.

[Flavor-DSM]

Ok fellas I need your wisdom because I know now experience with this. My car has been down for a couple months (Bad compression [70 70 70 30] ).. I have been saving money and so far I'm up to $1200.. I wan't to do a complete rebuild.. This is what I was thinking but I need a couple of other opinions in the DSM world.

Bottom End:
Keeping crank.
Eagle "H" beam rods.
Wiseco 8.3:1 Pistons.
Clevite Rod Bearings (Or should I go OEM?)
Clevite Main Bearings (Or should I go OEM?)
ARP Main Hardware
ARP Head Hardware
ARP Rod Hardware
Prothane Motor Mounts

Head:
OEM Lifters (How hard is it to put 3g lifters in? If it's not difficult I will go in that direction)
OEM Rockers
OEM Valve Seats
Manley Springs and Retainers
OEM Valves
OEM Valve Guides
Mitsu 4 layer gasget (any other head gasget better? I will go that way)
FFWD L2 Grind Cams.

I went a little less aggressive in the head because (MONEY).. If I get enough money I want to get a ACT flywheel and clutch, and cam gears.. If I have a lot of money left over I want a FMIC or if I have a S*** load of money left I need to get DSMLink (But I need a 1g eprom ecu [can anyone help me out? )
Here is the questions:
What is good to do and also cheap (porting wise.. stuff like that)
What machining will I not be able to do so I can add into expenses of stuff I can't do? (no one in the family owns a machie shop )
I'm not really worried about not being able to put the block back together (I have my dad and brother-in-law to help) .. I just don't know what machine work stuff I can't do.. (like making sure my head is OK and crank is OK before I reuse it.. or like making sure my piston clearence is a-ok so I wont get horrible piston slap).. stuff like that..

My goals with my DSM are going to be (Eventually) 11-12's.. but I know that is a long time before now.. I just want to make sure my engine is in tip-top shape before I start throwing big boost at it. Right not I'm looking for reliability (with some speed of course ) I just want to rebuild it good and right the first time so I will not have to do this again or worry about breaking when I start putting some torture on the engine.

Another question is since I'm going to be raising the compression in the pistons will I have to tune differently? I'm worried about this because I really have no way of tuning.. I have a datalogger and can look at fuel trims and such but I can't actually tune (car broke before I could really begin to do mods)

Or if you have any other ideas or input don't be afraid to add it. You have all been very helpfull in the past, and I thank you.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Your setup looks good. I would go with Clevite engine bearings. That is what I used on mine and am very pleased with them. We only use them on our race motors and they put out over 700hp so I see no problems there. I would skip on the cams for now and get an upgraded clutch and flywheel. Mainly for the reason it is a lot easier to change cams out than a clutch job. With the head off I would say get 3g lifters. They are easy. Just take the stock cams out and pull the lifters off and the lifters pull right out. You can change them with the cams in but I don't recommend it. Good idea on the HG but I would use a multilayer one but make sure the block and head are machined straight then use coppercoat on the gasket to ensure it seals properly. Porting wise I would get a 2g manifold ported and maybe a ported o2 housing. You can do some port work on the head but you have to go pretty extreme and that would cost a little more than you might wanna spend to net some big hp results. Any machine shop can check your head and block for straightness in about 10 minutes for little money. Just added insurance. But if you are planning on using a MLS headgasket it is a must. If not it won't seal properly. Clearence's are easier to check that you may think. Go out and buy a feeler gauge and you can check most all of your clearences with that. Also get Plasti-gauge for checking the bearing clearences. As far as a front mount goes you could either stick with the stock side mount or get a supra sidemount for now. If you are looking for reliability all's you would have had to do was change your headgasket to a better one and your car would have been ready for 12's or high 11's. They can handle the power from the factory fairly well with little problems. With a great tune these motors can handle 400hp all day long. Tuning is KEY with them though. I would recommend running low boost and keeping out of the upper rpm range until you can get it to a dyno or a professional. Raising the compression is ok. It is a common thing to raise compression in the 1g motors. I recently did it and went from 7.8:1 to 9:1. Just make sure you use the highest octane gas you can find. Like I said though as long as you keep fuel and turbo stock for now you will be fine tuning wise but I would highly recommend getting a tuning device if you plan on turning up the boost.

 

[Flavor-DSM]

Your setup looks good. I would go with Clevite engine bearings. That is what I used on mine and am very pleased with them. We only use them on our race motors and they put out over 700hp so I see no problems there. I would skip on the cams for now and get an upgraded clutch and flywheel. Mainly for the reason it is a lot easier to change cams out than a clutch job. With the head off I would say get 3g lifters. They are easy. Just take the stock cams out and pull the lifters off and the lifters pull right out. You can change them with the cams in but I don't recommend it. Good idea on the HG but I would use a multilayer one but make sure the block and head are machined straight then use coppercoat on the gasket to ensure it seals properly. Porting wise I would get a 2g manifold ported and maybe a ported o2 housing. You can do some port work on the head but you have to go pretty extreme and that would cost a little more than you might wanna spend to net some big hp results. Any machine shop can check your head and block for straightness in about 10 minutes for little money. Just added insurance. But if you are planning on using a MLS headgasket it is a must. If not it won't seal properly. Clearence's are easier to check that you may think. Go out and buy a feeler gauge and you can check most all of your clearences with that. Also get Plasti-gauge for checking the bearing clearences. As far as a front mount goes you could either stick with the stock side mount or get a supra sidemount for now. If you are looking for reliability all's you would have had to do was change your headgasket to a better one and your car would have been ready for 12's or high 11's. They can handle the power from the factory fairly well with little problems. With a great tune these motors can handle 400hp all day long. Tuning is KEY with them though. I would recommend running low boost and keeping out of the upper rpm range until you can get it to a dyno or a professional. Raising the compression is ok. It is a common thing to raise compression in the 1g motors. I recently did it and went from 7.8:1 to 9:1. Just make sure you use the highest octane gas you can find. Like I said though as long as you keep fuel and turbo stock for now you will be fine tuning wise but I would highly recommend getting a tuning device if you plan on turning up the boost.

Thanks for all your input mate! Helped me out a lot. I may PM you later in my rebuilding pr'oh'cess if I have any questions

 

[Flavor-DSM]

Here is an update:
Throughout going to college and working as much as I can I managed to save up around $3500 to rebuild my engine. It's been a while since I have driven my DSM and I kinda forget what boost feels like but spring break is comming up (next week) and I should be able to have enough time then to rebuild the engine. This is my first rebuild but I will have my Dad and brother-in-law to help me out. I have just a few more concerns before I start to order parts.

It's pretty much in stone that I'm going Wiseco 9:1 and Eagle rods coupled with clevite bearings and ARP hardware on the bottom end. The question I have is about a company called Jackson Auto Machine. I was looking at his JAM~Cometic HP Engine Gasket Kit and JAM~4g63 Front Cover-Oil Pump Kit.. found here.. http://www.jacksonautomachine.com/html/shopping/list_section.cfm?sectionId=29.. I am just a little skepticle.. because every DSMer should be.. I don't want to put crap into my engine after I spend all this time and money on it. How does these JAM products add up?

For my head I'm sticking with mostly OEM but doing Dal SI Springs couples with Manely titanium retainers. Sticking with OEM valves and OEM valve guides. My question is should I stick with OEM valve seals or go with something like Ferrea? Also.. are Ferrea valve locks needed or will OEM work alright?

I'm don't believe I need to replace the water pump because I just did it maybe 500 miles ago when the car used to run. I am going to replace the timing belt because I have one of those crappy gatorback belts on it now and I want added assurance of an OEM belt.

Here is an updated price list:
Wiseco 9:1 pistons w/ Eagle "H" beam rods.
ARP Main and Head Hardware.
Clevite 77 Rod and Main bearings.
Poly Motor mounts.
Gasget and Front case kit (from JAM?)

Dual SI Spring with Manely Retainer kit.
Intake Seals and Exhaust Seals (Ferrea possibly).
OEM Valves and OEM Valve Guides.
Lash 3g Revised Lifters.

Balance Shaft Elim kit.
Replacing Timing belt and all componets.
ACT 2600 clutch coupled with Fidanza Flywheel (getting both for $300 used ~650 miles).. thats why I went ahead and got a lighter flywheel.
OEM Throwout bearing.
Oh I just rememberd a question. On extremepsi.com they have an extended slave cylander rod for $25 bucks.. It says it helps with disengagement.. Is this a good idea to go ahead and pick up?

After this rebuild I will roughly have around $800 left with stuff for modification. I have a few ideas on what I should do next but I'm just not too sure..
I have a hellacious boost leak somewhere.. I'm not too sure where because I have had a hell of a time trying to find out where it is leaking from.. it seems like my system will hold little to no pressure.. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or if I just am leaking like a mad bi***.. I'm pretty sure it's a boost leak because at ~4500-5000 RPM while boosting ONLY (If I go barely any throttle to keep my boost down I can go past 5000 RPM) my engine "stops itself".. I've changed plugs and wires (MSD 8.5MM and NGK Plugs if you need to know) and I'm on stock boost so I'm guessing fuel isn't really a problem.. So I've thought about just going ahead and redoing all of my intercooler piping and getting a FMIC.. this will of course help out now, and later (when I'm really pushing the airflow with a bigger turbo).. Of course if I could get this boost leak test to show me at least where a few leaks are (if that is 100% my problem) I will just fix those and maybe move to something else.. I do like the hard IC piping though..

I'm stuck in between getting a nice FMIC setup and curing my boost leak or doing Fuel upgrade and getting DSMLink.. Or adding more to my engine.. Like cams and stuff.

We'll I'm at college now and I really need to be writing a paper so I don't fail a required class .. I'll see if I can think of more throughout the day and add to this post if I can think of any more questions.. Thanks again.

 

[91gsx_turbo]

Right now i am currently rebuilding my engine with just stock .20 overbore and stock rods the block is getting decked so i can have higher compression and im going with a 4 layer metal head gasket. Most of the machine work you can not do by yourself unless you have all the million dollor machines that the machine shops use. For machine work, take it and have them mill the head and deck the block so your gasket has a clean flat surface to seal on.

You can still go into the 11's and 12's with a stock bottem end i am spending $600 on machine work right now and thats at a deal with oem parts. If you are useing aftermarket rods and pistons you will spend alot more money the $1200. I'm spending about 1500 on a rebuild and a trany rebuild with oem parts.

 

[Flavor-DSM]

Is it really that hard to rebuild an engine? Do I need millions of dollars worth of machines? I am going to follow a book and I think the hardest thing I have to do is check for piston to wall clearence with the wisecos? I could be wrong though? Can someone help me out? What wouldn't I be able to do?