Galant VR-4 Restoration #129/1458

[techboy]

Another quick motor update. There's some good and bad news ...

We ran a hone through cylinder #1 today just to see what that score would look like after.

As you can see in this picture, its still there and your finger nail definitely catches it. So, once I laid eyes on this last week I figured we were gonna need an overbore, now it's just a matter of the machine shop figuring out what size.

So the good news is I think the block is still usable, the bad news is it's gonna cost us some cash for some different pistons which is an expense I was not counting on.

My favorite picture of the day is my father-in law teaching my son how to read a micrometer while taking measurements on the crank. We just wanted to make sure it was within spec. Journals should be 2.24 and rods should be 1.77. Everything was spot on, and surfaces look great, so the crank is good.

I want to remove the freeze plugs before we drop at the machine shop, so we'll do that next and I hope to drop the block by end of this week.

 

[techboy]

Did another quick thing today to get this block one step closer to drop off at the machine shop. Knocked out the freeze plugs.

If you never done this before, it's really not that hard. Just grab a punch and tap on either the far right or left. NOT the center. You essentially want to "spin" the plug so you can pull it out with pliers. You don't want to knock it into the block.

Bought some brass plugs to go back in on the flip side.

 

[techboy]

I feel like this has been a long time coming. Dropped the block off at the machine shop today.

 

[techboy]

Picked up the 2nd round of powder - just a few pulleys. Gloss black this time.

Also got the block back from the machine shop. Hard to believe its the same block. Time to start assembling this thing.

Fresh deck.

Picked up some brushes today, next thing we'll do is get the block painted a fresh coat of gloss black.

 

[techboy]

Well we've had the block back from the machine shop about a month now so we took some time over the winter break here to get it mounted on a stand and started painting it.

Here it is on the stand.

Started taping it up.

Time for some primer.

And now for some real paint.

Much better.

Rings have arrived already. ACL, King, and Clevite mains are all on backorder with no ETA at this time, so we wait to begin the assembly process.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Sucks you gotta wait for bearings.

 

[miguelmcv]

Nice job, what kind of paint do you use for the block,
Looks really good.

 

[techboy]

Nice job, what kind of paint do you use for the block,
Looks really good.

It's Rustoleum Oil-Based Enamel. I've used it on a number of projects to this point. Works well and holds up well.

 

[97EagleAwd]

These are getting harder and harder to find every day. Glad someone is taking car of her.

 

[techboy]

I have 2 1G oil pans, both of them have a slightly crushed bottom near the sump. So I came up with a method to gently bang them back out. Worked pretty good.

I screwed it to some scrap 2x8's I had.

Then I used a combination of some long bolts and a block of wood to bang it back out.

Came out pretty decent. I'm happy.

Dropped it off to be sand blasted and epoxy coated. Can't wait to get it back.

 

[punk3rz]

I have 2 1G oil pans, both of them have a slightly crushed bottom near the sump. So I came up with a method to gently bang them back out. Worked pretty good.
View attachment 684227
I screwed it to some scrap 2x8's I had.
View attachment 684228
Then I used a combination of some long bolts and a block of wood to bang it back out.
View attachment 684229
Came out pretty decent. I'm happy.
View attachment 684230
Dropped it off to be sand blasted and epoxy coated. Can't wait to get it back.

I would’ve bought an aftermarket pan for $65. Probably would’ve been a lot cheaper but can’t wait to see the results! Check out NexxRacing on Facebook for a guy that makes a new style gasket that doesn’t leak- see attached. Glad to see the car coming along!

 

[techboy]

Thanks for the great info on that gasket. I will definitely pick those up. Does he make 2G ones as well.

Also ... I'm very curious where can you find an aftermarket pan for $65 bucks. I'm usually only scoping out OEM parts on Extreme, STM, or JNZ ... and pans are way more than that if available.

 

[punk3rz]

Thanks for the great info on that gasket. I will definitely pick those up. Does he make 2G ones as well.

Also ... I'm very curious where can you find an aftermarket pan for $65 bucks. I'm usually only scoping out OEM parts on Extreme, STM, or JNZ ... and pans are way more than that if available.

RockAuto has them in stock right now

 

[techboy]

Picked up the oil pan today. Was blasted and epoxy coated in a primer. Not sure what color we're gonna paint it, but we'll figure that out later.

 

[techboy]

Finally got around to getting a 2nd coat of paint on the block. The bearings finally came in on back order as well a couple weeks back, so we now have everything to put the short block back together. Just have to find an empty weekend to have at it.

 

[techboy]

Parts are all in! ... time to work on assembling the short block.

Got ACL crank and piston bearings. Hastings rings, Top Line revised lifters for the head, brass freeze plugs and set of 1G ARP Head studs all ready to go.

First things first ... time to pull the painters tape on the block.

Now it's time for fresh freeze plugs.

This is my son learning how to tap them in. I'm really trying to let him do a lot of the work so he takes ownership over the project.

All done, time to spin her over, install the new bearings and plastigage the crank.

After torqueing everything down to spec, it's time to investigate the plastigage. Everything was within spec. I can't remember the numbers now, but .002 seems to stick in my head. Don't quote that number though. If you look closely at the crank you can see the plastigage strips.

Now that we know everything is good, time for some assembly lube and drop the crank in.

If you never built one of these bottom ends before, Mitsu doesn't exactly give an exact torque spec. They instead tell you to torque to 18lbs and then turn another 1/4 turn (90 degrees). So we marked each cap bolt with a paint marker and then gave each a 1/4 turn.

Next, we can focus on the rings and pistons ... and this is where we ran into a bit of a problem. I started out by opening everything up and laying it all out.

Also found the specs for the ring gaps.

But ... it didn't take too long to see we had an issue. The rings didn't even fit in the piston grooves. At first I wasn't sure what was wrong, but after looking up the part # on the rings, I realized I was sent rings for a standard Mitsubishi Galant, not a Galant VR-4. I'm not sure if that was an ordering fault on my part or whether I was accidently sent the wrong thing, but there wasn't much we could do. Had to stop there for the day and order correct rings. This time I just ordered rings for a 94 Eclipse. Figured it was safer bet that way.

 

[turbomister2]

The next generation of car enthusiast is the coolest thing about this build

 

[techboy]

Since we are still waiting on the new rings to arrive, we took a trip this past weekend out to a semi-local OG Dsmer from the board here and purchased a 1G Mishimoto radiator. The list of "things" we need is getting smaller all the time.

 

[BeatupVR4]

As an FYI in case you aren't aware a 1G radiator isn't a direct fit for a Galant. It is shorter in height so the top mounts won't catch the pins. It's also missing the radiator cap so you'll have to swap to a 1G thermostat housing and the cap now won't be at the highest point in the system.

 

[techboy]

As an FYI in case you aren't aware a 1G radiator isn't a direct fit for a Galant. It is shorter in height so the top mounts won't catch the pins. It's also missing the radiator cap so you'll have to swap to a 1G thermostat housing and the cap now won't be at the highest point in the system.

Yes, thank you. We are aware. The motor we are rebuilding is originally from a 1G so we already have the correct thermostat housing. I was planning to fab some sort of mounting system once I see how it sets in. I'd like to maybe fab the bottom to lift it up.

 

[BeatupVR4]

Yes, thank you. We are aware. The motor we are rebuilding is originally from a 1G so we already have the correct thermostat housing. I was planning to fab some sort of mounting system once I see how it sets in. I'd like to maybe fab the bottom to lift it up.

Most people modify the top mounts. Again if you lift it up to the stock height then it's the highest point in your cooling system and you can't get all the air out of the system with your cap now being on the engine lower than the radiator.

You'll have to use the stock lower mounts and emulate a 1G set-up fully.

 

[techboy]

So the correct rings showed up a few weeks back, but with life it took a few weekends to get back to working on the motor. This is what we accomplished over Memorial Day holiday.

Here's where we left off:

Sealed Power Rings

Reconditioned pistons ready to go.

Rings installed. 1st piston ready to go in.

Checking clearance with plasti-gage.

All good, time to torque down the caps to 37 ft-lbs.

2nd Piston in.

Torque down again.

Even when you are trying to be super clean you can see all the fuzzies and things that stick to the cylinder walls.

3rd Piston in. 1 more to go.

4th one in.

Refreshed short block finally done.

Wrap her all back up until it's time to work on it again.

Next up ... ARP head studs and get the head on. Now that the short block is done and summer is here things will progress much quicker.

 

[Imback]

Somehow missed some of these updates. Building the shortblock with your kid is super cool. What exactly is the plan with the car? A stock rebuild with a few things here and there upgraded?

 

[turbomister2]

This rebuild is like a “how to” on a galant especially with being able to show the kid a few things too

 

[techboy]

Somehow missed some of these updates. Building the shortblock with your kid is super cool. What exactly is the plan with the car? A stock rebuild with a few things here and there upgraded?

Exactly. You nailed it. My son is 12 as I type this, he'll be 13 this summer. I don't want to build a high HP car for his first car. Don't need him wrapping himself around a tree at 16. Stock motor, stock 14b turbo, maybe an aftermarket IC and piping, intake and exhaust just to open it up a little bit and let it breathe a little. We'll start there and he can take it from there as he gets older. He got the inspiration for this car from the Tom's Turbo Garage series on YouTube when he was about 8, so we're shooting for something similar to that.

This rebuild is like a “how to” on a galant especially with being able to show the kid a few things too

I appreciate the kind words ... if this was a how-to I'd have to explain a lot more!! I do plan to document the whole process with him all throughout so I suspect this build thread will be pretty long till we tackle engine bay, suspension, brakes, gas tank, engine bay, interior and exterior body work.