Galant VR4 build & restoration of #1813

[GST with PSI]

This is the intro to my build/restoration thread for 1813. I purchased this car in August of 2011 and have been stacking parts, and doing repairs and restoration slowly over time. I’ve found that the car’s previous owner(s) have done quite a bit of damage by half-ass repairs and mod jobs. 80% of what I’ve done has been reversing damage that’s been done by bad mechanics. You can see more background on the car here click in my initial intro thread from when I bought the car.

My goals for the car are primarily just to be a fun DD. I would like to do some drag racing with it as well in my free time. I have a huge mod list, but the major mods are:

2.0L refresh
1G rod, 2G piston combo
Balanced and blueprinted rotating assembly originally built by RRE
Cyclone Intake
Holset HE351VE Variable Geometry Turbo
Snow Performance Methanol Injection
DSMlink…

So to start, I bought the car and was told by the last owner that all the car really needed was a fuel pump. That turned out to be farther from the truth than I could have ever imagined. I got a sender unit with a kinked outlet line. Here are pics of the reconditioning and -6 AN line conversion.
Here’s how the unit started.

I ground the outlet line flush and drilled and tapped the hole with a 1/8 NPT tap.

I used a 1/8 NPT / -6 AN fitting and put Teflon high temp sealant on the threads after I screwed the fitting into the sending unit. I then used some fuel resistant epoxy putty to seal the fitting just as a precautionary measure.

Lastly, I used a 1/8 NPT coupler and barb fitting to attach the fuel pump hose. I sanded the top of the sending unit and removed all the rust. Taped the fittings and wiring and painted the unit.

Here is the finished product.

I dropped the fuel tank. I cleaned, prepped and painted the exterior. The inside was starting to rust and corrode so I had to do a lot of work cleaning the inside also. I’ll have some after pics of it soon but it turned out good.

 

[GST with PSI]

For anyone trying to adapt a AN line to the stock hard line here’s how you do it. You MUST have an inverted flare adapter fitting. I got mine from RCI, but they are available other places. If you aren’t familiar with what im talking about, just know if you do not have the correct fitting, the line will leak and shit can catch on fire. That should be enough to deter anyone from screwing the wrong fitting on. See here for a good read on some of the incorrect fittings that are used: click
Notice the flared center inside of this fitting. I included a few shots of the progression of installation from the stock hard line to the finished product with the -6 AN line installed.

As I mentioned before, the previous owners were quite the backyard mechanics. Here are a few shots of how hacked and messed up a few of the previous owner’s repairs were. These were just a few of the things that were messed up by hack job repairs.

 

[GST with PSI]

The motor.... I bought the car under the impression it just needed a fuel pump. As it turned out though, the car ended up having 8 bent intake valves. Fu*k me. I pulled the head and just planned to get the head fixed and slap it back on. As I started to check out the timing components, I realized the oil pump had RTV sealant oozing from where it sealed to the block. This worried me. I am a firm believer in gaskets. IMO using RTV sealant or gasket maker for anything that a gasket is specifically made for is stupid. It’s a band aid at best, and not using a gasket whenever you can is just dumb to me. People spend tons of money on parts and expensive engine components and then cheap out on shit like gaskets. I just don’t get it? Anyways, because of this find I decided to pull the motor, tear it down and inspect everything; and it's a good thing I did. I dissembled the motor down to the block and rotating assembly. There wasn’t a single gasket in the entire thing. Whoever built this motor used RTV sealer on EVERYTHING!!!??? The oil pickup, oil pump, water pump, oil pan, rear main seal, blah, blah, blah. Literally, the only gasket that was used in the whole motor was a head gasket. Even the thermostat housing was sealed with RTV. I couldn’t understand it. It probably took me 8 damn hours to scrape and clean off all the RTV off of everything. I finally got it all off and cleaned all the mating surfaces good and checked them for trueness and damage. I pulled everything apart and reinstalled everything using FelPro gaskets. I used copper spray on almost all of the gaskets except for the head gasket. It does a great job sealing any imperfections that the paper gasket can’t. Plus, after you spray it on it gets a little tacky so the gasket is easy to place. Copper spray is amazing. I installed ARP head studs and a FelPro composite head gasket (9627PT). Lastly I painted the block with few coats of high temp paint and checked all the torque on the rod and main caps just to be safe.

Before:

After:

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A few additional shots:

I had the head reconditioned at a local machine shop here in SoCal. They milled the deck surface and replaced all the intake valves. They gave it a nice cleaning and I gave it a coat of high temp paint before I slapped it on the nice clean block. I torque it down with new ARP bolts using ARP molly lube.

 

[GST with PSI]

I installed Fidanza adjustable on the stock cams for now. EVERYTHING else is gates. New gates water pump, tensioner pulley, idler pulley and hydraulic tensioner. I went with a Gates racing timing belt also. OEM Mitsu thermostat was installed as well as Mitsu knock and temp sensors. I’m just waiting on a few timing tins covers to finish up assembly. I cleaned and touched up all the engine accessories before they were bolted on. The long block is now mostly assembled and looks super clean.

 

[GST with PSI]

While I had the motor out I went ahead and repainted the engine compartment with some semi-gloss black. I also did the front wheel wells. A few before and after shots.

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After:

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[GST with PSI]

The suspension....Let me just start this by saying what a fu*king disaster this was. If I knew exactly who screwed the suspension on this car up so bad I would have beat them to death with the damn strut assembly. I only started working on the suspension because I was doing a 5 lug swap on the car. As soon as I removed the wheels I knew there was a problem. I noticed the front springs were sitting crooked in the front strut perch. Additionally, the spring was rubbing on the inside of the wheel well when compressed. It wasn’t until after I removed the front and rear strut assemblies that I figured out what was going on. It turns out the guy who had the car before me actually cut the springs so short they wouldn’t even sit snug in the strut anymore. I should mention these weren't even stock springs, but ebach sportlines. I have never heard of anyone cutting a spring that is already designed to lower a car, but I am never ceased to be amazed. Cutting a lowering spring seems really stupid, but after seeing all the other shit messed up by the previous owner I’m not even surprised. Here’s a pic of me actually wiggling the spring in the strut while it’s fully assembled. The springs were so loose I didn’t even need to use a spring compressor to remove them.

Here are some shots of the 5 lug swap, and how I removed the rear axle cups with a 3 jaw puller. I cleaned, inspected, lubed and painted all the hub assemblies before installation. I trashed the cut Eibachs for a set of B&G lowering springs. I reinstalled them on the almost new KYB AGX adjustable struts that were already on the car. I also put on new bump stops and strut rod covers while I had the assemblies apart. I’m excited to see how the car’s stance looks when it’s all said and done. Up top I installed new upper strut mounts on both sides. I threw on my Whiteline 22mm front swaybar and new stock swaybar end links on both sides to finish up.

So I get everything together start bolting the passenger side strut assembly onto the car. I get it on and notice it will only turn about 20 degrees before it locks up. It wasn’t allowing enough motion for the strut to rotate like it should. The ball rotated perfectly in the socket with the strut removed though. It was blowing my mind. Come to find out the lower control arm was bent, and increased the ball joint’s center angle so much that it wouldn’t allow the strut full range of motion. It wasn’t until I ordered new control arms that I realized how messed up the old arm was. I replaced both sides with new arms just to be safe. Here are a few shots of the new arm side-by-side with the old arm.

Bad:

Good:

Next on the agenda is finishing up the motor and throwing it back in the car. I have an external 255 to wire up that will be used in conjunction with the stocker in tank pump, and then need to reinstall the fuel tank. More updates to follow soon...

 

[GST with PSI]

I went to drop the motor in and I have a problem. I installed all new avid aluminum motor mounts in the car. The problem is, as the motor sits now, it's an inch or so too close to the driver side frame rail. It seems like each mount is just a half inch shy of where it should be located to allow the motor to sit perfectly side to side. It's off enough that the power steering pulley is actually hitting the frame rail. I know it's the new mounts too because the motor sat fine with the old stockers installed. I messed with the fitment and got 3 of the 4 motor mounts to fit good. I loosened the attaching brackets that connect to the block and used a pry bar to better position the mounts. The driver side mount is hopeless though. These mounts are garbage as far as fitment goes. If I didn't have so much time and money invested in them, I'd throw them in all the trash. I have a few pics of just how far off this thing is from fitting. It sits too high as well as cocked when it's installed and tightened. I'm going to have to make a few cuts to the aluminum stock to get it even close to fitting. At this point I really don't care if the mount gets screwed up, as I'll just buy a new one if this one will not work after I mod it. I'm ready to hack this bi*** up with a saw anyways, because I'm really pissed that these mounts fit like shit. For all those of you looking to buy Avid aluminum motor mounts, don't do it. I can't speak to how they fit on other cars, but on the VR4 they fit like crap. That is all for now...

 

[GST with PSI]

I ended up hacking up the driver side mount to get it to fit. For any of you who have installed these already without issues, I really can't see how. After I modded the mount it was still a bit shy of where it needed to be. Of all the issues I have come accross so far, this one is by far one of the most frustrating. I'm cool with old parts and stuff breaking or whatever, but this is ridiculous. These things are new, and should fit like stock for what they cost. Regardless of what others are saying, I would not recomend buying Avid aluminum motor mounts to anyone. If someone else here has some pictures of how these mounts fit on their car I'd be interested to see them.

I should have more progress to post following this weekend...

 

[whe3ls]

Im pretty sure galants have different front and rear mounts.

 

[EGLTAWLN]

yes galant motor mounts are different than the dsm motor mount.

 

[Redwood]

cars looking good man. love seeing people restoring these cars. hope to do a lot of the same stuff on my car in the near future. keep up the good work and take as many photos as you can.

 

[ZombieSix]

nice, its good to see a vr4 get the love it deserves, looking forward to the build. keep us updated!

 

[GST with PSI]

It has been a while since I updated my thread here. Progress has been coming along well since I have dealt with the motor mount issue. I've had some issues, so stick with me as I bring this build back up to date...


I completed the rear half of the fuel system. Here's the tank before:

After:

Here's the re-done pump assy and new OEM Mitsu tank gasket.

I also replaced the fuel filler hose:

Cleaned and painted the filler neck:

Final product:

A quick shot of the rear completed 5 lug swap. New springs, struts, slotted rotors and pads.

I installed all new Gates accessory belts. I would have bought a kevlar racing belt for the power steering, but gates doesn't make one...

Steel braided clutch line to replace the junk rubber OEM line.

Empty engine compartment after paint:

 

[GST with PSI]

I replaced all the old crappy plastic wire covering on the engine harness with nylon braiding. I have also relocated it lower on the bulkhead to tuck it and give the engine bay a cleaner look. The battery has been relocated to the trunk, and the engine compartment seems huge with all the extra space I have. I also replaced much of the hardware on the car with new grade 8 bolts, or stainless hex head hardware. All the detailed work I'm doing is really consuming a lot of time, but the end result is definitely paying off.

My cyclone intake manifold had a bad vacuum actuator. I swapped in a 14B actuator in its place. I made a few custom brackets and it fits like stock. It opens the butterflies at around 8 psi.

Cyclone mani installed:

Before re-installing, I rebuilt both front axles with all new CV boots and high pressure synthetic grease.

New lower dust shield installed:

I disassembled, inspected, cleaned and painted the transfer case while it was out of the car. Here's how it turned out:

Anddddd last but not least, here's a Galant base I saw in the parking lot of Home Depot Racing while making a trip for bolts.

 

[GST with PSI]

New Mitsu Knock sensor installed.

Here was the fuse panel from the previous owner. Needless to say I had to replace it.

More electrical and wiring hack jobs from the previous owner I had to repair. He installed scotch locks on pretty much every electrical connection he made. This was the result.

I had to a clutch pedal rebuild. Hands down the most pain in the ass repair I have ever performed on any car in my life. For those of you thinking of doing this...Don't.

So as you can see, the clutch pedal rod was pretty screwed. Below is what caused it. The clutch slave cylinder piston was rusted and completely frozen in the slave cylinder body. I pressed down on the clutch pedal and the pedal rod just rounded clean off thanks to the frozen slave cylinder. I replaced the entire slave.

Filled my trans, xfer case and rear diff all with new Redline fluids.

I wired up my JDM headlights.

 

[perk85]

How comfortable do you feel running that aftermarket crank pulley(dampener)?

 

[GST with PSI]

I got the car running and had some oil leaks. I had a small leak for a few days, which turned into a much larger leak. It looked like it was coming from the pan, right where the crankshaft damper is. eventually this small leak turned into the car pissing oil everywhere, and I couldn't even run the car. I decided to replace the oil pan and gasket, mainly because my old pan was in crappy shape and I didn't know if the sealing surface was still true. I hoped this would take car of my leak.

So I replace the pan and gasket, clean up all the oil and let the car sit over night to see if it leaks. I come out the next day and everything is still dry. I start the car and of course, oil is still pissing out of the exact same place. At this point I know whatever is leaking is behind the timing cover. I and contemplate cutting my losses, burning the car and collecting the insurance money to recoup part of what I have invested (money not time). I then wise up, and decide I'm already sweating my ass off, and the fire would only worsen this condition. I pull off the timing cover and hear something metal fall to the ground. It appears whoever installed the BSE plug on the oil pump cover didn't do a very good job. It had popped out, and was pissing oil everywhere. Luckily, the timing belt didn't get any oil on it. I put some sealer on it, and popped it tightly back in place.

I fixed the oil leak, cleaned up all the oil again and took a few pics in case I decided to burn the car after all.

 

[GST with PSI]

Everything was going great until...well...The motor blew up
click

When I got a chance to drop the oil pan, here's what I found:

After looking at the damage, I'm pretty sure I know what happened. If you look at the pics, you will see one of the ARP rod bolts (and nut) is completely intact. That very bolt was sitting in the bottom of the oil pan when when I dropped it, and when I pulled it out of the pan, it looked exactly like it is in the picture. I think that bolt came loose and fell out while I was rolling down the freeway at about 70 MPH. Rod bolt comes loose > rod journal looses oil pressure > rod smokes crank, bearing and everything in its path. You can see in the photos how the crank got so hot that it turned blue. The bearing I removed from the pan was equally as smoked. It's obvious the car ran for a while with no pressure to the journal. This also could explain how I was able to put almost 300 miles on the car running great before it just suddenly took a shit. What I can't understand is how the bolt came loose. I checked the torqued each main and rod cap before I dropped it in the car. Shit happens I guess, so time for the motor to come out...AGAIN.

 

[GST with PSI]

When I finally got the motor back out again and torn all the way down, It wasn't pretty. The crank was trashed, and so was the number 4 rod and piston. The good news is I found out that my motor was previously built with 2G Ross racing pistons and not stock 2G pistons. On a bad note, rather than replacing a 2g OEM piston, I had to custom order a single piston from Ross, which cost me ~$150. I had a 1G spare rod laying around, and had the machine shop bore it over to accept the larger 2g wrist pin.

The worst part about all this is that fact that all the money I just spent on gaskets, oil and consumables is all down the shitter. I just ordered new Felpro gaskets again, as well as ANOTHER new oil pan. I decided to cut my losses and went ahead and ordered a new crank too. All that's left now is finding 2 ARP rod bolts and nuts. I'm already planning on having to suck it up and buy a whole set to get the 2 I need. I stripped down the block, cleaned it and gave it another fresh coat of high temp paint. I scraped and cleaned all the sealing surfaces, and installed the ARP head and main studs. I'm pretty much just waiting on parts so I can balance everything, reassemble and get it back in the car.

One of the things doing this again allows for is fixing all the little things I wish I caught the first time around. The oil plug for the BSEK was one of the things that I wanted to fix. The plug popped out twice after the build, and I got really tired of dealing with the oil leak it caused. When I pulled the motor, I found out why the plug kept popping out. The lip that holds the plug was fractured. I easily pulled the cracked part off with my hand, and as the first pic shows, half of the lip came off. I ground the rest of the lip off flat, and cleaned it up good to repair it. I sealed it up with a large washer and JB Weld. I then used a nut and bolt to tighten the washer against the cover to seal, and keep the washer snug in place. The end result looked tight, and I think it will hold up great without any leaks.

Lastly, I gave the engine bay another good wash to get it all ready to drop the motor back in.

 

[GST with PSI]

When I got my replacement rod back from the machine shop, and could finally balance all the rotating components. I washed everything, and removed all the dirt and carbon form the pistons. I weighed the wist pins and pistons, all of which weighed exactly the same. It appears Ross makes a very refined product. Next, I assembled the rods and weight matched the little ends. After that, I weighed the whole rod and weight matched them once again, this time removing material from the big end. The only difficult part of this process is matching the little end weight of the rods, while at the same time maintaining the overall rod weight. For instance, I would have one rod with a little end that was a few grams to heavy. I would then remove some material from the small end, but by doing so the overall weight would be off a little. It's a delicate balance that takes some practice to get the hang of, but it is much easier than it sounds. It's not hard, but a time consuming process of taking off material, weighing the rod, then rinse and repeat time and time again until it is absolutely perfect. I didn't have a belt sander to remove material like most machine shops do, but an angle grinder worked just fine. I just took my time, removed metal evenly and polished each rod with some sand paper at the end to give each rod a nice finish. End result was <.1 oz (within 3 grams) variation in every aspect, even with the piston and rod fully assembled (rings and ARP rod bolts included). These components could be matched much closer if I had a more accurate scale, but for my street build I think this will suffice. As a general rule though, I believe most machinists recommend to balance everything within .5 grams of one another. Even so, I wouldn't hesitate to do this yourself if you have the time, as it is pretty straight forward. I just thank god I only had to do 4 rods. If I had to do 8 of these I would have been there all day.

Now I'm just waiting on my crankshaft to get here in the mail so I can assemble everything and get the motor back in the car.

 

[GST with PSI]

I got the new crank in the mail and installed with new ACL bearings.

I double checked all the rod and main caps with Plastigage. All my tolerances were under .0020" (Measured and Plasitgaged').

Main caps

2 pistons in, checking the rod cap oil clearance.

All new Fel-Pro gaskets...again.

 

[GST with PSI]

I did have a few new additions to the build this time around. HKS 264/272 cams, AEM Tru-Time adjustable cam gears, 90 OFH with B&M oil cooler, TB FIAV block-off plate, Zaklee clear cam cover and a Fluidampr crank pulley for all the haterz.

New oil pan number 2, since the last one lasted 4 days before I shot a rod through it. FML.

The bottom end is all assembled, ready to be buttoned up.

All done.

 

[perk85]

Do you still feel comfortable with the crank pulley? I would put a factory dampener on instead of the blue aftermarket one you currently have on there, especially with the BSE.

I was not hating on you at all, Very nice build by the way I would love to build a VR4

 

[GST with PSI]

Finally got motor #2 all assembled and ready to drop in.

I installed a DIY heat shield to keep the wideband O2 sensor a little cooler.

I put a micro switch on my Cyclone manifold so that when the butterflies fully open the switch is triggered. I'll use this to adjust when they open, and make sure they are working as they should.

I installed the oil cooler and hooked everything up. -8 AN lines running to and from.

The motor is in and ready to go. I didn't get to drop the trans in with the motor. When I was getting ready to mount the trans, I started looking at the TOB and decided to be on the safe side and replace it. Needless to say, none of the dealers in the area stock the part, so I'm waiting for one to come in. I took the opportunity to install my wideband and some other parts that have been sitting idle. Hopefully the car should be all buttoned up and running soon.

 

[GST with PSI]

Do you still feel comfortable with the crank pulley? I would put a factory dampener on instead of the blue aftermarket one you currently have on there, especially with the BSE.

I was not hating on you at all, Very nice build by the way I would love to build a VR4

The aluminum crank pulley was just temporary, I have since replaced it with a Fluidampr. Thanks for the kind words.