It's done!

[DeNoZZo]

Well, after 6 months of down time and over 2k of investment my motor build project is done. I had the block cleaned, cylinders honed, head and block decked flat, head was r&r'ed, and the crank was polished. I installed arp main studs, acl race bearings, new piston rings, cometic mls headgasket, and arp headstuds. I got a new front case, did the bs elimination, timing components, waterpump, and some other odds and end stuff. I assembled the entire thing in my garage with the help and support of family and friends. This was my first time doing something like this, but I was able to get through it with the aid of this website and knowledgeable friends. I started the teardown in late June. I only expected the build to take maybe 2 months at most. It's now been 6 months, and It's finally done. During the summer used my motorcycle as my daily driver. And when it got cold, I used my dads truck (he's a truck driver so he's gone most of the time anyways). We put the motor in the other night and it fired right up. We let it run at 2k rpms for 15 minutes for initial break in and changed the oil. Everything looked and sounded good. We put topped off the fluids and took it out for a drive. I planned on doing 3 full throttle pulls in third gear from 2500rpms up to 5500rpms and letting it engine brake back down to seat the rings properly. I couldn't do that because I had a huge boost leak and would hit fuel cut with any boost.

I got that boost leak fixed today and it felt great getting a taste of boost again. Runs and sounds great! The only thing I have to fix before I can start driving it regularly now is the tail lights and gauge cluster lights. Out of nowhere last night when we were trying to break it in, the tail lights and gauge cluster lights just went out and it keeps popping the fuse. Anyone know what could be the problem there?

Anyways, you get a great sense of pride building your own motor from the ground up and having it run right. I really enjoyed the process and can walk away with valuable experience.

Heres the vid that tracks the progress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IabQ8itqHGM

 

[gats0101]

Possible loose ground on the lights going out and blowing the fuse, good luck with the build.

 

[tonyseagle]

I've done a lot of searching reference the continuous blown fuse incident. My problem ended up being an exposed wire coming off my fuse box. It was rubbing against my upper intercooler pipe...and well every time my engine shook, it would ground out on the pipe.

Does it go out instantly? Or is it completely random?

 

[LiquidX]

Cool video. Good luck with the ground issue and glad to see another DSM back on the road again.

 

[bagged420a]

congradulations on the build.

 

[NemesisTalon88]

looks nice good job

 

[BrokenTsi]

I worked on a few 2g's. I've noticed that the wire harness coming out of the fuse box likes to rub itself raw on the battery tray. I had a 2g in the garage for a while with electrical problems with the tail lights and thats exactly what it was. The harness was grounding itself out. It was easy to overlook when everything was installed and the car was running.

 

[drewmen19]

I had a problem with my tail lights and the dick who put in the aftermarket radio didnt cover the exposed dimmer wire from the stock radio so thats what it may be

 

[asrdave]

good job =]

 

[DSMDOCTOR001]

I AGREE ON GROUNDING ITSELF OUT MY OLD 2G HAD THE SAME PROB AND I SOLD IT TO A FRIEND AND HE FIXED IT AND WAS PISSED I COULDENT FIGURE IT OUT BUT YEAH CHECK THE HARNESS

 

[InterceptorF]

Congratulations - I havde been trying to get mine running right for almost two months after dropping in the new engine - I'm jealous...

 

[Wrecklezz1]

kool build

 

[DSMLIFESTYLE488]

Nice build, check to see if any wires are open and outta the loom. Wrap it in electrical tape or somethin.... Tight work. Hope you enjoy it!