Shortblock assembly

[BGizzlePatrick]

Hey guys,
I'm gettin ready to put my shortblock together finally. I was going to have a shop do it for me but that would be 300 bucks and thats too much so i will do it myself. I am getting a torque wrench and the repair manual and that compression tool they recommend for the piston rings. I also am aware that i will need that assembly lubricant (whatever its called) that shops use when assembling the block. I wont be using the block for at least another year or so. Should i use anything when assembling it or wait till i am actually going to use it?
And one last thing, I bought a NA block to put into my GST so i ran into the thing with the knock sensor not having a place to go anymore. I know i have read that in here somewhere before but kinda just didn't pay attention since i didn't think i would go with a NA for this setup. So if anyone could tell me where i can put it or direct me to a threat that has this in it (I'm at work and dont have time right this second to go out and search much).
Oh, i also bought 9 brass freeze plugs and a balance shaft elimination kit. How do the freeze plugs go in? Just push or hammer them in? And is there anything else that i need to watch out for? This is a bare 91 6 bolt block by the way and its totally bare since it was cleaned by the shop. They said they take out the freeze plugs and oil galley plugs but i thought thats only for the head...
Anyway any info on this will help

 

[kahl23]

I had my shortblock built by a shop, so I can't help you with the freeze plugs or the oiling wholes. I do know that for anyone who's going to build an engine, a repair manual like Chiltons just won't cut it. You need to go to a dealership and shell out for the factory manual, it's a life saver. This along with the Chiltons will answer almost all of your questions (and the forums are here for those questions they don't answer). Good luck!

 

[BrokenTsi]

I had an NA block in my car once. You can relocate the knock sensor, there is a threaded hole behind the 3rd cylinder you can use. It puts it up closer to the intake manifold, but it worked fine. Then my motor blew up.

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Ok thx BrokenTsi I'll look into it. I figured there might be a hole somewhere leftover when i get done putting everything back on but i wasnt sure if that is going to be ok so thanks for your reply.
And kahl23 thanks for the headsup I will see if i can get one of those factory manuals if i can (do they actually sell them or did you get one cause u knew some1 there?) I have to go down there anyway my stupid lancer has another recall for the CE light.....

 

[DevilSperm]

its a good idea to wait until you are ready to put the whole long block together before building the short block. Just leave it disassembled until you are ready. Between temperature changes, humidity and dust, its not good sitting around together

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Yeah that makes sense..... I didnt know that it makes that much of a difference. Will it still be ok if i put all the other stuff like ac, oilpump, and waterpump and maybe the freeze plugs on it? Or how about putting it together and wrap it with stretchwrap or plastic bags or something for the time beeing.

 

[snox135]

It would be best to leave it in a temperature controlled environment, with a plastic bag over it. If you can't store it in a temperature controlled room. I would suggest buying a bunch of the moisture absorption bags and put them inside of the plastic bag covering the engine. What ever you choose to do build now or later. Make sure you keep all the engine parts with some kind of lubricate on them to prevent corrosion. If this is going to be your first engine build, I would suggest starting it after you have all the parts and then just take you time and make sure you do it right. When you do build it (now or then) make sure you use assembly lube and lots of it.

I personally wouldn't shell out the money for the factory manual. I'm not sure how well the Chilton's manual does, but they usually give you all the specs. that you need. What ever they don't give you, you can always call the dealership and ask or look online for the info.

The freeze plugs are install by hammering them in or a press if you have access to one. A lot of people find a socket that fits inside the freeze plug. Then use the socket as a punch to help hammer it in. But make sure the socket does not fit to tight because the freeze plug will shrink and tighten on the socket once installed. If the socket is a little to big you will not get your socket back.

 

[92DSMErdrick]

I had an NA block in my car once. You can relocate the knock sensor, there is a threaded hole behind the 3rd cylinder you can use. It puts it up closer to the intake manifold, but it worked fine. Then my motor blew up.

I turbo'd my NA block and have had no problems with the knock sensor. Engine has been running strong since early june, still have great compression and nothing leaks. . .except some boost leak somewhere in one of my couplers. Also the chiltons manual is pritty crappy when it comes to dealing with a 1g. The haynes i found to be much more reliable when i rebuilt my engine. But its still good to have the chiltons for reference and for tourqe specs. I never saw a dealer manual on the car so i wouldnt know what information you would need from it opposed to the chiltons and haynes.

 

[szewczyd]

Personally 300 for a shop to do a block is not to bad, especially if you don't even have a troque wrench!
Check out the thread called Creating a Monster, they tried to do it themselves and now they are on there second motor and what not.
just my two cents

 

[BrokenTsi]

I turbo'd my NA block and have had no problems with the knock sensor. Engine has been running strong since early june, still have great compression and nothing leaks. . .except some boost leak somewhere in one of my couplers. Also the chiltons manual is pritty crappy when it comes to dealing with a 1g. The haynes i found to be much more reliable when i rebuilt my engine. But its still good to have the chiltons for reference and for tourqe specs. I never saw a dealer manual on the car so i wouldnt know what information you would need from it opposed to the chiltons and haynes.

I didn't actually turbo an NA block. It was originally an NA block but with turbo pistons and 1g big rods. Basically, a 4g63t without oil squirters. Actually, what had happened was the oil pump gear locked up and then it started to eat bearings. motor lasted 155 miles.

 

[FourG63 97GST]

Do you know how to use a feeler gauge or measure bearing clearance, file pistons rings?
or have the tools to do it?

if not, I'll spend the money.

 

[Nanan]

You are going to spend a good chunk of money on tools to build the engine. You should just save up and have the shop do it properly so you don't have to do it again when you mess up.

As for long term storage, I have found that spraying the block down with wd40, smearing moly grease on the piston walls works fine for holding off the rust. Bag the engine in a garbage bag when its preped also to prevent dust and stuff getting where you dont want it.

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Do you know how to use a feeler gauge or measure bearing clearance, file pistons rings?
or have the tools to do it?

if not, I'll spend the money.

well i think you mae a good point..... As far as the bearing clearance no i dont know how to measure it but i added it to my research list that i am still working on but since i have a new crank and the bearings for it and the new eagle rods i hope i will be ok.
As far as the piston rings go, all i know about them is that i have like 6 of them for each piston, they all look litle differend and they all go on the piston somehow but i was planning on taking a picture and post it on here tomorrow maybe and see if some1 could help me out with that.
And the tools... well all i can say is that I much MUCH rather spend 300 on the tools to buy and LEARN everything i need to know about this. Because unlike some other noobs on here i do realize how much it takes to keep a high hp motor running good and that there will always be something that WILL go wrong and when it does i dont want to have to run to the next shop and look like a fool... just how i feel about it.

 

[kanderson111]

well i think you mae a good point..... Yes i have a feeler gauge that i bought before i got the shortblock back to make sure they did the right bore and didnt mess up anywhere. As far as the bearing clearance no i dont know how to measure it but i added it to my research list that i am still working on but since i have a new crank and the bearings for it and the new eagle rods i hope i will be ok.
As far as the piston rings go, all i know about them is that i have like 6 of them for each piston, they all look litle differend and they all go on the piston somehow but i was planning on taking a picture and post it on here tomorrow maybe and see if some1 could help me out with that.
And the tools... well all i can say is that I much MUCH rather spend 300 on the tools to buy and LEARN everything i need to know about this. Because unlike some other noobs on here i do realize how much it takes to keep a high hp motor running good and that there will always be something that WILL go wrong and when it does i dont want to have to run to the next shop and look like a fool... just how i feel about it.

I like your attitude about learning to do it. The only advise I could give you is to research and read, study it over many times before you actually try to do it. Sometimes I read the instructions 10 times before I actually tackle the job.

 

[bullettdsm]

First off, good for you for ballsin' up and doing the job yourself. The experience of actually building your own engine will help you as you run into problems later on with your car (which you will, cars are like that). Consider the money spent on tools and "mistakes" part of paying for school. You will learn plenty from it.

That being said, some words of advice. DO NOT BUILD UNTIL YOU HAVE ALL YOUR PARTS! I know you want to do something with your new block and parts but you really should hold off until you can actually see and touch all your parts. You will need to do that so your brain can make connections between all the parts (I'm not going to go into cognitive theory here, just take my word for it. You will understand better with the parts in your hands). Do your research first (it sounds like that is what you are doing). Someone mentioned the "monster" thread; take the time to read it. It is a good outlay of a "newbie" rebuild.
When you have all your parts, rebuild the engine in your head first! Pick up each part and "make believe" you are putting it in. This will produce more questions for you to research. When you do start to rebuild, use plenty of white moly (don't forget to pack up the oil pump) and patience. Do not put yourself on a time schedule. This will only cause problems. It will take as long as it takes.
The search button is your friend. You have no limit to the amount of times you can use it so feel free to use it. Get the service manual CD from e-bay. It's like $10-$15? and worth it. You should already have a Haynes or Chilton's. These three sources (the book, the CD and the site) will be enough to get you thru.
Of course, don't be afraid to ask questions. Remember, every wiseman on this site was at your level at one time. This site is has many knowledgeable people in it. We are here to help you.

Good luck with the build and keep us posted.
MB

 

[kahl23]

I agree that you definately want to have all three sources when building an engine. I have both the CD and the actual manual because the idea of getting grease all over my computer doesn't appeal (and of course the only time you will need to look at the manual is when you're halfway through an assembly). I got mine from a friend but the parts department can buy them for you (at a rediculous price of course). I'd try to find one on ebay or from any friends you have at a dealership. Aside from that, I definately agree that you should not start assembly until you physically have all the parts. That said, you will always forget something so don't plan that a buildup will be fast...It won't.

 

[TAI92GSX]

One word of advice. When buildng an engine, make sure you torque all the nuts and bolts TWICE. You don't want to have the feeling on the back of you head "did I torque that" after you put everything back on. Its something everyone should practice when especially building engines.

Best way to measure bearing clearances is to use plastique gauge. Its a plastic stripe that goes in between the bearing and the crankshaft and torque it to spec. Loosen the bolts and take off the bearing and match the plastique gauge to the measurement. Its a very quick and simple way to measure bearing clearances. You have to do this to each bearing. Hope that help.

 

[bastarddsm]

well i think you mae a good point..... As far as the bearing clearance no i dont know how to measure it but i added it to my research list that i am still working on but since i have a new crank and the bearings for it and the new eagle rods i hope i will be ok.
As far as the piston rings go, all i know about them is that i have like 6 of them for each piston, they all look litle differend and they all go on the piston somehow but i was planning on taking a picture and post it on here tomorrow maybe and see if some1 could help me out with that.
And the tools... well all i can say is that I much MUCH rather spend 300 on the tools to buy and LEARN everything i need to know about this. Because unlike some other noobs on here i do realize how much it takes to keep a high hp motor running good and that there will always be something that WILL go wrong and when it does i dont want to have to run to the next shop and look like a fool... just how i feel about it.

some free advice....

1.) Practice on somthing cheap. Like get a book and a junkyard lawnmower motor and tak it apart and put it back together. If you can't handle that then forget putting your motor together. Then get a junkyard 4 banger to practice on.

2.) Get a job in a engine shop and ask to lean how to build motors.

3.) hang around an engine shop and watch engines being assembled.

4.) your motor can never be clean enough when assembling it.

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Thx for all the advice guys i will keep ya'll posted on my progress. Right now I am butting the block in a plastic bag and stor it in my bedroom to keep it from the heat and cold as much as possible.
I am in the middle of doing my research on the head that will be next so that should keep me going for a while. Next thing i will buy is a new oilpump and waterpump. I still have the old block from my friend and i guess i will play with that one for a while since its shot anyways. The two big big things that im saving up for is a head and new tranny right now which i hope i will be able to afford with the next 2 tax returns. I am not planning on slaping a big turbo on it right away, i will keep everything stock when i do the swap and then slowly upgrade fuel system and then ignition and then slap on a good big turbo with all misc, stuff that goes with it.
Ok so for the block, I have 9 freeze plugs comin tomorrow together with the ballanceshaft elimination kit. I also have the brand new 4g64 (actually hyunday) crank with new bearings and wiseco pistons with eagle rods here right now. I do have the bracket for the main seal that goes i guess somewhere onto the back of the block but i'll find out later. Then after i got the new oil and waterpumps here i will propably go and buy a timingbelt pakage since i think it has some things that go on the block. See what else will i need.... oh the block already has ARP mains in it and is linebored. I will have to go to a shop to have them snap the darn eagle rods for me (didnt realize what they ment by one piece forging ). I still have the old old AC compressor and bracket so i will bold that on and get a new compressor unless the one from my 2g will fit there later on. A fidanza )or whatever that brand is called) AWD flyweel will be on the list too. I am still debating on that since i was thinking of going with the AWD transmission for FWD from RIP (besides sometime i want to make my gst a gsx setup).
Oh will i be able to learn something about in what order the piston rings go on the pistons by looking at the old 1g pistons i have laying arround? I will propably spend a good 400 on slowboys just buying a few of their bolt sets since i have nothing but a bag of misc junk and the new block. New front cover and def. a new knocksensor (ouch how r they that expensive? ) thats all i could come up with so far.
I guess its a good idea to just bolt some of the junk back onto the old block to see how everything fits back together

 

[LTUSPE]

AWD flyweel will be on the list too. I am still debating on that since i was thinking of going with the AWD transmission for FWD from RIP (besides sometime i want to make my gst a gsx setup).

I think you may be a little confused. Putting that particular gearbox on your car doesn't give you the option to make a FWD into a AWD. Not that it CAN'T be done, but believe me, you probably won't want to do it once you know what all is involved. That gearbox however is an interesting concept for you FWD guys. It looks to have a nice gear ratio and everyting Jon makes seems to be high quality stuff.


FWD to AWD Conversion


-Justin
99GSX

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Sorry what i meant is that I talked to the guys from RIP and they said that the setup im going for with the right turbo and tuning might get pretty close to the 500hp mark..... so i will need a good good transmission to hold all that and the AWD FWD conversion tranny they have is meant for high power aplication and gives good gear ratios. What i meant was that i will get that transmission and that will give me the chance to later on go ahead and swap out the backend from my gst and put in the stuff from a gsx i have the link to a website that goes step by step on how to do it. So my thinking was just that i get the AWD tranny and run it FWD and keep the option of going gsx open for me someday. But i'll do much more research once i get down to the tranny part (which will most likely be the last big upgrade i will buy for the car).
Anyways i just answered my questions on the rear seal and found where it goes. I went on slowboys and ordered a few things:
Mitsubishi 6 Bolt Flywheel Bolts (have no clue what they look like and dont think ill use the old ones)
-Mitsubishi 6 Bolt Rear Main Seal Ring (the seal is still in it but i have no clue if its still in good enough shape to be reused so i just got this)
-90-94 Mitsubishi Oil Pump Bolt Kit (didnt get those either)
-Rear Main Seal Bolt Kit (I was able to uncover one bolt and dont want to go hunting at a hardwarestore to match it up)
-Slowboy Racing Water Pump Bolt Kit (they didnt come with the block either)
- Slowboy Racing Stainless Steel 4G63 Oil Pan Bolt Kit (could have taken the regular bolts but hey a litle bling bling won't hurt )
Now the thing i was looking at is the Front cover. I am wondering if i should buy a complete frontcover or can i just clean the old one up and get new gears and all seals for the oilpump? On second note its only arround 150 for the new frontcover so i guess nevermind that question

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

FWD to AWD Conversion


-Justin
99GSX

Sorry i didnt see the link at first but yeah thats the website i was talking about

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

Ok i just got the ballance shaft elimination kit and the freeze plugs in the mail. I'll have to take a good look at the old frontcover/oilpump assembly from the old engine to figure out how this goes on. Hopefully i'll be able to buy the oil and water pumps next month

 

[BGizzlePatrick]

OK, today i have been looking at the balance shaft elimination kit...... it came with one small plug that looks like the nose from the balance shaft, 1 big plug (looks like a huge freeze plug), a small plug (looks like a freeze plug is same size too), and a ring like plug. I got the motor bare so i never saw any balance shafts in it and the old motor i have here had them broken so they where out and lost before i got the block. So my question is, am i mistaken? because i thought our motors came with 2 balance shafts.... one is in the lower right by where the oilpump goes and one in the upper left. looking inside the motor i see 2 spots for the shaft bearings on the upper balance shaft. The big freeze plug like plug fits in there and would cover the hole alltogether. Then about half way down there is the other spot for a bearing and it has what looks to me like an oil feed hole in it. The ring like plug fits in there and covers that hole. So i think i got the upper balance shaft taken care of. However I still have the small freezplug like plug and the plug that looks like the balanceshaft nose. My quesion is where do those go?

 

[gstspoolin]

dude to be honest 300 bones doesn't sound that much for peace of mind, knowing that ## block it put together the right way.