My "TRANS REBUILD PAGE" (Lots of Pics)

[Man]

BEFORE:


AFTER:


The before pic unfortunately doesnt show the big rust spot that I fixed by painting the crossmember with por 15. I was able to get it down to almost shiny metal with this chemical crap that helps strip rust. I am confidant it will keep rust away for several years to come.

MOUNTS ARE COOL:


SPEC III ON:


TRANS MATED:


MISC PIC INCASE ANYONE NEEDS REFERANCE PICS:








GOING DOWN?:


FARTHER:


LOCKED IN:


Well, motor is in her home finally. Spent all day yesterday putting her in. I didnt get to go to sleep till 8am this morning! I felt like shit. Puting the motor in has got to be the worst car experiance in my life. I think the EK2 motor mounts are for pros only. Not recomended for amatures like me.

I hope my car works good now cause if I have to take the motor out any time soon, i might commit suicide.

[StalthyTT]

Thats looks real good, must be a hell of an experience with this car also. You probably mentioned it before but what kind of turbos did you put on?

I also asked a few questions before when you started you project about taking out the tranny and with watching threads like this and other ones, i got my tranny out and in with really no problems at all. Thanks for everyone that take the time to show there projects and helping others.

[Captain_Kirk]

Lookin good!. I remember when you started that "little tranny project". Looks like things are finally coming together.

[AdamVR4]

Couple things,

Those 13T's look good

When you R&R'ed the T-stat housing, did you make sure the the little jiggling ball/valve on the t-stat itself was at the top/center?

How did you torque your heads down??

Put some paper towels in those open intercooler pipes!! The last thing you want is to lose a tool or bolt in one of those.

When you go to start the car for the first time, disconnect the 2 harnesses on the timing belt side of the engine in the center of the 2 cam gear covers. This will allow you to PRIME the engine prior to starting it. Crank the engine in 5-7 second intervals ~4-5 times and you should have a little oil pressure. This way your engine is never run 'dry' (or with only assembly lube).

Good luck, and good job!!

[Man]

Adam, could you please go into more detail with the thermostat issue, im not understanding/ familiar.

Heads, torqued down in sequence that the manual said. First to some torqe, then again to the higher torqe.

Priming, I dont know for sure, but ive talked to a couple of engine builders locally and both told me to start just start it without trying to do that. The spark plugs are in and there is going to be load on the bearings so the only thing that "PRIMING" is going to do is wash the thicker assmebly lube off the bearings.... were as just starting it would get the oil flowing quickly, I just need to watch the oil gauge and hope it starts flowing within 10-15 seconds.

I am no expert and I most definatly appreciate any and all input that you can give me. Your advice is taken in high regard so dont think im trying to teach you anything, but does that sound logical to you? I think it makes sense, I dont know really, please get back to me.

thomas

[RobBeck]

thermostat issue is on the t stat itself. if you look at it youll see it. install the lil hole thingy upwards. if you dont know what he is talking about still then you might want to check it out firsthand.

Heads, doesnt the manual also say to back them all off one by one once torqued then retorque again. mine did and thats what i did, if you did that too thats cool just makin sure.

i would prime it like he said. if pressure doesnt build with 10-15 seconds or whatever and it wipes out some bearings that would suck. I would rather take my chances at 100rpm (or whatever cranking is) over 1k rpms.... but do what you want, i have always primed tho.

Rob

[AdamVR4]

Originally Posted by RobBeck

thermostat issue is on the t stat itself. if you look at it youll see it. install the lil hole thingy upwards. if you dont know what he is talking about still then you might want to check it out firsthand.

Heads, doesnt the manual also say to back them all off one by one once torqued then retorque again. mine did and thats what i did, if you did that too thats cool just makin sure.

i would prime it like he said. if pressure doesnt build with 10-15 seconds or whatever and it wipes out some bearings that would suck. I would rather take my chances at 100rpm (or whatever cranking is) over 1k rpms.... but do what you want, i have always primed tho.

Rob

Some manuals don't state that you need to crack the bolts loose and then re-torque.

This is a rather confusing topic for me, particularly when you consider the fact that the HG's on my SL just failed after ~5000 miles of use.

Talking with Ray, it would seem that with the heads milled or not, there actually is no real NEED to retorque the heads bolts.

On my VR4, I torqued them one time, in 10 ft-lb steps. I never cracked them loose - I did attempt to retorque some time after and they didn't move. I've not had ANY head gasket / head lifting issues since (knock on wood), even with the very regular trips to 27-29 psi and the occassional trips to 30+ psi.

On the SL, I torqued them one time, in probably 20-30 ft-lb steps up to 90 ft-lbs. I was using MLS turbo HG's (which, come to think of it, were likely NOT OEM, which certainly could have contributed to the failure)... The engine DID over heat due to slow, stupid coolant leaks above the trans (thanks again previous owner... I've since replaced virtually all of those hoses, clamps, and gaskets), so that's another potential cause of the failure... After the failure, I attempted to retorque the bolts in a last ditch effort to save myself time, and none of them moved.

Anyway, when I installed the new OEM MLS HG's on the SL, I torqued them down in 20 ft-lb steps to 80 ft-lbs and after the engine ran for a few minutes, I attempted to re-torque them to 80 ft-lbs and none of them moved. I'm undecided as to whether or not I'm going to take the cam covers off @ 500 miles... I'm leaning towards NOT removing them based entirely on what I've experienced. I think it will be a total waste of my time (because none of the bolts are going to move), and I'm afraid that if I crack them loose, I'll disturb the seal...

I believe the whole point of cracking the bolts loose and re-torqueing is to crush the HG a bit more... AFAIK, you're supposed to do this prior to running the engine. Then again, it's not in my 92 3000GT service manual OR my Mitsubishi engine overhaul manaul, so this is nothing more than "what I've heard" ...

Sorry for the worthless, long read. LOL

[AdamVR4]

Originally Posted by Man

Priming, I dont know for sure, but ive talked to a couple of engine builders locally and both told me to start just start it without trying to do that. The spark plugs are in and there is going to be load on the bearings so the only thing that "PRIMING" is going to do is wash the thicker assmebly lube off the bearings.... were as just starting it would get the oil flowing quickly, I just need to watch the oil gauge and hope it starts flowing within 10-15 seconds.

So you're washing off engine assembly lube and replacing it with pressurized motor oil. I'll take that trade any day of the week

[RobBeck]

the back off retorque thing was in my manual (cd)... i did it when still cold. Maybe necessary, maybe not, i have never done it on any other car i have had but i also have never had Mits MLS gaskets on any of them either...

I definitely wouldnt advise doing it after running unless you have alot of time on your hands.. but while you are in there already torquing them down to begin with and it says to crack em back abit and then torque it back then hey why not. Seems to me that it would give the most accurate reading, and not cold warp the heads in any sort of way like leaping increments could do.

Rob

[Man]

Im going to do it your way Adam if you and Rob both think I should. Also, thanks for the tip on the thermostat. I checked it and it was not lined up with the mark at all. GOOD call.

Also, i have just backed off and retorqed the heads. Which sucks ass cause it took me about 20 steps backward . Oh well. Im taking a little break right now cause ive been trying to get the fucking rear valve cover on and the new seal keeps falling out. What a fucking pain in the ass. I put some rtv on it and tried it and got closer but it didnt work. Now i put alot more on and im going to let it set up all the way that way it holds the seel to the cover. The fucking brackets for the phlenum get in the damn way. POS damn im pissed.

If you have any other ideas what I could have done wrong, pleas save me from myself. Though at this point, I think I must have done some things right