Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

It's too hard to tell from those pics. The important areas to port and clean up are down by the valve seats, which you probably aren't going to be able to get a good look at or feel without the valves out or lifted off their seats a bit.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I knew I should have taken pics when it was fully disassembled. Oh well, thanks for the info.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I worked on the car for 2 hours outside after work last night, assembled the manifold/turbo/o2 and cleaned RTV oil the stupid oil pan, which I now hate. Then later, from 10:30 to 1:30, I cleaned RTV off the block, installed the oil pan, and put the xfr case back on.

I really hope it doesn't leak, that is by far the worst thing I've ever had to do on the car. I'm pretty sure it will be good though, I had both surfaces super clean, the oil pan looked new. Took me probably 3 hours just to clean them and reinstall the oil pan. I was getting a pretty bad headache after all of this (and was freezing), and this morning I woke up with a really bad sore throat. Being outside in an unheated garage for that long at night really takes its toll.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Just got caught up on the last week of updates man, this is looking good! Keep going!

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Man, the timing belt was probably one of the easiest things to do, not sure why I was so afraid of it. Not hard at all. Anyway, got that and the rest of everything installed. The battery died so I have to wait until I bring my laptop home from work tomorrow to reset the link settings and fire it up.

Important question though, I've heard that you have to build oil pressure before actually starting the engine, so I was going to unplug the injectors and crank it for 30 seconds or so. However, I never took off the oil filter housing, so really it's just like I drained the oil and didn't fill it back up for a few weeks. I guess I did take the head off, but that's all I can think of. Should I need to do this before starting the motor?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Did you use assembly grease when you put the rods on? I'm not really sure but I say just fire it up....

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

No, I'd crank it several times with no injectors or plugged in. Maybe even take the spark plugs out to let it spin freely, but it's good to let the oil pump suck up some oil and get even a little pressure going before starting it.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I didn't have assembly/moly lube until the following day when I installed the headstuds and rod bolts, so when installing the rods/bearings I dipped everything in 15w oil (literally coated and dripping with oil). The head was assembled with lube though by the machine shop.

I'll unplug the injectors and take out the spark plugs then. I'm sure there is still a decent amount of fresh oil coating the pistons and cylinder walls, wouldn't want them to catch on fire with some spark, hahaha.

I have another question. While I was setting the timing belt, I used a ratchet to move the crank around a few times to make sure everything lined up right afterwards. Why is it so hard to move that? With the head off it seemed decently easy, is it having to move the cams/springs/valves that makes it so much harder? My ratchet doesn't have a super long handle so I actually had to use a decent amount of force to get it turned at some points, with no spark plugs in even.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

did you have the spark plugs in it?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Yeah, when you first build it, it can get tight once you put the head on. If you've ever tried turning a camshaft in an assembled head (off the block) you will know why. Just think of the additional force required to depress the valve springs. I know my upgraded ones have a seat pressure of 100 lbs, and it only goes up from there.

That's why rotary valves are so pimptastic.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

No.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I plan to let it get warm, change the oil, and take it out for a bit tonight. When I'm breaking in the motor, how long should I do the vacuum pulls to seat the rings? What rpm range?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

It's alive!!!! At first it was just running on 2 cylinders, changed the plugs and verified spark and still the same thing. Found out two injectors were completely clogged with e85 goop. Soaked them in gas for 10 minutes to dissolve the goop, cleaned up as good as new and it's currently warming up. Is it normal for it to smoke a little bit?

Just got back from changing the oil/filter. Everything still looks good, and the smoking stopped. Tomorrow I will do vacuum pulls, I'm excited.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

The smoke was probably just the excess oil burning off the cylinder walls. Glad to hear it runs!

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

way to go.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Yeah a little smoke at first, I wouldn't worry about.

Now break her in, tune it, and bring it on the cruise!

Congrats dude.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Woot!

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I did vacuum pulls and other random driving (accel, decel, etc) around town for 20 miles today. Smoked a decent amount at first, but less now. Still smokes a little though. I plan to drive it again tonight doing the same thing, and again tomorrow a couple times.

Something seems to be rubbing on the motor side of the timing belt, it looks a little glazed over on that part of it. So I'll probably fix that tomorrow.

When should I expect the smoking to stop? Is this because the rings aren't fully bedded yet?

Oh yea, I'm going to borrow a compression tester and see how it's doing so far. Then check again in a few days.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Hmm I never had a smoking issue when I did my rebuild. Is the smoke coming out the exhaust for sure? Not sure residue in the engine bay? What color smoke? Black, blue, white?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Give it some boost!

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Smoked today on startup, but stopped when it was warm. Did a few 5psi pulls from 2nd to 4th up to 5500rpm range, the a few 10psi, then 15-18psi. Compression test read 140-150 for all four, though the tester was pretty ghetto. It was a rental from oreillys that had seen better days. I tried to compare numbers to the ZX2 but the tester didn't fit... so no luck there.

I'll continue to beat on it a little, maybe a few short WOT pulls in 2nd to 5000rpm, the wastegate has an 18psi spring so I won't be boosting too high. I did another 10 miles on it today for a total of 30 so far, there isn't much time left for the rings. I'll be pissed if they don't seat properly.

Bled the brakes again today, they feel much better but still not great. I'll do some hard braking and bleed them again before the cruise. Also found out one of the oil pan bolts was rubbing the timing belt, not the cover. It was one of the shorter bolts, but the crank scraper was in there before which was probably 1/8" thick so it didn't rub, I cut a few threads off the end and problem solved.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I got a tester at work if i wanna try it out.

-A. Swift

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I've got a nice matco compression tester in my car right now as well if you need a good one. Its nearly brand new.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I changed my wastegate spring to 3 lbs so I can run whatever boost I want, did some WOT pulls at low boost, and I have it set to 14psi now, still shifting around 5k rpms.

Still smokes quite a bit on startup until it warms up, then the smoking goes away. I have almost 50 miles on it now so I'm going to change the oil tonight, and check the turbo for shaft play and replace or clean out the filter on the oil feed line.

Do I need to give it more time for the rings to seat properly? I thought if they weren't done by now they would never seat all the way.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

I would think after 50 miles, a lot of the ring seating has taken place. But I would still not romp on it for the sake of the bearings.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

As you know, I differ in my engine break-in approach than most on this board. This is actually one of the few things I agree with Buschur on. I think a properly machined engine should be broken in hard and fast. If your engine is still smoking after 50 miles there is something wrong with it :(

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Yep, after 50 miles almost everything is broken in. I would do a leakdown test on it and get a good compression tester. If that is ok, then start looking at the turbo. What color is the smoke? If it is just some white smoke, then I wouldn't worry too much.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

It's pretty light, but has a slight blue hue to it, which I know isn't good. For the first 15 seconds after starting there is zero smoke, then it builds slowly and continues until it's almost warm.

I'll test compression when I'm back in Minneapolis on Friday. In the meantime, I guess I won't sell the extra 5 ring sets I have, just in case I have to redo this process over the summer.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Im guessing its your turbo, which would suck since it was just rebuilt...

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

:score010:

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

And how many times did you rebuild that motor in the Stealth? :D

j/k man, don't kill me :)

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Lol!

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Well this sucks, I think there is oil on top of the pistons. Pulled the plugs and looked down about 30 minutes after work once it cooled down and #1 (worst compression cylinder) looked like it had oil sitting in part of it, the rest weren't quite as bad but were still a little wet. There was also oil on the bottom of the vband clamp on the center section of the turbo, and also oil on the water and oil return lines, not sure where this is coming from, maybe from the bottom center stud on the exhaust manifold.

I drained the oil and didn't find a bunch of metal or anything, but I did find a very small piece of metal stuck in the turbo feed line filter. Probably just from break-in (I hope).

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Oil on the top of the pistons would pretty much have to come from the rings or bad valve seals/guides. What process did you use to gap the rings and grind them to size?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Well the head was just redone by my machinist friend, who replaced the seals and said all the guides were in great shape.

For the rings, we filed perpendicular to the ring edge, stuck down in cylinder a few inches with piston, measured with feeler gauge, repeat. Top gapped to .020 and second gapped to .023. Also made sure gaps were almost 180* apart so they didn't line up, though they were installed about 90* off what the manual says overall, not sure if that matters.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

That sounds fine. I would do the compression and leak down tests, then go from there.

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Still haven't done the compression or leakdown tests, partly because I forgot to bring tools with me to Minneapolis last weekend. I won't make the same mistake this weekend.

Anyway, in the 700 miles I drove on the cruise and coming home, I burned just 2/3 of a quart, which is less than before the rebuild. However, when doing the oil change last night I noticed a ton of oil all underneath the car, and on the front side of the block. There was a film covering the water pipe, dripping from the bottom of the turbo compressor, hot side, oil return, and water return. I could see where oil dripped and burned on the downpipe, all over the oil pan, bottom of xfer case and k member, etc.

One thing is that the bottom center exhaust manifold stud is completely stripped (which goes through a big oil return passage), could that be the cause of all the oil coming out and spraying the turbo and water pipe, then dripping down and running back along the oil pan/k member?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

Sounds like your manifold stud is pissing a little. I would definitely look at that.

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Yeah, it sounds like it for sure. Why would mitsu do that? Or is that something you redrilled and tapped too far or something?

Re: Make slowboy not so slow
 

No, I've changed the exhaust studs a couple times because of different turbos that needed longer ones, and the bottom three center stripped. Two were recoverable, and I forgot to have the center one (most important because of oil leakage problem) helicoiled when I had the head off. Bad design I'd say though.

Another thing I just noticed, my dipstick reads 100% full with just 4 quarts in, why could this be? The oil pan is a little dented but not much. Is filling it < .5 quarts over the full line going to make the crank drag in the oil?