Catastrophic engine failure NOW WITH CONCLUSION!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Ok, NICO was down last time I was going to post updates, so some of this goes back a couple days.
Had to work late tonight and also had to mow my lawn when I got home. Luckily it was nice and cool out so I did a nice sprint mow before it got completely pitch black out.

After that I pretty much jumped right in.


Good clearance to the turbo from the cuts I made to the body sills.



Valve cover bolted on, VVT oil pipe secured with fresh copper washers.

Grilled Cheese Perfection that would make your elementary school lunch lady jealous. After 2 beers and feeling tipsy, I realized I really hadn't eaten anything since my marathon lawn mowing took up that normal time.

Power steering on (again, fresh copper washers down at the rack and pinion), oil and coolant lines on.

This little guy was super close to the AC compressor bracket. Perhaps eyeballing it isn't the greatest method afterall? Nah, it works fine.
Also got the driveshaft in. I had to drop the exhaust to get clearance between it and the powerplant frame.

There's about an equal amount of work both underneath and above the car now. Should be able to get it running tomorrow night if there's no snags.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

That brings us to today (9/23).

Filling via the shifter plate. Redline procured from Mike at Tunerzstore

Crank angle sensor set!

I opted to replace the BEGI cold side piping I had with the superior FM stuff while I had everything out. I came to this piece though and have no use for this GIANT hole. So I was thinking of cutting it and welding it, but you never know when you might need it or something.
Harking to Jesda's oil pan fiasco, I picked up one of these.


And Bob's your uncle!

Everything was a stretch as I made my way to the throttle body. Could be because I'm using a BEGI intercooler, who knows. I could have used a few more inches.


Got it on there. Its all in a bit of a bind/stretch though. That coolant re-route hose is in a pinch and is pushing the AC hose way over. Had to pull it off and route it around to the other side of the intake.

I had to rotate the pipe a bit to get that nut face to clear the radiator. Pretty tight tolerances going on under the hood here.

Better pic of that hose that had to get re-routed. (still not re-routed in this pic).

Radiator in!

Everything is pretty close to those fans.

IAT sensor to fan shroud. TOIGHT!

[float_6969]

I'm ready for startup vids damnit!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Oh I already started it the other night. Just real quick and brief to make sure all my connections were good before I crowded the engine bay with all sorts of stuff. I didn't have any coolant in it so I didn't let it run more than ~4 seconds.

[Jesda]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

A little bit of this

A dash of that:

and we get:

LIFE
The maiden voyage/breakin cycle took us to get food... with no hood. Being that I didn't have a hood I suggested to the helper guy "Where do you want to get food? The sky is the limit... as long as it has a drive-through".
Chic-fil-a was packed, so we went to burger king.

Gave her a wash.


Awesome day for cruising.

[sx moneypit]

Driving the car for the first time with the hood off after an engine install used to part of the ritual for us old school guys.

[krash]

Sweet man!

[WDRacing]

Lookin good buddy!

[alms24sebring]

Very cool. I thought if your car today as an older gen Miata came in the shop.

[float_6969]

It's alive!!! When does the beating on it start?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I spooled about 9 lbs this morning on accident while passing a school bus. It felt REAL good.

I'm getting into maybe 3 or 4 lbs of boost just driving it like I want right now. It has about 250 miles on the rebuild. After 1k and another oil change it should be pretty much good to go.

I DO have a coolant leak at the very back of the head though (BLAST!). I might try to tackle that on Sunday. Not sure what went wrong there. Other than that it runs good. There's quite the tapping noise coming from the engine too. Not sure if it's piston slap, valve tap, or just noisy injectors. It seems to be getting quiter the more I drive it/beat on it.
The car LOVES boost and revs. It drives smoothest/least amount of funky noises above 3000 RPM and 0psi pressure

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Driving the car for the first time with the hood off after an engine install used to part of the ritual for us old school guys.

Some things never change man. Chasing girls and optimizing internal combustion engines

[NolimitZ32]

^ I did the same thing when I got my Z running, its an awesome feeling especially if you've got some bling in the engine bay. (not old enough to be old-school)

[krash]

There's quite the tapping noise coming from the engine too. Not sure if it's piston slap, valve tap, or just noisy injectors. It seems to be getting quiter the more I drive it/beat on it.

IF you've got forged pistons, its probably piston slap. Should go away after she's all warmed up and at operating temp

[PapaSmurf2k3]

yeah it doesn't go away.

[float_6969]

lifters? When we replaced the head on my wifes Miata (NA), it took FOREVER to get the lifters to prime. One lifter took a couple of days of driving to completely quiet down.

[IanS]

lifters? When we replaced the head on my wifes Miata (NA), it took FOREVER to get the lifters to prime. One lifter took a couple of days of driving to completely quiet down.

Indeed. I have had cars that wont quite until you get a few WOT pulls to redline under the belt.

Good deal James, I would love to take a ride some time.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Come to MS! Or really anywhere within a 500 mile radius.

[krash]

I'd love to cruise around after the vert is back on the road.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm thinking about going to Oxford this weekend for the Texas A&M/Ole Miss game. How far away is the vert?

[krash]

Vert is in MD Ive got the motor here in TN with me so I can do the rebuild. Bringing her back in january

[PapaSmurf2k3]

The car runs really well, minus a few tuning issues -it wants to stall coming out of gear every now and then... very randomly, and the voltage in the hydra doesn't correlate to what I'm actually getting. There is also a dreaded coolant leak at the back of the head. Nevertheless, none of it is a show stopper.

I've put about 275 miles on the car already, and jacked it up today for a checkup. I put some protective hoses around a few things, secured the power steering lines a bit better, and did a general inspection.
One thing I noticed is that the engine/exhaust seems to sit a bit lower with the MSM motor mounts in there? Dunno, but I pulled my front chassis brace that it was hitting on/causing a vibration in the car.


Note the witness mark.
I tried heating it with a map gas torch and just beating on it with a hammer, but that wasn't happening. The metal is actually pretty thick. Out came the hack saw and cut-off wheel.

THEN came out the hammer.

I swapped the cutoff wheel for a wire brush wheel, and buffed it front and back, then layed some snots.



I then painted it and threw it back in the car, with a washer between the front 2 bolts and the body, for a little added insurance. There's tons of clearance now, but it sounds like its hitting on something else. I'm wondering if I never cut Corky's ridiculous downpipe bolt nuts off the downpipe before putting the engine back in. I'll have to kill it off at the 1000 mile checkup/oil change.