FlatBlackIan's project piggy resurrection

[White Comet]

def go vlsd for winter driving

[slyedog240sx]

under $200 at worldpac for the same gr2's. That is me assuming a 30% markup. They aren't even making 20% off the ones through their dc in lakeville. Can but all four from worldpac for $140 and car quest is $170. Either way you are being treated very good from them it looks like.

[IanS]

under $200 at worldpac for the same gr2's. That is me assuming a 30% markup. They aren't even making 20% off the ones through their dc in lakeville. Can but all four from worldpac for $140 and car quest is $170. Either way you are being treated very good from them it looks like.

We treat them well, and they return the favor. There is a reason we have Carquest stools, clocks, and pens in the shop. They are the first call, and often times the only call. Ive been to the Lakeville DC 5 or 6 for different reasons, including a couple of CTI training courses.

[keith0486]

ok whats wrong with the wrx why so much smoke?

[rexify]

seafoam FTW

[Logan76]

he put seafoam in his brake booster vaccum line, read up homie.

[keith0486]

o **** didnt see that my bad.

[DjPantsSpecR]

HA, in his non-reading defense, when i saw that very WRX on the dyno, it smoked just like that....

alright it was a little less smoke

[boro drift]

I've been wanting to say this since you started this thread. Put an SR in it. A bone stock SR, I know you want to. Don't deny yourself some pleasure! Do it!

[tEknoS13]

that would be sweet, BUT with the amount of money he would spend on an sr, i think he would be better off throwing that money into his s14

[boro drift]

that would be sweet, BUT with the amount of money he would spend on an sr, i think he would be better off throwing that money into his s14

True,true.

[tEknoS13]

hehe im interested in his s14 because he got the same mods as i do in my sr, and i saw the numbers he made at the dyno so im very curious as how i stack up. not that im going to copy all his mods but, you get the point

[IanS]

Sorry for the lapse in updates guys, I have been off the grid for 5 days, and in that time the car has come a long way.

One of the biggest reasons I haven't been driving the pig yet is the suspension. The struts were BLOWN, like whoa, time for an upgrade.

I got started by getting some jack stands underneath the car, (anyone notice Cale is never actually pictured working?)



With the car up I pulled off the rear upper strut mount boots, and the nuts underneath them. Then I zipped the bottom nut off using my impact, thats it for the rear struts, I heart multi link.



On to the fronts, start by hammering off the clip which holds the brake hose onto the strut body.



Remove the two upright nuts, and then their bolts.



Finish by removing the three top mount bolts.

We tossed the old strut springs in the back of Cale's WRX along with the new struts and it was off to work.

I wish I had one of these in my garage.



This is what I get for letting the fat kid hold the camera.



Everything goes back together in reverse of removal.





More of Cale's fun with my camera.





With the new struts in, I jumped on the drive belts, they were in horrible shape. The first picture was the AC belt, the second and third are the water pump/alternator belt. Im impressed it hadnt snapped from just pulling the car in and out of the garage.







I also changed out the rear brake pads and rotors, I plan to replace the front pads and rotors as well, but that is a job for tomorrow or Saturday. This brought the car to a condition where I feel safe driving the car. Ive put about 70 miles on the car in the last two days, and so far I am very please with it.

With most of the mechanical issues taken care of, I moved onto adding some personal touches to the car. I purposly neglected to take any pictures of the new parts, Id like to get decent pictures, not just shots of the car in the garage.

Thanks to another fellow Niconaut (Ajax) I am now rolling in style on a set of 7 spoke SE wheels with some decent snow tires. They look and ride 1000 times better then the bent to hell factory steelies.

While wandering around Fleet Farm I spotted a set of old school yellow rectangle driving lights. For $16 I couldnt help but pick up such an 80s style icon. Now my S13 is rolling like a Hachi Roku.

[slyedog240sx]

nice progress. Wierd seeing black gr2's. Iv'e noticed them changing lately to have more of an oem look. No more silver.

[boro drift]

Good to see you back. I thought maybe you got sick, or died!

[IanS]

Good to see you back. I thought maybe you got sick, or died!

Hahahaha, my wife ruined the AC adapter for our computer. I missed Nico.

To answer your SR idea, not a chance. Ive got one SRed car. If this car was rust free, and a viable project, it would get either a small block 350, or a rotory of some sort, just to annoy people.

Ive toyed with the idea of strapping a duo of Weber side draft carburetors to the KA, but I don't see it happening this year.

[boro drift]

4 ROTOR! Just kidding. Hey Ian, this may be a little off topic but, do you have a pyrometer in your S14?

[IanS]

4 ROTOR! Just kidding. Hey Ian, this may be a little off topic but, do you have a pyrometer in your S14?

Nope, Ive thought about getting an EGT, but with Oil temp, Oil pressure, Volts, Boost, and Wideband UEGO, my cockpit is begining to rival an F14 already, I dont really need any more gauges.

[boro drift]

Its just I have a pyrometer in my S13 and I can bury it at 1600 in third gear at 6500rpm. I think this is too hot.

[kenno470]

Ian...is that you?

When did you get here...?

The piggy looks good. Nice work.

[IanS]

I made some more progress this evening, though I did not take any pictures as I didnt figure it would be all that exciting .

Yesterday I scored a slew of used parts from a local 240 owner. I picked up a near mint piggy lip, a clean primed fender, some windshield sprayers, a unbroken hood hinge, and a spare set of injectors. I installed everything except the fender and injectors. The fender will need to be painted, and I just grabbed the injectors for good measure.

I also replaced the front pads and rotors, as the rusty discs were causing a pretty nasty pulsation. The car now has all new brakes.

The bulk of the resurrection is nearing completion. I hope to take the car to the upcoming Lake Superior Performance Rally. It is about a 300 mile drive one way, and the car will need to be in top shape by the time I leave on Thursday.

This leaves two issues to be covered, the first being very simple, the second much more complicated.

Both outer tie rod ends are showing some wear, and I would feel safer if they were tight for the trip, I hope to pick up some replacements tomorrow.

The brings me to my problem. The car seems to be consuming an excessive amount of fuel. The first tank of gas only lasted about 150 miles, and I recorded about 15 miles per gallon, 60% highway miles. This seems to be out of the norm so Ive done a few things to reconcile that.

I started by replacing the fuel and air filter, I had meant to anyway. I pulled the spark plugs, planning to replace them, but discovered they are in perfect condition, with no fuel soaking. I regapped them and put them back in. The wires also seem very new, and they are showing no signs of carbon tracking.

With all of that done, the engine does seem to idle and drive better, though there is still a slight burble to the idle. Ive spent little time with the SOHC engines, so this may be normal.

Another thing I think may be effecting mpgs is the fuel quality. When I got the car it had about 1/4 tank of gas, and the owner said it sat for almost a year. With the first tank I added some fuel injector cleaner to help clean out any buildup. When I filled up this evening I added a bottle of Heat to absorb any remaining water.

If all of this has no effect on the issue, my next step is pulling the injectors to clean out the ports a little, as well as cleaning the throttle body and MAFs.

[boro drift]

You might check the timing and clean the maf.

[Logan76]

02 sesnsor possibly?

[supreamS14]

When I took off my intake manifolds, There was always gunk inside the runners. I would always use 2 cans of carb cleaner and wire brushes to clean them out. I would think the smooth flow in the runner's would help power and gas mileage. I thought I would throw that in here, even though that don't sound like your MPG dilemma.

[White Comet]

seafoam it?

[IanS]

You might check the timing and clean the maf.

I will be doing this tonight.

02 sesnsor possibly?

I may end up replacing it, though that will be further down the road.

When I took off my intake manifolds, There was always gunk inside the runners. I would always use 2 cans of carb cleaner and wire brushes to clean them out. I would think the smooth flow in the runner's would help power and gas mileage. I thought I would throw that in here, even though that don't sound like your MPG dilemma.

This is one of the reasons I plan to pull the injectors out, Im guessing there will is a good amount of carbon build up.

seafoam it?

I did that two days after getting it,

[IanS]

I installed new tie rod ends, the car drives much better, I will be aligning it today at work.

As for fuel milage, the second tank of gas seems to be lasting a little longer. I hope to snap a few outside pictures of it today or tomorrow.

[Gabes13]

Yay for impact tools, tie rods and bad gas milage

[IanS]

Last night I covered a few more bases. I replaced both outer tie rod ends, and I cleaned the MAFS, IACV, and throttle body. Today at the shop I put the car on the alignment rack and straightened everything out, I was very impressed, no bent suspension components, I was able to bring every angle in to spec except caster. The car handles worlds better, this doesn't surprise me as the rear toe was almost a full degree in.

The car also idles and runs better. Wednesday evening I plan to replace the oxygen sensor, and thermostat, as well as flush the coolant. If I can get my timing light back from whomever I loaned it to, I will check the timing as well.

I just couldnt take it anymore, while bored at work, I snapped a few pictures of the car in its near finished state.

[boro drift]

Don't forget the full throttle tune up!