Jareds RB20 S13 project

[1SickSilvia]

that purple on the wheels is sweet, looks like a nice build in the making

[JaredP]

lol man, i think im not gonna do purple anymore. picturing it in my head and it just doesnt seem right. im gonna paint the bay black, and do a gold/blue/black theme. my integra is already black/gold so i think i oughta keep it up.


and gold is just baller lol

[CA18Magic]

lol man, i think im not gonna do purple anymore. picturing it in my head and it just doesnt seem right. im gonna paint the bay black, and do a gold/blue/black theme. my integra is already black/gold so i think i oughta keep it up.


and gold is just baller lol

So similar to this...

[JaredP]

lol ya, pretty much exactly like that...which is funny cuz i've never seen that pic before

[JaredP]

ok guys, very long post!

yesterday i got off work and decided that i was gonna continue to work on pulling the engine. i pulled the intake/radiator off a few days before so i didnt have to go through that. so as soon as i got home i disconnected all the fuel/vacuum/ac lines, also unbolted the exhaust bracket from the heat shield (dropping the rusty exhaust with the engine). after that, i took off the front swaybar because, looking at it from the top i just knew it was going to get in the way. then i removed the lca's and tension rods. finally, it was time to unbolt the crossmember and drop the engine. please note, for the following pics, it was pouring rain. not the best weather for working on cars but i dont care!

so with a jack and board in place to support the engine once the crossmember, i removed the 4 bolts holding it on and we dropped it. soon after dropping it we realized it was stuck on....something.

looking for what it was hung up on (thats me in the green sweater):


still looking:


we realized it was wedging itself on the intake manifold and exhaust manifold. the engine had come down at an angle (from a problem we found today). out of frustration, i thought the added weight/shock of me kicking the crossmember might jar it loose:



still didnt work so we called it a night. I woke up today and got back to work. completely removed ac (compressor, condenser, evaporator) and got rid of the lines goin to it. i figured: less s*** in my way, i can figure out what was holding the engine in. finally figured it out to be the steering rack. where the rack bolts to the steering column it was seized together. with the help of a massive pry bar (read: 6 ft long piece of steel lol), the motor dropped!

no more engine:


so after all that, i decided i was gonna start cleaning everything up a bit. new crossmember goin in, steering rack and swaybar out...it was all greasy/grimy from an oil leak on the ka, and also being a primarily winter car before i bought it. so i went to town with some shop towl, degreaser, and a wire brush. didnt get pics of the swaybar/rack before i cleaned it but:

crossmember before (middle section was clean already when i snapped the pic):


crossmember/swaybar after:


steering rack after:


then i went to work on the engine bay. removed the coolant reservoir and the wiring harness:



and that was my day. i got a LOT accomplished. im debating getting the rack powdercoated or painting it but im not sure how much i feel like taking it apart (thoughts? suggestions?). tomorrow i'll probably start cleaning the car up and undercoating the wheel wells (possibly) and/or underside of the car.

one last pic to finish up here...the engine out of the car. enjoy!

[JaredP]

ok, so in the near future i will be planning on doing a complete suspension overhaul on my s13 but had a few questions.

1. i want to replace all the suspension bushings (or at least the ones that would need it) with hard rubber ones. i know hardrace makes bushings for a lot of the pieces like tension rods, swaybar links, knuckles etc. my question is the steering rack bushings. the ones inside the rack behind the inner tie rod. can those be changed with the engine in the car or would it be easiest to do while the engine is out? also, does anyone even make those bushings? i found some "made for an sr20" but i didnt think they should be different for a different motor. the bushings have 312000k on them so they've definitely got some use

2. what are "deep/extreme angle" tie rod ends? Would they be worth it for a summer dd/drift car?

3. anything else i might be well off replacing while i have the entire suspension apart?

[Lonismos14]

So you need the r32 front crossmember to fit the rb20 wit stock mounts. I always thought they were talking bout the rear crossmember. How come you guys just didnt use a engine hoist.?

[JaredP]

yes, the mounts bolt to the crossmember, and the crossmember bolts right up in the 240 bay. so its actually a really simple swap besides wiring. also, i dont have an engine crane. that was the next best thing lol

[JaredP]

alright guys, i got a question:

the AIV system in the car. i want to remove it if its possible but what exactly is it used for? i get that its emission based but does it control anything else or can it just be simply taken out?

[JaredP]

nvm, figured it out small update comin later on

[Lonismos14]

So when are you going to drop it like its hot.

[JaredP]

i ordered my rad and susp. bushings yesterday, now all i need to put it in is an fmic and paint the bay. i should be able to do both by the end of the month at the latest

[supersayianjim]

updates??

[JaredP]

rad and bushings are on the way, bay is getting...less cluttered, slowly. i'll put pics up as soon as i get a chance to lower the front of the car. i need two other friends lol.

anyone happen to know what size the fuel feed line is going to the filter? i wanna do a stainless/inline filter setup cuz theyre decently cheap (~$150 or so) and that'll help unclutter everything but i need to know the line size and dont have calipers. also, can anyone tell me if theres really any benefit to goin 5 lug over 4 besides brakes? i found a brake kit for the 4 lug so if thats the only thing i'll probably stick to it

[JaredP]

alright so i promised a small update, here it is. like i said nothing exciting. i started cleaning up the bay a bit, got rid of all the emissions crap, moved the PS pump out of the way for now, also the top half of the washer fluid reservoir (probably going to get something different for it and the coolant res.) gonna do a bunch of work tomorrow on cleaning some stuff up so we'll see how that goes. anyways, pic!


mmmm getting cleaner

[some_white_guy]

if you're getting rid of you're coolant reservoir i need one!

pm me if you are

[JaredP]

will do man, im honestly thinking of getting just another type of container thats smaller and easier to conveniently place elsewhere in the engine

[hbpignosePA]

So you need the r32 front crossmember to fit the rb20 wit stock mounts. I always thought they were talking bout the rear crossmember. How come you guys just didnt use a engine hoist.?

did u do any reasearch before you bought your swap?





anywho OP nice work i hate wiring, but im going to be doing this to the max; since mine isnt a daily its getting lights wipers and little else... engine managment and what not will probably be separate

[JaredP]

ya the wiring is quite annoying at times. i just hate diagrams. you gotta find a plug, and use other diagrams to see where it goes to on the other side of the harness to see if you can remove it. for the most part something that goes to say, the rear wiper, is pretty straight forward but theres a few plugs where the harness layout doesnt give much so its kind of a PITA to deal with. oh well, lots of helpful people out there to answer questions

[JaredP]

alright, so did some playing around with the car today. took off the bumper and fenders to access all the wiring and stuff to see what i can and cant get rid of. this part of the harness will have all the wires for cruise, emissions, ac etc. gone. i also finished removing the hose for the rear wiper, so now i've just gotta plug the reservoir or make a new res, or just remove it completely (i wont be needing it, if windows get dirty i'll wash them at home before i leave, and in rain i'll still have wipers. thoughts?). anyways, no bumpers/fenders:



and this is where i plan on moving the drivers side of the engine bay harness to be out of the way of the tire when i lower the car:



i just need to cut the rubber grommet so i can feed a little bit of the wiring back through and fit it nicely, then test fit the fender and make sure it all works. the few wires on the pass. side will be ran through the frame.

other than that i was hoping to get to working on the interior, but on account of rain, i can not. if it gets a bit nice i might go clean it and get it ready for some paint but we'll have to see. also, does anyone know how to remove the hood cable from the latch? i want to route it through the frame on the drivers side but i cant figure it out

[Lonismos14]

@hbpignose- Yes i did research but when they say crossmember the first thing that come to mind was the rear crossmember,Its all good cause im getting mckinney mounts anywayz.

[JaredP]

new parts! rad and bushings arrived yesterday but i was working so i went and picked them up today. just gotta do the sway and rack bushings then i can put the front end back together:



now just one question..should i be lubing ALL bushings and where they meet metal/other materials? the instructions only say to lube some things (like the metal sleeves on the front lca's, swaybars) but i want to know if i should be lubing every bushing that goes in?

[JaredP]

new parts! rad and bushings arrived yesterday but i was working so i went and picked them up today. just gotta do the sway and rack bushings then i can put the front end back together:



now just one question..should i be lubing ALL bushings and where they meet metal/other materials? the instructions only say to lube some things (like the metal sleeves on the front lca's, swaybars) but i want to know if i should be lubing every bushing that goes in?

[Lonismos14]

anymore updates?

[JaredP]

hey guys! sorry for lack of updates as of late, i crashed my DD and have been waiting, trying to deal with insurance and all that bs...anyways, i've been doin work so lets just show some pics!

i started cleaning up the bay, gave it a decent wash and started removing stuff:


only thing left in the entire engine bay is the end of one brake line (which takes 30 seconds to remove) and that damned wiper motor. i still gotta figure out how to remove the wiper motor, or i may just paint around it, havent decided yet. i've heard its a major pain, so i may just leave it, and paint around it.

also, i removed all the climate control stuff from behind the dash:


then took it one step further, and removed the steering column, brake and gas pedals, and dash bar:


as you can see, all thats left there is one part of the chassis harness. either way, im pulling the entire harness inside the vehicle and POSSIBLY trimming wires. i may just cut the junction box off, solder the wires, and back the wires back on themselves, electrical tape, and loom it all together, that way i dont need to worry about any resistance dependant circuits, or f*** anything up.

hopefully tomorrow i can start prepping for some paint work, all the interior is being coated in undercoat for durability, and its a nice black color so it should go well, if i dont like it behind the dash, i'll find something else for the rest of the interior. i gotta start getting some more wiring work done, remove all the stuff now for the climate control and start looking into loom. gotta talk to my wiring guy and see if i should keep any wires as i dont know what i may be able to tap into (for ex...the ac fan circuit for an electric fan for the car as opposed to the stock clutch fan, but could also hook it up to a temperature switch, eh i'll figure it out).

one last pic to end the update, a good old vs new pic...the rb's are quite a bit larger:


also, does anyone know how to remove the hood latch cable? i cant figure it out....

[JaredP]

got some serious body work done today in the engine bay. got the strut towers welded up, as well as grinded away all the rust and stuff on the frame rail on the exhaust side, and on the strut towers. laid down some primer to keep it from rusting as well:

battery tray gone:


drivers side shock tower:


frame rail:


passenger strut tower (can see where we cut and welded a piece of steel where it was rusty):


went and picked up another disc for my grinder so i can continue with some of the welds, my friends comin over again next week to finish up the welding on the interior and the firewall and finish with the rust stuff. in the meantime i think i found a color for the bay so i'll be looking into body filler and paint/primer/clear

[JaredP]

more updates!!!

attacked the engine bay with a pressure washer and a full can of degreaser. also layed a strip or two of primer (will be sanded off anyways) to see how well its gonna lay on there. this was just regular primer too, i have some really good self etching stuff which will adhere even better for when im ready to go.

drivers side:


pass. side:



and the whole thing:


im going to look at some light, not very abrasive flexible sanding discs for my grinder tomorrow so i might be able to start sanding the bay to get it ready for filler which brings up the question:

does anyone have any experience with different kinds of fillers? im thinking of goin evercoat's metal to metal filler, but i havent heard too much about it, thoughts? its for the bay to smooth it out just a tad, but i dont want it cracking.

aside from that, start cleaning up the interior as well and getting THAT ready for a good day of paint. i need to find some very thin guaged steel to weld up some of the holes that i dont have plugs for, and that'll be my tomorrow. also gonna organize my "shop" area, so i may take some good pics of that for you guys

[Lonismos14]

bondo in the engine bay will crack that is a high flex area. i wouldnt do it your just waisting time.

[KYZAAC]

bondo in the engine bay will crack that is a high flex area. i wouldnt do it your just waisting time.

what are you suppose to use then? i have a few small holes in my engine bay and one big f*** on the driver side strut tower, im gonna weld in sheet metal, should i just leave it at that or is there another step? obviously i never done body work before...

[some_white_guy]

any word on that coolant reservoir?