KA-T GT35 Build.. cont..

[lrb_2000]

Update time.. kind of.

I finally got my Turbo240 rods in, which means my engine should be back from the machine shop next week. So i got started on tearing into my car again. We pulled transmission, drive shaft, and also dropped the rear subframe so I can get rid of this damn HICAS crap first. Then Shawn (wild_maxx) and I pulled the engine, tore it apart today so he could use the head/block for his KA-T build, didn't take us long at all.so here's a few pics. more to come as I clean things up and such.

engine bay is super dirty and greasy.

HICAS bull****

No HICAS bull****

pile of old stock parts, exhaust, random stuff..



PS. I lied about running 12psi. My gauge said 12psi, but I put a friends in and i'm acually running 8psi. My gauge was way off. So 8psi was basically maxing the 400cc injectors with the new turbo.
Modified by lrb_2000 at 5:13 PM 4/24/2007

[daconkiftador]

Good luck cleaning that engine bay, gotta give the GT35 the respect it deserves, lol!

[nelson8708]

Sparkler bombs are a good time. Your sparkler video was funny....

"is it a big one?"

[lrb_2000]

haha.. yeah, they're pretty sweet..

So I didn't get too much done today, I acually didn't really plan on doing anything, until I looked at the engine bay again and saw how ****ing dirty it is.. so I started cleaning it.. I got the fuse boxes and crap moved out of the way, and other random stuff.. and started going at it.. here's after about a half hour of cleaning it.. it's gross..

hopefully tomorrow will be a much more productive day. I need to finish removing all the hicas stuff from the rear, and install my eliminator bar, and vlsd..

[lrb_2000]

I finished cleaning the engine bay, and put back the fuse boxes and harnesses. It's pretty much ready for the engine to go in.

before I started today..

after cleaning

after mounting fuse boxes and wires

and the daily driver

[Logan76]

Dude, I love it, Love it to death, nice work so far.

[wild_maxx]

^^^ dang he really loves it!

The bay looks good man... any word on when the engine will be done?

[Logan76]

I like KA-T's for some reason...

[wild_maxx]

your in the correct section then!

[lrb_2000]

no word yet. I'm hoping to get it back towards the end of next week and start assembly.

here's a pic of the hicas eliminator bar i just got done installing.. the tie rods were a ***** to get out of the rear steering rack.

[daconkiftador]

that engine bay looks 120% better, awesome job.

[jt15833]

haha i didn't see the T in GT35 in your title and thought you were putting ka-t into a g35. crazy!

[lrb_2000]

Wow, I finally got off my *** and decided to start putting my engine together since it's getting nice outside.. looking at old pictures and videos of my car is making me sad.. I need boost.

here's how the engine sits at the moment.





Supertech 9:1 comp pistons, K1 Technology rods + ARP rod bolts ARP main studsnew main/rod bearings, new oem oil pump assembly, fully balanced rotating assemblymetal headgasketARP Headstuds'91 S13 cams (it's an s14 head on a s13 block)port and polish 3 angle valve job

Hopefully throughout the next few weeks I can get it in the car and running.. I'll have plently of pics.. comments?
Modified by lrb_2000 at 4:02 PM 5/4/2008

[j-z]

looks good especially the engine bay! im going through the same process as of right now, cept my motor is in and i gotta get a few more parts and send the snail off to get rebuilt. ill be posting pics so look out for my thread....

i love the power steering move that one dude did... looks great.

[daconkiftador]

oh snaap!

[lrb_2000]

it's slowly getting there.. lol I need to work on it for more than 2 hours at a time.

[daconkiftador]

hey, is that my powersteering bracket?

..no wonder where it went!

[lrb_2000]

Oh man, it is.. how did that happen..?

[lrb_2000]

the car...kinda.





and I got the motor in.. I guess I could have cleaned it up some more, lol.








Modified by lrb_2000 at 12:06 AM 5/19/2008

[lrb_2000]

Well. I got the engine in, started up.. ran for about 2 minutes until I noticed the headgasket was leaking coolant down the block under the intake manifold. So that pissed me off. But it also made me happy that the engine started up within 10 seconds of cranking after a fresh rebuild.

I took everything BACK apart (went much faster this time) and it turns out there were little scratches/imperfections on the bottom of the head. I'm a dumbass and didn't check the head surface. It was built, and resurfaced by a machine shop for another nico member. I bought it from him, and it must have happened during shipping. Oh well, at least i'm getting to know this engine better than I ever thought.

So the plan. The head is in the machine shop getting resurfaced, I got a felpro headgasket on the way. Hopefully this fixes the leak.

Here's on the motor sits now. Since I got no pictures really durning the build up, I figured I would do some now.





And everything I had to take back off the engine.



Yum.

[480sx]

Yea, i had my head off three times before i could get my MLS gasket to seal. Third time was the charm, but its still way more of a pita than its worth.

I mean.. You can get them to seal, you just have to be meticulous about the job. The third time i actually installed it right, and got it to seal nps. After you get it to seal initially, you have to take out the cams and re-torque the head after first run, then 500 miles, and you really should do it at like 2000.

Felpro ftw, once again

[Logan76]

I was going to say, if your machine shop left a large enough bur on the head the cause your HG to leak I would've been pissed. Are they just skim cutting the head and sending it back to you?

[lrb_2000]

i'm not sure...I just took it to napa, and said I needed it resurfaced.

[Logan76]

Napa resurfaces heads? They dont do that kind of stuff around here...

[lrb_2000]

yeah,they have a huge machine shop in the back. they do full engine builds and such.. I normally don't go there, but they are usually pretty good about getting it done fast.

[lrb_2000]

Oh boy..

I got her done.. turns out it wasn't the headgasket, just some gasket that was caked onto the intake manifold.. I guess I didn't scrap it all off. 40 miles on the engine so far. Runs really good. Pulls really hard for 6psi. I'm thinking about adding more boost, what would be safe for a break in anyways?

I'm so happy to drive the car again though. It's been forever.On to the pictures...

Engine shot

Yes, that is a license plate for a heat shield .. lols



And the car, white primer ftw!! the body is far from done..







And here's the beast on a scale with a half tank of gas. Note that when I bought the car, this scale said 2920lbs.. now look!



Closer for yous

So somehow I got rid of about 300lbs of crap. I got rid of all the a/c components. All the 4wheel steering stuff.. all the sound deadening, back seat and area is completely stripped. crazy..
Modified by lrb_2000 at 12:43 AM 6/16/2008

[daconkiftador]

Hell yeah, looking good!

[480sx]

Everything that i have read has told me that you really dont want to boost much on new rings. I think the main reason being is excess blowby that will pollute your oil in a quickness. This happens because your rings arnt fully seated yet. You want to keep your cylinder pressures as close to N/A as possible, so run as little boost as your wastegate will allow.

On a sidenote, i hope you got a high-po oil filter.. Breaking an engine in with a turbo on it can seriously limit your turbos life. Normal filters are really only good till 6 microns or so, and the majority of damage thats done to an engine(or turbo) is done by particles between 2-4 microns.

Have you done an oil change yet? If not, you should def do that.

[lrb_2000]

I've never broken in an engine before, I hope I don't screw it up..

How long until my rings are actually seated? I'm boosting off my wastegate spring only, so I hit about 5-6psi.. I thought most of the turbos that get ruined are ball bearing and/or have no restrictor?

I wanted to put it on the dyno next week, but there's only 50 miles on the engine currently. I'm waiting for my ecu tune to get back to me this weekend. Should I keep the boost at 6psi until I hit like 500 miles or something? I changed the oil at 5 miles, and again at 50 miles. I plan to change it again around 200, 500, 1000 probably. I have a magnetic drain plug as well, lol. Maybe that will help a lil bit.

[lrb_2000]

I'll have the ECU back from Emance on monday. I can't wait. I still need to know if it's okay to turn the boost up or wait.. I don't want to mess something up since I've never done this before.