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848/1000 new project build.

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Years ago I owned a 91 rust bucket and even after 20 or so other cars, I’ve always missed the vr4. When I saw the opportunity to acquire another one I jumped on it, maybe too anxiously, maybe not. Time will tell. I plan on documenting the process of turning what I hope is not a can of worms into a very unique daily driver. Anyway here she is. Ill be posting updates pretty regularly, as long as this car isnt a total pile.
the day I purchased the car after a long delivery ride.




and yesterday after a needed wash.





I know for certain the car needs an alternator belt, valve cover gasket, rear diff seal, and most importantly new fuel line. the current braided line leaks like a fountain. new line has been ordered and I cant wait to fire the car up for the first time.
 
Last edited:

Eztoril

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
80
Location
Irvine CA
Congrats. Came out lookin nice after the wash. I would add a timing belt and water pump service to that list if you dont know when it was changed last. Looks like a nice car that can be restored to dd status.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
The car actually has full detailed service records to about 120k miles, showing records of both. It has 170k on it now, but looks like the timing belt has been replaced since then after I took off the cover. Was looking underneath and has rust, but I’ll see how bad it is and if any of it is fixable.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Well, waiting on parts today but had a short time to work on the car.
Valve cover and COPs came off for cleaning and new gasket as it was clearly leaking. Here are some in progress photos.
you can see in my photos above how dirty and gross the parts were.

here it is with the COP setup taken off.


after sand blasting


and after some nice red paint


and the coil cover after a blast and some new stainless hardware


slow progress, but im glad I got to do something.
 
Last edited:

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
full day in the garage today but productive.

-drained fuel tank
-replaced supply fuel line from tank to fuel rail
-installed new inline fuel filter
-replaced fuel line from fuel rail to FPR
-remounted FPR
-made a new mount for new fuel filter
-installed alternator belt
-unfroze front caliper
-probably more. I don't remember.


anyway after struggling a bit the car fired up for the first time. I have no way of telling when the last time the car ran was, besides what the previous owner had told me, however I have a feeling the car sat for much longer than stated.
wanted to get a few more pictures but between fixing and running around for parts, it didnt happen.

So happy the car runs. although lethargic to rev, I have a feeling that the giant tumble weed that came out of the exhaust may have something to do with that. Another day of work on the car tomorrow and I should be able to take it around the block at least. Forward progress is good, but it still needs a decent amount.




all that junk came out of the tail pipe after it started.
 

transparentdsm

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
Nice save, car is coming along.


The lethargic throttle feel could be from the cruise control unit, check it out and make sure all the cables are adjuated.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Thanks for the tip, I’ll look into that today.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Or there is more of that mouse nest clogging the exhaust. Blocked exhaust can cause very poor performance.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
went to go unclog the exhaust and and see if i could make the car run better today, but before i did anything, I figured a compression test is in order.
I got arround 130 for 1,2, and 4 but cyl 3 only shows about 80psi for compression so my thought is possibly headgasket or who knows. I also think there may be a mouse nest in the exhaust but im less concerned until the car runs on all 4 cyls again. (after doing quite a bit of research, I have a few things im going to try before writing off this engine)

as of now im considering just scrapping the engine that is in it since it has 170k of very beat miles and quite a bit of unknown history. I will definitely keep going and get the car up and running but im not sure what the best option is yet.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif
 
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Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Worked on the car today with great success.
Verified spark
Verified compression. This was huge as all cyls are in awesome shape.
Verified all injectors are firing but 2 and 3 are completely clogged.
This is awesome news since I know exactly what has to be done to make the car run. I’m going to start by cleaning them, I was told they are 850cc but if that doesn’t work I haven’t decided if I will be sending them off for cleaning or just purchasing new ones. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
took the injectors to a local a few days ago to see if there was any way they could be saved. After an hour of messing with one, we decided it was best to just start over. New FIC 850ccs arrived! plugged them in and the car fires right up and runs great. I have a large oil leak coming from somewhere above the oil filter adapter, so my thought is it could be the gasket for that or the balance shaft seal. either way Ive ordered all seals and gaskets associated with the oil pump and front cover on the engine. Once those get here next week I can solve that issue and move on to its first drive. Getting excited as Ive had the car a month and havent been able to drive it yet.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
removed all the accessory belts and timing covers yesterday to try and find the source of my oil leak. Turns out I was right. The balance shaft seal is spraying like a fountain. Good news is that appears to be the only leak. Everything is super dirty however. Ill be cleaning and repainting everything while im waiting for parts to come in. Ill get some more pictures soon.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Had about an hour this morning to work on the car. Good news is that the balance shaft seal was definitely the issue. A non OEM seal must have been used as it was black instead of brown and literally fell out when I removed the balance shaft sprocket. So now that the oil leak is fixed tomorrow Ill be able to reassemble the timing cover and all the accessories then (fingers crossed) be able to take it on its first drive! (probably to find more problems)





 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Found my vacuum leak /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif I just made a mistake when replacing injectors and the #4 injector o ring was not fully seated into the manifold. adjusted, tightened, and bam it works. glad it was an easy fix. but in the process I rebuilt the entire throttle body as well. It needed it as well so not too concerned. O2 bung welded in and all my gauges from my turbo miata got transferred over to the galant so now I can address the next in the line of 100000 issues. Good news is It should see its first test drive in who knows how long on sunday. The temperature is a toasty high of 5 on that day, here in the arctic that is omaha nebraska this time of year. I should probably wait for warmer weather, but Id really like to get some more things diagnosed and get to daily driving the thing.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Been there done that on the injector seal.

Good luck with the test drive. Spring can't come soon enough for me.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Again 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Was fortunate enough to drive the car for the first time, however as soon as it was out of the garage, it decided to puke power steering fluid allllll over. Was easy to see though since everything here is covered in snow. I said screw it and took it around the block to see if there were any other issues. Needs some tuning work, but other than that seems ok. This week I’ll get to the rear steer bypass then removal. The feed lines running to the back were so rusted that there were a few holes in them. I found a post from 5 years ago when the car was sold stating that it had new read ps lines. If this was the case it either wasn’t these, or the car was sitting in a lake for a bit.
 

LordAthey

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
207
Location
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Once it gets a bit warmer out I will be able to go through my parts list, but I'm right across the river in Iowa and have a ton of spare parts (block, crankshaft, cylinder head, 4 bolt diff, etc). Let me know if you need anything.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
I work over in CB. I’d love to come check out what you have once we thaw out a bit.
 

Lesac

Active member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
37
Location
OMAHA
Only had about 20 min of time today, but I got a few things accomplished. Rear steering lines are blocked off and I should be good for now. Plan is to remove the entire rear steer setup and go to a dsm rack and rear diff. Also confirmed that my dakei miata steering hub does fit the car but is too shallow to make either the turn signals of horn work. I’ll be ordering the correct hub, but at least i know what my Greddy wheel will look like on the car.
 
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