New owner- ?/1k Summit white from Colorado aka 677/1k

[coyotes]

that's a lotta stuff, you'll feel pretty good once you get all that thrown on.

 

[highrpm666]

I'll feel good when I can start the car in neutral, press the clutch and actually put it in first gear /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. I fear that the p/o may have driven the car too much with the clutch dragging and toasted my synchro's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif. Should have a good idea of the damage when I drain it. I have already contacted Jack's transmissions to discuss my options in the worst case scenario.

 

[G]

Looks like a vr4 rs b16g.

 

[strokin4dr]

Quoting highrpm666:

.... oil pan/valve cover gaskets and crush washers for my turbo lines.....



Do not use a gasket on the oil pan. Use a good quality grey RTV.

 

[highrpm666]

Thank you, I was unaware of that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif. I have plenty of good rtv to use.

 

[highrpm666]

I was finally able to tear the car apart today. I removed the transmission and found my clutch and tob to be in bad shape. The fingers on the pressure plate are worn and uneven. Throwout bearing was complete trash and I don't understand why it wasn't making any noise. Disk was worn and a bit glazed. Flywheel looks to be ok-ish and I'm having it machined in the morning. I should have the clutch issues completely resolved upon reassembly.

Ran into a few snags.. I spent about an hour per side just removing the upper eccentric on the lower struts. Never struggled with them like this and I have removed more than I could ever count. It was bs. Found my one of my two trans mount bracket bolts to be cross threaded badly, will need to be re threaded. One of my lower transfer case bolts is helicoiled poorly. My reverse switch was not plugged in due to a damaged socket, it will need replaced to plug it in. My brake master cylinder is leaking, didn't even notice it till I was removing my ac compressor and lines. Also I found a hand full of bolts that don't belong to this car being used in random locations. And it looks like my water pipe on the front of the block leaks ever so slightly where the pipe goes into the water pump housing. It seeps slowly down and ends up hanging a drip off of the oil cooler/filter adapter, it makes it look like the oil cooler is leaking lightly and kinda freaked me out. In the month or so the car has been parked in the same bay in my shop and hasn't dripped any fluids at all amazingly.

I spent 10 solid hours on it today and made some good progress. Got the engine bay much cleaner on the pass side and firewall also. Just a few more weeks and I'll have it back running like a champ. Here are some pics I snapped while working on it today including before and after cleaning the tranny and one of it from Saturday with a 55 bel air that actually caught on fire in the shop later that day.

 

[G]

Sounds like a hot mess. Hope you got a good deal on it.

 

[coyotes]

good to get some progress in!

 

[highrpm666]

Quoting G:
Sounds like a hot mess. Hope you got a good deal on it.



Hot mess... Yes sir. Good deal... Well she sure looks nice /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

And yes it is good to get some progress in. Feels nice. I've had a whole lot of inspiration from the-underdog aka Turbo Tom /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif. Infact I've almost followed his videos step by step it seems like. Including but not limited to polishing my exhaust tips and cleaning every lil nook and cranny etc!

 

[highrpm666]

Well I had to cheap out on my clutch do to insufficient funds. Got and exedy pro-kit OE replacement pressure plate and disk. Had the flywheel cut and stepped to .609 exactly by Clutch Dr. I don't plan on putting down any more than 240whp/tq anytime soon so this should be adequate for the time being. Clutch was delivered to my shop and flywheel was machined in the back of the clutch Dr truck on site. Cost me $170 for everything. The machinist was very knowledgeable and knew a lot about the car/drivetrain surprisingly. He did say that my flywheel was done for after this clutch though. I tried to find an OE replacement flywheel through my suppliers and came up empty handed after multiple phone calls. At least I can get one more round out of this flywheel and I'm not stuck trying to find one yet. Now I just need to get the clutch and trans back in and figure out if I need to shim my pivot ball before my boss has an aneurism from my car occupying a bay for so long. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[G]

I meant a lot of things wrong with it. Looks real clean though.

 

[boostback]

Very clean car best of luck getting it running soon. Wish I could say that about mine.

 

[boostback]

Beautiful car. Best of luck getting it running soon.

 

[highrpm666]

Look what I got! A big thanks to the previous owner of 677/1000 for hooking me up with this badge! It's sad that the real 677 is dead and rusted out, but it's pretty neat knowing she was a summit white w/sunroof also.

 

[highrpm666]

The good:
Today was a big day. I installed the new rear main and re sealed the oil pan. Pulled the manifold and turbo and replaced all crush washers and oil drain gaskets, removed the turbo to manifold stud in favor of a bolt and notched the drivers side of the manifold for easier removal in the future. Installed the clutch, t.o.b, fork and pivot ball which ended up needing a 1.3mm shim all said and done.

Its sitting again till I get a day off to install the new timing belt, b.s. belt, idlers and tensioner, cams seals and water pump, wheels bearings and tie rods.

The bad:
I was very shocked when I found a valve spring retainer lock in my oil pan along with some other large debris. Nothing was recognizable but the retainer. So now I'm in for a bit more work if that lock actually popped out.

Im curious, I haven't had my valve cover off yet too see. Are the retainers visible after just removing the valve cover or will I need to pull the cams?

Sorry no pics from today, I was way to "in the zone" to snap any.

And I was also curious if anyone knew off the top of their head.. when installing the pass side 4 bolt gusset/bracket back under the car do the longer bolts go in the front or rear holes?

 

[highrpm666]

Today I was able to get a bit of time to remove the valve cover and inspect the valve retainers/locks. I confirmed that all of the locks are installed. I was very worried about it. It appears my head has been freshly rebuilt also. Upon obtaining the car one of the first things I noticed was how clean the head was compared to the block and intake manifold. Im not sure how long ago it was done but it looks to be fairly recent.

Here is the pesky lil guy I found in the oil pan when doing the rear main etc.

I am very relieved that all the locks are in place but at the same time im extremely curious how this ended up in the pan. Is this not a valve retainer lock? It sure looks like one to me.

So now she is almost ready to drive home. Just gotta do the timing belts and components, front wheel bearings and tie rods, align it and go take an emissions test. From there its a matter of getting the plates on and breaking in the clutch. Im so excited to drive my first vr4!

Not sure if it will be safe to rev with the b16g on a bone stock car but I should be able to drive her back and forth to work safely while I break in the clutch and work out the kinks.

 

[G]

It probably fell down one of the oil passages. They can be a pita when removing valve train parts manually while the head is on the block.

 

[highrpm666]

I just dont understand why someone would machine and clean the head up and then proceed to replace the guide seals with the head on the block. It was probably done earlier and they then realized it needed a head gasket or something.

Painted the valve cover today. Came out ok. Clear coated it also.

 

[G]

It could have fell down 2 owners back. He may have replaced the valve seals or something.

 

[highrpm666]

Replaced the timing belt, b.s. belt, idler, tensioner pulleys, hyd tensioner, water pump, valve cover gasket today. Had a heck of a time tensioning the timing belt, what a rediculous headache inducing procedure. I have both of the special tools too. Took me 6 tries to get it within spec. Ended up using the method from the vfaq. The mitsu/alldata method just didn't work for me at all. This was my first 4g63 timing belt job. Upon re assembly I found my lower timing cover to be warped and rubbing things in a bad way. It will need replaced before I can run or drive it. It was making some pretty bad noises when I fired it up. I cleaned it all up for nothing. Bummer. It was really nice to actually fire her up though. Ran like a champ other than the whirring noises from my lower cover. Only ran the engine for a few minutes to avoid damaging any new timing components. I'm going to re tension the belt as it was on the high end of spec. Basically 4.5mm rod extension exactly, going to try to get it in the middle of spec this time. Spent a good deal of time cleaning parts and the engine bay on the timing side. Starting to look nice under the hood finally. Still need to repair some random crispy wiring and figure out what to do with my valve cover vent tube, I just ran a long hose down to the bottom of the engine bay for the time being till I make a catch can.

Just a few more maintenance items to resolve and she will be a roadworthy vr4 once again!