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9 minute(s) of a 102 minute read
9-18-2013
With the suspension all restored and fresh I decided whether the frame was straight or not I needed to get it on a frame rack to make sure because what goot is a perfect suspension if the chassis isnt right. So I took it to a shop and they did a pull on it. They pulled the wrinkles out by the cruise control, did some straightening of the headlight bucket, and rolled the strut tower out 0.625â€Â because it was pushed in. I had pictures of the car on the frame rack but lost them along the way.
This is the car back from the shop, getting ready to paint the bay (supposedly straight and true). My turkey bobble head is hanging out there too.
It then came time to paint the engine bay. I decided on a satin, almost semigloss black because I wasnt sure what color the rest of the car was going to end up and I like the look of black engine bays. This was my first time painting anything with a spray gun so give me a break here. I went with 3 coats of primer and 3-4 coats of black, laid on thin to avoid runs. It turned out great for my first time painting. It got really cold out the night I painted it so the black chips fairly easy but it can all be redone
Here are the results.
9-19-2013
With the engine bay painted it was time to work on the engine, clean it up a little, fix some oil leaks and block off some lines. The plan was to get it all cleaned up and in good working order before I took it for a rebuild so there would be no surprises. I didn't have an engine stand and being a college student I didn't want to buy one to save more money for the FD. This posed a slight issue because I had to re-seal the oil pan and install new motor mounts but I had no way to get to the bottom of the engine, so I got creative.
The motor was sitting on a pallet so I wheeled it into the house and built a box around the motor and covered the motor itself in a 50 gallon garbage bag. I then filled in the area between the motor and the box with spray foam expanding insulation and sealed the lid. Once dry I simply rolled the motor over and got to work.
Then came time to seal the pan and put on the engine mounts. I was going with two steel mounts rather than one steel and one aluminum mount. With this mod there has always been the debate as to whether or not you need to do something to apply pressure to the pan where the nub on the aluminum mount used to. To solve this I drilled and tapped a steel mount and faced off a stainless bolt so I can tighten it against the pan to apply pressure to that point.
9-24-2013
After doing the work to drill and tap the mount I went to check fitment and realized that someone drilled and tapped the rear iron in the past and then installed the aluminum mount on top of the bolt, causing it to be on a slight tilt. So the mount had been installed wrong for however long the motor was in the car and my work had been for nothing.
The motor had numerous issues including oil leaks, vacuum, leaks, poor/lazy work, and it just looked terrible.
Quality oil return line
FILTHY
The motor had custom made block off plates from one of the previous owners. They weren't the best in the world fit just fine but I wasn't sure how well they sealed so I took them off and put them on the Bridgeport.
Before (sandblasted to see what I was working with)
After
I don't have any pictures of it but part of the reason the motor was so filthy was because the OMP lines were broken off and left to shoot oil wherever and to seal the intake chamber they actually welded the oil injector tips shut.
Here is the top notch pilot bearing that I pulled out of the E-shaft mostly with my fingers.
9-25-2013
The next order of business with the motor was to get rid of the Ebay manifold and special downpipe that came off the car. So as with most of the parts on this car I bought used. I found an A-Spec manifold and downpipe for a great deal in the for sales.
Everything wasnt perfect with this manifold though. Somehow the T4 flange was warped (I doubt it came that way from A-Spec originally). So that had to be fixed out. Off to the Bridgeport it went. This was tough though, because there is no easy way to get a solid grip with a vise on a finished manifold.
Manifold installed
9-30-2013
There is a slight gap here between some work being done and the motor going back in but I bolted it up to a rebuilt trans and dropped it in the car. While it was out I did a single turbo harness conversion. I buttoned up everything around the engine and it fired up on its first try. It idled healthy and revved like a champ.
The next order of business was to have the motor rebuilt. I shouldve just sent it off to be rebuilt while I had it out but at the time I didnt trust myself installing a fuel system and some other components on a brand new engine, so off it went to Speed 1.
The motor got a streetport, cryo-treatment, Twin Power, Fuel system, and some other odds & ends. The previous engine had 3mm apex seals so this engine was also built with them.
I picked the car up and here it is back in the garage.
