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heres my helper.. his name is Gojo (because he likes to get into things .. like used oil... then needs to get cleaned off with gojo

and here we go... i found a neat trick to lighten up your car.... just do this

up

and out

eww.... look at all that dirt... and what just a little simple green with a brush and a rag can do

then here we go after a good steam-ceaning, sanding surface rust, and primer (metalcast primer) .. i kinda like the grey engine bay... the theme of the car is the royal decepticon midnight ninja purple color outside, then a black inside with grey highlights

the engine bay will be black with grey accents, the engine is gold , all the vaccuum hoses will be yellow, and all lubrication/coolant/fuel lines will be braided stainless...

one of four balanced pistons.. while i put on the new rings

then the CA18DET block, post machine shop, cleaned and painted, right after i got all 4 pistons ringed and installed

bottom half almost assembled (just need the damn oil pump)
and the head, with the HKS cams under those primered valve covers (need to grind the valve covers a bit and repaint, same with the oil pan, before i seal it on

and now... i have no oil pump, so i cant finish assembling the engine..... so it gets wrapped in plastic to wait until an oil pump that fits arrives

21Sep2005

well, i broke down and paid the rediculous price of $190 for a topline oil pump, here it is installed with the snazzy cut timing belt cover

then the tranny went on (you dont *need* one of those alignment tools... just eyeball it with the clutch in the center of the pressure plate while you torque the pres plate down)

then the nismo slave cylinder went on

this is the difference between stock clutch stuff and mine ...

top is stock 25 lb flywheel, organic clutch and dirty, rusty pressure plate
bottom is the 5kg billet flywheel (about 12 lbs), Kayaba 3 puck racing clutch (its pretty stiff too), and cleaned stock pressure plate

now its time to get the turbo on

oh no mr bill... the oil return, and coolant send dont fit.... the oil send barely bends into place with a banjo bolt

so i have to bend the oil return in ways it wasnt meant to (notice the extra kinks... shouldnt affect it too much, it still flows nice)

and here it is installed

now all the oil and coolant lines persuaded into fitting

and the intake plenum... lucky me, i left the whole thing intact, hoses, runners and all when i stripped it in japan... once i get everything worked out on this (theres a few coolant lines i still need to run) then i will be replacing all the worn black hoses with yellow silicone hoses... those will last until i can redo *all* the lines with braided stainless... and a custom plenum (that flows about 3x as much) will be coming within the next 6 months

13 feb 06
i had to do this, the candy gold just wasnt doing it for me like i thought it would

so i sanded down all the main trim bits (valve covers, timing belt covers) and redid them with gold engine enamel (the next engine will be getting powdercoated

with the top cover on

and while i was at it, i put on the HKS adjustable cogs

and i managed to get a gsxr ITB for cheap, so the custom plenum action will happen sooner

10 Mar 2006

on the 7th i got the engine in and bolted down, just need to connect everything now and bolt the AC compressor onto the bracket

17 NOV 2006 I have a new helper. His name is Imhotep, Lord of chaos (he is almost a year old now) will add pic in a bit

There was a mishap with the flywheel.... causing the need for a new crank to be machined and balanced to install... working on getting the 4AGE in the ae86, then the CA goes back on teh stand, crank install, and need to make a bracket for the VR sensor for megasquirt