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6G Celicas Forums _ My Project _ Enders swap

Posted by: enderswift Aug 10, 2011 - 11:03 PM



I'm ready

Posted by: beams78 Aug 10, 2011 - 11:20 PM

nice engine hoist now put it to work lol

Posted by: enderswift Aug 12, 2011 - 6:41 PM



QUOTE
nice engine hoist now put it to work lol


Soon. I take delivery next week

Posted by: cheela Aug 12, 2011 - 11:19 PM

I can sense the epicness already

Posted by: delusionz Aug 13, 2011 - 7:38 PM

must be a late model 96 or 97, mines 205-0011162

Posted by: azian_advanced Aug 13, 2011 - 8:26 PM

that's a close guess. it's a january 97 production model.


QUOTE (cheela @ Aug 12, 2011 - 11:19 PM) *
I can sense the epicness already


x2 i love these 3sgte progress threads.

Posted by: str8thugginit4ya Aug 14, 2011 - 12:29 PM

thumbsup.gif In curiosity, is that the clip they were selling on Ebay? With the rear diff & everything?



-Ryan

Posted by: enderswift Aug 16, 2011 - 10:49 PM

Hey everyone,

today was the big day. I finally took delivery of my st205 front clip. I am beyond happy at the moment as this is the culmination of four years of buying tools, working hard, and saving money. During that time I had to live out my love for cars vicariously through the many awesome 6gc threads and through all the projects my friends took on. But now its my turn smile.gif

Before I go on I want to give credit where its due and tell everyone about my experience with JDMengineworld http://jdmengineworld.com/. This shop is based in New York and has been open since February. I was originally nervous about the fact that these guys were so new and their lack of forum feedback. However after buying this clip I have nothing but good things to say. Everyone I spoke with was courteous and professional and more than accommodated my requests. I asked for compression test videos and got them in 45 min. I asked for specific photos numerous times and received them right away; which is saying a lot considering they have to pull the clip off the shelves each time. My calls were always returned, all of my questions were answered, and they put up with my nit picking when other places (osaka) started to get annoyed. These traits made them stand apart from the other importers and were what ultimately motivated me to take the risk and go with an unknown shop. So as far as customer service is concerned, they are top notch. But that's not all, my clip was very well packaged, arrived in 3 days, and was just as they described. It even came with bonus jdm tails thumbsup.gif

So if anyone else is looking to buy stuff, then call them up and ask for Jack.

And now the pictures:


I was standing there just waiting for the clip to fall off haha.



I didn't post any unpacking photos, but everything was stacked and packed with care. Quality stuff

I am absolutely amazed at the condition of this engine, you really cant tell its 13 years old

I love the gt4 bumper, and I cant wait until next summer to get it all painted and installed



The hood needs a little attention from when it was damaged in Japan, but its all small stuff so I'm not worried.

Finally, my project begins...


Posted by: enderswift Aug 16, 2011 - 11:02 PM

I'm planning on breaking this project down into phases so as to avoid rushing anything. I want to do this swap properly, and that means taking my time. So between finishing up my engineering degree, and my job, I expect the first phase to take about a year.

Phase 1. Pull motor, rebuild it completely, and swap into my celi with the s54

Phase 2. convert the e154f to fwd with a Quaife ATB LSD, prepare superstrut for for LHD, swap into car

Phase 3. Convert e154f back to awd and weld-in the rest of the drivetrain.

I cant wait.

Posted by: beams78 Aug 17, 2011 - 1:37 AM

awesome clip dude that thing looks like its been babied for all its life ill keep that shop in mind when the time comes for me to do a swap on mine out of curiosity how much did this cost anyway?

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Aug 17, 2011 - 1:54 AM

NICE. The Superstrut Suspension will help reduce torque steer and wheel hop. You'll definitely need it with that massive increase of torque you'll get from the swap. your going to use that heavy transmission that came with the engine!?? I heard that things weighs twice as much as the s54.

Posted by: enderswift Aug 18, 2011 - 6:37 AM

QUOTE
NICE. The Superstrut Suspension will help reduce torque steer and wheel hop. You'll definitely need it with that massive increase of torque you'll get from the swap. your going to use that heavy transmission that came with the engine!?? I heard that things weighs twice as much as the s54.


Well, I think the weight difference is made up for by the longer gear ratios and added strength. Plus I want to take on the challenge of converting the transmission. If it works then I'll put together a comprehensive thread detailing the process. If it doesn't work then I really wont lose anything.

Got the clip started!


Spent a good amount of time last night tracing and tagging all of the fuel and brake lines on the clip. Then I spent today taking apart the rear seats to reach the fuel pump. I had to do some investigating with the multimeter, but I eventually identified the power wires and confirmed their polarity. After that I attached fuel hoses to the pump and ran them to the corresponding lines on the clip. Next I wired the fuel pump directly to the battery and fired the beast up. Observe:

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/?action=view&current=Firststart.mp4


It started like a champ, and I was amazed to find no engine codes. The whole point of this was to make sure that all the electronics were functioning. The startup confirmed that, and I was happy. Next step was to run proper compression test on a warmed up engine. So I let it run for 15 minutes before testing out my bonus turbo timer. Long story short I found 164 psi across all cylinders, which is simply perfect.

At this point my buddy asked me why I was even bothering to rebuild the engine at all, and I could see his confusion. My reasoning was that good compression numbers aren't everything; even a leak down wont tell you the whole story. For all I know this engine could be an oil burner that was beat on its whole life. Furthermore its going on 13 years old. I'd rather tear it down and start with a clean slate.

Plus rebuilding is fun thumbsup.gif

so the next order of business is to label EVERYTHING before taking various parts off and cataloging them. I plan to make a very detailed log of all the parts with pictures, notes, and hand drawn diagrams. I also have a million boxes from work just to keep everything labeled and organized. That way I wont get lost when I try to put this thing back together. Organization is key with a project like this.

anyway, tell me what you guys think and stand by for the next update biggrin.gif

Posted by: jordisonjr Aug 18, 2011 - 9:37 AM

You sound super organized.
What do we think?
I think you should swap my car when you're done biggrin.gif

Posted by: rave2n Aug 18, 2011 - 9:48 AM

Sexy clip you have there.

Eager to see progress!

Posted by: Batman722 Aug 18, 2011 - 10:33 AM

looks like you're doing things right thumbsup.gif

nice job !

Posted by: mkernz22 Aug 18, 2011 - 10:47 AM

Wow, that thing really does look babied! Even the body panels are almost mint! I think I know where to go when I want to do my swap after college haha
If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost in total with shipping? You can PM me if you don't feel like posting on here.

Posted by: 4-eyed-freek Aug 18, 2011 - 10:55 AM

awsome!!!!

Posted by: enderswift Aug 18, 2011 - 11:32 AM

QUOTE
Wow, that thing really does look babied! Even the body panels are almost mint! I think I know where to go when I want to do my swap after college haha
If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost in total with shipping? You can PM me if you don't feel like posting on here.


I paid $3500 for the clip and $750 for shipping to Chicago from New York with a quality shipping company. I'm pretty happy with that price point

Posted by: mkernz22 Aug 18, 2011 - 11:36 AM

That is a really good deal man!

Posted by: Stambo Aug 18, 2011 - 8:02 PM

did i finally give you some motivation!?

Posted by: enderswift Aug 19, 2011 - 12:17 AM

QUOTE (Stambo @ Aug 18, 2011 - 9:02 PM) *
did i finally give you some motivation!?


motivation was always there. Money wasn't haha. Though seeing your gt4 front end in real life definitely strengthened my resolve thumbsup.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 20, 2011 - 10:24 AM

Hey everyone,

I finally started tearing the clip down after a couple of days of organizing things in my garage, removing bulky parts, prepping rusty parts for storage, and building a catalog.

Its a slow and methodical process because I'm labeling and documenting every single thing I can. I work by singling out a particular system and removing everything associated with it. So in the case of the intake assembly, I took photos of the whole area before taking anything apart. Then I labeled every single hose/sensor/vac on the intake side and engine side. After that I started to take things out, with the ultimate goal of keeping as many parts together as possible before placing them into a box for storage. I also take videos of stuff that goes together in a strange way, or if there is something that would need some explanation to properly document.

AFTER ALL THAT,

I sit down and upload the photos and videos into my swap folder where I have everything organized by system.

THEN

I draw diagrams detailing some of the quirks and of the dissasembly, such as which relay box controls which radiator fan etc.

This is slow, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Right now my goal is to remove everything that would get in the way of pulling the motor, and so far I've removed the intake assembly, the radiator assembly, and the entire intercooler loop. Today I want to remove the brake master/booster, and a few other things on the left side of the bay. That should leave me with plenty of room to pull the motor.

anyway, here are some progress photos (because updates suck without at least some kind of picture):


The engine is much roomier now that alot of the bulky stuff is out of the way. My turbo has virtually no shaft play btw biggrin.gif


These are some of the diagrams I'm preparing. I know they're gonna be a big help when it comes to assembly everything.


here are some of the assemblies I've removed so far. I have yet to find boxes for them, but eventually they're going to be boxed, labeled and stacked on one side of the garage. Space is a really precious commodity around here.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 5, 2011 - 9:17 PM

whoa finally,

It took a while but I worked my way through the clip and pulled the motor.

WOW superstrut was an absolute pain to take apart. Unlike mcpherson, you cant just disconnect the tie rods and pull the axles through. You actually have to take off the hub. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the upper balljoints. There is no room for a puller because the axle is in the way, so you basically have to wedge a breaker bar against the castle nut and go to town on the strut with a hammer. The combination of the upward pressure from the bar, and strikes from the hammer cause the ball joint to pop out.

In theory.

I went through all kinds of madness before the above method worked. For those doing this in the future, save yourselves some time and go straight for a 4lb hammer or bigger, don't waste time with a dinky little hammer like i did.

anyway, once the axles were out the engine was ready to be pulled. I decided to go avoid risking damage to the engine and simply cut the front of the clip off. This way I could just slide the motor right out. It went well and everything came out unscathed. The only downside to this is that I didn't get the experience of removing the engine from an intact bay, but i guess i wouldn't want to try that without a load level anyway.

Right now the engine is sitting on a pallet in my garage. I'm waiting until next Saturday to separate the trans and mount the motor on its stand. From there its going to be a slow methodical rebuild until spring. I'll try to put together a decent tear down thread for those looking for a step by step but I cant promise anything. I'm taking 19 credit hours of engineering so I'll be really strapped for time. All I know is that its surreal to actually be doing the swap that I've been reading about for four years now, its just a ton of fun. Anyway, here are some pictures:












Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 6, 2011 - 9:22 AM

Looks like you're making good progress Luke! Keep it up.

Posted by: purplegt4 Sep 6, 2011 - 3:04 PM

Removing that transmission is fun.

snack sized ziploc bags and a retractable sharpie are very helpful to collect nuts/bolts/screws.


Posted by: richee3 Sep 6, 2011 - 5:57 PM

I was hoping to see this car boosted before the meet. But there's always next year! Sounds like you're doing this swap right. Keep us posted. I expect this thread to scare 56k members away.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 13, 2011 - 10:31 PM

Hey 6gc,

its been a while but there has been a lot of progress. I separated the transmission and placed it on its own pallet in the corner till the time comes for it to be converted to fwd. I also mounted the engine on its stand and continued labeling, photographing, and storing. As of right now the engine only has the turbo assembly and power steering pump on it. But unfortunately I'm not going to continue the disassembly for a little while since I have to turn my attention to the rest of the clip. I still need to pull out the superstrut, dash, and shifter cables. As soon as that happens I'm either going to chop up the frame or give it to my buddy so he can turn it into a giant grill ( I didn't ask for specifics haha).

if anyone wants to buy a rhd dash and firewall let me know!

anyway, here are some more current photos:



Here is my super heavy bench weight. It was tough to get this thing off of the block on my own but I managed in the end. Did anyone else forget that one hidden bolt behind the center housing?



My flywheel speaks volumes about how this car was treated in the past (bad). You can't tell in the photo, but there are blue spots all over this thing from what I can only assume to be massive clutch dumps. Things like this only reinforce my decision to rebuild this engine.



I finally got the harness off of the engine. I've been debating on whether or not I should put together a thread with a picture and description of each plug. I think it would be helpful to those who buy an engine set instead of a clip. Let me know if you guys would want something like that.



The flywheel isn't the only part telling stories. This is one filthy manifold.



I cant even imagine whats waiting for me under the valve cover, but if its anything like what I can see through the oil fill, then I have a lot of work ahead of me.



Intake valves look good though thumbsup.gif



This is a photo of the engine at the moment. I got stuck taking off the manifold and turbo and I have to think of a clever order. This thing is like a puzzle. You guys would not believe how heavily built (and braced) the stock downpipe is. I wouldn't be surprised if I saved 20 lbs by switching to an aftermarket pipe.



and heres a picture of my cramped working conditions. Its even tighter when I have the kawi in the garage O.O



The parts boxes just keep multiplying.

Posted by: purplegt4 Sep 16, 2011 - 1:17 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 13, 2011 - 11:31 PM) *
You guys would not believe how heavily built (and braced) the stock downpipe is. I wouldn't be surprised if I saved 20 lbs by switching to an aftermarket pipe.


I think it's a catalytic converter. Not only weight savings, also better flow!

Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 16, 2011 - 2:54 PM

Are you going to be doing anything with that steering wheel Luke? If its in good shape, I could use a replacement....

Posted by: enderswift Sep 16, 2011 - 6:17 PM

I was looking to pull the whole dash and sell it for parts. So its for sale if you want it. Its leather wrapped and in good shape.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 17, 2011 - 10:20 PM

well, got some more work done today. The superstrut is completely out and on the pallet. I was surprised at how easy it was to drop everything, just a few bolts and the subframe lowered without problems. I took the time to measure the lock to lock rack travel and found it to be 4.75 inches. This means all I have to do to swap over to superstrut is find a set of rims with the right offset. thumbsup.gif

I'm not going to make it that easy on myself though, I have access to a sand blaster at school so I plan to strip all of the factory paint and coat everything with a layer of por 15. should be fun.

Aside from pulling the superstrut, I also took off the valve cover to see how bad sludge is.

here are the photos:


I need to transfer over my st204 steering rack and this guy will be ready to bolt in.




couple hundred pounds of gt4 goodness right there. Gotta love it.


This is a terrible photo if you're talking about sludge, but I thought it looked cool. Anyway it looks like this engine wasn't maintained too regularly. Its not the worst I've seen, but I'm sure they stretched the oil change intervals. Another reason to rebuild this motor


So this was the last thing I had to remove from my clip. I am officially done with that part of this project and can now focus on actually rebuilding the engine smile.gif I plan to do the rebuild in two steps to keep myself from getting overwhelmed with scattered parts. Step one is going to consist of a complete rebuild of the head where I will do all of the measuring to decide what machining is required. I don't trust shops to tell me what is out of tolerance. Step two will see the bottom end rebuilt with oem bits and some arp goodness.


Posted by: richee3 Sep 18, 2011 - 10:19 AM

It's coming along great, Luke! My only question is why convert the E154F to FWD when you could get a lighter E153 or even recycle your S54? I'm sure you stated your reason why earlier in the thread but I missed it.

Posted by: mkernz22 Sep 18, 2011 - 1:16 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Sep 18, 2011 - 11:19 AM) *
It's coming along great, Luke! My only question is why convert the E154F to FWD when you could get a lighter E153 or even recycle your S54? I'm sure you stated your reason why earlier in the thread but I missed it.


Just from seeing the pictures and whatnot, I believe he's using the E154F because he can use the GT4 axles since he will be swapping the whole subframe out. The S54 is probably too short, gearing wise, for what he wants to do, and with the E153, he has to mix and match the axles with the mr2 and st185. It also seems like he would save some money in the end, but that's how I see it

Posted by: enderswift Sep 18, 2011 - 3:55 PM

You're both close.

By removing the center section of the e154f I'm effectively turning it into an e153, only with gt4 specific gear ratios and triple cone synchros on 2nd and 3rd. The weight difference between an actual e153 would be minimal. I don't want to stick with the s54 because it has shorter ratios and an open diff. Furthermore it would be just as much work trying to upgrade the s54 as it would be to convert the e154f. I know I could buy a used transmission that has a factory LSD, but I really do not like viscous differentials. Helical all the way thumbsup.gif

Besides converting the e154 isn't some impossible feat. It's alot of work, requiring a press and some specialty tools, but not difficult. Like everything organization is key. A basic rundown of the process involves removing the center section and covering the opening with the plate from an e153 (get the mount too). Then pull the transmission apart to replace the differential with either an mr2 viscous or an aftermarket like the quaife I want (might as well replace any worn synchros and bearings too).The reason for replacing the diff comes from the fact that the current diff is splined to accept the shaft from the center housing, not an axle.

Axles are going to be a pain no matter what route I take. GT4 axles are equal length so removing the center housing from the e154f means the passanger side axle needs to be longer.And I still need to find out whether or not gt4 axles are splined properly to fit into the quaife lsd. If not, I'm going to have to get creative.

I think I can make a working axle by using the transmission side housings from an mr2 turbo and keep the wheelside housings from the gt4 (since those fit the superstrut hubs). Then the challenge would be to find a halfshaft that is the correct length and of the correct spline to accept the corresponding inner race's. Worst case scenerio I'll have to get custom halfshafts made. I'm confident I'll find a solution

Posted by: enderswift Oct 14, 2011 - 9:47 PM

Hey 6gc,

long time no update. I've been busy with school and that means no time to work on the 3s, or make money for that matter. I expect things to pick up during winter break though. Till then I'm gonna have to be happy with slowly taking the motor apart and taking care of the tedious parts of this project.

anyway, current plans for the head involve a complete disassembly and tolerancing. I plan to check all of the specs and determine exactly what kind machining is required, and what parts have to be replaced. I plan to get the following done regardless of the condition of the head:

-ultrasonic cleaning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWs_8RyBLyo (hopefully someplace local offers it)
-3 angle valve job
-head deck

Then, depending on the condition of the head I may also pay for this stuff:

-Valve guide replacement
-Misc parts replacement

If theres one place to be OCD in a rebuild its in the head. Here are some photos


I spent a lot of time thinking about how I'm going to keep everything safe and organized while I gather the funds for the master rebuild set and machine shop. I eventually came up with what you see here, its not complete haha. I promise its more elaborate than this smile.gif




I had a hard time with the belt tensioner since the fsm wasn't too clear on how to position the #1 idler pulley. They tell you to torque the pulley bolt to 61ft/lbs and to position the pulley in order to slip a 3 mm allen into the head. Thereby removing slack from the belt... not too detailed imo. I would appreciate it if someone could explain the proper procedure. I eventually ended up bracing the pulley with rubber before cutting the timing belt. It prevented the tensioner from extending violently at least.


I also had some trouble removing the camshafts. The caps near the timing belt pulleys wouldn't separate from the head as I was loosening their fasteners. This resulted in the camshafts going crooked during removal. A few strikes with a rubber mallet freed them up, but I wish I caught that sooner. I don't think I damaged the head but its just annoying when you're taking care to do everything the right way.


I was planning on taking the valves out right away, but my valve spring compressor doesn't go deep enough into the head. I'm going to have to borrow one from one of my buddies in the sae.



I was surprised to see that the cylinders and pistons are all in great shape. You can still see the factory crosshatch on the walls thumbsup.gif

Well thats it for this week. Hopefully next week will see me removing and measuring the valvetrain. After that I'll be checking out some of the shops people have been recommending to me. Stay tuned.

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Oct 15, 2011 - 1:04 AM

what do you mean I need to transfer over my st204 steering rack and this guy will be ready to bolt in. Rack and Pinion from all 94-99 celica's regardless of the model are the same.... only difference is the tie rods from superstrut models.

Posted by: enderswift Oct 15, 2011 - 8:03 AM

QUOTE (BonzaiCelica @ Oct 15, 2011 - 2:04 AM) *
what do you mean I need to transfer over my st204 steering rack and this guy will be ready to bolt in. Rack and Pinion from all 94-99 celica's regardless of the model are the same.... only difference is the tie rods from superstrut models.


You're forgetting that this clip was rhd while my celi is lhd, so I have to swap over the steering rack. There was a thread debating on whether or not the st204 steering rack can be used with the superstrut suspension. Some were saying that st204 steering racks had a larger lateral travel than the st205 steering rack, and that this would over extend several of the parts on superstrut at full lock.

I went and measured the travel of both racks and it came out to be ~4.75 inches. Therefore I can just bolt the st204 steering rack from my gt onto the st205 subframe without worrying about hurting the superstrut during full lock turns. The only thing I'll have to worry about is replacing the tie rods with the bowed out st205 parts. Also, the reason I'm using the st205 subframe is because it has no rust compared to my gt subframe.

Posted by: enderswift Oct 23, 2011 - 12:10 AM

Hey 6gc,

I've made some good progress today thumbsup.gif Nothing major, but every little bit gets me THAT much closer to slamming into a median at 17 psi. The majority of the work was in head disassembly, which I'm thankful to have finally finished. I had a tough time sourcing a proper valve spring compressor, and actually spent the last two weeks researching all the different styles. I tried buying one at specialty stores, modifying one from work, and borrowing some kits from friends. Unfortunately every time I found a compressor or adapter it was always just short of what I needed. I considered buying online but the shipping would have taken too long and this saturday would have been wasted. So, I made my own. Its a very crude, very primitive chunk of steel. I'm almost embarrassed to show it since my welding skills are still pretty inadequate, But hey it did the job beautifully and allowed me to move forward. Its basically a 17 mm socket with a portion of the wall cut out, and some handles welded on one end. I would compress the retainers while my brother removed the keepers with one of those awesome extendable magnets. Although my custom tools worked, I will be using this in the future biggrin.gif http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFTaeu4GIPo.


Dont judge me haha

With the head apart I was able to move towards cleaning everything in preparation for tolerancing. As with the valve spring compressor, I also spent a lot of time looking for the perfect degreaser to use. Its important to make a good selection because aluminum is a finicky material. You can easily lose a few thousandths of an inch if you let a machined surface oxidize. Therefore I avoided all of the common degreasers and asked around for recommendations. One of my sae buddies pointed me in the direction of simplegreen extreme motorsports. http://www.simplegreen.com/products_extreme_motor.php This stuff is safe on aluminum and is amazing at dissolving engine crud. Observe:

BEFORE:



AFTER:


Still have a ways to go but quite an improvement if you ask me. Basically I sprayed the head with the simple green and went to town with a tooth brush to work the stuff into the dirt. Thankfully my brother was a willing assistant otherwise I'd still be brushing haha. Anyway, after the toothbrush session I hit the aluminum with a pressure washer. This process was repeated a number of times and the head just kept turning out better and better. Unfortunately I cant reach all of tight spaces so I plan to buy a few gallons of the simple green and simply soak it until next Saturday haha. The pressure washer should be able to take care of the rest by then biggrin.gif

During this whole process I made sure to keep things organized and put my cardboard template to use


The cardboard has a fixed orientation printed on it so its easy to keep track of the seemingly endless amount of tiny parts that compose the valvetrain. All I have to do is match a zip lock bag to the cardboard and I know exactly where those parts belong.

Anyway, thats it for this week. Next week I'm going to continue cleaning and plan to start measuring stuff. Stay tuned

Posted by: Keiri Oct 24, 2011 - 8:31 AM

Very detailed and well thought-out process to dealing with the head Luke. Even though you find it crude the tool you made works and works well so that's something to be quite proud of. thumbsup.gif

Also, I couldn't help but laugh at this:

QUOTE
Nothing major, but every little bit gets me THAT much closer to slamming into a median at 17 psi.


I know you're joking but I truly hope this never happens.

Posted by: lagos Oct 24, 2011 - 11:05 AM

Good luck on the project. Seems like you know what you're doing!

Posted by: Stambo Oct 24, 2011 - 8:11 PM

looks good luke!

Posted by: enderswift Dec 27, 2011 - 2:07 PM

Hey everyone,

long time no update, but I've been busy with work and school so there's been little time to focus on the rebuild. Luckily the semester is out for winter break and I've had the chance to get some stuff done. As I've mentioned before I am focusing on the cylinder head until it is completely done before moving on to the bottom end. So with that in mind I've been busy cleaning, measuring, and ordering parts:


A quick before picture:


My first round of cleaning involved scrubbing the cylinder head with a tooth brush and simple green extreme before rinsing with a pressure washer


The real stubborn stuff required a brass brush and more simple green (brass doesn't scratch aluminum but is much more effective than tooth brush bristles).
This was an extremely tedious process but I'm really happy with the results.


I obviously couldn't reach everything with brushes and a power washer, so I went to Grainger supply and picked up 3 gallons of Simple green Boeing Cleaner and soaked the head. I was AMAZED at how awesome that stuff is. The hidden crud in the oil channels exploded off the head right before my eyes. In retrospect I probably could have just soaked the head from the beginning and avoided all that scrubbing. But oh well

http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_products_extreme.php





I also took the time to clean and spray the valve cover in VHT wrinkle paint. Painting with this stuff is no easy task since the slightest change in temperature will cause it to wrinkle in patches. I took a lot of time cleaning, sanding, and painting to avoid that problem. I think it came out pretty well.


Next step was to start measuring in preparation for machining.


Measuring turned out to be much harder than I expected simply because Toyota maintains specifications in the ten-thousandths range. This meant that I had to borrow a micrometer accurate to 4 significant figures and check all of my values. It was very time consuming.

Everything was within tolerance but the exhaust valve stems were only 2 ten-thousandths away from being worn out. This concerned me so I measured the center of the valve stems (which doesn't wear) and saw that the valves were on the small end of tolerance when brand new. Confused, I measured the valve guides with a bore gauge. The difference between the bore diameter and the valve stem gives you the oil clearance spec. In my case I was comfortably in the tight end for all the valves. So even though the valve stems are small the oil clearance is good, which is ultimately the important measurement.



I also went on to measure absolutely everything the FSM called for and thankfully the cylinder head is in fantastic shape; despite the lack of oil changes. In light of this information I've decided to get the following machining done:

head resurfacing
: The head is not warped, but metal head gaskets experience shearing forces due to the difference in thermal expansion rates that comes with having a cast iron block and an aluminum head. Therefore a smooth surface is required to avoid failure.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/ar996.htm

Cam shaft polishing: There are some directional scratches on the cam journals which probably occurred during cold starts. They pass the fingernail test but any little scratch can disrupt the extremely thin oil film that separates the camshaft and the head. Therefore since I cant polish the head journals, I'm going to have a shop polish the cams with Emory cloth instead. This should increase the longevity of the head without affecting the oil clearance.

3 angle valve cut I spent a TON of time checking the valve seating and the exhaust valves have a little bit of pitting in them. I could just lap the exhaust valves by hand but I figured I might as well go big and get a 3 angle done on exhaust and a refresh on the intake. Go big or go home. The downside is that I'll have to replace all of the shims or shorten the valves since cutting makes them sit deeper in the head.


Finally I found one lifter that is going to need replacing, I think something went wrong during case hardening because it looks like the carbon diffused unevenly around the sides. Fortunately the lifter bore was unaffected by this so I can get away with just replacing the lifter.... for ~$20

Currently I'm in the process of selling extra stuff from the clip and saving money to buy the master rebuild kit, and pay for machining. The Toyota dealer near me is active with the Toyota scene so they gave me discounts on a lot of my rebuild parts. Its pretty awesome, but unfortunately a bunch of stuff has been discontinued and I'm gonna have to dig around to buy stuff like the oil and coolant pumps.

anyway, here's my humble progress thus far. I wish I had some more interesting stuff to post, but I want to take my time and be thorough with this.

Posted by: richee3 Dec 27, 2011 - 9:56 PM

Wow... That's thorough. I used Simple Green to clean my engine bag last week. Totally worth the money!

Posted by: Stambo Dec 29, 2011 - 7:35 PM

i can't wait till spring!

Do you think some of us will make it to another level car show in late july? I went last year and was the only celica there except for 2 1st gens.

Posted by: enderswift Dec 30, 2011 - 9:54 AM

QUOTE (Stambo @ Dec 29, 2011 - 8:35 PM) *
i can't wait till spring!

Do you think some of us will make it to another level car show in late july? I went last year and was the only celica there except for 2 1st gens.


I'd be down for a car show. Not sure if the swap will be done by then though

Posted by: enderswift Jan 3, 2012 - 12:40 AM

Hello everyone,

I decided to refurbish the fuel rail and fuel injectors last night and figured I'd post the results:


First the fuel rail was disassembled and all the components were cleaned in a variety of simple green products. In my opinion one of the more satisfying aspects of this rebuild is making something look new again. That was definitely the case here, I wish I had taken a before shot to show the contrast..


Next all of the hoses were replaced with fuel injection and vac lines.

Finally I turned my attention to the fuel injectors. Normally you would just send them out to get cleaned but I was inspired to try cleaning them on my own after watching a youtube video showing a way to cycle them with carb cleaner and a battery. In my case I had to be careful because the st205 uses low impedance injectors, which means a large current will cause damage to their solenoids. In fact the gt4 harness has a resistor pack built in to step down the voltage to avoid exactly this problem. Unfortunately there was no way for me to tell what voltage these injectors actually operate at since my resistor pack was not labeled. Therefore I had to start small and wire AA batteries in parallel until i got a response from the injectors. Eventually I switched over to a single D cell battery and got the injectors to actuate. From there it was a matter of connecting the injectors to a can of carb cleaner and cycling them until I was certain they were clean. I had to flow the cleaner backwards since these are side-feed injectors and my options to connect them were limited; still I should get the benefit of flushed screens that way. I recorded a small video demonstrating the process. Its crude, but effective.

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/?action=view&current=MVI_1188.mp4

I still need to purchase new injector o-rings and perhaps a new fpr before the fuel rail is complete. But that's gonna have to wait until some more funds come in. Anyway, next week I should have the cylinder head completely finished at which point I'll be taking the block apart.

Posted by: Stambo Jan 3, 2012 - 2:01 PM

nice video man! I'll have to try that sometime when i have my intake manifold off.

Posted by: enderswift Jan 6, 2012 - 10:58 AM

Quick update:

cylinder head has returned from the machine shop and I put it together for a final check of the journal tolerances and the valve lash:


All ready for one last round of measuring




Head was decked


Camshafts were polished, including the tips of the cam lobes.

This is only a mock up assembly since I still need to install a set of new valve seals and a new lifter. When they arrive it'll just be a 20 min affair to pop them in. I just came back from Toyota and purchased a new cap and rotor and my rebuild kit is on the way. I also ordered a set of Denso plugs and wires from work and they should be there in 2 weeks. All told I spent a lot of money today. But I'm not done. Next I'm gonna order so ARP headstuds. Broke again woooo! Well I think its safe to say that the cylinder head rebuild is nearly complete. Soon it's gonna be all about the bottom end for the next few months

Posted by: rave2n Jan 6, 2012 - 11:10 AM

Lots of nice work!

Posted by: richee3 Jan 6, 2012 - 10:05 PM

I'm digging the picture of the Lotus on the wall. Inspiration!

Posted by: navseal345 Jan 8, 2012 - 4:35 PM

WOW! bowdown.gif This makes me look lazy. Did you say you were goin to convert it back to AWD?

Posted by: enderswift Jan 8, 2012 - 5:19 PM

yes. I plan to convert the e154f to fwd for the 2nd phase of my swap. Later I plan to reinstall the center differential and weld in the rear subframe. My reasoning is that although I can weld, I can't weld well enough to do a quality job quite yet. Plus I still have to buy my own welder and gear. So instead of buying an e153 with a possibly worn out viscous LSD, I'd much rather convert the e154f to fwd with a helical diff. That way I can replace worn bearing and synchros and end up with a really strong LSD trans. I have the fsm on the e154f, it's really not as difficult as one would think.

Posted by: Smaay Jan 8, 2012 - 5:38 PM

why didnt you upgrade to 1ZZ-FE buckets?

Posted by: enderswift Jan 8, 2012 - 5:48 PM

shimless buckets would be nice, but the benefit doesn't really justify the cost. Shim under bucket can already rev high with little risk of spitting a shim so the ~25 grams saved per bucket wasn't really worth it to me. I think the money can be better spent on balancing the crankshaft and connecting rods instead.

Posted by: navseal345 Jan 8, 2012 - 6:15 PM

So if this is going to be done by the next Midwest Meet, we will need to see how many people we can cram in your car and YOU WILL take us for a ride. biggrin.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jan 8, 2012 - 7:09 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Jan 8, 2012 - 7:15 PM) *
So if this is going to be done by the next Midwest Meet, we will need to see how many people we can cram in your car and YOU WILL take us for a ride. biggrin.gif


Sure, but I already know the answer. It's 7 lol. Whether or not we come back alive is another matter haha

QUOTE
I'm digging the picture of the Lotus on the wall. Inspiration!


It's one of my favorite cars, and I like the whole design philosophy of doing a lot with very little.

Quick update:


Current state of cylinder head.




Got some parts in. Rest should be in this week


Posted by: Stambo Jan 8, 2012 - 8:41 PM

now you making my motor look bad frown.gif

Posted by: RabidTRD Jan 8, 2012 - 8:54 PM

I absolutely love those plugs. They compliment the 5S's well. smile.gif

Posted by: kurt95gt Jan 8, 2012 - 9:34 PM

QUOTE (RabidTRD @ Jan 8, 2012 - 9:54 PM) *
I absolutely love those plugs. They compliment the 5S's well. smile.gif

Really?
I have them in my 5s an it seem to run better before them

Posted by: richee3 Mar 9, 2012 - 1:19 PM

Any chance of an update?

Posted by: Driver Mar 10, 2012 - 1:25 PM

As a fellow 6GC owner living in Chicago wanting to do a swap... How are you going to get around emissions?

Posted by: enderswift Mar 10, 2012 - 9:47 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Mar 9, 2012 - 1:19 PM) *
Any chance of an update?


No real update unfortunately since school keeps me pretty busy. I'm getting a nice fat tax return though, and spring break starts next week. So it wont be much longer before I have the short block finished. at which point I'll post an update that even photobucket will notice. Speaking of buckets, the ones you sent me worked perfectly; so thanks again thumbsup.gif


QUOTE
As a fellow 6GC owner living in Chicago wanting to do a swap... How are you going to get around emissions?


I think your best bet would be to buy a celica that is 1995 or older

Posted by: Driver Mar 11, 2012 - 2:01 PM

Haha I guess I'm no longer on the fence about going to the meet lol. I really want to know! I want to throw a 2GR in mine sooo bad.

Posted by: navseal345 Mar 11, 2012 - 4:47 PM

You still plan on going AWD after a little while correct? And there is modification required for that, correct? Still cant wait to see this Celica at a Midwest Meet!

Posted by: enderswift Mar 11, 2012 - 5:48 PM

QUOTE (Driver @ Mar 11, 2012 - 2:01 PM) *
Haha I guess I'm no longer on the fence about going to the meet lol. I really want to know! I want to throw a 2GR in mine sooo bad.


good, these midwest meets need to keep growing. And a 2gr sounds pretty awesome

QUOTE
You still plan on going AWD after a little while correct? And there is modification required for that, correct? Still cant wait to see this Celica at a Midwest Meet!


Sure am. The extent of the modification is limited to constructing custom subframe mounts, since the rear usdm floorpan is different from that of an actual gt4. Its nothing crazy though.


Posted by: navseal345 Mar 11, 2012 - 6:27 PM

Awesome.

Posted by: richee3 Mar 16, 2012 - 1:27 PM

I'm glad the buckets worked out for you smile.gif I can't wait to see this thing fired up!

Posted by: enderswift Mar 20, 2012 - 9:23 PM

Hello everyone,

Many interesting and time consuming things have been keeping me busy the last few months so unfortunately there hasn't been too much progress on the rebuild. Nevertheless it is now spring break, and I have a little spare cash to burn. So I have been ordering parts and finally tore into the bottom end. Observe:



the Toyota fipg stuff is awesome at sealing and preventing leaks. But damn does it fight you when you're trying to take everything apart



I try to make a habit of threading bolts right back into their respective parts to avoid confusion later, which is the case with this upper oil pan



After a few hours I had my work bench setup for the next round of rebuilding, complete with a new template to keep me organized and a number of parts ready for a round of cleaning.



Its usually a good idea to put cuts of hose on the rod bolts to prevent them from scratching the cylinder walls during removal



Having done that I was happy to see the cylinder walls were in really good condition. No scuffs, scratches, or cracks anywhere thumbsup.gif Maybe this motor wasn't so badly abused after all.



the rod bearings on the other hand show a little wear from what can only be a lot of cold starts. Nothing to be alarmed about though, and there were no signs of oil starvation. I'm assuming these are multi-layer bearings from the way the wear pattern looks



The block looks relatively clean on the inside, which is surprising considering the cylinder head was absolutely filthy.



Thankfully all of the crank journals look in good shape, but I'm still going to get them polished in preparation for a new set of bearings smile.gif

Overall these photos don't depict much progress, but the fact of the matter is that the bottom end is much simpler compared to the cylinder head. Way fewer parts (most of which have convenient stampings), and way fewer surfaces to tolerance. Therefore things should progress at a much quicker pace compared to before (money permitting)

In the coming weeks I plan to get the block hot tanked, crank polished, cylinders honed, and a number of replacement parts in. So a short block should be complete by mid May, at which point I'll be focusing my attention on all of the ancillary assemblies. The ultimate goal being to have a long block complete by mid July.

Posted by: navseal345 Mar 21, 2012 - 6:30 AM

thumbsup.gif thumbsup.gif

Posted by: cheela Mar 21, 2012 - 7:40 AM

looks good. can't wait to see it finished. smile.gif

Posted by: bsamps4 Mar 26, 2012 - 10:58 PM

I love the wrinkle paint job on that valve cover! Wish you had posted this thread in Forced Induction! You've been hiding!

Posted by: enderswift Apr 2, 2012 - 8:32 PM

QUOTE
I love the wrinkle paint job on that valve cover! Wish you had posted this thread in Forced Induction! You've been hiding!


thanks bud, I was going for more of an oem look and I'm glad it turned out alright. I really suck at painting haha

small update:




Got some parts in. Oil pump, water pump, belt tensioner, the enormous thermostat, pcv valve, and some other stuff. Its a funny feeling when you spend $400 dollars but the package is really small haha. Money well spent though and I really cant say enough good things about Lithia Toyota, amazing customer service.

All I have left to buy is the bearings and rings. Everything else is ready

Posted by: navseal345 Apr 2, 2012 - 8:50 PM

Hurry up! Lol.

Posted by: bsamps4 Apr 17, 2012 - 6:22 PM

Necesito update sir.

Posted by: enderswift Apr 27, 2012 - 11:03 PM

QUOTE
Necesito update sir.


Oh believe me, no one wants to see updates to this thing more than I do haha, but the last few weeks at school have been absolute insanity. The only things I've done are limited to a few minor refurbishings that aren't even worth talking about. I'm graduating so there will be many updates when I start working.

oh yea the two idler bearings came in for only $30, so thanks for letting me know about B&D thumbsup.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jun 27, 2012 - 8:25 PM

Hey guys,

long time no update. Things have been pretty hectic: I've graduated, I've started a career, and I had to see some other projects through. Namely this:

Everything is done now. So expect big updates soon because I finally have a steady income and free time woooo!

Posted by: thatmr2 Jun 29, 2012 - 2:48 PM

can't wait for updates!

Posted by: dudeofchaos Jun 29, 2012 - 6:48 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Jun 27, 2012 - 9:25 PM) *
Hey guys,

long time no update. Things have been pretty hectic: I've graduated, I've started a career, and I had to see some other projects through. Namely this:



Everything is done now. So expect big updates soon because I finally have a steady income and free time woooo!


Are you in the FSAE?

Posted by: richee3 Jun 29, 2012 - 7:44 PM

You have two weeks to get this engine in your car and come to the meet. That is all.

Posted by: Zake Jun 30, 2012 - 10:18 AM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Jun 29, 2012 - 7:44 PM) *
You have two weeks to get this engine in your car and come to the meet. That is all.


^this

Posted by: enderswift Jul 1, 2012 - 10:53 AM

QUOTE
Are you in the FSAE?


yes, along with 5 other guys from my school. With such a small team it was a wild ride to get the car done in time for competition. Lots of long nights... so there wasn't much room for the celi unfortunately


QUOTE
You have two weeks to get this engine in your car and come to the meet. That is all.


After what I just went through with the formula car, 2 weeks is a luxurious amount of time haha. The problem is I'm waiting on parts from the UK. . which so far have been taking forever to arrive. So I cant make any promises. Plus I refuse to rush anything, I want to maintain a high level of quality during this build.

please put the ban hammer away haha

Posted by: enderswift Jul 4, 2012 - 1:49 PM

Hello 6gc,

it's time for a long overdue rebuild update. I've spent the past few days taking care of a lot of the tedious but important aspects of the rebuild, mainly cleaning, logistics, and organizing/cataloging. Nevertheless, there is a bunch to show and I feel that the hard part is almost behind me.

my overall goal was to prepare the bottom end for tolerancing and machining, so the first step was to remove all of the extra bits from the block and clean them up. This included the oil cooler, oil pans, and everything else not associated with the rotating assembly. Heres a photo of the oil pans after cleaning:



These pans were covered in a really stubborn layer of pure crap, so I had to bust out the simple green and wage total war. It wasn't a fun process, but I think the results were well worth the effort.

From there I had to deal with the old silicone sealant. Most people recommend using a razor blade to scrap it off, but I ended up nicking the surface without making much progress. So I decided to try out an 80 grit bristle brush. 3m makes these things and they are apparently fantastic at cleaning aluminum mating surfaces without damage:



And the results:



you really can't ask for a better finish than that. I highly recommend this to anyone working on something similar. To finish things off I put the proper bolts into the pans and secured them with twist ties so installation will be easy in the future.


Next I moved on to preparing a portion of the rotating assembly for storage until I was ready to start tolerancing. This consisted of taking the piston-rod assemblies apart and cleaning each part individually. The first thing to do is to remove the c clips that hold the wrist pin from moving axially. Easier said than done, my first attempts sent the clips flying and it was miracle that I found them. For future reference I suggest doing this with your hands inside of a box, that way the clips will just bounce around the box instead of getting lost. With the clips removed I was expecting a rough time because the factory manual insists on heating everything in a tank before pressing out the wrist pins, but I was able to just push them out with my thumb. I'm not sure if that's because it was a hot day or if I need to replace the rod bushings, I guess I'll find out soon enough.

The pistons were cleaned in a vat of simple green extreme and properly labeled before being placed into a corresponding bag. I'm not taking any chances with mixing these parts up, especially since the piston and wrists come as matched sets!



The connecting rods were just cleaned in regular simple green before being labeled as well. Here's the end result of my work:



By this point the block was almost bare and all I had to do was remove the crankshaft and the pair of pumps. I started with the oil pump and carefully removed one bolt at a time (cleaning each one) and transferring it to a corresponding location on the new pump. I then transferred over the timing gear and installed a new koyo bearing. The same was done for the water pump. I also made sure to keep the old gaskets so it will be easy to match new ones in the future:

Here is the new oil pump with everything moved over:




Having done all of this I was able to finally remove the crankshaft and place it in a tub to soak along with the rear main housing:



A quick soak later and the crankshaft was looking pretty good:



unfortunately all is not well with the crank. After cleaning I noticed that the counterweights around the #4 rod journal had some discoloration:



uh oh. The first thing that came to my mind was that I had an overheated crank. But things just didn't add up.

why is it only on the counterweight and not the journal itself?
why is it only one journal?
why aren't the bearing destroyed?
why isn't the connecting rod discolored too?
why is this happening to me?

Here are more photos to show what I mean:

#4 connecting rod, no discoloration or damage of any kind (I don't know why it came out brown in the photo, its actually cast grey after being cleaned.. I guess htc can only do so much with a phone camera):


#4 rod bearings (also came out brown in the photo). The bearings look like what you'd expect, no pitting or scoring and only light wear through two layers:


There is also discoloration around main #5 right next to the rod journal. After doing some research I found out that certain manufacturers do what's called induction heat treating. It is meant to strengthen certain points of a crankshaft and would explain what I'm seeing. The reason that its only on rod journal 4 and main 5 is because those are the two closest points to the output shaft and clutch, and therefore see the most load (or perhaps they are just furthers from the pump). It would also explain why there's no damage on anything else, not even the bearings, which would go out long before the crank discolored like that. Heres a video of the induction hardening process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52zsbqVgyP4

I'm basing my bearing assessment on a number of sources, but just to illustrate my point here's a website that shows a number of damaged bearings and their cause:

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/5150/csi_engine_bearings_when_good_bearings_go_bad.aspx

My bearings don't match any of those and instead look like normal wear from a number of other engines I've seen. So this is a real mystery to me at the moment.

I would really hope that the crank came like this from the factory but the thing is, I feel I would have heard about induction hardening on 3s cranks by now. Maybe this is a late-model 3s feature? If anyone can chime in I would appreciate it. For now I'm going to tolerance the absolute crap out of this crank checking everything from the roundness of the journals to the runout of each main. I'm also going to talk with my machine shop to get their opinion. Right now I feel the crank is fine, but I want to make absolutely sure.

Anyway, that's where I stand at the moment. I'm going to hold off on ordering new bearings until I find out what the situation with the crank is. In the mean time I'm going to send the block to my machinist and work on some side stuff

Posted by: navseal345 Jul 4, 2012 - 3:06 PM

I just cant wait for a LSD burnout video.

Posted by: Smaay Jul 4, 2012 - 10:04 PM

dont be too concerned with the crankshaft. you can have it inspected at a machine shop if you are concerned. you are doing a good build. keep it up

Posted by: KAOS Jul 4, 2012 - 10:58 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Jul 4, 2012 - 12:49 PM) *
Anyway, that's where I stand at the moment. I'm going to hold off on ordering new bearings until I find out what the situation with the crank is. In the mean time I'm going to send the block to my machinist and work on some side stuff


If you want, while I've got my 3S crankshaft out of the engine I can compare counter weights just for notes sake.

LMK

QUOTE (KAOS @ Jul 4, 2012 - 9:55 PM) *
QUOTE (enderswift @ Jul 4, 2012 - 12:49 PM) *
Anyway, that's where I stand at the moment. I'm going to hold off on ordering new bearings until I find out what the situation with the crank is. In the mean time I'm going to send the block to my machinist and work on some side stuff


If you want, while I've got my 3S crankshaft out of the engine I can compare counter weights just for notes sake.

LMK



Oh - and uh, great work on YOUR project too! biggrin.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jul 5, 2012 - 6:37 PM

KAOS, yes please take a look at your crank for me, it'll be interesting to see if you have the same colors on yours.

QUOTE
I just cant wait for a LSD burnout video.


you and me both!

QUOTE
dont be too concerned with the crankshaft. you can have it inspected at a machine shop if you are concerned. you are doing a good build. keep it up


I cant not be concerned lol. I've invested so much money and effort that I have to be absolutely sure about the parts I'm using, especially something as important as a crank. Thanks for the vote of confidence though, and I'm definitely going to visit my machine shop soon

Posted by: richee3 Jul 5, 2012 - 7:21 PM

Well there's only one thing you can do now.

LIGHTWEIGHT FORGED INTERNALS!!!

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 5, 2012 - 9:28 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Jul 5, 2012 - 7:21 PM) *
Well there's only one thing you can do now.

LIGHTWEIGHT FORGED INTERNALS!!!


^^^THIS. Most Definitely.

Posted by: KAOS Jul 5, 2012 - 10:21 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Jul 5, 2012 - 5:37 PM) *
KAOS, yes please take a look at your crank for me, it'll be interesting to see if you have the same colors on yours.


As it turns out - VERY similar... I didn't notice before, thanks for pointing it out.







thumbsup.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jul 5, 2012 - 10:33 PM

You're the man KAOS! thanks for the pics, it makes me feel confident that these cranks are factory induction hardened at the rear main.

Whew

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Jul 5, 2012 - 9:28 PM) *
QUOTE (richee3 @ Jul 5, 2012 - 7:21 PM) *
Well there's only one thing you can do now.

LIGHTWEIGHT FORGED INTERNALS!!!


^^^THIS. Most Definitely.


must.... resist... urge... to .. punish bank account laugh.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jul 8, 2012 - 5:39 PM

hey 6gc,

I have another update to share. A few weeks ago I sat down and tried to get a jump on some of the wiring needed to get this project going. Overall it was fairly straightforward except for the fact that I ran into several different colors of wire at the st204 EA1 plug which weren't consistent with what the gt4 chassis manual was telling me. I checked the '95 usdm diagrams and they matched what was in the gt4 chassis manual, So I started to suspect that post obdII cars are wired slightly different. So I went ahead and ordered the 1999 usdm wiring manual for $20 and went to town as soon as it showed up. Here's just a few photos of the mayhem:


First things first, gotta get organized.



Things get confusing really quick so I wrote down all of the EA1 pin numbers and attacked them one by one. I got all of the circuits matched up and figured out all of the color issues. Pin 12 on the st204 EA1 had me worried because it was taking the spot of one of the wires coming out of the st205 intercooler/fuel pump relay box. Luckily it turned out that the st204 wire was just a ground so there was no problem in replacing it with the relax box wire.


This is a photo I took of my st204 EA1 plug as a reference while matching everything. This way I didn't have to keep running in and out of the house haha


Here's a picture of the mini harness getting tested for continuity. For those of you aspiring to do the swap on your own, don't be intimidated by the wiring, because this is all it is. If you can get your engine with the intercooler/fuel pump relay box you're golden.


This is the partially complete supplemental harness (I still have to finish wrapping it nicely). The wire pointing down plugs into the intercooler pump, the loose wires pointing up are extras that get ground and power. To the right is the EA1 connector. All I have to do now is transfer over the pins from the EA1 connector in this photo to the connector that's in my car, find power for two of those loose wires, and ground for the third one. And that's it for wiring in the engine bay. I still have to extend the actual 3s engine harness by 3 feet and wire up the clutch start switch, but that's going to have to wait for another day. When I get all of that done I plan to finish my wiring write up and post it for those who want to do wiring on their own. More to come soon

Posted by: Batman722 Jul 8, 2012 - 10:27 PM

nice thumbsup.gif

Posted by: rave2n Jul 13, 2012 - 7:13 PM

Nice! Quite interested to see your in bay wiring.

Didn't get the relay boxes with my set, but once I get it all drawn up, and the relay's sourced, I plan on doing the same. A good writeup, with simple schematics for others to repeat.

Posted by: richee3 Jul 19, 2012 - 11:46 AM

I can't wait for the startup video thumbsup.gif It might be a little soon to ask but what are your plans after the swap? Power goals, specific body bits and pieces, suspension setup, etc.?

Posted by: Zake Jul 19, 2012 - 5:04 PM

soo, whatcha gonna do with the 5s when it's out of there? wink wink nudge nudge wink.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jul 19, 2012 - 10:12 PM

hmm I never really put too much thought on what to do with it other than playing with the idea of buying a camry roller for my brother and building him a daily. That's looking like more work than its worth though. Anyway the motor has 106k on it at the moment and it burns oil during highway drives. But I just did the timing belt and compression is within 5 psi on all cylinders. Lets wait until the next meet after im (hopefully) swapped to figure something out

Posted by: enderswift Jul 21, 2012 - 3:50 PM

quick update,

Got a few parts in:



optioned out Berk downpipe. It's gorgeous

All main, and connecting rod bearings

OEM timing belt

Walbro 255 fuel pump

Arp main studs

Free HKS SSQV III from my buddy

There are still a few things to buy before this engine is ready to go. For instance, I'm looking at having clutchmaster make me a hybrid clutch. I still need piston rings. And I need to send my exhaust manifold and turbine housing to jet hot for ceramic coating. From there the really satisfying portion of this build will begin.

Posted by: dudeofchaos Jul 21, 2012 - 5:00 PM

^Where did you get the OEM timing belt and all the bearings? Are they found on other Usdm vehicules? Cause I can't get stuff for the 3rd gen 3sgte here kindasad.gif

Edit: found via toyodiy that the bearings are found on the St185 and St165 also, so north american dealers should have em. But can't find the timing belt, and I should start looking for one, have any tips on where to look for?

Posted by: rave2n Jul 21, 2012 - 5:00 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Jul 21, 2012 - 3:50 PM) *
quick update,

Got a few parts in:



optioned out Berk downpipe. Its gorgeous

All main, and connecting rod bearings

OEM timing belt

Walbro 255 fuel pump

Arp main studs

Free HKS SSQV III from my buddy

There are still a few things to buy before this engine is ready to go. For instance, I'm looking at having clutchmaster make me a hybrid clutch. I still need piston rings. And I need to send my exhaust manifold and turbine housing to jet hot for ceramic coating. From there the really satisfying portion of this build will begin.


Nice haul!

Mind me asking the price of that berk downpipe? Debating if I want to grab one myself.

Posted by: enderswift Jul 21, 2012 - 10:39 PM

Thanks! I paid $297 shipped. No regrets, it's hands down my favorite part out of all of them. The build quality is great and the customer service was amazing.


QUOTE
^Where did you get the OEM timing belt and all the bearings? Are they found on other Usdm vehicules? Cause I can't get stuff for the 3rd gen 3sgte here

Edit: found via toyodiy that the bearings are found on the St185 and St165 also, so north american dealers should have em. But can't find the timing belt, and I should start looking for one, have any tips on where to look for?


I got most of my OEM parts through lithia toyota: http://www.lithiatoyotaparts.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=215542

just type the toyodiy part numbers in and you should find stuff for sale. They are great guys with excellent service as well. The belt was pricey though, I paid $89 usd. It was ~$40 usd a few months ago.... gotta pay to play I guess

Posted by: enderswift Jul 25, 2012 - 10:21 PM

Hey 6gc,

I have spent the last few weeks stressing over all the measuring that goes into rebuilding a bottom end. I think there is a post somewhere earlier in this thread where I said that the bottom end is going to be easier than the head.... I was wrong...so wrong rolleyes.gif



I started by miking out the crankshaft and checking a few things like thrust clearance and runout with my trusty dial gauge. Easy stuff. Plastigauge was also an invaluable tool here.


Then I moved to checking the cylinders. This is where 95% of my head scratching occurred. First my original bore gauge wasn't accurate enough and I got numbers that made it seem as though my pistons were press fit into the block. I needed something that could measure tenths, so I borrowed a mitutoyo and went to town. Luckily my numbers made more sense the second time. However the problem I still have is that I'm not sure if the specifications listed in my FSM apply to a used block, or if they are targets for a brand new block. I'm getting a 2 thou piston-wall clearance, which is plenty tight, but the manual calls for a max of 1.6 thou. My machine shop assures me that my numbers are fantastic, but I cant help but worry.


I got sick of sweating in my garage so I moved everything into the beautifully air-conditioned kitchen biggrin.gif


Finally I took apart my turbo and exhaust manifold in preparation for a ceramic coating at Jethot

My biggest obstacle at the moment is the fact that all the places I need to work with end up closing by the time I get out of work. So I can't take my bottom end in for machining for another week. Likewise ordering things like a hybrid clutch is a pain unless you can call in during their work hours. All of this makes it hard to streamline the logistics of a project like this. I might just take a sick day to bust everything out.

Anyway, I'm gonna buy lots of good stuff tomorrow so expect an update soon smile.gif

Posted by: Zake Jul 25, 2012 - 10:28 PM

when in doubt, kitchen thumbsup.gif
this is looking good! do you think that your going to have this up and running by the time we have the spring meet?







or perhaps the fall meet this year. biggrin.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Jul 25, 2012 - 10:41 PM

One word... Wow.

Posted by: enderswift Jul 26, 2012 - 10:25 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Jul 25, 2012 - 10:41 PM) *
One word... Wow.


Thanks! Its a tedious labor of love


QUOTE
when in doubt, kitchen
this is looking good! do you think that your going to have this up and running by the time we have the spring meet?







or perhaps the fall meet this year.


I've given deadlines before, and they've all gone out the window haha. If I'm lucky I should be boosted by the fall meet

Posted by: richee3 Jul 27, 2012 - 1:28 PM

You know I have an inconvenient work schedule but I'm willing to drive up and lend a hand if you happen to be swapping it in the first half of the week instead of a weekend.

Posted by: enderswift Jul 27, 2012 - 4:48 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Jul 27, 2012 - 1:28 PM) *
You know I have an inconvenient work schedule but I'm willing to drive up and lend a hand if you happen to be swapping it in the first half of the week instead of a weekend.


I might just turn the swap into a mini chicago meet haha

Posted by: richee3 Jul 28, 2012 - 1:54 PM

Do it.

1. Luke- Celica and 3S-GTE
2. Chris/Stacy- Knowledge and expertise, with the occasional Hulking of the rear motor mount tongue.gif
3. Daniel/Brigette- Wasps.

Posted by: Zake Jul 28, 2012 - 2:18 PM

Do it.

1. Luke- Celica and 3S-GTE
2. Chris/Stacy- Knowledge and expertise, with the occasional Hulking of the rear motor mount tongue.gif
3. Daniel/Brigette- Wasps.
4. zach- there to play in the car (pretend that im driving it) and stealing the hood latch from the GT-4 front clip

Posted by: enderswift Jul 28, 2012 - 4:37 PM

I think you guys would fall asleep long before the motor got installed. I take my sweet time with EVERYTHING; If you haven't noticed tongue.gif

quick update:

Finally ordered my hybrid fx300 clutch from clutchmasters. $495 shipped felt kinda steep especially since an ACT was only $50 more, but the glowing forum reviews sealed the deal. Apparently the fx300 is almost like stock in terms of how it feels, but can hold up to 350 hp. This is great since I honestly just want my celi to be on par with the local sti's and evo's. No insane power levels for me. Nevertheless I was also hard pressed to find negative reviews talking about cracked pressure plates or destroyed springs (unlike SPEC). Finally the clutchmasters kit allows me to simply replace the clutch disc when I switch to my e15x transmission later on. So the combination of all those things motivated the purchase.

On another note, I decided to change my original ceramic coating plans. JetHot wanted $425 plus $90 shipping both ways to coat my exhaust manifold and turbine housing (outside only). Frankly I cant justify paying that much for what is arguably a glorified paint job. That's why I did some research and found a local coater (Lo-Ko performance coatings) with good reviews that will do it for $160 with a 3 year warranty. I'll be the guinea pig for everyone here, but I have a good feeling about the place after meeting the owner.

A few other small things were done on the side:
1. I bought my piston rings from the UK, http://www.tcbparts.co.uk/ This is a great store, they have all the obscure st205 parts you could ever want smile.gif plus the customer service is top notch.

2. Purchased ct20 rebuild kit from www.gpopshop.com, I've heard good things about these guys so I'm going to try them out by using their kit and sending the turbo rotating assembly in for balancing

3. Purchased a 6g gt engine harness to serve as a donor for extending my 3s harness

4. Ordered some heat foil for the intercooler. I plan to hold off on installing the gt4 body panels so heat will be a big issue for a while.

Things are going to get interesting again as soon as all of this stuff starts showing up at my doorstep. If I'm lucky I'll get my engine block to the machine shop for some work this week. I promise my next update will have pictures biggrin.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 2, 2012 - 7:51 PM

Hello 6gc,

I have another update to share with you, I'm tired so I wont be very detailed this time.


Finally found time to visit the machine shop smile.gif So I got the block ready. It's always surprising to see how small these things are


I made sure to pack and label everything for them


With the bottom end out for machining, I turned my attention to the intercooler. It looked like it was in really good shape so I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend time cleaning it out. Its a good thing I did though, because a ton of black crud dissolved out when I filled it with simple green extreme.


After that I applied some heat foil to complement my other heat control efforts.


With the intercooler cleaned up, I went after the intake manifold. Total pita to clean this thing.


I think the result was well worth the effort


Cleaned out the throttle body, IAC, and all lines. A process that took 3 hours. Also took the time to apply loctite everywhere.


My new 'hose from hell' arrived from the UK. Hopefully I wont have to struggle with replacing it any time soon


The new hybrid clutch also showed up. Build quality is fantastic thumbsup.gif


Here is my turbo rebuild kit. Debating on whether or not to send the rotating part of the cartridge out for balancing after rebuilding.


My incredibly expensive oem piston ring set arrived as well. I looked all over and only one place stocked these, So of course I had to pay out the nose for them. $200 gone forever

Posted by: kurt95gt Aug 2, 2012 - 8:08 PM

The heat wrap job you done on the bottom of the top mount looks amazing

Posted by: enderswift Aug 2, 2012 - 8:58 PM

Thanks bud, it was a lot of work just making the template for it so I'm glad people think it came out nice

Posted by: dudeofchaos Aug 3, 2012 - 2:07 AM

QUOTE (kurt95gt @ Aug 2, 2012 - 9:08 PM) *
The heat wrap job you done on the bottom of the top mount looks amazing


I second that! ^

Posted by: enderswift Aug 3, 2012 - 9:32 PM

another day, another update:

Picked up my bottom end from the machinist


The block was in really good shape going into the machine shop so I only had them do a ball hone to refresh the walls, a light deck to remove a little warp, and a basic hot tank.


The flywheel was cut per the clutchmasters specifications


Crank was polished in preparation for new bearings


I was excited to have my parts back so I spent the evening painting the block cast iron grey smile.gif


Final assembly is just around the corner

Posted by: Stambo Aug 4, 2012 - 2:43 PM

yayyy!

Posted by: SwissFerdi Aug 4, 2012 - 3:00 PM

Well-oriented build, that.

Posted by: enderswift Aug 4, 2012 - 6:45 PM

Thanks guys,

It's been a busy day but I have something to show for it (sorry for the cell pics)


All new bearings were pressed into their corresponding mains, taking care to avoid scratching through the coated layers. A healthy slathering of assembly lube is cheap insurance against a rough first start


The newly polished crankshaft was finally back home among a set of ARP main studs. All torque specs were followed to avoid damaging anything.


Next the piston-rod assemblies were put together. Installing the wristpin c-clips was a total pain and I ended up doing it inside of a ziploc bag in case any of them tried flying off again. I also spent a long time installing all of the piston rings. They have to be installed from the bottom-most ring up, have to be checked for match marks, and then oriented properly so none of the rings gaps line up. Doing all that is one thing, making sure none of it shifts around while being inserted into the cylinder is another rolleyes.gif Needless to say I checked and re-checked a bunch of times before I felt confident about my work.


It was about this point where I really started to enjoy the rebuild. Things are quickly coming together and looking good. The installation of the oil and water pumps are perfect examples of this.


The ARP headstuds were threaded into the block in preparation for the cylinder head. The studs were expensive, but well worth the peace of mind.


Another shot of the bottom end right before the cylinder head was installed. I didn't want to leave it exposed like this for too long and risk getting some dirt trapped in there.


So the cylinder head was thrown on in short order thumbsup.gif



its nice to be at a point in this project where things are starting to come together thumbsup.gif

Posted by: bloodMoney Aug 4, 2012 - 9:31 PM

Looks good!



Now get it in the car. tongue.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 9, 2012 - 6:50 PM

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Aug 4, 2012 - 9:31 PM) *
Looks good!



Now get it in the car. tongue.gif


Not yet. Need to lose my mind over all the small details first.


Got my exhaust stuff back from ceramic coating:





I'm so glad I didn't go with JetHot because the quality of this coating is absolutely flawless. They coated the inside and outside of the manifold, as well as the outside of the turbine housing, for only $150! $300 less than jethot. Plus they offer a great warranty

the place is called LO-KO in chicago illinois:

http://www.lo-ko.com/


Posted by: rave2n Aug 9, 2012 - 6:52 PM

Looking good!

Posted by: enderswift Aug 10, 2012 - 11:13 PM

QUOTE (rave2n @ Aug 9, 2012 - 6:52 PM) *
Looking good!


Thanks rave, your build is looking good too.

Just thought I'd post up a pic of a small mock-up I did. Couldn't help myself with all those ceramic coated bits lying around:







More to come this weekend thumbsup.gif

Posted by: bsamps4 Aug 11, 2012 - 7:27 AM

That looks BAD ASS!

Posted by: navseal345 Aug 11, 2012 - 8:46 AM

When you do the AWD to this beauty it will be a hell of a fun, reliable car.

Posted by: kurt95gt Aug 11, 2012 - 2:06 PM

I don't think it was ever that clean new laugh.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 15, 2012 - 9:58 PM

QUOTE
That looks BAD ASS!

Thanks man, but I can only hope to approach the badass-ery of your ride

QUOTE
When you do the AWD to this beauty it will be a hell of a fun, reliable car.

I don't want to think about it haha. The work still left to be done to reach that goal just seems overwhelming sometimes

QUOTE
I don't think it was ever that clean new

If only that were true.

So I'm gonna try to squeeze this in among the flood of spam:






The engine is 95% complete. Just need to rebuild the turbo, repair a bracket I bent during removal, and tie up a few loose ends. The fated engine swap should happen in two weeks, giving me just enough time to clean up all of the supporting assemblies. Hopefully the spam stops before then

Posted by: bloodMoney Aug 16, 2012 - 8:33 PM

Let me know if you want help with the swap.

Posted by: Box Aug 16, 2012 - 8:43 PM

Mmm, turbo...

Posted by: Stambo Aug 17, 2012 - 6:11 PM

ender i'll buy the awd stuff off you right now.... smile.gif

Posted by: bloodMoney Aug 17, 2012 - 9:47 PM

I've got first dibs!!!! Plus, you haven't been to a meet all year tongue.gif

Posted by: Zake Aug 17, 2012 - 9:49 PM

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Aug 17, 2012 - 9:47 PM) *
I've got first dibs!!!! Plus, you haven't been to a meet all year tongue.gif

false, he was at the spring meet smile.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Aug 17, 2012 - 9:52 PM

I call first dibs on a ride at the first meet this car shows up to.

Posted by: enderswift Aug 18, 2012 - 12:29 AM

Sorry guys, I'm keeping the AWD bits. I just love power to four wheels too much to part with any of the stuff.

Stambo is it true that you're switching over to the 3rd gen? Cuz Richee3 has been threatening to do it too; and having three 3rd gens at the midwest meets would be awesome.

QUOTE
I call first dibs on a ride at the first meet this car shows up to

confirmed. The car is still gonna have an open diff unfortunately kindasad.gif But there's always that straightaway on 71 thumbsup.gif


So I finally turned my attention to the turbo today. I was planning to rebuild it but ran into something particularly annoying. It looks like some curious member of my family decided to check out the turbo cartridge while it was laying on my work bench. . . and then place/drop it with the impeller facing down, thus scuffing the edge of two blades on the intake side.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

so I need to send the impeller assembly out for balancing because I don't want to take chances on a part that approaches 100k rpm.




Posted by: SwissFerdi Aug 18, 2012 - 10:22 AM

Good thing you caught that, imagine ruining a perfectly sound rebuild to an unknown like that. Looks like the cleanest (and I mean that literally) I've seen posted here in a while.

Posted by: Stambo Aug 19, 2012 - 10:33 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Aug 18, 2012 - 1:29 AM) *
Sorry guys, I'm keeping the AWD bits. I just love power to four wheels too much to part with any of the stuff.

Stambo is it true that you're switching over to the 3rd gen? Cuz Richee3 has been threatening to do it too; and having three 3rd gens at the midwest meets would be awesome.

QUOTE
I call first dibs on a ride at the first meet this car shows up to

confirmed. The car is still gonna have an open diff unfortunately kindasad.gif But there's always that straightaway on 71 thumbsup.gif


So I finally turned my attention to the turbo today. I was planning to rebuild it but ran into something particularly annoying. It looks like some curious member of my family decided to check out the turbo cartridge while it was laying on my work bench. . . and then place/drop it with the impeller facing down, thus scuffing the edge of two blades on the intake side.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

so I need to send the impeller assembly out for balancing because I don't want to take chances on a part that approaches 100k rpm.


I'm planning to go to a 3rd. I'm just shopping around to find a nice front clip with the awd goodies for a good price.

Posted by: Box Aug 19, 2012 - 8:57 PM

Sounds like a family member needs a good scuffing. redface.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 26, 2012 - 4:41 PM

Hello everyone,

thank you for the kind words so far, I lose sight of the end goal sometimes when I get into the nitty gritty details, so its nice to have a reminder of why this is all worth it. Anyway I have a decent update to post up. The turbo has recieved a lot of attention and is currently cleaned, painted, and awaiting the return of a balanced impeller assembly. As I mentioned before, the intake side impeller has tiny chips on two fins and therefore needed to get balanced. Honestly I'm sure the turbo would work fine as-is, but I'm doing this build with longevity in mind. So off it went to TheBoostLab in Tampa Florida: http://www.theboostlab.com/ you guys should check them out if you need any work done.


Taking the turbo apart was pretty easy after soaking it in cleaner for a little while. I made sure to keep track of the order of the internals and placed paint marks pointing toward the compressor side on each of them. All of the internals look like they're in fantastic shape so a rebuild isn't really necessary, but I already have the kit so why not!


Heres a picture of my impeller assembly. Gotta love the ceramic turbine impeller smile.gif I replaced the lock nut and the thrust clips before sending this out for balancing.


This took a while


After masking off the cartridge I painted it with VHT flameproof paint (well see how it holds up). The paint can says to cure it in 500 degree temps for 30 min, so I shoved this thing in the oven when no one was home. Worked awesome thumbsup.gif


Also cleaned up the compressor housing in some more of that Boeing cleaner.


Some of the miscellaneous turbo bits got painted in the extreme temp VHT as well.




I am currently waiting on these two gaskets to come in from the UK, as well as a new intercooler bracket


Here's the engine as it currently sits. I attached all of the accessories and now I'm really just tying up the loose ends (procrastinating on extending the harness tongue.gif ) so it shouldn't be much longer. If I'm really lucky then the swap will go smoothly. I doubt that's gonna happen though, there's bound to be tons of gremlins that keep me busy.


I like the fact that my wall of potential energy is starting to get pretty sparse. For a while there it felt like I was putting in a ton of work with no progress to show for it.

Finally bought a set of gauges. I went with prosport because they have good reviews (on the premiums) and look like defi's for a million dollars cheaper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-75K8jKTQo

I bought the boost, wideband, and oil pressure. They're gonna look awesome. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates

Posted by: cheela Aug 26, 2012 - 4:51 PM

looks like that engine just came out of the factory today. nice work!

Posted by: enderswift Aug 26, 2012 - 7:48 PM

Thanks dude!

Posted by: bsamps4 Aug 27, 2012 - 1:20 PM

Where did you get the rebuild kit for the turbo?

Posted by: bsamps4 Aug 27, 2012 - 1:24 PM

And what did you use to clean up your alternator without damaging it?
I'm really interested. Mine is kind of an eyesore.

Posted by: Stambo Aug 27, 2012 - 6:20 PM

luke, it looks like you might have the tensioner pulley set up wrong? Unless the pulley you got is a ribed one.

Posted by: enderswift Aug 27, 2012 - 10:34 PM

QUOTE (Stambo @ Aug 27, 2012 - 6:20 PM) *
luke, it looks like you might have the tensioner pulley set up wrong? Unless the pulley you got is a ribed one.


nope I think you're right, good eye. This is what happens when I start assembling without referencing my photos. Thanks dude

QUOTE
Where did you get the rebuild kit for the turbo?


I got mine from gpopshop.com. You have to call them to order the ct20b kit

QUOTE
And what did you use to clean up your alternator without damaging it?
I'm really interested. Mine is kind of an eyesore.


I used one of those 3M sanding sponges, the 320 grit iirc, and a can of CRC alternator/starter cleaner. I made sure to keep any sanding dust from building up by using my compressor often. I took it to get tested at advance after and it passed with flying colors

Posted by: enderswift Aug 31, 2012 - 7:31 PM

Hello 6gc,

I have a massive update for you. I've rebuilt my turbo, and I'm slowly making my way through extending the wire harness. One of the most tedious things I've ever done, and I've done my fair share of tedious stuff during this rebuild laugh.gif


A while back I ordered a late model 5s engine harness from ebay to serve as a donor for my extension. I figured that since the 5s and 3s are so similar, then most of the wiring should match up color-wise. What you see in this photo is the leftover carnage from unlooming that donor harness.


Here is a shot of the exposed wires waiting to be sorted and cut. I made sure to measure my st205 firewall and figure out the approximate extension length before I scrapped it. I would only need about 36 inches of additional wiring to make the 3s harness plug and play with a lhd frame, but I decided to play it safe and go with 42 inches.


Next I exposed a section of my 3s harness near the firewall boot so I could start sorting and making a log of the wires that would be supplied by my donor.


This is the result of the sorting. I was missing about 20 color combinations so the next day I tore into some leftover chassis harnesses from the clip and salvaged about 8 more. So that leaves me with 12 color combos un accounted for. It's no big deal though, I will just use wires that look similar and properly label them.


Here is a picture of the log that has been helping me keep track of the wiring. Its super easy to get confused so something like this is a must in my opinion.


This picture shows my workbench all setup for the extension. On the right are the soldering supplies I've been buying lately, including some quality 3m electrical tape. Those of you that have used a lot of electrical tape before know that the cheap stuff either melts together or gets really brittle. I want to avoid that with this harness.


I'm just starting the extension in this picture, but just those few wires took about 25 min. Each extension involves a cleaning of the donor wire so it's not sticky, cutting to 42", stripping all ends of insulation, careful soldering, continuity checks, and heat shrinking. Absolutely mind-numbing work. I'm also making sure to stagger groups of spliced wires to avoid a bulge in the final product. It's been mostly smooth sailing except for some unexpected coaxial, and shielded wires that the donor harness could not supply. I'm gonna have to get creative to extend those. Hopefully my soldering skills are up to the task


In other news I got my turbo parts back! That's just amazing turn around time, especially considering hurricane Issac was blasting Florida while this was there. I love how they cleaned up the ceramic impeller, way better than my measly attempts. Guys, I was the guinea pig and I can say without a doubt that theboostlab.com is the place to go with.


The intake side is looking pretty good too. One thing I couldn't figure out is where they removed the material to do the balancing. Maybe all it needed was to be clocked slightly to make up for the chips. Either way I cant wait to hear this guy spin up!


With the parts in hand I sat down and assembled the turbo with the new internals. Assembly is super easy as long as you take pictures of everything ahead of time. I'm surprised people don't rebuild their turbos more often. However doing this only reinforced my pure hatred for c-clips.


Nothing like a freshly rebuilt turbo


I wasn't about to sit around with a freshly rebuilt turbo on my table so I went into the garage and started assembling.


For a stock turbo the ct20b really is big. I have to hand it to toyota, they went nuts with the 3s turbo. Twin entry, ceramic exhaust impeller, water cooled... They just crammed in all the bells and whistles possible back then.


It feels real good to finally have the engine finished. I'm literally just waiting on a bracket and two gaskets at this point. Everything else has been done. Unfortunately now is the point where the real second guessing starts. There are thousands of places where I could have made a mistake on this engine. I hope none of them are going to be show stoppers kindasad.gif


Another view of the assembled turbo. I'm thinking of just leaving the factory heat shield off for now. I like the way all of this looks, and I don't want to hide it.


Also got my prosport gauges in the mail. Boost, AFR, and oil pressure. I cant wait to have them bounce around while driving at night. Btw, I was really surprised at the quality of the supporting hardware for these. I don't know how anyone could want more.


Finally, I got a wild hair the other day ordered a QTP exhaust cutout. Making a custom exhaust is gonna be a pita for a while so this thing is gonna let me uncork the motor when the occasion arises wink.gif

I plan to take advantage of the long weekend and finish my harness. The final parts should arrive by tuesday at the latest so... the swap is upon me.

Posted by: richee3 Aug 31, 2012 - 7:47 PM

I expect a startup vid within the next 7 days!

Posted by: enderswift Sep 2, 2012 - 7:46 AM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Aug 31, 2012 - 7:47 PM) *
I expect a startup vid within the next 7 days!


dont tempt me lol. I'm getting so close that it's all I can do to keep myself from halfassing stuff just to get it done

Posted by: njccmd2002 Sep 2, 2012 - 12:18 PM

thats a stupid clean engine. I like it

Posted by: enderswift Sep 3, 2012 - 9:32 PM

QUOTE
I expect a startup vid within the next 7 days!


shooting for this upcoming weekend!

QUOTE (njccmd2002 @ Sep 2, 2012 - 1:18 PM) *
thats a stupid clean engine. I like it


Thanks man, hope to see your beams again next summer.


So this sucked. I never want to solder another connection again, but the harness should be very reliable (I hope). I guess time will tell

Posted by: njccmd2002 Sep 3, 2012 - 10:55 PM

it has held well for me...

Good job.

Posted by: bsamps4 Sep 4, 2012 - 8:54 AM

your gonna have to cruise down to our neck of the woods!

Posted by: TwistedCeli94 Sep 4, 2012 - 1:20 PM

what he said ^....holy mackerel!

Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 4, 2012 - 3:48 PM

If you want help Luke, let me know. I always travel with all tools necessary to assemble/disassemble celicas.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 4, 2012 - 4:57 PM

QUOTE (bsamps4 @ Sep 4, 2012 - 9:54 AM) *
your gonna have to cruise down to our neck of the woods!


Sounds like a plan. Let me get this thing running properly first... and let me buy my Quaife biggrin.gif


QUOTE (TwistedCeli94 @ Sep 4, 2012 - 2:20 PM) *
what he said ^....holy mackerel!



QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Sep 4, 2012 - 4:48 PM) *
If you want help Luke, let me know. I always travel with all tools necessary to assemble/disassemble celicas.


You will be the first to know when things start going horribly wrong.

Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 4, 2012 - 5:21 PM

lol we're engineers.... Firefighting is our job.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 21, 2012 - 10:34 PM

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Sep 4, 2012 - 6:21 PM) *
lol we're engineers.... Firefighting is our job.


Truer words have not been said.



Engine threw a rod on startup mad.gif . Vid later

Posted by: Bigblock Sep 21, 2012 - 11:08 PM

swift
I will have a double long island iced tea because of this sad news!! I am sooo looking forward to seeing it at the spring meet!!
Best of luck!!

Posted by: Zake Sep 22, 2012 - 12:55 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 21, 2012 - 10:34 PM) *
Engine threw a rod on startup mad.gif . Vid later

what!?! but everything looked so perfect.. frown.gif

sorry to hear about that.

Posted by: Box Sep 22, 2012 - 1:40 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 21, 2012 - 10:34 PM) *
Engine threw a rod on startup mad.gif . Vid later

Noooooo! That sucks terribly!! frown.gif

Posted by: richee3 Sep 22, 2012 - 7:35 AM

What the...... frown.gif Did it put a hole in the block? At least you know how to disassemble and reassemble everything now.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 22, 2012 - 10:22 PM

Video of the failure:

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/?action=view&current=TeaserTrailer_zpsfc9ebbe9.mp4

Posted by: Zake Sep 22, 2012 - 10:41 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 22, 2012 - 10:22 PM) *
Video of the failure:

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/?action=view&current=TeaserTrailer_zpsfc9ebbe9.mp4

I hate you right now... kindasad.gif
scaring me like that!


laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif

Posted by: mkernz22 Sep 22, 2012 - 10:43 PM

the rod knock in that video sounds soooooooooooooooooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o horrible.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 22, 2012 - 10:48 PM

QUOTE (Zake @ Sep 22, 2012 - 11:41 PM) *
QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 22, 2012 - 10:22 PM) *
Video of the failure:

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/?action=view&current=TeaserTrailer_zpsfc9ebbe9.mp4

I hate you right now... kindasad.gif
scaring me like that!


laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif



biggrin.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Sep 23, 2012 - 8:45 AM

I knew I smelt bull****.

Sounds so beautiful!

Posted by: SwissFerdi Sep 23, 2012 - 8:55 AM

He actually got me. Well done.

Posted by: kurt95gt Sep 23, 2012 - 9:35 AM

That's not funny....well maybe it was alittle funny tongue.gif

Sounds as good as it looks

Posted by: Bigblock Sep 23, 2012 - 12:21 PM

Ah ha haha hahahaa!!!
owned.gif
woot.gif

Posted by: richee3 Sep 23, 2012 - 12:31 PM

I see what you did there...

Posted by: Box Sep 23, 2012 - 12:38 PM

You're an ass. tongue.gif

Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 24, 2012 - 10:29 AM

I knew you were too anal to let that happen.

Posted by: enderswift Sep 24, 2012 - 10:26 PM

QUOTE (mkernz22 @ Sep 22, 2012 - 11:43 PM) *
the rod knock in that video sounds soooooooooooooooooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o horrible.



QUOTE (navseal345 @ Sep 23, 2012 - 9:45 AM) *
I knew I smelt bull****.

Sounds so beautiful!



QUOTE (SwissFerdi @ Sep 23, 2012 - 9:55 AM) *
He actually got me. Well done.



QUOTE (kurt95gt @ Sep 23, 2012 - 10:35 AM) *
That's not funny....well maybe it was alittle funny tongue.gif

Sounds as good as it looks



QUOTE (Bigblock @ Sep 23, 2012 - 1:21 PM) *
Ah ha haha hahahaa!!!
owned.gif
woot.gif



QUOTE (richee3 @ Sep 23, 2012 - 1:31 PM) *
I see what you did there...



QUOTE (Box @ Sep 23, 2012 - 1:38 PM) *
You're an ass. tongue.gif



Thought you guys might get a kick out of that tongue.gif

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Sep 24, 2012 - 11:29 AM) *
I knew you were too anal to let that happen.


It's all about the details smile.gif My inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IjItGEr6Ic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdcoVurVY30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5XcAf-Psd8


Posted by: playr158 Sep 25, 2012 - 11:56 AM

GREAT work here. really like what you did.

Posted by: rave2n Sep 25, 2012 - 1:07 PM

Looking good!

thumbsup.gif thumbsup.gif

Posted by: enderswift Sep 25, 2012 - 4:55 PM

QUOTE (playr158 @ Sep 25, 2012 - 11:56 AM) *
GREAT work here. really like what you did.



QUOTE (rave2n @ Sep 25, 2012 - 1:07 PM) *
Looking good!

thumbsup.gif thumbsup.gif


Thank you for the kind words guys, I'm beyond happy to be at this point after so many months of staring at the motor in my garage thumbsup.gif

I'm unfortunately having issues with my clutch master cylinder, to the point where its almost impossible to shift into gear when cold. So I wont post an update until that's sorted out. It's the wierdest thing because the pedal feels like a sponge when the cylinder is cold, but once the engine heats it up the pedal is great and I can shift no problem cwm13.gif Tomorrow morning I'm gonna sit there with a hair dryer just to heat the cylinder up and see what happens.

These cheap aftermarket cylinders just aren't cutting it, and I'm sick of replacing the master only to have it crap out again in two days. I've tried EVERY bleeding technique known to man and they all lead to the same outcome. So today I bit the bullet and bought a new master and slave from Toyota. If that doesn't solve my problem then I'll also try to have an extended pushrod turned for the slave.

Posted by: Zake Sep 25, 2012 - 5:00 PM

Since it's all done now. Is it safe to say your car will be 2 toned like everyone else's? wink.gif

Posted by: enderswift Sep 27, 2012 - 11:40 AM

unfortunately red and white clash waaaaaay too much for my taste. So for now I'm gonna take the less popular route and put spacers on my hood. My priority is to get an lsd in the car. The exterior mods will have to wait till next summer when I can save up for a good paint job.

Posted by: Stambo Sep 27, 2012 - 1:02 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Sep 25, 2012 - 4:55 PM) *
QUOTE (playr158 @ Sep 25, 2012 - 11:56 AM) *
GREAT work here. really like what you did.



QUOTE (rave2n @ Sep 25, 2012 - 1:07 PM) *
Looking good!

thumbsup.gif thumbsup.gif


Thank you for the kind words guys, I'm beyond happy to be at this point after so many months of staring at motor in my garage thumbsup.gif

I'm unfortunately having issues with my clutch master cylinder, to the point where its almost impossible to shift into gear when cold. So I wont post an update until that's sorted out. It's the wierdest thing because the pedal feels like a sponge when the cylinder is cold, but once the engine heats it up the pedal is great and I can shift no problem cwm13.gif Tomorrow morning I'm gonna sit there with a hair dryer just to heat the cylinder up and see what happens.

These cheap aftermarket cylinders just aren't cutting it, and I'm sick of replacing the master only to have it crap out again in two days. I've tried EVERY bleeding technique known to man and they all lead to the same outcome. So today I bit the bullet and bought a new master and slave from Toyota. If that doesn't solve my problem then I'll also try to have an extended pushrod turned for the slave.


I had to go through so many master's through napa i just paid the 80 bucks to get a new one from yota

Posted by: bsamps4 Sep 27, 2012 - 2:58 PM

I wanna see some pics dude!

Posted by: enderswift Sep 30, 2012 - 11:38 AM

Hello 6gc, I give you my swap update:

In the week before the swap I started to run through the whole process in my head, step by step, to try and foresee any potential problems or missing supplies. It actually turned out to be a really good exercise because I realized I would need an axle puller, ratchet straps, lithium grease, fluid pump, a tank full of 93, and a ton of other materials that don't immediately come to mind. It even made me realize that I needed to have the engine hoist come in from the passenger side so the transmission jack could be rolled from the other side without being obstructed by the legs. This eventually led me to write out a plan to do swap and saved me from countless bottlenecks.


I took the 5s for a blast around the neigborhood to fill it up with 93 octane before parking it in the driveway for the last time. The motor was good to me and I took good care of it right until the end.

The first thing to accomplish was to replace the fuel pump with a walbro 255l unit and see if the car would start. Imagine going through the whole swap only to end up with start issues because you never tested the new fuel pump. I didn't want to be in a situation where I'd have to sift through a whole list of variables to figure out what could be causing my problems. So little tests like this keep the troubleshooting list semi-short.


Next all of the body panels were taken off and put to the side. I originally wanted to remove the fenders too, but that turned out to be a real pain. So a set of fender covers did the trick. Notice how it's already getting dark outside around 6 pm. The shortening days really became a problem over the weekend. Anyone else planning on doing a swap like this outside should aim for mid-summer when you have all the daylight you would need.


Luckily I had two artificial suns to keep the progress going before we called it a night and got pizza




The following morning I woke up around 5 am to get things ready for the next day.


As the morning progressed I removed and disconnected everything that would get in the way of pulling the 5s. This was all done keeping in mind the possibility that a swap-back may need to happen. I've never rebuilt a motor or swapped before so I made sure I had a way of reverting my daily driver in case of a failure.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the joys of popping tie-rods and balljoints:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/Tierodremoval_zpsb84aacb9.mp4
The axles were among the last things to remove before the 5s could be pulled


Impact tools, a torch, wd40, and some suspension service kits made taking the suspension apart really painless. I think I had both sides done in a little over 30 minutes






Then, it was finally time to pull the 5s from its home. I originally planned on using nylon rope for the pull, but the super-convenient hooks meant I could use the chains that came with my load-leveler. The nylon ropes were thus saved for installing the 3s


We had the motor out after a surprisingly short amount of time. My previous experience removing a toyota motor was with the front clip, and the awd trans made it a total pain. So this was a breeze by comparison.


It was at this point where it began to dawn on me that there was no easy going back. This swap needed to go perfectly or I wouldn't have a car for the following week of work. We were already halfway through Saturday and there was still so much to do. Pressure was starting to build.


The only thing to do when you start to feel like that is keeping on pushing through. And so we did. My brother was awesome enough to be my cameraman that weekend and he got the typical engine bay shots for me smile.gif


They all laughed when I bought my gas pressure washer a few months ago. I regret nothing




Next order of business was to lower the 5s on its jdm pallet (made in japan haha) and get ready for trans removal


The final resting place of the good old 5s. Tucked against a wall in the crawl space I call a garage. I may find it another home in the future


Here is a shot of the cleaned up engine bay waiting on its new motor.


Quick shot of the s54 on the harbor freight special stand. There are a select few tools that I feel are simply worth their weight in gold. This is one of them.




I decided to finish up the saturday by cleaning up the s54. I was already behind schedule at this point and the fact that I had just one day to completely assemble a car was very real. The 3s wiring was my main concern, if that didn't work perfectly then I'd be screwed trying to figure it out. Something as small as a broken soldered joint could keep me from having a running car for days... And at $65 a day for a rental, I'd be broke in no time. Needless to say, some of the fun of the swap was sucked out because of this. Looking back on it my biggest mistake was tackling a project like this on my primary vehicle.


Water can only do so much, so I busted out the brake cleaner and went to town


I think it came out pretty well. I really didn't care how it looked, I just wanted a clean interior for the new clutch. Plus I wanted to get rid of whatever was causing the clutch squeak that's been slowly crushing my soul.


With the 5s on its pallet and the transmission prepared for the following day, I turned to hanging the 3s on the hoist. I bent brackets before so I took care to avoid repeating past mistakes. It's a good idea to hang the engine with the stand still attached. That way if you mess up and the motor drops, you still have the stand to save everything.


By this point I was exhausted and starting to get sloppy. So I called it a night and packed up. I really need a bigger garage for a hobby like this.


I couldn't sleep too well, so I woke up bright and early to keep on going. Only one day left and still so much to do


Despite the pressure to finish everything up, I took a moment to step back and look at what was hanging from the hoist. This is what I've been working towards for years. Here it is, it's happening. Couldn't help but feel good about something like that


No time to waste though, on to the clutch. My engine stand never allowed me enough clearance to completely tighten the rear main seal and install the flywheel, so I had to do it while the motor was hanging on the hoist. It was interesting trying to tighten the bolts to proper torque, but we managed in the end. I really hope my machine shop put the correct step on the flywheel. Its the one thing I forgot to check.


I like to put white paint marks on any bolts I've tightened to keep track of my work. It's super easy to miss a bolt otherwise. All proper torques and sequences were used. The last thing I wanted was to have to remove the trans again.


Clutch disk and alignment tool were next


The motor was finally ready to go in


Time to max out the travel on the hoist


What followed was a two man affair with my brother controlling the descent of the boom and me lining the motor up while it lowered. The actual lowering was easy because I'd decided to bring in the transmission seperately ahead of time. All we had to do was lower it and loosely attach the passenger side mount. The plan was to come in with the transmission jack between the legs of the hoist on the other side, and mate everything together in the bay.




3s is almost situated in its new home. The ratchet straps I mentioned before helped keep the motor from rocking forward and crashing into the power steering assembly. I really hate the damn power steering assembly, it's always in the way of something.


Okay, now it was time to bring in the trans. I knew this wasn't going to be a fun process, but at least I had that jack. Plus doing it this way meant I had a much better chance of not damaging anything


ofcourse nothing ever goes perfectly to plan and I couldn't slide the transmission in with it already on the jack because the frame wouldn't clear. So I slid the trans over on some cardboard first, and lifted it up by the starter hole, while my brother brought the jack under it.




Once the trans was in place we were golden. Now it was a matter of lining up the spline with the clutch disk and gettin the dowels to slip into the engine


We managed to get the spline to slide into the clutch disk but the trans wouldn't rotate enough to get the dowels into the motor. It was driving me nuts because I couldn't see what was hitting. After about 20 minutes I realized that one of the dowels on the trans was hitting one in the same spot on the engine! Duh I forgot to check if there were doubles left over from the two engines. 5 minutes later I had the extra dowel removed and the transmission in place


Things were really coming together at this point, and I was starting to get excited. I was surprised to see that I was mostly using the 5s mounts. I expected to use all of the gt4 mounts, but then it occurred to me that it makes sense that only the 5s mounts fit because I'm still using the s54 trans. So the only gt4 mount is on the passenger side. The rest are stashed away for when I swap in my converted e154f.


With the engine and trans installed I was feeling pretty good.I wasn't out of the woods yet though, that long length of loom could be a show stopper if I didn't do everything just right in the weeks leading up to this. The fact that the gt4 manual had mis-labeled connectors compared to usdm manual wasn't helping my confidence. Easy wiring or not, there's still lots of places where you could screw up!


At least my extension worked out pretty nicely as far as wire tuck is concerned. I left the loom unwrapped in case I'd have to dig in there and start searching for a mistake


After a while the process of fishing a harness through the firewall and connecting it up to the ecu gets pretty easy.

Quick video of a mid-swap wiring test. Goals were to get the engine to crank, and to see spark at the ignitor using the timing gun. If they did then I knew I was home free:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/Carstartup_zps6c12f3f5.mp4
It was a great success smile.gif I'd never wired so much before so reaching this point in the swap was a huge relief. The goal really started to feel attainable now. We edited out the part where I have this big dumb smile on my face






With the sun setting, I started attaching all the coolant and fuel lines. Connected anything and everything I could find. Checked everything over about a thousand times and finally let it crank away

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/firststart_zps08576ff2.mp4
Started first try! No horrible noises, no smoking wires, and the only issue was a code 54 because I didn't fill the intercooler with enough coolant! My buddy got excited haha. I was mostly just relieved. The rebuild worked, and I wouldn't be stranded without a car. whew

This video doesn't show it, but we primed the motor ahead of time with the efi fuse removed. The oil level on the dipstick dropped to its normal position confirming that we'd circulated through the oil pump, filter, and turbo.

With the engine started I quickly checked everything over and it was okay except for a power steering leak (wrong crush washer). I let the engine warm up then shut it down for the night. It was late, and I would need a rental car for the next day. But that was okay, I was home free with a functioning motor and back in familiar territory.

Rest of the update in a little while

Posted by: navseal345 Sep 30, 2012 - 1:49 PM

HELL YEAH!! When is she (or he) going to go to a MidWest Meet?

Posted by: bsamps4 Sep 30, 2012 - 1:55 PM

Looks perfect man! Your hard work has paid off!

Posted by: Box Sep 30, 2012 - 2:23 PM

Congrats!!

Posted by: Zake Sep 30, 2012 - 6:12 PM

it seemed like i was reading a magazine article, but WAY better! the swap looks great and I'm glad you got it done. you have been talking about doing this for a long time now. smile.gif

Posted by: richee3 Sep 30, 2012 - 6:52 PM

Congrats, Luke! It looks great! I can't wait to see it in person.

Posted by: bloodMoney Sep 30, 2012 - 8:27 PM

Looks great Luke!

Are you going to bring it down to Joliet?

Posted by: Edser Oct 1, 2012 - 3:57 AM

Good job! Have fun!

Posted by: Keiri Oct 1, 2012 - 7:21 AM

This thread delivers. smile.gif Congratulations and very well-done Luke!

What a meticulous and intelligent build; the way that motor sounds in the start-up video just brings a smile to my face. thumbsup.gif

Posted by: Smaay Oct 1, 2012 - 9:25 PM

why didnt you mate the transmission up to the engine before you put it in? you just made extra work for you

Posted by: enderswift Oct 1, 2012 - 10:13 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Sep 30, 2012 - 2:49 PM) *
HELL YEAH!! When is she (or he) going to go to a MidWest Meet?


I'm gonna have to sit down and sift through the meet thread. Joliet isn't all that far from me so why not?!


QUOTE (Box @ Sep 30, 2012 - 3:23 PM) *
Congrats!!


Thanks!


QUOTE (Zake @ Sep 30, 2012 - 7:12 PM) *
it seemed like i was reading a magazine article, but WAY better! the swap looks great and I'm glad you got it done. you have been talking about doing this for a long time now. smile.gif


Thanks bud, I spent the past few years looking over some awesome threads on here so I wanted to put in some effort and make something that would be a good read


QUOTE (richee3 @ Sep 30, 2012 - 7:52 PM) *
Congrats, Luke! It looks great! I can't wait to see it in person.


Thanks Dan. Hurry up and buy a clip already!

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Sep 30, 2012 - 9:27 PM) *
Looks great Luke!

Are you going to bring it down to Joliet?


Think so. My clutch is finally breaking in so there really isn't anything stopping me now

QUOTE (Edser @ Oct 1, 2012 - 4:57 AM) *
Good job! Have fun!


Thanks bud smile.gif

QUOTE (Keiri @ Oct 1, 2012 - 8:21 AM) *
This thread delivers. smile.gif Congratulations and very well-done Luke!

What a meticulous and intelligent build; the way that motor sounds in the start-up video just brings a smile to my face. thumbsup.gif


Thanks mam, and thanks a bunch guys. I can say that it was all well worth it. The car pulls hard, and shifting from second into third on full boost is my new favorite thing to do thumbsup.gif

QUOTE (Smaay @ Oct 1, 2012 - 10:25 PM) *
why didnt you mate the transmission up to the engine before you put it in? you just made extra work for you


because I'm a newbie to engine swaps haha, and I really didn't want to break anything trying to stuff the whole thing at once. I completely agree that it would have been faster to install them together.


Posted by: navseal345 Oct 1, 2012 - 10:16 PM

Dibs on first ride!!

Posted by: Tigawoods Oct 2, 2012 - 7:59 AM

great job!

Posted by: Stambo Oct 2, 2012 - 11:24 PM

yay another 3s! now for me to start another project soon

Posted by: ricochet1490 Oct 4, 2012 - 9:17 PM

SON! - nicely done. thing sounds MEAN!!

Posted by: bloodMoney Oct 18, 2012 - 8:50 AM

http://www.rhdjapan.com/pit-road-m-engine-torque-damper-st202-st205-celica-3s-ge-54118

Posted by: Ted95 Oct 18, 2012 - 8:58 AM

looks great man congrats!

Posted by: enderswift Oct 20, 2012 - 4:23 PM

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Oct 18, 2012 - 9:50 AM) *
http://www.rhdjapan.com/pit-road-m-engine-torque-damper-st202-st205-celica-3s-ge-54118


way ahead of ya man. I was lookin at that link the night of the meet. Luckily I found out the issue! The hidden bolt connecting the passenger-mount insulator to the engine bracket was loose rolleyes.gif


QUOTE (Ted95 @ Oct 18, 2012 - 9:58 AM) *
looks great man congrats!


Thanks man thumbsup.gif


Posted by: richee3 Oct 20, 2012 - 4:42 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Oct 20, 2012 - 4:23 PM) *
The hidden bolt connecting the passenger-mount insulator to the engine bracket was loose rolleyes.gif

I recently had that same issue. tongue.gif Difference is, my other two bolts were broken/missing as well. Whoops. So now that you've been driving it for a while, any chance of an updated review? Brigette and I may or may not be changing something about our car next Spring. smile.gif

Posted by: enderswift Nov 4, 2012 - 5:27 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Oct 20, 2012 - 4:42 PM) *
QUOTE (enderswift @ Oct 20, 2012 - 4:23 PM) *
The hidden bolt connecting the passenger-mount insulator to the engine bracket was loose rolleyes.gif

I recently had that same issue. tongue.gif Difference is, my other two bolts were broken/missing as well. Whoops. So now that you've been driving it for a while, any chance of an updated review? Brigette and I may or may not be changing something about our car next Spring. smile.gif


Good to know I'm not the only one struggling with post-swap adventures. And I like the sound of that change smile.gif As for an update, here it is:


Hello 6gc,

it's been a decent amount of time since I've posted a real update; so I'm sure some people assumed I had indeed crashed into a median at 17psi, or blown the engine up....right before crashing into a median. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for them, neither of those things happened. Instead I've been keeping myself busy tracking down and correcting every last creak, rattle, and leak possible before I considered the swap complete. A certain 8 hour licensing exam has been keeping me busy too, but I never want to think about that ever again. Which is why today I want to focus on what has happened since the swap and what it's like to daily drive a 3s.

As mentioned before, the swap went very smoothly with no show stopping disasters or oversights. But that doesn't mean there still wasn't a lot of work to be done. As you can imagine I had a number of unforeseeable obstacles to overcome before the car would be a dead-reliable fire beast. The biggest of which was my clutch. Immediately after the swap the new pressure plate from the fx300 kit started destroying master cylinder after master cylinder, rendering the car undrivable to the point where I almost got stranded at work. It wasn't until I bit the bullet and sourced an OEM master that I could actually shift into gear consistently. But then I still had to contend with a clutch that had 1mm of travel before engagement. After lots of trial and error (mostly error) a custom adjustable slave cylinder push rod solved that issue. Finally I had to figure out why the clutch was shuddering so much from a stop. I assumed that something was installed incorrectly, or the flywheel was machined with the wrong step, but both of those things meant I would have to remove the transmission... mad.gif Screw that, I got annoyed and just thrashed the crap out of the clutch around my neighborhood for a few days. Problem solved, just needed a good break in smile.gif

Beyond that, the majority of my issues were limited to hunting for the source of bumping noises, and tracking various exhaust/transmission/powersteering leaks. My turbo also had an annoying tendency to loosen its bolts every few days. so I had to go through the process of installing nord-loc washers without taking anything apart, which was interesting rolleyes.gif. I'd like to say that fixing these things was fun, but it really wasn't. A lot of this stuff required hours of work, especially things like replacing a torn rear engine mount, or taking apart the passenger suspension just to replace an axle seal. That seal was particularly annoying because I could have easily replaced it during the swap (I even had it on hand ready to go). Thankfully I seem to have caught up to it all because the car has been phenomenal lately. Just start it up in the morning and go.

So while contending with all of these things, I also had to break the motor in properly. I never understood the reasoning behind a 'soft' break in, and no one could ever justify it to me in terms of what was physically taking place inside the motor. So I took the more aggressive approach where the point is to load the rings without overheating them. This meant lots of short, low boost power pulls. Within 50 miles I knew I was 99% done with the break in. However I still drove the car conservatively until I hit 300 miles, at which point I ran a compression test:


That was a good day. The FSM states that compression is supposed to be 164 psi thumbsup.gif I was almost afraid to look at the gauge the first time haha.

All together I did 3 oil changes in the first 1000 miles. At 100, 500, and 1000. The last one had me switching from 10w-30 dyno to synthetic and there have been zero problems in the few thousand miles since. Obligatory disclaimer: your results may vary.

Long-winded paragraphs aside, here are some photos of the celi as it stands:


It's interesting to think about how much this car has gone through over the years, yet it looks so unassuming. I kind of like that.


At long last, the bay sits as it always should have.


The ceramic coating is holding up pretty well and doing a great job keeping the bay temps in check. I've seen some turbocharged cars get so hot that you couldn't hold the hood prop for more than a second or two!


I really like the gauges, and I recommend prosport to anyone looking for a set. These have been working flawlessly and look great, particularly the opening sweep. They are currently wired to run off of the stereo's power source so they can be shut down when needed.

And now a small video of the engine idling away. I have a few videos of power pulls, but I'm saving those for a future update:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/MVI_1562.mp4
Nothing exciting about the motor idling in my driveway, but I thought it might be interesting to post anyway.

As for daily driving a 3s, well the only word that comes to mind is smooth. The twin entry turbo gives just a moment of pause before unleashing pure thrust. My open-diff s54 means I have to fight the wheel to keep the car on the road, and as the revs build, so does the acceleration. That's one thing I love about this engine, it NEVER STOPS PULLING. I've caught myself dipping into redline because I was waiting on the power to taper off like it did in the 5s (which was previously my que to shift). 1st and 2nd gear are useless from low speeds; leaving me spinning and wheel hopping all the way up to third, which is the magic gear. Everything just conspires to launch the car forward in in that gear, with fourth being just as fun. 5th is jail time, so I don't mess around there too much. However it's nice to consider 5th as a highway passing gear now biggrin.gif

It feels great to be at a point where I can just enjoy the car. Frankly I've been getting a little burned out lately. That's why I don't plan to make any huge changes until next spring. In the mean time I'm going to slowly work on welding up my exhaust cut out and preparing an LSD transmission. Ultimately working into a meth injection kit and boost controller. Speaking of the exhaust cut out, here's what I have waiting in the wings:



should be fun biggrin.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Nov 5, 2012 - 12:16 AM

Lovin' it! So jelly right now. bowdown.gif

Posted by: zero07 Nov 6, 2012 - 6:16 PM

Very nice build.. congrats

Posted by: Stambo Nov 7, 2012 - 12:08 AM

I got ahold of a kaaz lsd for the mr2 trans if your interested. I got it out of a donor mr2 trans for my all trac project.

Posted by: Box Nov 7, 2012 - 2:25 AM

3S-GTE swap, still uses AutoCrap battery. tongue.gif Looks good. I'm not sure about this unassuming look though. I've always been one for tasteful flamboyance. At least you get to mess with a lot of Honda kids this way. laugh.gif

Posted by: enderswift Nov 10, 2012 - 10:33 AM

QUOTE (Box @ Nov 7, 2012 - 3:25 AM) *
3S-GTE swap, still uses AutoCrap battery. tongue.gif Looks good. I'm not sure about this unassuming look though. I've always been one for tasteful flamboyance. At least you get to mess with a lot of Honda kids this way. laugh.gif


Gotta cut costs somewhere haha. As far as Honda kids go, they seem to be a dying breed around here because I haven't been able to find any. I guess ignoring basic maintenance/rust finally got to em.

Posted by: kurt95gt Nov 10, 2012 - 10:43 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Nov 10, 2012 - 11:33 AM) *
QUOTE (Box @ Nov 7, 2012 - 3:25 AM) *
3S-GTE swap, still uses AutoCrap battery. tongue.gif Looks good. I'm not sure about this unassuming look though. I've always been one for tasteful flamboyance. At least you get to mess with a lot of Honda kids this way. laugh.gif


Gotta cut costs somewhere haha. As far as Honda kids go, they seem to be a dying breed around here because I haven't been able to find any. I guess ignoring basic maintenance/rust finally got to em.

Come to where I live then. It's yet to stop Honda kids around here. They just had mommy an daddy buy them a newer Honda

Posted by: richee3 Nov 10, 2012 - 11:55 AM

They're all Nissan guys down here now. Funny thing is, they've all put Toyota engines in their Nissans...

Posted by: enderswift Nov 10, 2012 - 8:27 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Nov 10, 2012 - 12:55 PM) *
They're all Nissan guys down here now. Funny thing is, they've all put Toyota engines in their Nissans...


240 + 2jz? O.o

My buddy bought a powder coating gun:

Before:


Powdered:


Baked and installed:


It's amazing to see the powder get applied. It's positively charged by the gun, while the part remains neutral. So the powder literally zips right toward the part, even if you point away from it. The end result being even and comprehensive coverage. After coating it just needs 15 minutes in a convection oven at 350 degrees. It's easier than painting. Cheaper too. Unfortunately the photo doesn't do the coating justice, it was raining and lighting was crap. Looks much better in person

Posted by: richee3 Nov 10, 2012 - 8:49 PM

Looks good! I'd still be powdercoating but my oven went on the fritz and well.... You remember the story of my IS 300 headlights.

No 2JZ 240's yet. They're all 1JZ's. The 2JZ is going in a G35.

Posted by: enderswift Dec 13, 2012 - 7:21 PM

Hello 6gc,

I have another update for you. A few months back I spent a decent amount of time searching for the source of an acceleration thud that started shortly after the swap. It sounded a lot like the engine was hitting my firewall upon full throttle, so the first place I thought to look was my rear engine mount. Sure enough there were a few tears in it, which didn't surprise me considering it was the original 13 year old gt mount. No doubt the 3s was more than it could handle. So I bought a new one and went through the maddening process of swapping it out. Upon reassembly I damaged the first several threads in the lower bolt hole on the rear of the trans that secures the bracket. No big deal I thought, its only the first 3 threads and its and inch long bolt. So I chased the hole with a tap, changed the assembly approach, and had the rear mount together in short order. Did all of this work solve the issue? Nope, still had a bump on full throttle mad.gif Strangely, I would eventually find that the thud was being caused by the passenger mount of all things rolleyes.gif

Fast forward two months and I'm going over a parking lot speed bump before hearing a loud bang. Uh oh. Immediately threw myself on the pavement and started looking. Everything seemed alright, and I thought that maybe the k-member simply smacked the hideously tall bump, but assumptions are a bad thing in these situations. So I Promptly got the car home and continued investigating. What I found was a missing lower bracket bolt and a fractured transmission casing where the upper bolt was... I distinctly remember collapsing back on my creeper and taking a deep breath. I knew this was gonna be a pain in the ass.

The only direct cause I can think of is a worn thread. This allowed the lower bolt to work its way loose over time, finally leaving the upper bolt to take the full engine torque on its own. To make matters worse, the bracket acted like a crowbar on the upper bolt every time I would accelerate. Cast aluminum is very frail so its actually surprising the casing lasted as long as it did.

So with no intention of driving on just the front mount, I knew I either had to try and salvage the situation by drilling and re-tapping the lower bolt hole, or swap the trans. I chose to re-tap the lower thread to hold me over while I accelerated my e154f conversion. A ton of cramped and uncomfortable work ensued before I had the mount secured to the trans again. Unfortunately this temporary solution was more temporary than I had hoped.

It was at this point that I leveraged the collective resources of midwest 6gc and got a replacement s54 in literally two days. Many thanks to Richee3 for treating his transmissions well, Bloodmoney for asking around for me, and Zake for parting with Richee's old trans for only $50! You guys are awesome thumbsup.gif


With a replacement trans on hand I immediately got to work:


Here are a pair of images of the replacement s54 when I first brought it home. Everything worked smooth and there was no slop, so I was confident it would hold up to my abuse.


Challenge accepted.


Two days, several cans of alternator cleaner, and a soda blast later.

I chased all of the threads on it to allow me to easily thread bolts all the way by hand (because I knew it would be damn near impossible to repeatedly reset a wrench on some of them later). I also replaced the axle seals, and lubricated all of the moving parts with white lithium grease.


I had my buddy powder coat the rear engine bracket to commemorate the sheer of the amount of money and grief the stupid rear mount had cost me lately.


Here is a picture of my tools and materials getting staged for a move to a nice and warm dock. It's December so working in the driveway is no longer an option.


Once at the shop I wasted no time in setting everything up before tearing into the car. There's just slightly less work compared to an actual engine swap so time was certainly a factor.



After many hours I arrived at this point. I was very tired, and only half done, but it was nice to see that everything I was taking apart was holding up well these past few months.


And here is the reason for all this work mad.gif . It's a real shame, the transmission is still in perfect working order. But it's not worth building the aluminum back up and machining

I wish I took more photos but a trans replacement is just so labor intensive that you really don't have time to document everything. Thankfully all that work paid off because the car is running and driving beautifully. I was expecting a bunch of gremlins but all I had to do was tighten a few things a little better after my first few test drives. I'm very happy with the new trans, its smooth, tight, and quiet. My old one had a soft, part-throttle whine in certain gears. All that is just a bonus though, I'm mostly happy with the fact that I can go back to driving the car normally, and not like it's made of glass laugh.gif

Anyway this weekend I think I'll bolster this update with a few post-replacement photos and a long overdue driving video

Posted by: navseal345 Dec 13, 2012 - 8:42 PM

Nice.

Posted by: Zake Dec 13, 2012 - 8:46 PM

I'm glad it's working well for you thumbsup.gif

Posted by: bloodMoney Dec 13, 2012 - 9:44 PM

woot.gif

Posted by: richee3 Dec 13, 2012 - 10:35 PM

Wow, that transmission cleaned up well! Glad to hear you got it in there and you're back to letting the 3S do its thing. thumbsup.gif

Posted by: diegohiga Dec 17, 2012 - 2:20 AM

its an amazing thread. just spent 2 hours reading the whole thread from page 1. its an amazing project! thumbsup.gif

Posted by: enderswift Dec 18, 2012 - 6:08 PM

QUOTE (diegohiga @ Dec 17, 2012 - 2:20 AM) *
its an amazing thread. just spent 2 hours reading the whole thread from page 1. its an amazing project! thumbsup.gif


Thanks man. I'm certainly glad people are enjoying it

Posted by: njccmd2002 Dec 18, 2012 - 6:13 PM

tke out the internals, clean them and save them. Take the aluminum case, sell it, get money, buy ice cream cone...

Posted by: enderswift Dec 18, 2012 - 6:23 PM

QUOTE (njccmd2002 @ Dec 18, 2012 - 6:13 PM) *
tke out the internals, clean them and save them. Take the aluminum case, sell it, get money, buy ice cream cone...


That's actually a very good idea. Plus now that I think about it, it'll get me familiar with Toyota gearboxes before its time to work on the e154f.

Posted by: enderswift Dec 20, 2012 - 7:06 PM

small update:


My intake hose started to crack on the turbo end. All those years of heat-cycling did its toll on the rubber I guess. Luckily for me there was a brand new one available at TCB


A new intercooler sticker for that 'brand new engine' look

Both parts were bought at http://www.tcbparts.co.uk/

Posted by: enderswift Dec 23, 2012 - 10:06 PM

Quick update:

Finally spent some more time working on the 3" midpipe. I've been really procrastinating with this thing lately. Mostly because anything that's made from scratch ends up being a total pain the ass for me. Tons of measuring, tons figuring angles (with trig!), and lots of time coming up with impossible ways to fixture tubes on the Bridgeport cutter. This is definitely one of those deceptively simple projects.

However, it's all worth it though.

It's worth it because I ran the car with just the downpipe for the first time yesterday. And there's only one word that can describe what that's like:Instaboost
Not to mention the +4psi peak boost gain. Damn the thing pulled hard, even third gear is iffy now biggrin.gif

Anyway, here's a photo of the exhaust. I'm going to have certain sections TIG welded before I do my final mockup. At which point the last set of adjustments and markings are going to be made before finish welding.



I took great care to ensure smooth transitions throughout. It's tempting to cut tubes the lazy way and end up with abrupt direction changes, even if the actual angle is large. There's just lots of variables to take into account when making something like this, so props to the folks on here that have constructed their own custom exhausts.

More updates soon

Posted by: navseal345 Dec 23, 2012 - 10:18 PM

Amen! Looks like the beginning of the holy grail.

Posted by: Ted95 Dec 23, 2012 - 10:48 PM

B-pipe looks great man, Manny made one for my swap that looks a lot like yours. The boost increase by the flip of a switch is amazing, great mod.

Posted by: enderswift Dec 24, 2012 - 12:10 PM

QUOTE (Ted95 @ Dec 23, 2012 - 11:48 PM) *
B-pipe looks great man, Manny made one for my swap that looks a lot like yours. The boost increase by the flip of a switch is amazing, great mod.


Thanks bud! If my stuff reminds people of Pressure's work then I must definitely be on the right track thumbsup.gif . And yea I have a feeling the cutout is going to be my favorite mod too. Definitely gonna give the car two different personalities, which plays well with the understated, unassuming thing I'm going for at the moment

Posted by: bsamps4 Dec 24, 2012 - 12:24 PM

I want one of those cut outs!

Posted by: ricochet1490 Dec 24, 2012 - 12:28 PM

QUOTE (bsamps4 @ Dec 24, 2012 - 12:24 PM) *
I want NEED one of those cut outs!

^That's more like it lol - esp. with you at the strip.

Posted by: Ted95 Dec 24, 2012 - 2:40 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Dec 24, 2012 - 12:10 PM) *
QUOTE (Ted95 @ Dec 23, 2012 - 11:48 PM) *
B-pipe looks great man, Manny made one for my swap that looks a lot like yours. The boost increase by the flip of a switch is amazing, great mod.


Thanks bud! If my stuff reminds people of Pressure's work then I must definitely be on the right track thumbsup.gif . And yea I have a feeling the cutout is going to be my favorite mod too. Definitely gonna give the car two different personalities, which plays well with the understated, unassuming thing I'm going for at the moment



Ya these cars are sleepers with the 3s especially with the top mount. The cut out will wake the car up and everyone else around it real quick lol

Posted by: purplegt4 Dec 24, 2012 - 4:41 PM

Agreed on the cutout!

If you want a spare s54, I have one sitting in my garage. Grinds some gears and it also has a piece of axle in it, so it's a good candidate for swapping the internals of your old trans into this one.

Posted by: Bladey Dec 27, 2012 - 7:13 PM

Just read the whole build log, and wow my 3s feels unloved now

Just a few questions did you end up swapping to SS? and are you still going 4wd?

Anyway great build got to love 3s power biggrin.gif

Posted by: enderswift Dec 27, 2012 - 8:06 PM

QUOTE (purplegt4 @ Dec 24, 2012 - 5:41 PM) *
Agreed on the cutout!

If you want a spare s54, I have one sitting in my garage. Grinds some gears and it also has a piece of axle in it, so it's a good candidate for swapping the internals of your old trans into this one.


Thanks for the offer! but the more I think about it, the more I feel the current casing is salvageable. The aluminum could be built back up with a welder, like they do for cylinder head repairs, and then could be fixtured in a 4 axis CNC to clean it up and drill the new holes. I have access to multiple Haas vertical 4 axis mills that are more than capable of doing the job. I could even use the CMM if I wanted to go overboard. HOPEFULLY, the replacement trans will continue doing a fantastic job and I wont have to go down that path.


QUOTE (Bladey @ Dec 27, 2012 - 8:13 PM) *
Just read the whole build log, and wow my 3s feels unloved now

Just a few questions did you end up swapping to SS? and are you still going 4wd?

Anyway great build got to love 3s power biggrin.gif


Thanks man, there's just something about these engines that makes it worth it. Not sure what it is, but I have a feeling that it might have something to do with the fact that the entire design is based on Yamaha's old race bike engines.

To answer your questions, no I haven't swapped the SS yet. I would have to either purchase a lhd st205 steering rack, or machine my existing st204 rack to accept st205 tie rods. I refuse to swap in the new suspension without an LSD transmission so I would also have to convert the e154f to FWD and then make a hybrid passenger axle. Furthermore I would also have to get a new set of rims and tires to clear the st205 calipers w/o spacers.

I intend to do all of that this summer.

As for the AWD, I have started doing the necessary legwork including measuring and research. But that portion of the project is going to require a $5000 watercooled miller TIG welder. So it's gonna be a while.

Posted by: purplegt4 Dec 28, 2012 - 10:41 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Dec 27, 2012 - 9:06 PM) *
QUOTE (purplegt4 @ Dec 24, 2012 - 5:41 PM) *
Agreed on the cutout!

If you want a spare s54, I have one sitting in my garage. Grinds some gears and it also has a piece of axle in it, so it's a good candidate for swapping the internals of your old trans into this one.


Thanks for the offer! but the more I think about it, the more I feel the current casing is salvageable. The aluminum could be built back up with a welder, like they do for cylinder head repairs, and then could be fixtured in a 4 axis CNC to clean it up and drill the new holes. I have access to multiple Haas vertical 4 axis mills that are more than capable of doing the job. I could even use the CMM if I wanted to go overboard. HOPEFULLY, the replacement trans will continue doing a fantastic job and I wont have to go down that path.


Why do that when you can basically have this one (shipping)? It's very close to being scrapped. If I ever break it down, I'll hit u up just in case you change your mind.

Posted by: enderswift Dec 28, 2012 - 7:13 PM

Thanks bud, much appreciated thumbsup.gif I'm mostly interested in trying the salvage the current case simply because I haven't done something like that before. And one thing I really like about this project is that it has me trying new things and gaining new skills.

Posted by: Neon90424 Jan 1, 2013 - 10:58 PM

Hey enderswift, Im doing vakay in hinsdale IL in boring suburbia nothing to do but watch tv and youtube. If you are within reasonable distance& need any help hit me up if you need any help I love getting my hands dirty.

Posted by: ricochet1490 Feb 16, 2013 - 10:38 AM

updates?? How does it feel?

Also, do you have any of your RHD parts left over still? PM me.

Posted by: enderswift Feb 16, 2013 - 2:41 PM

QUOTE (ricochet1490 @ Feb 16, 2013 - 11:38 AM) *
updates?? How does it feel?

Also, do you have any of your RHD parts left over still? PM me.


No real update to post. I'm procrastinating on that exhaust big time. The car has been feeling good, but I just wasn't getting the rush of acceleration that I had at first. I just figured that I was getting used to the power. However the other day we had some rains wash the salt off the roads, followed by some really warm weather... Prime conditions for UHP all season falkens biggrin.gif I was completely oblivious to the prevailing conditions though, and just carried on abusing the posted limits near work. So when the car suddenly hooked the pavement and catapulted down the street, all I could do was feel my pupils dilate. Immediately after all I could think about was a boost controller haha. But if anything this experience means that the most fun is going to be found in an lsd transmission and proper suspension.


Posted by: Ted95 Feb 17, 2013 - 12:14 AM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Feb 16, 2013 - 2:41 PM) *
But if anything this experience means that the most fun is going to be found in an lsd transmission and proper suspension.


Amen. I want lsd. woot.gif

Posted by: enderswift Apr 16, 2013 - 8:43 PM

Long overdue update:

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMAG0439_zpsd02868b8.jpg.html

STILL havent finished this thing. I have however, decided to abandon my original plans of keeping the back half of the exhaust stockish in favor of mandrel-bent stainless. This meant buying a vibrant ultraquiet resonator, a black vibrant streetpower muffler, and a magnaflow spuncat. I hope that the turbo, resonator, cat, and large muffler chamber will get me a raspless, droneless, and deep exhaust note. I also hope that the straight through design on all the parts will uncork the motor while the cutout is closed.

With any luck I should have this welded and installed by saturday.

Posted by: richee3 Apr 16, 2013 - 8:49 PM

Umm.... I think you're supposed to have a CAT in your exhaust, not a dog... Close though. Points for cuteness.

I like my Vibrant muffler. Good pick there!

Posted by: Tigawoods Apr 16, 2013 - 8:55 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Apr 16, 2013 - 9:49 PM) *
Umm.... I think you're supposed to have a CAT in your exhaust, not a dog... Close though. Points for cuteness.

lololol

Posted by: richee3 Apr 16, 2013 - 9:01 PM

Like this:


Posted by: enderswift Apr 16, 2013 - 9:02 PM

damn it! I knew Summit screwed up my order laugh.gif

Posted by: cheela Apr 17, 2013 - 8:55 AM

haha. gotta get the right cat on there.

just read through this thing again and it's very inspiring.
makes me wanna 3sgte. hahaha
still can't believe you did this on your daily ride. with I had time and skills and money to do that as well. hahaha.

Posted by: Batman722 Apr 17, 2013 - 9:46 AM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Apr 16, 2013 - 10:01 PM) *
Like this:


or just rock one of these.


Posted by: rave2n Apr 17, 2013 - 10:22 AM

Woah I missed alot! you work quick sir!

Sorry for all that grief, but it looks like its going good now!

Posted by: enderswift Apr 17, 2013 - 10:57 PM

QUOTE (cheela @ Apr 17, 2013 - 8:55 AM) *
haha. gotta get the right cat on there.

just read through this thing again and it's very inspiring.
makes me wanna 3sgte. hahaha
still can't believe you did this on your daily ride. with I had time and skills and money to do that as well. hahaha.


Thanks man, I really wanted to contribute something worth reading to this site since its been such great resource for me over the years. And I honestly wouldn't do something like this on my daily again. Too much time pressure.

QUOTE
Woah I missed alot! you work quick sir!

Sorry for all that grief, but it looks like its going good now!


Thanks Rave,

Your car is lookin pretty good too. Was always a fan of satin paint thumbsup.gif
And yes, lots of grief but all good now. Ironically the one thing I didn't swap ended up giving me all of my problems. rolleyes.gif

Posted by: cheela Apr 18, 2013 - 5:06 PM

Hahaha. I bet. I could feel the pressure just by reading.

Yeah, this is why I still have my 7A engine with only intake and header. frown.gif
oh well, still love it. someday. smile.gif

Posted by: enderswift Apr 28, 2013 - 10:10 PM

Exhaust is done thumbsup.gif

Finally found a Saturday where I could take my box of parts to get pieced together. The plan was to use the 3'' piping I had prepared earlier in the year for the first half of the exhaust, then use a 2.5'' reducer after the resonator and have the shop mandrel bend the back half of the exhaust. Here are some photos of the progress:


First is a shot of the old hacked up exhaust. I'm actually amazed I was getting any kind of boost at all with this setup. About as restrictive as it gets.


Mock-up of the Piping I had cut earlier in the year. Tight squeeze but everything fit thumbsup.gif


This picture shows the cutout upstream of the magnaflow spuncat and vibrant resonator. I'm currently waiting on a new rocker switch to replace the defective toggle that came with my cut-out. However I did manage to run the car with the butterfly open for a bit and was blown away by the performance. That switch cannot come soon enough!


I am thoroughly happy with the way they bent the piping over the rear subframe. Smooth bends and quality mounting all over. I'm also glad I chose a black coating for the muffler. It really works perfect for maintaining a factory look. The exhaust guy wasn't too excited to have to weld with it though!

Despite all this I still expected a mediocre exhaust note. All of the parts have a straight through design so I figured it would either drone or have some rasp in the higher revs.

For once I'm happy I was wrong biggrin.gif

The exhaust is damn near silent at idle, and has a deep and relaxed tone when cruising around town. Likewise the note stays baritone under full throttle before growing angry higher in the revs thumbsup.gif . Most importantly however, no rasp and no drone. I could not be happier with how this turned out.

Performance wise I was a little underwhelmed when I first hit the highway. Other than a little faster spool the car felt the same. It just didn't make any sense and i was disappointed. THEN, the ecu realized it wasn't breathing through a straw anymore and recalibrated. Now boost comes on much sooner and I gained 4psi, for a peak of 15. Plus the power doesn't taper off after 6500 anymore, instead the car pulls hard all the way to 7200 biggrin.gif All of this together makes it feel like a completely different car, and I really regret waiting so long to do it. But its done, so now I can finally enjoy 3s performance in its intended glory.

Posted by: navseal345 Apr 28, 2013 - 10:35 PM

Lovin' it! But you are going to need a different set up once you go AWD.

And you need new rear tires, but they were probably on the front. LOL.

Posted by: Ted95 Apr 28, 2013 - 11:11 PM

Wait til you get the cutout switch, that 15 will boost to 18psi with a flip of a switch lol .. I generally gain 3psi with my cutout, other setups can be plus or minus, but generally 3-4psi, you'll love the raw power!

Posted by: enderswift Apr 29, 2013 - 9:38 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Apr 28, 2013 - 11:35 PM) *
Lovin' it! But you are going to need a different set up once you go AWD.

And you need new rear tires, but they were probably on the front. LOL.


You are correct, and the thought crossed my mind to mimic a gt4 exhaust. But I was able to justify this exhaust based on the fact that AWD is still a ways off. I need to pay down some school loans before I can purchase a welder. But I'm determined. I waited 5 years to buy my clip so a little longer for the AWD is no big deal.

And yes those were once the fronts haha. How could you tell? laugh.gif Joking aside I really do need a new set. Unfortunately something about throwing down $400+ for tires specific to the stock wheels makes me cringe. Especially since they cant clear st205 brakes. I'm not ignoring the issue by any means, its just that I want to find a set of enkei rs5's before I buy new tires. Just missed a perfect set near me the other month for $200 rolleyes.gif

If I cant find the enkeis soon then I'll have no choice but to bite the bullet.

QUOTE
Wait til you get the cutout switch, that 15 will boost to 18psi with a flip of a switch lol .. I generally gain 3psi with my cutout, other setups can be plus or minus, but generally 3-4psi, you'll love the raw power!


I only did a few pulls with an open butterfly so I didn't get to really push it. But I really hope you're right biggrin.gif 15 psi is already a huge improvment over the ~11 I was getting before. 18 psi will just be madness. Cant wait for a boost controller, an FCD, some meth injection, and 20+ psi!

Posted by: enderswift May 9, 2013 - 6:12 PM

Quick update: Cutout and interior switch are installed biggrin.gif

Observe:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/VIDEO0115_zpsbcf7aa4b.mp4

Posted by: Batman722 May 9, 2013 - 7:18 PM

Awesome.

Posted by: navseal345 May 9, 2013 - 8:21 PM

So badass! I call first ride at the spring meet!

Posted by: The_enD May 10, 2013 - 5:25 AM

Sweet

Posted by: ricochet1490 May 11, 2013 - 7:26 PM

Getting my exhaust done on Monday.... this may have to be a last minute request.
Baller dude

Posted by: diegohiga May 11, 2013 - 9:49 PM

Thats a nice switch. But the switch that comes with this cut out regulates the angle of the butterfly. Yours only opens it and closes it right?
Its nice though! I like that looks OEM

Posted by: enderswift May 12, 2013 - 2:39 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ May 9, 2013 - 9:21 PM) *
So badass! I call first ride at the spring meet!


No prob smile.gif


QUOTE (ricochet1490 @ May 11, 2013 - 8:26 PM) *
Getting my exhaust done on Monday.... this may have to be a last minute request.
Baller dude


I highly recommend it. Hearing the turbo whine so clearly is phenomenal, and I imagine a uncorked beams would sound like a wild thrashing beast in the high revs thumbsup.gif


QUOTE (diegohiga @ May 11, 2013 - 10:49 PM) *
Thats a nice switch. But the switch that comes with this cut out regulates the angle of the butterfly. Yours only opens it and closes it right?
Its nice though! I like that looks OEM


Thanks! I'm very happy with how it matches the interior. I've been going to great pains to keep things looking oem/understated. To answer your question though, this switch is a DPDT just like the original.

Posted by: Ted95 May 13, 2013 - 9:43 AM

Thing sounds mean man! I love how they sound, take any pulls yet?

Posted by: enderswift May 13, 2013 - 10:42 PM

QUOTE (Ted95 @ May 13, 2013 - 10:43 AM) *
Thing sounds mean man! I love how they sound, take any pulls yet?


Thank you thumbsup.gif Believe me when I say the video doesn't do it justice. And unfortunately not yet. Funds are tight at the moment so it's gonna be a few weeks before I can hit the local dyno. I really am curious to see what kind of power it's putting down, so maybe I'll find a way to run it sooner.

Posted by: Ted95 May 13, 2013 - 10:52 PM

I ment down the road with it but it should do well on the dyno, it's an impressive motor if you ask me lol And sound vicious with a cutout, I know I love mine haha

Posted by: Tigawoods May 14, 2013 - 11:14 AM

aw yeah! that is definitley something needed to hear in person

Posted by: enderswift Jul 5, 2013 - 12:29 PM

Hello 6gc,

Long time no update. I've slowed down on modding the car lately and unfortunately that translates to fewer posts. I'm at the point where my next mods are going to be very money and labor intensive *cough (Trans/suspension/brakes) cough*

Despite that, I have done a few small things that have been on my mind for a while. Observe:

First thing is my new oil catch can. The st205 engine has an oil catch can that takes care of oil in the blow-by while on boost. During cruising however, the regular pcv valve just dumps the oily blow-by straight into the intake; Which basically makes for a filthy intake track. I decided to remedy the situation with a vms gen II oil catch can: http://rhys-millen-racing.myshopify.com/products/universal-oil-catch-can

I like this can because has really good build quality, has a nice oem-look powdercoat finish, a design that includes baffles, and includes a fill level sight. Many other cans you can buy are literally just a can... Which in my opinion wont do anything. In my application I blocked off the included breather filter and installed it with an in-line pcv valve to keep the manifold from pressurizing it.





So far I've only had it installed for a few days, so no word on how much oil it collects. I'll be sure to update in the future. For now, i'm just happy with the oem-looking placement.

On top of the catch can, I've also bolstered my in-dash wiring for reliability and exapandability. In the future I'm planning to install an EBC, meth controller, and turbo timer. All of those things are going to need power/ground/accessories sources to function. So instead of continuing to solder larger and larger joints in the dash, I decided to take a terminal block and create an expandable source for everything:



This was waaay more work than it looks. But I'm very happy with the results. I've since made a clear plastic cover for it and labeled all of the terminals.

Finally, I've found my enkei RS5's biggrin.gif They come with a set of Falken ZE-912's and are currently in the mail:




They are 17X7 and should make a huge difference with traction thumbsup.gif



Posted by: navseal345 Jul 5, 2013 - 1:12 PM

Can you put me in your will? Really amazing job you are doing with your car.

Posted by: richee3 Jul 5, 2013 - 3:18 PM

Nice score on the Enkei's. Can't wait to see them at the next meet. thumbsup.gif

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 6, 2013 - 8:42 AM

Looking good Luke! wink.gif

Posted by: enderswift Jul 6, 2013 - 6:40 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Jul 5, 2013 - 1:12 PM) *
Can you put me in your will? Really amazing job you are doing with your car.


Haha, will I mysteriously vanish a few weeks later if I do? laugh.gif But thank you sir, glad you like the progress thumbsup.gif

QUOTE (richee3 @ Jul 5, 2013 - 3:18 PM) *
Nice score on the Enkei's. Can't wait to see them at the next meet. thumbsup.gif


You have no idea how happy I am to have found them. I knew these were the wheels I wanted back when I saw them on harv3sters profile years ago. I've literally been on the lookout for a set ever since. Finally the perfect seller appeared, the price was right, and I had a little extra money to spend thumbsup.gif


QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Jul 6, 2013 - 8:42 AM) *
Looking good Luke! wink.gif


Thanks Chris, we really gotta gotta meet up soon. I'm in your neighborhood at least three times a week.


Alright. I have another (small) update. I've finally gotten around to installing cruise control back in the car! For those that don't know, the stock 3s intake takes up the space that is usually reserved for the GT cruise control actuator. This means that you have to get creative to find a spot in what is already a very crowded bay. I want to post a few photos of my approach in case anyone else wants to give it a shot. Surprisingly it turned out to be pretty easy, and I'm satisfied with the results:


First I'll show the bracket I made. It's a very simple, very basic bracket made from 1/8" aluminum scrap I had lying around.


Here is a shot of the orientation and placement of the bracket.


And here is how the actuator tucks in between the fuel filter, evap canister, and brake booster. It's a tight fit, with less than a centimeter of clearance in any direction; but nothing rubs and the positioning is perfect to route the throttle cable. Plus this spot makes for a short harness extension thumbsup.gif


Speaking of the harness, here it is. I had to extend it about 12 inches in order to reach the cruise control connector by the radiator.


Finally here is a shot of how I routed the loom.

I've tested this approach for a few days and it's been working flawlessly smile.gif

Stand by for another update soon when my wheels come in thumbsup.gif

Posted by: Batman722 Jul 6, 2013 - 10:01 PM

Great job.
Custom bracket ftw !

Posted by: bsamps4 Jul 9, 2013 - 6:06 AM

You can tell some thought went into that Luke. Impressive Job! Keep up the innovation because it's the only thing that keeps the gears turning!

Posted by: enderswift Jul 10, 2013 - 1:04 PM

QUOTE (Batman722 @ Jul 6, 2013 - 11:01 PM) *
Great job.
Custom bracket ftw !


Thanks Batman, that's high praise after seeing what you've done with your celicas thumbsup.gif


QUOTE (bsamps4 @ Jul 9, 2013 - 7:06 AM) *
You can tell some thought went into that Luke. Impressive Job! Keep up the innovation because it's the only thing that keeps the gears turning!


Thanks Ben. For some reason a lot of people were convinced that cruise control wouldn't work with a 3s swap because of the st205 ecu. Dan got his to work with the beams so I wanted to see if I could too.

btw,

slow down dude, I cant mod as fast as you tongue.gif

The wheels are in!







Finally, after all this time I have my own set of Enkei rs5's biggrin.gif. The previous owner has them refinished so they are about as new as its gonna get. If that weren't enough, they came with a set of new Falken ZE 912 tires.

All I can say is: Dat traction biggrin.gif

Hmm, seems to be a lot of extra room in the brake area now...

Posted by: cheela Jul 10, 2013 - 1:30 PM

that's a great upgrade from stock rims. always loved those.


Posted by: richee3 Jul 10, 2013 - 2:37 PM

Pure sex, Luke. thumbsup.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Jul 10, 2013 - 7:05 PM

I need to change my pants now, thanks Luke.

Posted by: Rumper Jul 15, 2013 - 9:31 PM

Absolutely amazing build, from start to finish its been pure OCD which is the perfect thing when doing a job like this... I have since bookmarked and started a plan for my swap, beautiful car awesome job, if mine turns out half as good as yours I'll be surprised. Will be looking to all you guys for tips and tricks, time to reread this from page one! biggrin.gif

Posted by: JoshuaM Jul 16, 2013 - 5:38 AM

Those rims are awesome! smile.gif And so is the rest of the car... tongue.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 18, 2013 - 8:41 PM

QUOTE (richee3 @ Jul 10, 2013 - 2:37 PM) *
Pure sex, Luke. thumbsup.gif



QUOTE (navseal345 @ Jul 10, 2013 - 7:05 PM) *
I need to change my pants now, thanks Luke.



QUOTE (Rumper @ Jul 15, 2013 - 9:31 PM) *
Absolutely amazing build, from start to finish its been pure OCD which is the perfect thing when doing a job like this... I have since bookmarked and started a plan for my swap, beautiful car awesome job, if mine turns out half as good as yours I'll be surprised. Will be looking to all you guys for tips and tricks, time to reread this from page one! biggrin.gif





QUOTE (JoshuaM @ Jul 16, 2013 - 5:38 AM) *
Those rims are awesome! smile.gif And so is the rest of the car... tongue.gif


High praise, thanks guys!

Quick update: I got inspired to install my turbo heatshield after talking with some of you at the midwest meet. So why not have it powder coated?




Posted by: Box Aug 18, 2013 - 11:07 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Aug 18, 2013 - 8:41 PM) *
Quick update: I got inspired to install my turbo heatshield after talking with some of you at the midwest meet. So why not have it powder coated?

Most powder-coating is good for about 400º, with some high temp versions being good for around 1,000º. Turbos can get pretty damn hot, but if you go with the high temp powder-coating you should be fine. A cheaper alternative would be to use high temp enamel for engine blocks and exhaust: http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/auto/specialty-paints/high-heat It's good for 2,000º, if it doesn't hold that means your car is being Visconti tuned and you have bigger issues at hand. laugh.gif

Posted by: enderswift Aug 19, 2013 - 11:21 AM

we recieved a sample of high temp powder but decided to try the regular stuff first. My friend has had good luck on a lot of his motorcycle exhausts so why not. If I was coating the turbine housing I would be more concerned, but I feel a heatshield should be alright. If it starts to flake it will only take half an hour to blast and coat it with the higher temp powder.

Posted by: Box Aug 19, 2013 - 1:20 PM

It should be ok and like you said, if it does flake it's not the end of the world. Looks good though, I think it'd be cool if you painted the hand in white and the X in red. Make it pop, and then no one can sue you for placing their hand on the heat shield. tongue.gif

Posted by: GT650Schultz Sep 3, 2013 - 10:17 AM

that's some nice looking powder coat ya got there lol

I told Him we should have done the hand in RED. But hey it's not like it can't be done at a later time

Posted by: bsamps4 Sep 5, 2013 - 1:07 PM

how much did this "friend" charge?

Posted by: enderswift Sep 5, 2013 - 8:23 PM

Free

Posted by: bsamps4 Sep 6, 2013 - 6:51 AM

...So what you're saying is...you want me to send you my turbo heatshield...and you want to have it powdercoated for me???

Posted by: enderswift Sep 6, 2013 - 12:05 PM

pm sent

Posted by: GT650Schultz Sep 19, 2013 - 8:16 PM

what's next for the ze beast?

Posted by: enderswift Sep 30, 2013 - 3:23 PM

QUOTE (GT650Schultz @ Sep 19, 2013 - 9:16 PM) *
what's next for the ze beast?


stick-on fender vents, aaaaand this:

Hello 6gc, long time no update.

I've been exercising a lot of fiscal responsibility the last couple of months so the celi build had to be put on hold unfortunately. Now however, I'm all set to continue what was started back in 2011. Phase 2 has already begun with just one small change. I've decided to leave the E154f alone and simply go with an S54-06D from a beams. The 06D allows me to use my current clutch(I might still change it out for something other than Clutchmasters), has good gearing, a helical lsd, and should (not confirmed) be pretty much plug and play with my superstrut suspension if I use Beams axles. So for the rest of the year I'm going to be reconditioning my GT4 superstrut to function with a USDM LHD chassis, sourcing an LSD S54, and just overall redoing the suspension on the car. Phase 3 will take place in the hopefully near future when I have a larger garage, a welder, and maybe a spare shell. Anyway, here's the progress on phase 2 so far:

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMG_2168_zpsa8e19602.jpg.html
Here is a picture of my work bench. It's certainly nice not having a pile of engine internals on it for a change. Instead I have a fantastic example of Toyotas multilink suspension engineering to look at.


I decided to work on brakes first. My clip came with all four rotors so I set to work reconditioning them. The above photo shows what state they were in when I pulled them out of their storage boxes:


First thing to do was get rid of all the rust to prepare the surface for powder coating. Luckily my friend has a blasting cabinet with aluminum oxide that allowed me to strip the surface rust off.


A quick bake in the oven ensured there was nothing on the rotors that would affect the powdercoat finish.


A few hours later we had all four rotors coated with high temperature powder coat. Now it was time to throw them on a CNC lathe.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/VIDEO0177_zps8bd2a7fd.mp4
I took the rotors to my old mans shop where we cut down between 10 and 20 thou off the pad surfaces. Great pains were taken to ensure a consistent runout for all surfaces.


And finally here are the results of all this work. Turned out pretty well for used OEM rotors smile.gif


Some may say that new pads wont bed-in on a smooth surface like this. And they would be wrong. We've been doing this in my family for years and it's always worked perfectly. The Toyota FSM even calls for a lathe.

Along with working on the rotors I also cleaned, inspected and painted all of the calipers. They seem to be in very good condition so I don't think I'll be rebuilding them. If they do end up needing to be rebuilt I'll order a new seal kit from tcbparts.co.uk. I decided to use VHT caliper paint on these instead of powdercoating them. The reason for this lies in the fact that I've only ever found mixed opinions on whether the rubber seals in calipers can stand up to the extended periods of heat that comes with powder. The fact that brakes are designed to convert kinetic energy to heat makes this almost a no brainer, but there are plenty of people that had leaking problems after coating. So I'm going to try caliper paint first. The porsche guys seem to have good luck with VHT. The key is surface preparation. Observe:

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMG_2169_zpsa6ec0c33.jpg.html
First a quick before shot of how the calipers looked when I got them.

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMG_2172_zps8854b944.jpg.html
Here's another shot showing the front 4-pots. I spent a lot of time sanding these down with a 3M sanding sponge to get the surface nicks fixed up. I then got rid of all the brake dust in the hard to reach places with a plastic bristle brush before degreasing everything.

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMG_2174_zps1eb4c68b.jpg.html
From there I spent what felt like an eternity masking off the contact surfaces before applying multiple layers of paint.

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMAG0723_zps52b047e5.jpg.html
Here is a shot of one of the rear calipers. I'm still on the fence on whether or not I should make the Celica logo stand out.

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMAG0724_zpsb67c4932.jpg.html
Finally the completed caliper. I'm in the process of ordering new pads and hardware, along with a set of GT4 stainless lines.

I'm going to have to overcome two obstacles in order to install superstrut into my USDM frame. Those are steering rack compatibility, and axle compatibility. Other members on these forums have shown that the inner tie rods on the GT4 steering rack can be transferred over to a USDM rack, the only problem with this is that the overall length that results is too short. Extending the rods offers a solution, but I'm not convinced that doing so wont affect the steering Ackerman angle. I'll have to sit down, take some measurements and do some math eventually. Furthermore I still have to confirm that the GT4 subframe will accept a USDM rack (I'm going to purchase a rebuilt rack this Thursday and compare ). If it does not fit I'm going to have to source another USDM subframe and clean it up instead. Finally I have to confirm that BEAMS lsd axles will fit into a GT4 hub. If they do I have nothing to worry about. If they don't I'm going to have to mix and match tulips between axles, or press in different hubs into the GT4 uprights.

In the midst of all of this I'm also going to weatherproof the entire suspension with POR-15 hardnose paint. This stuff is really popular with guys that restore old cars and should offer the best protection against rocks and salt. To complement everything I'm going to use polyurethane bushings wherever I can. However one of the benefits of a superstrut suspension (Aside from maintaining camber like a double wishbone) is that it replaces a lot of the bushings found in mcpherson setups with solid joints, so it's a very tight suspension straight from the factory. If I remember right there is really only one place where you can find a rubber bushing, and that's on the rear banana arm. So the polyurethane is most likely going to go on the rear banana arm, the sway bar mounts, endlinks, and rear suspension.

Anyway, the first step toward weatherproofing the suspension was to clean off all of the dirt and grease from everything. This is where my power washer came in handy yet again:

http://s74.photobucket.com/user/subaru25rs_photos/media/IMAG0721_zps249b2edd.jpg.html
Here is the subframe and the majority of the suspension mid cleaning. I was surprised at how much welding splatter there was, guess Toyota didn't really care how it looked back then

Alright, that's all I have for now. Expect more updates in the coming weeks, my target burnout date is November 30th thumbsup.gif

Posted by: TwistedCeli94 Oct 1, 2013 - 12:18 PM

you are the man

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Oct 1, 2013 - 4:22 PM

you dont need beams axles. use your original manual transmission s54 axles to fit them into ss3 or gt4 knuckle.

proof on superstrut thread.


and..... boooom!

no need to do research the evidence is already here.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM !!! http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=89939


Posted by: enderswift Oct 1, 2013 - 5:48 PM

QUOTE
you are the man


Thanks dude

QUOTE (BonzaiCelica @ Oct 1, 2013 - 4:22 PM) *
you dont need beams axles. use your original manual transmission s54 axles to fit them into ss3 or gt4 knuckle.

proof on superstrut thread.


and..... boooom!

no need to do research the evidence is already here.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM !!! http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=89939


Ah that's good news. I kinda suspected that was the case since the SSIII has an s54 trans and superstrut. It just wouldn't make sense for Toyota to go through the trouble of specifying a different hub for the GT4. I still think I'm going to try and source a set of beams axles anyway though, they are definitely stronger than what is available for the s54 in the US.

As far as the steering issue goes, I've definitely been keeping an eye on that thread. I like the fact that it shows how things can be plug and play, but I really want to make sure none of the steering angles get messed up if I go down that path.

Posted by: SwissFerdi Oct 1, 2013 - 6:45 PM

Excellent stuff. Must be fantastic for steady-state cornering, camber that adjusts.

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Oct 2, 2013 - 4:14 PM

the way i look at it with beams axles. i mean they are thicker and heavier in that matter. so they put down less wheel power?

yea my concern is steering angles but i only see that as a concern if your auto x. on the track it won't be much of a difference how many sharp u turns do you take on a race track.

Posted by: enderswift Oct 2, 2013 - 5:28 PM

QUOTE (BonzaiCelica @ Oct 2, 2013 - 4:14 PM) *
the way i look at it with beams axles. i mean they are thicker and heavier in that matter. so they put down less wheel power?

yea my concern is steering angles but i only see that as a concern if your auto x. on the track it won't be much of a difference how many sharp u turns do you take on a race track.


The loss of power due to extra mass would be so tiny that I doubt anyone would notice it. But the added strength makes all the difference considering how many member here have sheared/broken regular 5s axles.

And I guess you're right about steering angles...I mean it's important but production cars don't really follow perfect ackerman anyway. I'm just trying to avoid a situation where the handling gains that come from better camber compensation get offset by slightly tweaked steering

Posted by: navseal345 Oct 2, 2013 - 6:37 PM

Please tell me you plan on driving this thing in the snow, it would be one badass machine.

Posted by: enderswift Oct 2, 2013 - 8:43 PM

QUOTE (navseal345 @ Oct 2, 2013 - 7:37 PM) *
Please tell me you plan on driving this thing in the snow, it would be one badass machine.


It's my daily and I unfortunately live in the midwest. I have no choice haha. A good suspension and LSD were sorely needed last winter. I even crashed into a curb during one the snow storms. Thankfully all it cost me was rim, and maybe a balljoint if the latest clunking is any indication

Posted by: navseal345 Oct 2, 2013 - 9:01 PM

QUOTE (enderswift @ Oct 2, 2013 - 8:43 PM) *
QUOTE (navseal345 @ Oct 2, 2013 - 7:37 PM) *
Please tell me you plan on driving this thing in the snow, it would be one badass machine.


It's my daily and I unfortunately live in the midwest. I have no choice haha. A good suspension and LSD were sorely needed last winter. I even crashed into a curb during one the snow storms. Thankfully all it cost me was rim, and maybe a balljoint if the latest clunking is any indication

I guess I'm just one of those people that, why would you build a car... spend all that money and time, if you don't drive the damn thing. That's all. LOL.

Posted by: enderswift Oct 2, 2013 - 9:07 PM

I agree 100% These cars are meant to be enjoyed, not stared at in a garage half the year

Posted by: bsamps4 Oct 8, 2013 - 12:13 PM

I too really really need LSD. I can one wheel squeal like a pro!

Posted by: enderswift Nov 3, 2013 - 6:25 PM

QUOTE (bsamps4 @ Oct 8, 2013 - 12:13 PM) *
I too really really need LSD. I can one wheel squeal like a pro!


Open diffs suck, hope you get that e153 in there soon thumbsup.gif

On another note, here's the progress I've made lately:


As I mentioned before I needed to confirm a number of things before I could go through with the superstrut swap. One of them was whether or not a USDM rack would fit on a JDM GT4 subframe. The answer unfortunately is no. Above is a picture of the horrible looking 'rebuilt' steering rack I recieved from Advance auto (they painted over dirt rolleyes.gif ). It's not a very good picture but the mounts on the ST205 subframe are spaced too far wide apart compared to a USDM part; everything else is identical however.

I eventually gave in and spent some time making the aforementioned 'rebuilt' steering rack look halfway decent. Couldn't shake the feeling that I was polishing a turd though. If they couldn't be half assed to at least clean the dirt off, then what confidence do I have in the parts they actually rebuilt? I guess we'll see what happens after I install this thing. I'm already mentally bracing myself for a mid-winter rack swap and plan on keeping the one that came with my car as a spare, just in case.


Since this car is my daily driver, I had to source another USDM subframe. This way I can comfortably go through the process of checking compatibility and rustproofing while still using the car everyday. So with that in mind I made a stop by a local junkyard and pulled this undamaged member from a wrecked '95 gt convertible. It was snowing, I had no impacts, and no torch. It took two and a half hours to rip this thing out. Never again laugh.gif

At the time I was really surprised because the subframe looked pretty good and mostly rust free. Turned out that a thick layer of grease and grime was concealing quite a bit though. Some engine degreaser and a soft bristle brush revealed a few pitted areas and surface rust on a lot of the welds. Oh well, cant expect perfect parts out of a 18 year old car. Especially not in this part of the country.


With all of the pitting I decided to go ahead and blast away all of the rust with aluminum oxide. Blasting does a much better job clearing rust pits than a wire wheel ever could. My friends blasting cabinet is really meant for smaller parts so I made a temporary cardboard cabinet and set to work.


Worked pretty well for the majority of the blasting, but it ultimately turned out to be too small. I had to finish the rest of the subframe at the shop.


And finally here is the result of all my effort. 99% of the rust is gone and the metal is currently soaked in wd-40 until my order of POR-15 comes in.

While all of this was going on, I also worked on creating inner tie rods that would allow me to use ST205 outer tie rods with a USDM steering rack. I measured the USDM rack and found a ~21" total length, whereas the ST205 rack measured roughly ~24". Therefore I had to create parts that were 1.5" longer than the ST205 rods.

Luckily USDM steering racks came with inner tie rods that were much longer than what is needed for the custom parts. So making inner tie rods that would work was only a matter of cutting the USDM rods to the right length, machining the proper diameter, and threading:


On top is an inner USDM tie rod after it has been cut short. It is 1.5 inches longer than the ST205 part below. Next step was to turn the piece to the proper size for threading.


Machining the diameter down.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/subaru25rs_photos/Threadmachining_zpsf44de323.mp4
Get ready for hands down, 'the' most exciting video you have ever seen. Ever


And here is the final product. Original ST205 rod on the left, new machined rod on the right. We later added flat spots to give the alignment guy something to put his wrench onto. For those considering this swap in the future, all you need is a USDM rod to be cut short and threaded. Any machine shop with a lathe can do this without a problem.


All of this work just to have a little bulge in the outer tie rod.


Here is a small mockup I did with the newly machined inner rods and freshly blasted subframe. Soon I'll be applying a layer of POR to everything and getting started on reconditioning the steering knuckles.

With subframe and tie rod compatibility taken care of, it was now a matter of figuring out what to do about axles. I plan on using an S54-06d and beams axles, so I had to make absolutely sure they would fit the ST205 hubs. A few members on here have asserted that there would be no problems. However I could not miss an opportunity to take pictures when it came time to replace a trashed balljoint on my current mcpherson suspension.


There you have it, an ST205 axle fits an ST204 hub no problem. Thus beams axles will fit the GT4 hubs perfectly thumbsup.gif

The plan is to have all of this cleaned up and installed by the end of November. From there I'll finally be able to start saving for meth injection and a boost controller. Cannot wait biggrin.gif

Posted by: navseal345 Nov 3, 2013 - 7:03 PM

Wow.

Posted by: Bigblock Nov 3, 2013 - 7:05 PM

All this being done in such a limited space!!
Just goes to show ---
Plan your work...::...Work your plan

Hats off & thumbs up!!

Posted by: Batman722 Nov 3, 2013 - 8:08 PM

Awesome progress Luk.

and the vid...very exciting watching it spin smile.gif

Posted by: njccmd2002 Nov 3, 2013 - 9:00 PM

Whose shop was that? Yours!!! Awesome dude..

Posted by: bloodMoney Nov 3, 2013 - 10:38 PM

Very cool Luke.

You're making me want to take Abby down to keep up with you.....

Posted by: Keiri Nov 4, 2013 - 11:58 AM

Great updates Luke; this thread is full of excellent information and inspiration.

thumbsup.gif

Posted by: bsamps4 Nov 4, 2013 - 12:55 PM

Amazing attention to detail Luke! Keep up the clean work!

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