BweegN
SHO Member
Hi Folks!
Been trolling here since Vietnam and finally it's time to dig my girl out of the Ice and make a build thread.
My goal here is to help others but I feel most people have done what I'm about to embark on so, I'm really hoping to get great feedback and advice on how to make this process as efficient and problem free as possible.
Back story...Low compression on cylinder one(30psi). I'm relatively ******* the car but no worse than Joe average occasional WOT off the line or in traffic. I've been religious and most likely over bearing with ALL fluid changes. One day on the highway, let's say 75mph she threw a code and from there I could feel the power loss. That was the beginning of the end. I drove her home and got her parked. Every once in a while I could hear a little clattering but nothing showing true signs of catastrophic failure. Well the compression test proved a major issue is present. After researching catch cans I had hoped juuuuuust maaaaaybe I had a stuck intake valve open. Yeah, no...rolled the cams over and they closed right up. So I'm guessing I have a cracked piston or ring. Learning what a project it is to get the motor out of the car...or should I say car out of the motor, LOL I decided to turn half of my 30x60 barn into a shop. 2 years or so later, here I am finally getting her up on the lift. To think I basically made the shop just for this damn car.
I originally bought her with aspirations of using the driveline for a MK4 roadster setup. Well, that all went away when I continued to drive Eva. She's spacious, comfy, the kids love her and her rear heated seat, and everyone loves how shockingly quick she is; Especially for a big girl. So, I decided to keep the car.
I'm now at the point where I don't really want another car and I figure if I semi-restore the car and get 100k miles out of it, I'll still be ahead of the game while also having a car I enjoy. It will not be run in the winter unless absolutely necessary. As she sits now, she has 109k miles.
So, my goal of this thread is to post my journey with this car and hopefully receive feedback/good advice from folks who've previously walked in my shoes or have questions that I/we can help out with. I'm going to clean up any rust I find, replace whatever is needed, and find the most efficient way to get good and most importantly, reliable HP numbers. I already have the livernois down pipes, t-stat, map sensor, plugs, intake, tune, and corsa exhaust.
My initial goals are as follows:
There you have it!
So, I know a lot of folks have done a lot of these things so, I'm hoping they will chime in and I'll keep everyone posted as I work along. Work has me quite busy but I'm trying to really focus my weekends on the car. As of right now I have the piping removed, coolant and engine oil drained, down pipes/flex are almost removed, intake, battery box, some of the coolant lines, fuel line.
I'm headed up to the shop in a few.
I'm going to focus on juuuust maybe getting the sub-frame ready to drop from the car.
That would be a big deal so I can get the motor taken down to look at before I contact Livernois.
Side note...are those not the cutest little fu$%ing turbos you've ever seen!!???
It's so funny when I tell people this car has no lag. NO ONE believes me until they ride in it.
Now I see why. I've seen bigger turbos on bikes. I LOVE IT!
Anyway, thank you everyone for contributing.
I don't post here a lot but always feel welcome when I do.
HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!
Been trolling here since Vietnam and finally it's time to dig my girl out of the Ice and make a build thread.
My goal here is to help others but I feel most people have done what I'm about to embark on so, I'm really hoping to get great feedback and advice on how to make this process as efficient and problem free as possible.
Back story...Low compression on cylinder one(30psi). I'm relatively ******* the car but no worse than Joe average occasional WOT off the line or in traffic. I've been religious and most likely over bearing with ALL fluid changes. One day on the highway, let's say 75mph she threw a code and from there I could feel the power loss. That was the beginning of the end. I drove her home and got her parked. Every once in a while I could hear a little clattering but nothing showing true signs of catastrophic failure. Well the compression test proved a major issue is present. After researching catch cans I had hoped juuuuuust maaaaaybe I had a stuck intake valve open. Yeah, no...rolled the cams over and they closed right up. So I'm guessing I have a cracked piston or ring. Learning what a project it is to get the motor out of the car...or should I say car out of the motor, LOL I decided to turn half of my 30x60 barn into a shop. 2 years or so later, here I am finally getting her up on the lift. To think I basically made the shop just for this damn car.
I originally bought her with aspirations of using the driveline for a MK4 roadster setup. Well, that all went away when I continued to drive Eva. She's spacious, comfy, the kids love her and her rear heated seat, and everyone loves how shockingly quick she is; Especially for a big girl. So, I decided to keep the car.
I'm now at the point where I don't really want another car and I figure if I semi-restore the car and get 100k miles out of it, I'll still be ahead of the game while also having a car I enjoy. It will not be run in the winter unless absolutely necessary. As she sits now, she has 109k miles.
So, my goal of this thread is to post my journey with this car and hopefully receive feedback/good advice from folks who've previously walked in my shoes or have questions that I/we can help out with. I'm going to clean up any rust I find, replace whatever is needed, and find the most efficient way to get good and most importantly, reliable HP numbers. I already have the livernois down pipes, t-stat, map sensor, plugs, intake, tune, and corsa exhaust.
My initial goals are as follows:
- Livernois short block. That should take care of any motor worries I have.
- HV oil pump(stock spring)
- UPR catch can
- ATP turbo upgrade. I'm thinking I'd be crazy not to match these to the new motor while I'm there. Hoping bpd1151 will chime in on the above as I do not really want to update the fuel system if necessary. I'm hoping a remote tune will take care of all of this. I'd love more power from them if possible with that setup but supposed I'd be okay with the current power being reliable.
- Refresh or build up the trans if possible....I'm not confident in the current one lasting another 100k. The big question is what can this trans reliably handle...that's where I would like to live unless I can upgrade.
- Metal piping
- Progressive springs
- Do I need meth??
- Do I need more fuel?
- Are the PTU's gonna hold up.
There you have it!
So, I know a lot of folks have done a lot of these things so, I'm hoping they will chime in and I'll keep everyone posted as I work along. Work has me quite busy but I'm trying to really focus my weekends on the car. As of right now I have the piping removed, coolant and engine oil drained, down pipes/flex are almost removed, intake, battery box, some of the coolant lines, fuel line.
I'm headed up to the shop in a few.
I'm going to focus on juuuust maybe getting the sub-frame ready to drop from the car.
That would be a big deal so I can get the motor taken down to look at before I contact Livernois.
Side note...are those not the cutest little fu$%ing turbos you've ever seen!!???
It's so funny when I tell people this car has no lag. NO ONE believes me until they ride in it.
Now I see why. I've seen bigger turbos on bikes. I LOVE IT!
Anyway, thank you everyone for contributing.
I don't post here a lot but always feel welcome when I do.
HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!
