Thursday, March 31, 2011

It lives!

IT RUNS!  Started on the first try.

But (of course there's a but) 1st and 2nd gear aren't engaging now that we dropped the car off jackstands.  3rd, 4th, 5th, and R all "click" when they engage but first and second don't feel like they're connecting.  The shifter feels like jelly and not slotting into place.  I'm really hoping that the cables need to be loosened or something simple like that.  Seems to be a semi common issue for those who do manual swaps that the cables get too tight and out of alignment.

And for some reason during the swap my amplifier/radio harness stopped working? This is why I keep spares around, I guess.

Have many pictures and a video of the first start, but left the camera at the car.  Will try and get those up over the weekend.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Almost there!

Amazingly, the contents of that box were not damaged. 

Got the sheared bolt removed (Thanks again Chuckran Auto Parts) and the downpipe now attached
All intercooler piping routed/cut to fit
Electronic Boost Controller, Air/Fuel wideband, and boost gauge have all been wired and installed

Watch for video of the first start shortly!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Siliconeintakes made right on their screwup and has overnighted me the right parts...intercooler should be run tomorrow, shooting for a Wednesday fire up.

And got this today too, love the Postal Service...I guess they played kickball with my package?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Setbacks :(

Well, this weekend's goal of a fire up didn't materialize.

It turns out that Chuckran Auto Parts (Bridgewater, MA), the place I bought the engine from, removed the stock turbo downpipe incorrectly.  They sheared off a bolt inside the turbo housing and we just discovered this today.  This sheared bolt is preventing my downpipe from being bolted on.  This is exactly the kind of problem I didn't need right now.

On Friday, I also discovered that the intercooler I bought is about 1.5" to tall to be used without cutting the frame support.  Luckily I found another smaller intercooler on the local ricer forum.  It's an Ebay special and the quality is really nothing compared with my Treadstone.  For now it'll do, but I'll definitely be replacing this sometime in the future.

Finally, big thanks to silicone intakes(.com) for sending me the wrong silicone coupler. 

While progress is temporarily stopped for these problems to be dealt with, here's a progress pic for those of you following along.  Hopefully more updates this week.

Monday, March 21, 2011

No pictures this time, but made some real progress over the weekend.

-Got the clutch bled and ready to go
-Eurosport exhaust has been test fit, with some minor modifications it will be on for good.
-Front tie rods and endlinks replaced.

Shooting for an end of the week fire up!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Hard Part is Over

Still a while yet before it's running.  Going to hit it hard this week and next to try and get it finished up.  The hard part is done now though, it's all little stuff from here on in. 

But in other news...got the engine/trans in yesterday.  After installing the 99+ style front engine mount bracket everything dropped right in. 


And my favorite picture of the build so far  :)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Old Engine Extraction: Complete

Old engine has been lifted from its resting place of 13 years.







And added the crucial third pedal.