[BootsJunkie]

5/5/17 edit
I figured this has progressed more into an entire car build/journal, than just an engine build, so I'll be editing it accordingly to reflect more like a journal.

Here's a brief break-down of this thread;
Page 1-Page 12 = My first engine/short-block build
Page 13 = OEM long-block engine pull #1
Page 14 - Page 19 = Send out/receive OEM heads for refurb'd, start final long-block assembly
Page 20 = Drop in long-block, DIY TGV delete's, attempt #1 at first engine start-up
Post #218= First start-up
Page 23 - Page 29 = Finding/fixing oil seal leaks and crank sensor code (cliff-notes; a tooth broke off the crank gear)
Page 33 = Hit 1,000miles on motor break-in, crank seal still leaking
Page 36 - Page 37 = Faulty ACT TOB, engine pull #2
Page 38 = ETS GTX3076R V-Band kit arrived, begin mock-up/install
Page 41 = Engine pull #3, pretty sure I can chalk this one up to install error on the clutch fork and TOB
Page 44 = Engine install #3 & Tomei Expreme TI with a sound clip :tup:
Page 45 = EFI/Mike Botti tuned, 343tq 352hp @ 24psi. And slid RR into curb
Page 46 - Page 52 = Replace bent trailing arm, hub, rear bearings, rebuilt the rear differential, ARP extended studs, extracting snapped Brembo bolts and bleeders, broke ABS tone ring
Page 53 = SubyFlares have arrivedd :tup:


9/18/2010 - The day I bought her, with only 35K miles on her, for a steal of a price.

Bought with the following mods;
-TurboXS FMIC kit with BOV and SRI
-TurboXS RFL TBE
-TurboXS Top Feed conversion rails, and
-TurboXS UTec with adjustable MAP selector
and I also found evidence of a Harness bar/half cage, and maybe a double fuel pump? Because the fuel temperature sensor wires were cut when I installed the Walbro.


-Back to the engine build-
So I don't see why I can't go for 400awhp

This is my first time building an engine, so I might have a couple questions. Right now my goal is a 400awhp DD, haven't decided on turbo size yet, but prolly something along the lines of a GTX3076R.
Once I break this motor in with the stock turbo, I'll upgrade the turbo/header after like 2-3K miles.
My current supporting mods are;
-TXS intake
-TXS FMIC and BOV
-TXS RFL Ti TBE
-TXS top-feed conversion
-(DW 850's waiting to be installed)
-Walbro 255
-Cobb AP
-Defi boost, oil temp, EGT gauges, Innovate WB02, Autometer oil press.
and some other things


Onto the pics. The shortblock that I picked up..

Bore gauging the cylinders

Phew, stock bore 99.5mm. Cylinder #4 was scratched and needed to be bored/honed

Got the machine work done by Rallispec, awesome, awesome guys and company!!! :tup:
Got it bored to 99.75mm, honed, decked, and cleaned, and they got me a brand new 08+ nitrided crank!


Mic'ing the brand new 99.75 CP's

Bore gauging the rod big ends

Is this how the pistons go!?!?

Rings gapped to .025" top, .030" bottom. A bit on the bigger side... think it'll be alright?

Mmmmmm brandd newww

Thought this was funny; a Subaru vs Honda crank :lol:

 

[Shamoo]

Re: My first engine build.

Wow, what engine did that Honda crank come out of? Good luck on the build, I'm going for the same power goal eventually. I'm letting someone else handle the engine work though.

 

[wiering17]

Re: My first engine build.

looks like a lot of work. what are the brand/specs on the pistons and rods? how much you pick up the block for? i'm all for DIY if you've got the tools and know how. good luck!

 

[got2boostit2]

Re: My first engine build.

Lookin' good, Boss!

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Wow, what engine did that Honda crank come out of? Good luck on the build, I'm going for the same power goal eventually. I'm letting someone else handle the engine work though.

Either an F22a1, or H23a1, I forget which. Both they're the same P/N.

looks like a lot of work. what are the brand/specs on the pistons and rods? how much you pick up the block for? i'm all for DIY if you've got the tools and know how. good luck!

CP pistons, 99.75mm, stock 8.2:1 CR. And Carrillo A-beam rods, stock CR. I work for a bearing manufacturer (nothing automotive, tho ) so I'm using all their gauges and mic's for this, as well as the advice from all the other car guys here who've built motors.

Lookin' good, Boss!

Thank you, thank you.

Any advice on my ring gaps? .025" top, .030" bottom?
CP specs are .0216 for the top, and bottom should be .004-.008 bigger. So I was shooting for .022" and .026, but overshot the 22 to 25, so then I needed to enlargen the bottom ring to keep the +4/8.

 

[cdnsubsti]

Re: My first engine build.

:tup: subscribed!

 

[2.5i 17]

Re: My first engine build.

Either an F22a1, or H23a1, I forget which. Both they're the same P/N.



CP pistons, 99.75mm, stock 8.2:1 CR. And Carrillo A-beam rods, stock CR. I work for a bearing manufacturer (nothing automotive, tho ) so I'm using all their gauges and mic's for this, as well as the advice from all the other car guys here who've built motors.





Thank you, thank you.

Any advice on my ring gaps? .025" top, .030" bottom?
CP specs are .0216 for the top, and bottom should be .004-.008 bigger. So I was shooting for .022" and .026, but overshot the 22 to 25, so then I needed to enlargen the bottom ring to keep the +4/8.

Ring seal and adequate room for ring expansion are more important than trying to eek out the last few thousanths of gap especially on a turbo engine. Even an extra .003" gap is only .024% of the ring contact circumference on a 4" bore. On my JE pistons I'm running about .02" on the top and .025" on the bottom, the bottom is a bit bigger than they recommend however my buddy taught me to open this one up a bit on a turbo car. I'm not an engine wizzard but I don't see anything out of wack on your specs.

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Ring seal and adequate room for ring expansion are more important than trying to eek out the last few thousanths of gap especially on a turbo engine. Even an extra .003" gap is only .024% of the ring contact circumference on a 4" bore. On my JE pistons I'm running about .02" on the top and .025" on the bottom, the bottom is a bit bigger than they recommend however my buddy taught me to open this one up a bit on a turbo car. I'm not an engine wizzard but I don't see anything out of wack on your specs.

Hmmm ok cool.

What about the oil rings? CP says ".015 MIN, do not file".
My bottom oil rings are .020, but tops only .012". Should I be worried?:scurred:



Also, I thinkkkkk my turbo oil seals are about gone. :lol:

I know an AOS won't completely eliminate the oil in the piping since the seals are already gone and the AOS is mainly for blow-by, but it'll filter the air/oil particles going into the engine, correct? But will that mess with my tune?

 

[2.5i 17]

Re: My first engine build.

Hmmm ok cool.

What about the oil rings? CP says ".015 MIN, do not file".
My bottom oil rings are .020, but tops only .012". Should I be worried?:scurred:



Also, I thinkkkkk my turbo oil seals are about gone. :lol:


I know an AOS won't completely eliminate the oil in the piping since the seals are already gone and the AOS is mainly for blow-by, but it'll filter the air/oil particles going into the engine, correct? But will that mess with my tune?

I would not worry about the oil rings, I most certainly would not file these. You could always call CP and see what they have to say.

Another note, we had better readings when we bolted up a torque plate, I didn't read that you were using one or not.

As far as the AOS, there are so many kinds, I had to go to a peterson/element style can when I started pushing lots of boost as my old Crawford AOS was letting oil geting pulled into the intake on the 28 psi map. I think everyone needs to pick these based on their setups though the Crawford does work for most builds and you can always vent the vacum line into a can as they recomend if you go to the track.

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Yea I'm leaning towards a Crawford AOS.


Started plastigauging my rod journals last week with the old bearings, which have a HORRIBLE surface finish on them, no idea why they look so terrible. I got .0015" on #1 and 2 rods, so I'm thinking of gettin the ACL HX's with the extra .001" of clearance.

 

[2.5i 17]

Re: My first engine build.

Yea I'm leaning towards a Crawford AOS.


Started plastigauging my rod journals last week with the old bearings, which have a HORRIBLE surface finish on them, no idea why they look so terrible. I got .0015" on #1 and 2 rods, so I'm thinking of gettin the ACL HX's with the extra .001" of clearance.

Nice, we ended up splitting some HX's with H's to get the clearance and other straight HX's. Sounds like your getting close.

 

[Jym]

Subscribed for awesome DIYness

Best of luck! Can't wait to see the results!

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Another note, we had better readings when we bolted up a torque plate, I didn't read that you were using one or not.

Using a torque plate to bore/hone the block, or to check ring gap?
Cuz I got the machine work done @ Rallispec who DEF know what they're doing. But I never heard, or even thought about using one to check ring gap. But it does make perfect sense cuz it'll twist/distort the block to simulate the heads bolted on.

Subscribed for awesome DIYness

Best of luck! Can't wait to see the results!

TY!
Not many parts will be coming in within the next coupla weeks, cuz I fugged up my taxes and owe alot pretty soon, so plastigauging the bearings is gonna hafta hold me over for a week or two while I recover from taxes :lol:

 

[2.5i 17]

Re: My first engine build.

Using a torque plate to bore/hone the block, or to check ring gap?
Cuz I got the machine work done @ Rallispec who DEF know what they're doing. But I never heard, or even thought about using one to check ring gap. But it does make perfect sense cuz it'll twist/distort the block to simulate the heads bolted on.





TY!
Not many parts will be coming in within the next coupla weeks, cuz I fugged up my taxes and owe alot pretty soon, so plastigauging the bearings is gonna hafta hold me over for a week or two while I recover from taxes :lol:

We used the torque plate for everything, hone/checking ring gap.

 

[got2boostit2]

Re: My first engine build.

We used the torque plate for everything, hone/checking ring gap.

Just checked a block done by my machine shop and the specs were off. They used a torque plate to hone and fit piston ring gap, we did not have a plate. Definately on the tool wish list for my next build. :tup:

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Just checked a block done by my machine shop and the specs were off. They used a torque plate to hone and fit piston ring gap, we did not have a plate. Definately on the tool wish list for my next build. :tup:

Wait, I'm confused. You said they used a torque plate, but you don't have a plate?

 

[got2boostit2]

Re: My first engine build.

Wait, I'm confused. You said they used a torque plate, but you don't have a plate?

Correct, they used a plate. I wanted to verify their specs prior to assembling the engine. But could not as I don't have a torque plate. 1st engine, 1st time, but in the future I will have a plate.

 

[BootsJunkie]

Re: My first engine build.

Correct, they used a plate. I wanted to verify their specs prior to assembling the engine. But could not as I don't have a torque plate. 1st engine, 1st time, but in the future I will have a plate.

Gotcha, no idea WTF I was confused about, seemed like a pretty straight forward comment :lol:


So when checking main bearing clearance, is it better to use old used main studs? Or new ARP's, and risk stretching them?

 

[2.5i 17]

Re: My first engine build.

Gotcha, no idea WTF I was confused about, seemed like a pretty straight forward comment :lol:


So when checking main bearing clearance, is it better to use old used main studs? Or new ARP's, and risk stretching them?

Did Rallispec perform a align hone on your block with your ARP main studs?

Either way, I would use your ARP studs, they pull differently than the stockers (we received different readings than stockers at stock torque, I think my buddy said that was due to the ARP lube). We did not end up using stock torque, read below.

(I wrote this in Smitty's journal too as he is using ARP main studs as well for his build )Are you using stock torque specs or ARP specs. I can't quite remember the torque of the stock bolts as the final sequence is a angle turn sequence (quite a bit lower thougher).
When we did final assembly on my 08 last summer, ARP had 70 ft. lbs on the sheet and we knew this was going to be over kill without an align hone on my block. We actually went with 58 ft lbs. at the time and picked bearing halves to get the results we wanted. The new ARP main studs instructions are rated at 60 ft lbs.

 

[got2boostit2]

Re: My first engine build.

With ARP studs do you use stock torque sequence at those settings to check clearance?