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Got the rods back from the machine shop. $90 lighter and all 6 are at the top end of OEM spec (2.1658") ...
Took an hour and measured as accurately as best I could the donor crank and all 6 journals are falling within a reasonable tolerance (2.0458" to 2.0475"). I'll get the donor crank over to the machine shop to have them taken down to the lower end of OEM spec (2.0455").
I also quickly measured the crank out of the block I just got and I think it's salvageable with a grind/polish. Cylinder 4 also spun but wasnt as severe as my experience.
My original crank is scrap as the cylinder 4 is ~2.0250" and cant be salvaged(which I sorta already knew)..
Been talking to a guy that cracked his d16 on E85, high 9s / 150mph quarters in a crx. He put a few hours of tuning and a handful of passes before the block gave. He was parting out and it was sitting on a shelf ... patience is a virtue.
garrett gtx4294r T4 exh AR 1.01 / Int AR .6, dual ball, forged billet, v-bands 450-950hp range - should be a good balance of a quick spool and a ceiling that I cant reach.
I think I got a pretty good deal on it and I'm just gonna flip it if I can get a good number. And if it doesnt sell by the time I need a blower than I'll use it.
Also worked on the wires ... got the link related sensors connected, re-labeled some wires off the ECU connector and general tidy-up....need to clean-up the 3 smaller looms off the IPDM and then the two connectors that plug into the cab. I straight forgot a wire set in the passenger engine bay loom and I'm gonna have to disassemble and fix it.
On the engine repair front - hoping to get the crank in for a grind & polish, and if I have the funds get the crank/rods/pistons/etc in for balance and assembly.
^for sure ... I'm looking forward to this front mount setup. I might buy some inexpensive stainless steel headers - I dont know if 1320 performance is worth a sheeet but they sell 304 stainless steel headers for $300 shipped that look like I can hack-on a little. It may not be the engine mounts that are in the way, rather the alternator on the passenger side may be my biggest enemy.
The bad thing with picking up a turbo this early on, is that it leaves me cash-poor where I cant get the rotating assembly in for balance/assembly. I have a couple things to sell off still that could fund but gotta be patient! Plenty to do in the mean-time.
I believe I need to re-tap the tilton master cylinder - the threads are all goofy and doesnt take the OEM hardline. I dont want to use the supplied steel braided line. Regardless - a 12mm fitting came in the mail, I'll be re-tapping.
One of my biggest eye-sores on this car is the harness that connects the ECU to the drivers console/speedo ... I think it's past due to remove the harness and clean it up. There are a few sub-harnesses off it that I can eliminate. I got the nylon loom and the heat shrink so I might as well tidy it up.
Other than that - I think the ecu to engine harness is done...pics later!
as do the compressor blades in similar manner ... I picked up on some very minor shaft play - to the effect of 1/4 of a millimeter. I didnt want to nit-pick the guy and I think I already beat him up on price. Furthermore - I knew going in that the blower isnt new, has dyno time and a few hard passes on it. And I know that at some point the CHRA will have take a rebuild at some point. The big selling points for me were it's the gen2 compressor, included the exhaust housing, ball bearing, twin scroll, the exhaust AR, V-bands, would provide me enough airflow to max out my block, and the price was within my range.
Looking good! Your build is progressing along nicely.
Thanks! I gotta take it in steps as I've only got so much cash to spend on it now. I need to get the crank into the shop for a grind/polish and then get the assembly in for balancing and assembly. Im going to get the heads machined as well. From there I am golden. I can get everything back into the block, heads on, and timed. Then turbo time!
AN -4 oil feed line flange and restrictor came in - running a 1mm restrictor which is what I found to be the oil passage diameter on these turbos - somewhere in the 40 to 45psi range at boost.
My coolant lines came in and despite an hour of measuring width and thread pitch, my 5/8" x 18tpi AN -8 fittings are wrong. After further digging I believe these are 18mmx1.5 - so I'll have to order those. The AN -12 (3/4") oil return flange/fitting should be here tomorrow...
I did make some progress on the master cylinder. I was having issues maintaining the OEM hardline. bored out the threads and retapped for a 12 x 1.5 fitting but could not get the threads to take...I finally gave up and I'll use the rear port which takes a 3/16 thread and I can put an AN -3 with a tube-sleeve and nut on it. I am slightly worried that I may have over-heated the body and warped it - I have no rational reasoning why this would happen other than I put heat on it ... we shall see...The kit comes with a 1/2" reservoir line and I'm going to down size that to 1/4" and do a alternative reservoir.
Also considering parting out the return fuel system and going 3/4" ss hard line feed and 3/8" ss hardline return. Despite having them wrapped in fire sleeve I dont like having the soft lines under the car how CJ designed them. I dont think anyone ever had issues but I think a hardline would be better. We'll see.
Crank dropped off at the machinist this week. Main machinist gave me some insight (very humbling) in-that he liked my added oil clearance but didn't have the ability to take the rod journal-pins down to the low end of the OEM spec. I assumed he could measure and take each down to the OEM 2.0455" +/-. But he said at best they can take 1/100" off(I didn't know this)...the plan will be to hot-bath the crank and then polish it. After that I'll drop the remaining rotating assembly off for balancing. After that I can start reassembly.
will need to get the heads bath'd & machined next.
The good news is that it brings my cost down and will speed up the (big-picture) process.
also been cleaning up the block and paying special attention to the oil gallery. spraying/cleaning with brake cleaner (start rant at the bottom of this post) and compressed air clean-out. Also cleaning out the oil coolers. I've been reading that it's best practice to trash any oil cooler that experiences bearing failure as you'll never clean out all the bearing material flakes?? Not sure how I feel about this but should see about running my filters after each cooler regardless.
Also picked-up another engine … upper & lower plenum and $60 for a block that overheated...didn't know this until I loaded the block into my truck but it came with TopSpeed headers...pretty cool seeing that I need a set of headers that I can modify.
Looking forward to digging into it and hopeful that the block and crank are salvageable.
rant - if youre anything like me you probably go through a can of brake cleaner every 45minutes. man F the traditional autoparts stores … even their store brand cleaner is like 3 or 4 bucks a can. Walmart has the tihs for $1.87...G'd autoparts stores **** me off!!
So is the proper way to get extra oil clearance for FI builds to buy smaller size bearing instead of milling down the rod journal?? (may be obvious I barely know a journal from my ****)
Curious as after 15 years of reading FI section I came away with the same idea of looser tolerances between bearings/crank/rod.
Some folks also mentioned upgraded piston wrist pins....have you heard of that??
So is the proper way to get extra oil clearance for FI builds to buy smaller size bearing instead of milling down the rod journal?? (may be obvious I barely know a journal from my ****)
Curious as after 15 years of reading FI section I came away with the same idea of looser tolerances between bearings/crank/rod.
Some folks also mentioned upgraded piston wrist pins....have you heard of that??
I'm going with ACL HX +.001 bearings for sure. I had the rods honed to the top end of the OEM spec (2.1658") and was looking to get the crank taken down to the bottom end of the OEM Spec and with the +.001 I'd have a .0031" clearance.
I'm by no means am I an expert and this is a learning process for me to say the least...
I've gathered that running a little looser on the rod journal pins is a step in the right direction for high-out setups but it's best to keep the main journal pins near OEM spec...
I'd like to invest in micrometers and a dial gauge to check these items when I pull cranks out...
any input from fellow members would be appreciated
A little update:
had a chance to weigh the pistons, rings, rods and everything is within 2.5grams of each other (each set around 1245grams). Sorta comforting when I was doing the math.
Picked up a set of VQDE flanges from Mazworks and pretty impressed with them. $70 for the set. one side matches the VQ heads, the other side matches a schedule 10 1.5" runner. I just found the website AceRaceParts dot com and they have stainless 90 degree bends (in two radi options) and 45 degree as well.
Maybe a year ago I found some (by coincidence) stainless sch 10 1.5" pipe ~1.69" ID, 1.9" OD, .109" wall, . I bought about 16 feet of it for $40 and just put it up in the rafters of the garage.
Thanks Blue! I can only assume I'll wrap them at a minimum...
Took the drivers side runners off - cylinder #2 needed a touch of rotation, #4 snugged in about 1/4", and #6 snugged in about 3/8". Realigned everything and re-tacked. I can still gauge a tiny bit of rotation error on cylinder #2 but I'm not sure if I'm going to grind/reweld ... tbd. Mocked up the placement of the turbo.
I parted out the CJM fuel setup and started with a clean slate. I'd love to pickup a CJM dual pump but who knows when they'll be ready...one thing I dont like about the CJ kit is the soft lines running under the car. So I bought a few sticks of 304 1/2" ID and 3/8" ID line and I'm going to do hardlines as much as I can. I'll have a few soft lines at the tank and at the fuel rails. I'll also picked up the hellcat 525lph pump - should be interesting!
Also the coolant hose that will be coming from the thermo to the bottom opening to the radiator, would be dangerously close to those drivers side exhaust pipes from the look of it.
