Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

c4ptiv3
Club4AG Enthusiast
Posts: 115
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:14 pm

Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 10:04 pm

Decided to share this on a more active forum, I have just copied and pasted most of my updates and left out a lot of replies, if there are some comments that seem odd it's due to some of the conversation being omitted.



I probably should have started this build thread about 3 years ago but hard times and lack of money brought on severe loss of motivation, but now I'm back and going hard in the paint.

A little bit of back story is required first I believe. I picked up the car back in 2008 about a year after my best friend passed away. The car was his and it had just been sitting around most of the time and it made me sad to think it would never get to a level of badassery that he wanted, so I picked it up. Shortly after purchasing the car I started throwing money at it to get it respectable when I got hit hard with layoffs and lost everything. Right on queue it spun a bearing, this was very bad news since it would be my daily for the better part of a year. I got a new engine swapped in before they repo'd the truck only to find out it had bad rings, however, it was able to stay reliable until I got something newer.

Fast forward to 2012 and things are finally coming together, I've got a better job and I'm finally able to throw money and time at the trusty 86. Picked up an engine from McKenney got it shoehorned in 2 days before moving back to Dallas and it has all started falling into place.

I'm just going to list off all the things I've done so far and add pictures if I've got them and I'll try to do a better job of keeping it updated as I go from this point forward.


Pulled the engine.
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Before and after of hood cleaning, when I pulled the engine oil was blowing out of the dipstick every time I let off the gas.
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Valve covers when they came back from getting powder coated, from the picture it looks like we used a sharpie to do it haha.
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First start!
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Run Free +35mm flares the day they showed up.
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New rubber.
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Diamond Racing 15x10 +0 next to the Celi-supras.
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JDM bumper lights, wing lights, eyelids
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T3 STS installed

TRD 272 cams showed up!
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Flares and body kit fabbed up and test fitted.
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Run Free kit from the front, whole car supported by a lone PB Buster can.
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Flares looking mandatory at this point.
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Old EGR block-off solution vs KSD Engineering's solution. (Yes, that's a Mt. Dew can for a gasket)
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My homie Mitchell getting ready to cut the first fender, I was nervous as ****.
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Just a little post cut hammering, just need to do a bit of welding now.
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Manual rack put assembled and ready to be installed, just hoping I got the correct tie-rods.
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That's all I got for right now but I have a 7 day weekend coming up so I will post more then. Also, please check out my post in the 16v Tech section I can't seem to find an answer on what to do after I installed a IACV block-off plate. Thanks!



July 1st, 2013

Got a bit of work done this weekend, I don't really want to post pics since I'm ashamed of our welds.

We shaved the rear wiper motor, rear plate lights, antenna and windshield sprayers and we welded the inner & outer fenders together in the rear where we had cut for the flares. I also started to remove the front suspension so I can swap out the rack, LCA's and Coils.

I had told myself that if I removed the suspension before the new coils showed up something would happen and low and behold if it didn't do just that. Two hours after pulling the entire front suspension out of the car the apartment above the garage started pouring water all over everything, I wasn't too worried about water but I am concerned with the ceiling falling down on the car. Still no word if they've figured out the issue.

I will have more updates starting next weekend since I have 7 off again, really hoping to get more done.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that when we started sanding down the passenger side rear fender we discovered a ton of bondo, this was quite upsetting since we had no idea it had been wrecked or had any body work done. Whomever did the work took their time because you couldn't tell until we starting cutting in, really hoping there aren't any more surprises like that.


July 5th, 2013

New LCA's installed.
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Old i-shaft out, new i-shaft ready to go in.
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tapped the new i-shaft in slowly and bolted her up.
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Manual Rack done :)
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I will post some more pics later next week when we get the new coils in and start doing some sanding and body work, I might also post up some pics of all the shitty welds on everything we shaved. Everyone have a kick ass weekend!



July 11th, 2013

Made it over to the garage today to snap a few pics.

Rear wiper location welded up and ready for bodywork. You can also see the spots where the clear coat started flaking off all over the car.
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Driver side fender post weld, it really turned out well.
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Rear plate lights welded up and ready for bodywork, I've got a really cool idea for putting hidden LED lights for the rear plate.
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Stainless brake lines were supposed to be delivered today but the USPS decided it wasn't necessary to even attempt to bring it to my door and just left a tag in my mailbox for pickup, also coilovers show to be delivered tomorrow. Should get some nice updates Tues-Wed of next week when I'm off.




July 12th, 2013

Coilovers arrived.
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July 14th, 2013

Shitty welds ahoy!
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July 24th, 2013

Prothane kit showed up today finally, will be putting the coilovers on this weekend!
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While I was sleeping today 2 buddies of mine surprised me by doing some sanding on the car, they got the entire front clip done with the limited supplies they had. I should be able to knock the rest out this weekend as well and hopefully get some primer laid down. Then I just have to figure out how to take care of this paint situation.
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July 26th, 2013

Got most of all of the body sanded today, still have to hit the bodykit and we laid down some bondo on the few dents in the paint. I also go the front coils in but forget we needed a puller to get the knuckles off the old LCA's. We plan on putting it down on the ground tomorrow and I'll post pics of how it looks then from a wider view!

Passenger side Coils/stainless brake lines installed.
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Driver side Coils/Stainless brake lines installed.
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Rear of the car post bondo....
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Friend notated all the dents etc with a marker after the first sand, I laughed when I found this dent.
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We also got some bushings installed but it was too dark to really see them in the pics so I left it out. Disassembling the old calipers/rotors to get to the lugs and swap them out with LS400 lugs was a huge pain in the ass, you can see the lugs in one of the shots.

Early day tomorrow to get the rest done, I'm going to drink some more with some friends then pass out.





Sept 23, 2013

Finished the brake lines today and got the brake system flushed and while in the process of putting the new studs in the rear I smashed the F-bomb out of my finger!

Now I have a new problem. After tinkering with the TPS, idle control screw and distributor I was finally able to get her to idle at 750 without dying after a few seconds but now I have no power until 2k rpm and when I say no power I mean it wouldn't back over a 1 inch lip at the entrance of my garage, any ideas? Also, the idle control screw is out quite a ways.

As promised here is a vid and a picture outside the garage. I have not touched the suspension height in anyway so it was driven out as it came from the factory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... YBLlYwphS4

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Sept 24th, 2013

Figured it out, looks like the crank pulley had moved on me while up the belt and moved 5 degrees off TDC, it's now running much better I just need to dial in the idle!.
Car, bodykit, skirts and flares are all now sanded and awaiting primer. I'm getting excited!
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Oct 5th, 2013

I think I'm going to go with the red that's on the Hyundai Genesis, I saw one at the mall the other day and I just could not take my eyes off of it.

Started laying down primer tonight but I forgot the newspaper for the windows so we will finish up in the morning. Car will be fully primed tomorrow.
http://i.imgur.com/wcndRazl.jpg




Oct 6th, 2013

The car is finally primer-ed and man does it feel good. We have to wet sand out some runs but other than that things went really well today.

Really looking forward to getting it all finished up so I can drive it, we are really close! Now enough of my yacking here are some pics!

The flares freshly drilled with a fresh coat of primer.
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Front and Rear bumpers drying.
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Front shot of the car after laying down the primer.
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Front side shot.
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All the red on the front will be sprayed once I get in there and clean it up.




Nov 14th, 2013

Finally ordered some bash bars this week, they should be here next week sometime.

Got the front end painted black so it won't look bad when when the front bumper is on, we also found a major fuel leak when I started it up to drive around the apartment complex(and fixed it). bled the brakes some more and got them feeling nice and firm when they are applied. As of now it's up to my friend to lay down one more coat of primer and wet sand it to perfection and it's road ready!

As I was driving it around the complex I noticed that it has almost no power since installing the 272 cams, I'm going to check timing one more time and if that doesn't present an issue I'm going to need someone's help to figure out what the hell is going on.

Now for a picture of the front.
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Dec 4th, 2013

Got the whole thing wet sanded last night and it's now ready for the last coat of primer IF my paint guy get's off in time otherwise we will have to wait til it warms up a bit before we can spray it.

I've been trying to figure out how to keep the 15x10's on the front and I think I can adjust the caster enough that it will allow me to run them for the time being, we will have to see how it works.

Checked timing on the engine yesterday just to make sure and it's dead on, played around a bit with the distributor and TPS to see if I could get it to run better and it still seems very hesitant. The only thing that seemed to change how it ran was the screw on the air flow sensor seen in this picture. My question is what is this called and where can I find information on how to dial it in?
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Last edited by c4ptiv3 on Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

c4ptiv3
Club4AG Enthusiast
Posts: 115
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:14 pm

Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 10:04 pm

Feb 26th, 2014

Car was supposed to head to the paint shop Saturday for paint, instead I ended up having many setbacks and a crushing blow to my spirit.

Thursday night I went to meet Fielding and the guy that would be painting my car, I took the bumper and wing since they still needed to be sanded and figured I'd do it while Fielding was sanding his. Upon arrival I discovered I had somehow broke the upper passenger side mounting point. After talking to the paint guy he was pretty sure he could fix it, so I began wet sanding out all the runs in the front bumper. Since I found out the shop was so close to my house I decided to just drive it over for paint on Saturday.

Friday I registered the car, paid for 6 months of insurance and picked up headlight bulbs, bolts for the bash bar, sand paper, primer (for the wing and bumper), blinker and brake bulbs. I spent several hours sanding the bumper and wing as well as prepping it for primer, the wing turned out pretty good but the bumper ended up reacting really weird to the primer so I decided "f*ck it" and I would just pay the paint guy more to fix it.

I then decided to work on the last few things it needed to pass inspection and be driven, front wheel fitment issue and lights and this is when things went South. I started adjusting the Caster in very small increments trying to find the sweet spot between the rear of the fender and where the bumper mounts to the front of the fender. This proved to be futile, now it is rubbing on both and completely un-driveable until I get some different wheels which I do not have the money for at this time. I decided I would just slap the stockers on until I got it painted then figure it out from there so I moved on to lights.

After arguing with the Autozone clerks for 20 mins they convinced me my car was 9006 bulbs even though I was pretty sure it was H4, low and behold I was f-bombing right so I had no bulbs to pass inspection in the front. I moved to the rear and put all the new bulbs in for the brakes, running lights and blinkers. Flipped the lights on and NOTHING F*CKING WORKS, the dash just makes a buzzing noise when the blinkers are activated and none of the other lights work at all. At this point I was done, I pulled the car in and went home and fumed for 3 days over the **** sandwich that was handed to me when I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyways, mostly I just wanted to vent but there is a bit of progress in there. It doesn't look like I'll be making R1 unless I magically stumble upon some 15x9 or 15x8 white wheels with a good offset for the front. Anyway's, thanks for listening to my bitching and moaning. Here's a pic since you guys listened.

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May 18th, 2014


Well after a 3 month work traveling hiatus I went out and worked on the 86 today...

I tore apart the wiring harness and got all the lights working and the tach issue fixed when I pressed on the brakes! I'm still getting a check engine light but I think it's because of the IACV blockoff plate I installed, I will have to check codes this coming weekend or tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I can pass inspect and drive it which is pretty exciting. Now can anyone tell me if the wing lights blink like the blinkers or are they just running lights? It's been so long since I drove it I don't remember and I'm hoping the blink so I can use them to pass inspection.

I have however found a new little issue that is a bit mind boggling. When I press the brakes without the running lights on all the brakes lights light up except for the inside light on the driver's side. Now, if I have the running lights/headlights on the light works just fine. Any ideas?



May 24th, 2014

As of last night I ordered a new set of wheels that should help my front end issue, they should be here next week or the week after. Finished wiring up the dash harness today after double checking my CEL codes, just wanted to make sure nothing was related to that section before I taped it all up. I'm getting two CEL codes, 6 and 7. I will have to do some research and see what these mean, but from what I can tell they are TPS and Dizzy related.

McKenney, the brakes lights are now mysteriously working. I will however still call you when I'm down at the shop next time and double check on everything. I also tried to straight my studs up on the hubs but they are still crooked as ****, I'm just going to have to get an electric impact and see if I can't finish them off for good.

That's all I got for this week. I am supposed to go pick up a door handle from Rue today or tomorrow, I really can't wait to drive this thing.

EDIT: Wheel company that had wheels in stock wanted me to text a picture of my drivers license and CC to them. Sketch f-bombing city, now I have to find wheels elsewhere, in stock, that don't take 2 months to get here. Anyone have some good ones in Texas that might have some Varrstoen V1's in stock?




May 31st, 2014

Ok, everything is now done except for the front blinkers, I tried to do some splicing but I couldn't seem to get it to work right so I'm just going to take it to a shop and try to get this bash bar modified so the bumper lights will fit.

I tried adjusting the cams a bit to see if I could get it to run a little better, I went both +4 degrees and -4 degrees and it didn't seem to run very well either way so I put it back to 0 degrees. The reason I tried to adjust it was when I was setting it to TDC the exchaust cam had to be physically held in place since one of the lobes was trying to open a valve. I also installed new wiper blades, the remaining door handle, side mirrors and ECU kick panel plastics as well as the rear plastics.

I got the center garnish installed and it looks really good, I just need to get some new tails to match. You can also get a good look at the shaved rear plate lights, I have some ideas on an LED light system for the plate lights. I just haven't really looked into it yet but I don't think it will be an issue.
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I finally found some H4 bulbs that weren't 80 dollars for a set, this gave me a chance to install the Raybrig housings, they look freaking awesome.
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I installed the passenger side eyelid and then got over to the driver's side and noticed they gave me two right's instead of one for each side! This really sucks since I got them from a vendor in Australia. I'm currently looking for another in mint condition, so if anyone has some leads please send them my way. I would really like to trade one of my passenger side lids for a mint driver's side but I will buy if I have to.

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I lowered the front coils 1in and the rears 1/2in. The front look about perfect but the rears are a different matter. Going by BC Racing's spring pre-load procedure the rears are now maxed out on how low they can go, you simply cannot screw them down any further and it looks funny to me.
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I'm really going to miss this front fitment, too bad I can't turn the wheels, lol.
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Here's a few pics of it looking extremely menacing in the garage with the bumper just hanging on.
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June 4th, 2014

As of yesterday the car is now registered, inspected and insured. I spent most of the day trying to get the bumper/flares to work properly after getting my new wheels in. Thought I had everything sorted and low and behold the bumper lights are not plug and play lol. Gave McKenney a call and told me I had the answer right under my nose. The Project Car issue I bought and never looked at showed me how to hook up the bumper lights to get them to work. On the way to get it inspected I broke the bumper and a flare but was able to finagle it to make the Tuesday night meet @ LA Burger. I had a great time and finally got to meet some members from the forums as well as a few other car enthusiasts. Here's how she sit's now.
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Now on to some new problems. Car has almost no power currently, 86boy was kind enough to bust out his timing light last night at the meet and we discovered timing was WAAYYYY off. I woke up early today to go ahead and try to get a jump on the timing issue. After checking crank timing, distributor timing and cam timing everything shows correct. I've been racking my brain all day trying to figure out why it would show out of time. I ended up looking into the cam gears since they were prototypes and it does looks like the TDC mark is indeed off by a tooth, atleast I think. In the picture below it looks like the TDC mark on the NST cams are set to the lower dot instead of the upper dot which is incorrect (I believe that's correct). I've advanced the timing a tooth on the gears and it runs better but it still bogs like crazy. Hopefully 86boy will be able to help me get it straightened out tonight.
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June 11th, 2014

The day after I got it all legal I decided I wanted to take it down to the store, I made it about a block and the front tire caught the bumper and ripped the hole thing off effectively breaking it :(

So starting today I got a running shot at trying to repair it myself, I have no idea how well this is going to turn out but I'll keep everyone posted on the process as I work on it. Today I got the repair kit on the bumper and starting trying to sand it down, from what I can tell I'm going to have to use some Bondo to even things out since one side of the crack is higher than the other.
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I also picked up some black chrome acorn nuts for the valve covers today since I was missing one. I didn't get any pictures but I'll try to remember next time I'm at the garage. I finally pulled out the headlight covers and tried to clean them up. They were in pretty rough shape so I sanded them down and primered them, except I bought the wrong color primer and will have to re-spray them later on. They turned out pretty good though.

Before and after
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Both finished.
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I caved and picked up some NST pulleys which came in the other day but I do not have air tools to install them, I tried to do it by hand but the Alternator pulley just spins when I try to hold it still. I also got it aligned and I've been toying with the intake cam gear to try and get the power just right, I've gotten it a bit better but not perfect. Also today my LED lights should be in for the instrument cluster, kind of excited to see those in action.

Well that's all I got for now.




June 18th, 2013

I'm having a strange ticking noise coming from the car all of a sudden but it only does it around 4k rpm and if I'm maintaining speed. If I accelerate or let of the gas it stops. I couldn't really tell where it was coming from while driving but I thought it sounded like it was coming from the rear diff. I changed out the fluid on Monday and the noise still persisted and from the picture you can tell it might be time to rebuild the rear end, lol.
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The rear end doesn't make as much noise now and I was able to track down the noise. It's coming from the upper part of the head and I'm thinking it might be valve lash, at least I hope. I spent several hours checking all the clearances when I installed the cams to make sure they were in spec so I'm kind of skeptical that's the issue. Unless this is normal after and engine has been broke in. Also, as I drive my car at 80mph the oil pressure starts to fall off to where it's almost at the low end of the gauge, I'm really hoping this is a faulty reading but it scares me none the less. If anyone has any ideas or input feel free to give me some direction.

Come Friday I will check all the clearances on the cams again and make sure they are within spec, I really hope the brand new oil pump didn't go kablooey.




June 21st, 2014

Checked all the valve clearances today, found 2 out of spec. Replaced them but I'm still getting the "chatter" around 2500-4000 rpm. Car pulls really good. I'm at a complete loss for what it is, the only other thing I can think of is maybe the distributor gear is lose or something.

I did find a thread on the old club4ag that had a guy having the similar issues as me and it turned out his cam bearing caps were loose. I double checked all mine and torqued them down to 14 ft-lbs. Any help is greatly appreciated.




Junes 25th, 2014

I Borrowed a Stethoscope from work today to see if I could track down the head rattle. I checked all over the block I could hear it but nothing jumping out and saying RIGHT HERE, I then put it on the distributor base and it was loud as hell. I'm pretty convinced that the distributor is loose or something and it's causing the noise when I let off the throttle(backlash). I took a few videos to see if anyone had any other input. If anyone has a spare distributor we can swap over to test in the DFW area that would be greatly appreciated.
http://youtu.be/Tr7lNtZbm44

http://youtu.be/nw2zE4vGolk

I also got in my 25mm spacers for the rear from HondaRue, I know it's a crappy pic but it will have to make due for now.
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I also ordered Megasquirt PNP and a Innovative LC-2 wideband which should be here next week, I'm pretty excited to mess with those. Until next time!





July 6th, 2014

Thanks man. I'm still looking for a stock distributor to test with, would only need it for like 15 minutes or so.

Surfing Club4ag I found a killer deal on a Megasquirt and snagged it with a Innovative LM-2 wideband. I got it in on Thursday last week now I'm scowering the web trying to figure out how to hook all this stuff up. I'm a complete noob to stand alone engine management systems.
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I did not get a gauge for the Wideband and was hoping I could just see the readings inside the tuning program once I get it going because I planned on doing something like this. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ ... 878/page1/





July 27th, 2014

Was having issues with timing mark jumping around so I installed my NST water pump and crank pulley(alternator will have to come later when I know someone that will let me use their air tools)... Afterwards the timing mark wasn't jumping as bad but it was still jumping. I ended up buying a new distributor and installing it yesterday, the timing mark no longer jumps. Yay!

I also did the first oil change on the new engine and moved up to a thicker oil hoping this would stop the "chatter" the engine was having. It did not.

Ended up tearing the head completely down(didn't remove the head) and inspecting everything including the timing belt tensioner. The cam caps had a little wear on them but I'm unsure what a lot of damage would look like. The cams had a little bit of what I would consider damage on them, but they were like that when they arrived.

Had an ASE certified mechanic look at the caps and he told me they would be considered "Junk" in reality but did not think they were causing the noise, also said it did not sound like like rod knock or wrist pin knock.

I noticed that one of the cam gears looked like they had not been making full contact to the cam and thought the bolts for the cams were too long, I got a shorter set and installed them, did not fix the noise.

Ended up pulling all plugs (one at a time) while it was running to see if this would affect the noise, it did not.

I re-torqued all cap bolts, tensioner bolt and various other bolts to make sure they were on good and tight and to spec, still no change.

After everything was assembled and the new distributor was timed correctly I took it for a spin and it pulls like crazy. The sound still only occurs during partial throttle and when just letting off the throttle. I'm almost convinced it's something external the engine but of course I could be wrong.

Picking up a new exhaust gasket today and a new tensioner to test with, if neither of these work I'm begging, hell pleading for someone to help me come track down the issue.




Oct 27th, 2014

een awhile since I updated and I have many updates, I will just put them in chronological order.

Turns out the rattle was being caused by the TVIS, I disconnected it and it is much much quieter but still persists when throttle is applied. I ordered a TVIS delete and plan on installing it as soon as the car returns from the shop.
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I installed the Megasquirt to make sure it worked and drove it down the street, it felt very good. I took it off and stored it while I waiting on IAT sensor, Intake tube (for MAP delete), DB15 connector and a tuning cable.

Now for some bad news, about 2 months ago I was in the outside double turn lane when a guy in the inside lane tried to go straight and took me out, of course he has some of the worst insurance I've ever had the honor of dealing with and it took 2 months to get some money from them. The good news is I was able to use the money to get a new paint job. BEHOLD!!!!
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She's getting wetsanded and a buff then I can pick her up tomorrow, I will post more shots then. Since the tail lights look like complete **** and the rest of the outside is about to be flawless I went ahead and ordered a set of Sprinters, hope to have them in a few more weeks.

As soon as the car gets back I plan on installing the MS, gotta take it and get the wideband welded in then it'll be time to get a tune. Hope you guys enjoyed this update as much as I did.




Nov 2nd, 2014

Picked up the 86 from the Body shop on Friday night, took it to get some food and one of the top oil plugs near the spark plugs fell out going down the highway. Didn't notice something was wrong until I pushed in the clutch exiting the highway and it died, motor blown.
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The next morning I was hoping that everything would be okay since we had only lost 2 quarts of oil by replacing the plug, alas this did not help it. Zero oil pressure and zero water temp which boggles my mind.

Since it was daylight I wanted to get a better look at the paintjob and my god what a complete waste of money. He didn't fix some cracks in the body from where I was hit, you can see the primer underneath the paint all over the car, there is a spot where the fender meets the hood that has no paint on it at all and he painted my eyelids, tail lights and my exhaust. Needless to say this entire weekend was a huge kick in the nuts.

I've now made a decision to go high compression 7AGE. I've found a block for 150 I'll pick up this week and I just ordered a set of H Beam con rods, 7age timing belt kit and bearings. I think I'm going to go with Red Top High Comp pistons and I found a rebuilt ported and polished head on Craigslist. I'm really hoping to have the engine assembled in the next few weeks. I'll post updates as they come in.

Here are the links to the parts I ordered.

Conrods http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/280/7a- ... nrods.html
Timing Belt Kit http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/394/7ag ... t-kit.html




Nov 8th, 2014

Tail lights came in from Ireland, pretty stoked to see them on the car but I think I'm going to wait until it's back on the road first.
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I called every single junkyard in the DFW area, no I'm not exaggerating, it was close to 100 junkyards before I found a 7AFE block. We left to pick it up Wed and they were not ready to pull it out for me so I returned on Sat to pick it up. Upon getting it home I started disassembling it and when I removed the bracket we noticed this, lol. Only 2 more hours of driving to take it back and grab another, go me!

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Since we had nothing else to do I decided to tear the engine apart on the Rolla and see if there was any water/oil in the cylinders or any other damage we could see. Upon tearing it apart I found why the car was leaking water everywhere. That's the back of the water pump assembly, I guess I need to locate a complete new one from someone. If you have one laying around please PM me so I can get it en-route asap.

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It also looking like there was some oil/water leaking in a few spots of the head gasket, otherwise I couldn't discern anything wrong with the head, head gasket or the block/pistons. The rotating assembly also turned freely with no issues so I'm hoping a new head gasket and a water pump will clear things up and get me back on the road for now. It also looked like the cams were unaffected by any oil starvation so I wonder if it was an issue at all. Is there anything else I should look for before spending money and time on putting the 4AGE back together?
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As we were working on the car today a huge gust of wind blew in, picked up the bumper and flung it across the parking lot. I almost yak'd when I saw the damage.
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Also, here is a pic of the paint on the front passengers fender near where the hood meets the fender. I tried to get more pictures but my garage is not to well lit and you couldn't see the issues. Looks almost like it was taped too far in on the fender.
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I'm also currently looking for the following if anyone has anyting laying around.

1x Intake manifold bolt
1x Fuel rail bolt
1x RWD water line as shown in picture above
1x BT ITB setup (Still on the fence about this but looking for now)





Nov 21st, 2014

Okay, so all the following parts have arrived as of today.

New OEM high comp pistons (Still unsure of my CR, Hoping for 10.1:1 but I'm unsure how to calculate this)
Used 7AFE block (Still needs to be disassembled and taken to machine shop)
MRP Ltd 7AFE (800hp rated) Conrods
MRP 7AGE timing belt kit with special crank sprocket
ARP rod bolts and bearings (They forgot thrust bearings so I will be waiting on those)
ARP head studs and main bolts
Seal kit
TRD head gasket
Tweak'd Performance engine harness clips (no more crappy plugs!)
Used water line kit (Thanks to whomever sent me this on the forums!)
New Aisin oil pump
New injector O Ring kit
New plugs
T3 TVIS delete

Here's a list of things I'm needing or unsure of what to use, mainly due to the massive amounts of misinformation out there about the 7AGE requirements.

Rebuilt big port head (Looking at rebuild kits show the price to be astronomical, daveskatesallday has one but I'm trying to get in touch with him to hammer down a price)
Flywheel ? (4AGE or 7AFE car?)
Clutch ? (4AGE or 7AFE, see above)
Motor mounts (Been using the same ones for the last 3 rebuilds, think it's time to step up to some non OEM replacements).
Oil Pan (Which pan oil pick up and windage tray, 7AFE or 4AGE?)

That's all I can think of for now aside from timing questions but I will inquire with MRP about that part once I get closer. The only other thing I'm worried about is if it's possible to stab the tranny while it is installed in the car? I've never done it this way and I'm wondering how big of a pain in the ass it actually is.

Here's a pic of the rods from MRP.
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LongGrain
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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby LongGrain » Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:00 am

Definitely not a fan of using the run free rear flares on the front, but other than that this car looks pretty sweet.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby Clouds » Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:25 pm

c4ptiv3 wrote:Pulled the engine.
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That is the epitome of 'Murica.
There shouldn't be a day that goes by where you don't learn something new.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:00 pm

LongGrain wrote:Definitely not a fan of using the run free rear flares on the front, but other than that this car looks pretty sweet.



I think some spacers up front will help with the way it looks but that's on the back burner for now.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby TORPARTS » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:59 am

I love it! Keep it up!
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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby treborbadz » Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:37 am

very entertaining!

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 12:19 pm

Decided to take advantage of this beautiful day to get the 7AFE block tore down and ready for the machine shop. Everything was going well today, I was even able to get the crank timing belt sprocket off without bending or breaking it. Then the oil pan threw me a curve ball.

This specific bock seems to have a sectional oil pan, a lower and an upper if you will. The lower had 8-12 10mm bolts holding it on, underneath it was the oil pick up unit and 3-4 more 10mm bolts attached to the upper oil pan. On the upper part of the oil pan there were 15-20 5mm Allen head bolts and 4-6 10mm bolts.
Now in between of the lip of the lower pan and the upper pan there are two bolts than I cannot budge, the spacing is so tight I can't fit a socket in there and the L shaped shitty keys I have just won't give me enough torque to get them out. These are the two asshole bolts in question.

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As you can tell the block is frickin nasty, since I'm working out of an apartment garage and have no access to a water hose I'm hoping to just have the machine shop dip it, hopefully they will accept it, lol.
I'm also concerned with this being the correct block since the previous one had a completely different oil pan on it. I wish I still had that one because those bolts can suck my nuts.

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Here is a shot of inside the lower oil pan, you can see a the thread of a mysterious bolt that I can't find on the outside of the block, I think it might be underneath the housing of the oil pump.

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Here's just a random shot of the top of the block, this is all I got for now until I figure out how to get those bolts out and find a rebuilt head. Hopefully I'll be posting more soon.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:25 pm

Block has been fully disassembled and taken to the machine shop, where I have discovered the cylinders need to be bored out. I have just exchanged the STD high comp pistons/rings for .5mm oversized pistons and rings.

Ordered new oil pan bolts, fuel rail bolts and intake manifold bolts from Toyota.

I should have better updates in the coming weeks when everything arrives.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby riddleyo » Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:05 pm

Lots of setbacks but you have persistence. Looks good.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:57 pm

Thanks Riddleyo, I actually got inspired by your build and went and picked up a parts cleaner like you got!


Picked up and assembled the block last weekend, got everything installed and realized my seal kit didn't have a main seal, oil pump seal or oil pump gasket. I also discovered I had put the thrust bearings in backwards so I have to take the crank back out and fix the issue tomorrow before finishing up the bottom end.

I dropped the head off with the HKS valve springs and new seals at the machine shop last week, I am having the head polished, all the new valve train installed and getting a valve job. Hopefully it will be done this week and I can get the rest of the engine together.

I also picked up a parts cleaner and I've been going through all the parts, bolts, etc. and cleaning them up before re-installing them(Thanks Riddleyo). The engine should look really nice once it's all done.

Today I went down and taped off the block and lower oil pan, sanded them down and sprayed them with high heat crinkle black paint. Here are a few before an after pictures, I'll post more tomorrow once the block is all assembled.


Block before paint.

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Block after paint.

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Lower oil pan before paint.

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Lower oil pan after paint.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sun Jan 25, 2015 2:38 pm

Got the bottom end completely assembled today, now I'm just waiting for the RTV to dry and the head to come back from the shop. I hope to have some more updates this week if I get the head back.

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c4ptiv3
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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:58 pm

Got the head, intake and cams back from the machine shop(s) today.

Here's the intake, it got the runners polished up as far back as they could reach.

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And then it got painted!

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Here's a picture of the head, got new HKS springs installed and an exhaust/intake polish as well as .008 taken off to make a good seal. You can't see much, sorry.

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Cams cam back looking phenomenal, I don't have any before pics but they were scarred up pretty badly on the man bearings but now they are like a mirror.

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Here's the water line's from the head, I've taken all the sensors off of them and I'm currently cleaning them up. I'm unsure if I'm going to paint them or not.

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Noticed that this seal has seen some abuse but I'm unsure what it is called, I'll start looking around and see what I can find out so I can replace it. It looks pretty rough around that area so I'm for sure going to sand it down and get the surface rust off.

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That's all I got for today, but I should have more updates tomorrow. The plan is to mount the head and block and maybe a few other things.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:54 pm

Well I hope everything works out for ya!

Been feeling sick so updates are slow, I've got to send off my injectors to get flow tested and refurbished and pick up my fuel rail bolts then things should start flowing again.

Got the head bolted on then realized I needed to shave down one of the studs so that the distributor would fit, I saw some guys just shaved their distributor a bit. I think I might try that instead.
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Also got the cams in but I need to pick up a micrometer to get the clearances correct. hopefully next weekend I can get some real stuff accomplished.
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More updates coming soon.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby Toy86 » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:27 am

This is a great build C4ptiv3,

Slow and steady make for a great car. =) Got a couple of questions for you. I'm guessing that your running the 4ag oil pump, are you going to also use the 4ag timing sproket? Also, what timing belt are you going to use, and if you do, do u have a part number for it? Last one, did you run the OEM Con Rods with your new pistons? Thanks man! And great looking car!

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:08 am

Thanks Toy86!


To answer your questions, I ordered all my 7age conversion parts from http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_246/ ... parts.html their parts are very nice and with the NZ to USD conversion the pricing is phenomenal (They also use their own stuff on their 900hp 7AGE 20v).

I used their H Beam conrods with high comp OEM pistons, I also picked up the 7AGE timing kit which comes with the proper belt, machined custom sprocket with a key cutout for 4AGE and 7AGE. It also comes with a tensioner and a new spring.
They say with their kit and adjustable cam gears you do not have to screw around with the timing and everything will line up to TDC, which will take all the guess work out of the timing. With the above setup, machining and a TRD headgasket I show to be running a 11:1 CR.

I do not have the timing belt part number with me at work but if you are still interested in it I can post it this weekend when I get out to the garage. Let me know if you have any other questions.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby Toy86 » Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:18 am

Dude, thanks for the website! I do have a 7ag on my engine stand, that i was building for my drift missile before i sold the shell. But i'm still going to finish the engine build up and probably sell the engine, or just keep in my garage as a spare, even though it would be running Webber side drafts 45s carbs. We'll see what happens, those prices are pretty decent. I can't wait to see when you finish and fire up your car again and hear your input on the feel of the engine.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:53 am

Got a few things done today before I hit a stopping point.

Here's a shot of the MRP 7AGE/4AGE crank sprocket. I got this installed today and ready to go.

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Here's a picture of it installed and what I think is the TDC mark, it's the only one I could find on the sprocket so I'm guessing it is but I emailed MRP to make sure.

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I installed the Intake cam and found all clearance to be dead within specs (Thanks HKS!!!). However, once I got the exhaust side in and started torqueing down the cam cap bolts I had one that would just spin and never get tight. I pulled it out and it looked like this :(. I'm going to try and
use a tap and die kit and hopefully I can fix the threads.

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I also pulled off the water pump O ring but didn't have the new one in the garage so I didn't take any pictures of it. I hope to get some more updates in tomorrow if I can get a tap and die kit going.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:24 am

Finally stopped raining enough to get some things accomplished this weekend.

I went and picked up a Heli-coil kit and got the cam cap bolt fixed. I was quite nervous but everything worked out really well.


Got the T3 TVIS delete installed, however, I forgot to use the new bolts I got from Toyota. I'll try to get some more shots once I get them installed.

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Finally starting to look like a motor, I have to clean up the throttle body a bit before it goes on. Also need to clean up the upper oil pan a bit before it goes in.

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All I could get done today, still waiting on injectors from Mr. Injector and the correct water pump O ring for the block then it will be ready to pull the old engine and place this one in. Let's hope for nice weather late in the week and over the weekend!

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever.

Postby c4ptiv3 » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:26 pm

Another beautiful day here in Texas, great weather for working on the ole 86. Here's your daily update for the week.


Took the waterpump off to see if It would still spin freely after the whole water line debacle. Doesn't seem to be broken in any way, win!

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Decided to clean up the cam gear backplate since the rest of the engine looks so nice. Here's a shot sanded, pre-paint.

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Here's post paint, that crinkle paint is looking really good on the parts so far.

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Finally got some brass fittings so I could remove those ugly ass EGR plugs on the rear water line.

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Did a test fit of the new intake setup, going to have to do some cuttings since it's a bit too long. Otherwise it looks great, really excited to get rid of the MAF setup.

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2 hours fucking with this thing trying to remove it, really wish I had a pulley puller.

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Got the alternator pulled off and ready to be cleaned up. It's definitely seen better days. Wish I could afford to buy a new one. (Also need to find someone with an impact to remove that pulley and replace it with my NST variant).

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Wasn't really digging the 7AFE dipstick so I decided to do a comparison, for science of course. The diameter of the tube seems identical on both but the 4AGE is much shorter and much nicer looking in my opinion. Looks like I can get away with using it.

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That's all I got for today, hope to have some more updates tomorrow.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:34 am

New updates today! I spent most of the week pulling parts off, cleaning them and getting them painted/ready for install as things come into place. I didn't take pictures of this process since it was really boring and I wasn't at half chub as per usual.

Cleaned up the timing cover for the crank as best I could and painted it. Still doesn't look spectacular but since I can't buy a new one it'll have to work for now. Just need to pick up a white paint pen and finish it off.

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I've decided to paint and clean up the bay while the engine is out, while taking off one of the water lines it freaking broke at the heater core, so now I need to source one of those. I'd prefer to use a brand new replacement so I don't have to worry about this happening again for 30+ years, anyone know of any other cars that I can use the heater core out of?

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Got the waterpump cleaned up, painted and re-assembled. Doesn't look to shabby. Only issue is the top bolt that secures it to the block does not line up, I think it will be okay.

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Put the cam gears on, really stands out now with the engine all cleaned up and painted. I need to get new bolts for the gears since they look like dook.

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Pulled the harness out to start dissecting it to create a custom harness from scratch. I do not plan on cutting this one up, just using it for reference points since I'm not good at reading schematics.

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Should be getting injectors back today or tomorrow, will post more updates once they arrive.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:52 pm

New injectors just arrived this afternoon, ready to install these once the rail get's done soaking in simple green.

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shagymc
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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby shagymc » Mon Mar 30, 2015 5:48 pm

Motor looks great man! I'm building my 20v but not to this level!

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby Deuce Cam » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:41 pm

c4ptiv3 wrote:I've decided to paint and clean up the bay while the engine is out, while taking off one of the water lines it freaking broke at the heater core, so now I need to source one of those. I'd prefer to use a brand new replacement so I don't have to worry about this happening again for 30+ years, anyone know of any other cars that I can use the heater core out of?


Check the link below for brand new direct fit replacement. I installed one last fall.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 443&jpid=0

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Fri Apr 03, 2015 4:25 pm

shagymc wrote:Motor looks great man! I'm building my 20v but not to this level!


Thanks man, I wish I could get it on the road quicker but I know if I don't do all this stuff while it's out I will regret it later. Going to look funny being perfect everywhere but the interior, lol.


Deuce Cam wrote:
c4ptiv3 wrote:I've decided to paint and clean up the bay while the engine is out, while taking off one of the water lines it freaking broke at the heater core, so now I need to source one of those. I'd prefer to use a brand new replacement so I don't have to worry about this happening again for 30+ years, anyone know of any other cars that I can use the heater core out of?


Check the link below for brand new direct fit replacement. I installed one last fall.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 443&jpid=0


Kick ass! I'll have to save up and order one.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Fri Apr 03, 2015 4:25 pm

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I found some of these kick ass clamps at work and I think they will really hide the fact that there is a rubber hose down there.

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I've also started taking measurements to create a resistor pack cover box, a custom fuse box and a new coil bracket with the waterjet/router at work. I'll try to post up some pictures once I get everything designed.

Been speaking with an AE86 owner that works at DIYautotune and he has informed me I can remove a large chunk of unnecessary wires/connectors from the engine harness. From what it looks like I'll have cut my connections in half, this will make the wire tuck much much easier. I'd give an exact number of wires I think I can delete but I need to make sure no other signals are sent through what I'm deleting before I post a write-up, stay tuned for some exciting stuff.

Tomorrow I plan on pulling the old block and cleaning up the bay for paint, I will post more then.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 11:19 am

Taking a little break while I'm waiting on help to arrive to pull the engine. Went ahead and got the rest of everything pulled so we could just pull the engine straight out.

Got the starter out and somewhat disassembled, I'm unsure if I'm going to rebuild or just get a new one.
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TRD or Fake TRD? Who knows, still needs to be cleaned up and resprayed.
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Finally got around to spraying the headlight covers Gloss Black, they were pretty rough so I cleaned em up, primered them and laid down a fresh coat. Looks pretty good.
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Finally got a good look at the oil filter after pulling the headers. I think she got a tad hot, lol.
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Ugly ass brown block ready to be pulled. Just waiting on more hands.
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Should have more updates tonight or later this afternoon. I haven't decided where I'm going to stop today.

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:21 pm

I meant to take more pictures but I got a little excited when I was offered a ride in a 1uz 86, couldn't pass that **** up. Might get some more stuff done tomorrow but we will see.

**** this block!
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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:40 am

Had to do some traveling so I didn't get much done this last week but here is a few updates.

Pulled the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate and brackets off the old motor (No pics sorry). I also had to return the throw-out bearing since Autozone can only get the FWD version and they also cannot get a pilot bearing so I need to source those soon.

I cleaned up the brackets with some industrial de-greaser since Simple Green and Dawn couldn't do the job.
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I decided to go with a nu-cast aluminum color on the brackets since they went with the new aluminum parts on the engine already. Plus they would really pop against the black block.
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I started cleaning on the engine bay but ran out of time before storms started rolling in. I have insufficient lighting in my garage and didn't want her to get beat up by hail. Here's a pre-shot of the bay.
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Here's an after shot showing what that industrial de-greaser can do.
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And of course I had to get a shot of her outside for the first time since Halloween, she needed the fresh air.
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I hope to finish up the bay this week as well as get the water pipe modified so I can finish assembling the engine. If the bay cleans up as good as it did above I may not re-spray it since I can't afford it right now.

If anyone can point me in the direction of a pilot bearing and a throw-out bearing please let me know, thanks!

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Re: Longest. Buildup. Ever. High Comp 16v 7AGE

Postby c4ptiv3 » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:25 pm

Spent 5 to 6 hours cleaning the bay this morning. I went through about 24 rags and a ton of de-greaser and I still wasn't able to finish. I still have the sub frame, transmission and manual left.

Here's a shot after the clean, everything cleaned up really well aside from some baked on crease right below the heater core and where some brake fluid had done some damage back in the day.
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Here you can see the baked on goodness.
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It had a few spots where there was bare metal, one spot was due to brake fluid, as shown here, but other spots were from age I'm guessing. I had to lay down some primer, it's not pretty but it's all I can do for now. I can't afford to spray the bay at this time.
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Here's post ugly ass primer.
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I also found a spot underneath the wiper motor where the panel was seperating from the firewall, I'm going to have to keep an eye on this til I can get it welded back up.

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Got a few coats of paint on the headers, they are looking fantastic. It says this is the same color as what I'm using on the motor mounts but it doesn't look the same. Must be due to the higher temp range.
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Got the Alt bracket completed.
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And I got the first coat applied to the water line.
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That's all I got for this weekend, I'm waiting on a friend to bring me a pipe cutter to cut the water pipe in half and I have to wash those rags. I'll post some more updates next Sat.