Project Stormbringer

Dracov

Member
I'm hoping *cross fingers* for this summer. Getting tired of borrowing roommate cars; a slushbox Impreza coupe, and an AW11 with suspension made of jell-o. :p

I'm just glad I can start lego-ing the engine back together at last.
 

Dracov

Member
Finally something postworthy!...maybe.

After a frustrating debacle with a friend of a co-worker (yeah that sounds legit doesn't it?) offering to surface my cylinder head for a deal that involved 4 weeks of waiting, a dozen phone messages, whiskey, a pickup truck and several cars and houses being collided into by said machinist and pickup truck I hunted around to find some notable shops in the Denver area.

Found a fair number of them but most are seedy, messy little hole in the walls that I wouldn't trust with a lump of scrap metal let alone a 3rd gen 3S-GTE head that I can't easily replace. I eventually opted for Colorado Custom Cylinder Heads, as they had all around positive reviews and found a few recommendations for. After checking out their facilities and confirming that they know what to do with Yamaha heads I went with them. $82.50 and 2 days later my head comes back neatly bagged up, sonic cleaned and milled a mere .003" :D

Blurry overhead shot. The rest of the engine is in the blue bin in the corner.
100_0815.jpg


Exhaust side cleaned up beautifully! Going to ditch the rusted out studs next.
100_0816.jpg


Shiny new surface!
100_0817.jpg


And they even stamped the amount shaved off on one of the tabs off to the side:
100_0818.jpg


So now it's just a matter of getting a new headgasket and some valve stem seals and I can once again resume reassembly!
 

Dracov

Member
I'm hoping for by the end of summer. Gonna need it as I'm tired of borrowing a 4-speed slushbox for work and the roomies are starting to get tired of working from home and want to get real jobs now so I need my own car running again. It just feels good to know that I can do work on her again rather than wait on people I don't know to do their jobs now
 

Dracov

Member
So, weekends without activity are really boring. In a spark of motivation I finally decided to start some audio upgrade work I've been meaning to do in between engine tinkerings. After managing to find just the right materials I needed in the garage I set about upgrading one of the rear speaker boxes so it can support a decent 6.5" woofer instead of the craptacular 4" paper cones it came with from the factory.

And here's the first one done! Just need to do the same for the others and I'll have worthwhile rears for once. :D

RearSpeakerBoxModded.JPG
 

Dracov

Member
I've seen this done a couple times before, so it ought to though I might need to trim it down in a few places. The wood is also the same length as the box, despite how it looks in the picture. It's just a couple inches wider on the sides. I did confirm that it doesn't go any higher than the stock box top did so clearance there should not be a problem. If not, I can ride around with those panels off until I figure it out :)
 

Dracov

Member
Not really a whole lot to say, except that I just recently resumed assembly. Oiled up the rotating assembly and made sure nothing's binding, the head is on and torqued nice and firm with a Cometic 1.0mm headgasket and ARP studs. The intake manifold is bolted on with a phenolic spacer in between. New timing belt, idler, tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner in place. Got the mechanical timing down perfect. New thermostat and seal just put on this morning, as well as a new PCV valve because why the hell not at this rate?

Right now I'm waiting on an HFH kit to come in and then a set of exhaust studs for the manifold. So here's a pic of the progress, including the underdrive power steering pulley and a belt sized to match:

100_0831.JPG
 

Dracov

Member
I'm aiming for getting her drivable before the winter. All the really finicky stuff is finally out of the way so it's just a matter of picking up the last few parts (hoses, hoses, hoses, manifold studs, hoses, dust cover, hoses, accessory belt...did I mention hoses?) and then swapping the beast in.

If I wrap this up quickly enough I'm hoping to get the viscous coupling unit upgraded. This 185 gearbox has something like 200k miles on it and I want to enjoy the all-wheel-drive part of this car a bit :p
 

801Alltrac

New member
Dracov":8jcepzvp said:
Finally something postworthy!...maybe.

After a frustrating debacle with a friend of a co-worker (yeah that sounds legit doesn't it?) offering to surface my cylinder head for a deal that involved 4 weeks of waiting, a dozen phone messages, whiskey, a pickup truck and several cars and houses being collided into by said machinist and pickup truck I hunted around to find some notable shops in the Denver area.

Found a fair number of them but most are seedy, messy little hole in the walls that I wouldn't trust with a lump of scrap metal let alone a 3rd gen 3S-GTE head that I can't easily replace. I eventually opted for Colorado Custom Cylinder Heads, as they had all around positive reviews and found a few recommendations for. After checking out their facilities and confirming that they know what to do with Yamaha heads I went with them. $82.50 and 2 days later my head comes back neatly bagged up, sonic cleaned and milled a mere .003" :D

Blurry overhead shot. The rest of the engine is in the blue bin in the corner.
lol i think we found you porn stash lol !!!!!
100_0815.jpg


Exhaust side cleaned up beautifully! Going to ditch the rusted out studs next.
100_0816.jpg


Shiny new surface!
100_0817.jpg


And they even stamped the amount shaved off on one of the tabs off to the side:
100_0818.jpg


So now it's just a matter of getting a new headgasket and some valve stem seals and I can once again resume reassembly!
 

801Alltrac

New member
Dracov said:
Finally something postworthy!...maybe.

After a frustrating debacle with a friend of a co-worker (yeah that sounds legit doesn't it?) offering to surface my cylinder head for a deal that involved 4 weeks of waiting, a dozen phone messages, whiskey, a pickup truck and several cars and houses being collided into by said machinist and pickup truck I hunted around to find some notable shops in the Denver area.

Found a fair number of them but most are seedy, messy little hole in the walls that I wouldn't trust with a lump of scrap metal let alone a 3rd gen 3S-GTE head that I can't easily replace. I eventually opted for Colorado Custom Cylinder Heads, as they had all around positive reviews and found a few recommendations for. After checking out their facilities and confirming that they know what to do with Yamaha heads I went with them. $82.50 and 2 days later my head comes back neatly bagged up, sonic cleaned and milled a mere .003" :D

Blurry overhead shot. The rest of the engine is in the blue bin in the corner.

:shock: :shock: lol i think we found you porn stash lol !!!!! :rofl: :evil: :evil:


100_0815.jpg
 

RallyX-GT4

New member
Wow, just read through the whole thing. Reminds me of some of the same predicaments that I have. I admire all the work you've done yourself - makes me want to start freshening my Trac... Nothing time and money can't cure.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing her up and running!
 

Dracov

Member
So yay, another burst of motivation resulted in getting the windage tray thingy, oil strainer/pickup and second oil pan bolted on just before bed time. This thing's finally starting to look like an engine :p

Pretty tray thingy!
100_0834.jpg


And stupid huge aluminum pan bolted and gooped up all over the place with ghastly orange silicone. If this thing leaks anywhere I'm going to be pissed
100_0835.jpg
 

wakkjobb

New member
Say "thingy" one more time, and I'll start calling you Susan... like my wife.

Those have 2-piece oil pans? Holy deadly-leaks-waiting-to-happen... did you let the RTV set up a bit before tightening it down? And do you still want the swaybar bushings that have been sitting here on my desk forever?
 

Dracov

Member
THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY THINGY!!!!1

Who the Hell are you, again? :p

And, maybe. The bushings would make that project a little easier though right now I'm more concerned with getting this stupid engine reassembled at the moment. ...still haven't replaced the fuel pump like I should have. I really do need to correct that little procrastination.
 
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