So it's been a few months since I've last updated. I'll admit I tried updating on two previous occasions but one of the times I had a computer issue..more like user issue...and lost the whole thing and gave up. The other time my little boy came up and thought it was a good idea to press some buttons while daddy wasn't watching, and off went that version as well. So here is attempt number three...about one month later! The children are in bed so nothing can go wrong now right? Mind you the cat is looking at me funny. Anyways here goes.
I'm all moved into the new house and have a garage to use to work on the car. The mounting hardware that DarthRipley/JustJoe made for me is installed and works as advertised. In fact my buddy was over here today and mistook it for a stock piece and assumed the stock battery went in that location! Good job guys.
I crossed a new milestone today and did my own compression test thanks in part...well...mostly...to the BGB. When I first bought the car I had it done at Toyota and it scored a solid 175(if memory serves me right) on all four cylinders. This time around...not so lucky. Starting from the distributor and working towards the alternator side, the readings were 135-100-125-175. I poured a bit of oil in the plug holes and it improved the rating by about 20psi. So I now know that the rings are the issue.
The other issue is the horrible noise the turbo is making. There is a lot of shaft play up/down/left/right...probably 1/16th of an inch easily, but there isn't really play in and out. I'll be taking the turbo off this winter sometime and will have it inspected and rebuild as needed.
I'm still debating between just replacing what's broken, or going with a fully built motor. I'm pretty certain I will be sticking with an air/water setup as far as the intercooler goes. I am leaning towards selling the thermal barrier coated ST185RC core and picking up an ST205 core and coating it as well. I like how DarthRipley got the thing to fit on their car and I'd hope that it would line up a bit better to the SB46 as it's over to the driver's side a bit more than the stock turbo, not much mind you.
There's my quick update. Oh, and some more bad news I almost forgot about. The big Sold sign that was placed in front of our new home to stop people from driving on the freshly poured driveway...well...it fell over and fucked up my OTHER front fender. So that will need to be replaced. The whole front end bodywork on this car will be brand new...MONEYPIT!! Ugh.