'91 All Trac Project "Mia"-Engine Rebuild Time

Figured I might as well finally get around to creating a project thread for this car, especially since I'm already starting to forget what I've done on what days. Its probably gonna be pretty scattered while I collect the photos and stuff, so give it a few days.

Anyways, for a background, I found this car on Craigslist during the summer of '08 in the local area for like $4800. After a couple deals on some Del Sols and stuff feel through, I ended up going back to this car. Negotiated down to 4k, and the seller was willing to hold it for me until summer of '09 so I could spend my money on school stuff. Turned out well, since the Navy ended up failing in getting me on AT which I was counting on the money from to buy whatever vehicle I ended up getting. Anyways finally ended up borrowing money out of my retirement account (Stocks blow right now anyways so its not gonna be making any money for awhile), which works out well, 3% interest, and you pay it back to yourself, only money you lose is a $50 fee. Anyways the car, yes, ended up buying it on 6/4/09, and how it towed the 30 miles back to my house (ok, not so local, but friend owes the towing company, I got a good rate).

So now its sitting on the street infront of my house (which happens to be a hill) with some random truck license plate thrown on from the seller way back when to keep his neighbors happy, and expired tags and inspection from 02. So now the race is on to get it fixed before someone finally calls it in or the city sees it and tries to tow.

Known Issues at Purchase (Car has been sitting for 5-6 years):
Turbo Oil seals are blown, its throwing oil into the air intake/tb/engine
Rusted brake line in the front
Some rust under driver side rocker
Alloy Rim needs fixed
Idles like crap
Needs a new battery

More Discovered Issues After a Few Hours of Work:
Rotors and pads are gone, no resurfacing those bastards

Hood Insulation is coming apart and ending up in weird places on the chassis

Exhaust Needs atleast one hole patched/fixed, rear exhuast is going to need dropped and inspected

Broke off 3 bolt heads in cat. convt to turbo. One was already missing
:shrug:

Rounded the A/C. bracket bolt, as well as the front engine support mount bolt. Another engine support bracket bolt is disfigured and needs replaced. Infact, there's a shitload of bolts either broken, rounded, or just flat out missing on the car (Radiator fan was attached via one bolt). I'm not even going to bother to list the rest, even though I prob will so I know to buy anyways.

Catalytic Convert needs new seals.

Coolant hoses are nice and rusted and dirty on the inside. Uh.....

Oil residue is in the intercooler, and probably the rest of the air intake system from the turbo on.

Fog lights don't work.

Missing some brackets for the righthand fuse box (like all of them, like it was just wedged next to the battery). All of the fuse box cases also need new lids, as they're either cracked or have broken off tabs, or both. They'll hold for now though.

Needs a paint job.



So my first order of business has been to try and remove the bad turbo, and replace it with the one I got used. Hopefully the used on works. I've been cleaning up the old turbo in my free time. Using wire wheels to polish the exhaust side, and cleaned the intake side best I can. Had the exhaust manifold that came with it cleaned at NAPA's shop for $15, looks like brand new, so trying to get the turbo to look nice too. It was missing 3 studs, and another was broken off. Got the broken one out, and tapped new threads in. Also bought 3 other studs incase the ones on the car don't come out.

So as of 6/14, I got the exhaust from the turbo to the mp/second part, idk, its like the first half. Also have the cat conv off, as well as the intercooler. A/C has all its bolts to the car loosened, but the bracket bolt got rounded, so its not going to get moved out of the way anyways for the turbo removal (per BGB). The clutch slave cylinder also isn't going anywhere, because the first bolt holding the hydraulic line to the block just turns, like there's a nut on the other side of it, but I can't find one on the back, so it just turns. But doesn't come out. I don't even know why the hell I gotta take it off in the first place :shrug:

Coolant was also drained. Nasty. Either extremely dirty, or has oil in it, or both. Also went to remove the turbo oil hose from the pan. Thought oil might pour out of it (haven't drained the oil yet), and I was right, it started leaking as I was working the hose off. BGB didn't say to drain the oil, or maybe it did and I didn't remember, so I drained the oil. Which overflowed the drain pan I was using, partly because I'm on a hill I guess, but still wouldn't have fit. Ran in the house and found a jug to catch the last bit. etc etc. Needless to say I split a good amount in the street, and also a good bit on my porch transferring it jugs. That was nearly two days ago. Still have the stains. Sum bitch.

The turbo is completely disconnected now, save for the oil hose(?) coming from the block on that huuuggggggeeeee ass nut. Gonna try and just disconnect the hose from the turbo itself instead. The bolt for the turbo bracket to the block is apparently not there (I'm finding numerous missing or loose bolts, clamps, etc). However the turbo will not come loose. It will slide down an inch or tow, then comes back up to nearly its resting position. Have only gotten it about a inch down the studs from the exhaust manifold. I'm guessing the bracket is pushing against the block, and the further down it goes, it just wedges and slides back up. Not sure how I'm going to get the bracket off the turbo though. :|

Some pics.

Oily turbo hose to intercooler.


Oily Air Hose from turbo to air box if I remember right



Rusty rotors. The light colored rust is the from pads rubbing the rotors because I had to use the ebrake when I moved it. :twisted:




Pic of the Engine bay and removed parts after I took some stuff off the otherday. I'll get some updated ones.















I was able to start the car before disassembly, actually fairly easier then last time when I was looking at with the seller. Still idles the same rough. Hopefully its nearly out of gas. Battery will not hold a charge though. Moved it backwards about 5 feet and then drifted/drove in 1st gear the 5 back down the street. The wheels turn and I guess the tranny and diff work :wink: . It seems the more I take this car apart, the more money its going to take. I originally wanted it on the road within a few days. Then I found out it needs $400 in brakes. Then the exhaust is going. So probably another $400 or so, and probably going to have to be that no name motoria or whatever the hell shit, since that's about only completely SS exhaust system under $750 I can seem to find really. I got lucky and only had to pay a total $3750 for the car, even though its really worth only about 3k, but still cheaper then 4k though. But my budget didn't include all this extra stuff to get on the road, I wish I would have known, I would have borrowed more money. I'm hoping the end of the month now to get it on the road. But even after its fixed, still about $350 just to get it registered and insured, then another $100 on inspection and getting the wheels aligned/retake emissions/etc. Fawwwwwuck.

But I want it to get it right first time I guess and make sure its all good, since its going to be taking 450 mile road trips to VA, and back, almost right off the bat. Seems my only consolation is every single bolt I tighten, every hose I clean, every crusty rusted ass nut I clean and fix, every part I replace, every fluid changed and every detail I inspect makes the car just a little more reliable, just a little more sturdy, and a little more ready to hit the ground running, and give me a little piece of mind.

Plans and parts list and all that to come. Open to suggestions ideas etc.

Album of pics of car in the sellers yard, and two audio clips of it running. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt14 ... ll%20Trac/

Finally got the turbo off today. I ended up just taking off the alt bracket which let me take off the exhaust manifold which let me simply pull up on the turbo, and the oil lines slid right off (took the nuts off beforehand). I took the old turbo in the basement, and got the elbow off. Gonna take it to NAPA tomorrow to have it cleaned.

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about the cat conv. It looks like shit, and def needs some serious cleaning, just to even get in new gaskets and put it back on. However I also gotta decide what I want to do with this exhaust, as if I end up getting a new system, then I very well may not use the old cat/downpipe set up. Lot of money, and more money=more time till its on the road, which = Going to have the elbow cleaned anyways, it should be less then $20. I guess I could clean the cat best I can, and throw that pos back on and maybe get lucky and patch that hole in the exhaust. If that could hold up until for a bit until I get a new exhaust system...... but I guess I should also finish dropping the rear exhaust first and check for any holes in that too.

The "new-er" turbo is just about as cleaned up as I can seem to get it with the wire wheels and drill. Some areas I can't get to to shine up, but guess it will have to do. Gonna put a few more minutes cleaning it and it should be ready to go. Going to use the replacement studs I bought, since the ones on the old turbo are fairly rusty. New ones are slightly shorter and ever so slightly looser, but it should work out. My major concern is the turbo fell/rolled off the end of the work table a few days back. Didn't seem to even leave a mark on the iron housing, but it did fall prob 4 feet onto concrete. I hope it didn't unbalance it or anything, otherwise I'm really f**ked.

Still have yet to ID where the two mystery bolts came from. Also have not come up with a solution to the rounded A/C bracket bolt. I may just leave it and deal with it in the future.

Not sure how I'm going to clean the coolant system out. I'm planning to run some water with a tad of dish soap through the A2A intercooler, then finish up with a final rinse of some distilled. Not sure about the rubber hoses though. Looks like there's some decent amount of particles stuck to the sides in some.

The vac hoses on the old turbo were also oily, which makes me think that oil got into the vac system. Not a clue what to do on that one....

Going to the dealer tomorrow to see if I can get some gaskets for the sides of the replacement turbo, and see how much they want for an exhaust manifold gasket. If its too much I'll use the little private auto parts that usually has good prices or rockauto I guess.

The $300-$400 brake job is still weighing heavily on my mind. I'm picking up all the extra hours I can to try and increase my income so I can start driving this thing, but thats a slow process with pay periods and all, and not to mention it seriously cuts into the time I can spend working on the car anyways.

I'm just trying to get it on the road right now, not sure about the future. I wanted to get it back to stock just so I can see how that feels and then maybe do some light upgrades but keep it a DD. But looks like some things are gonna have to be improvements right off the bat (brakes, maybe the exhaust, etc). Didn't really want to seriously mod it since the interior is in such nice condition (power windows SCORE!!!!!!) compared to my 83, and didn't want to end up having to rip out the A/C and nice seats and shit to make it a decent track/rally car. Was going to orignally get this on the road, do some fun and light upgrading to give it a little edge, and then work on the 83 into a rally car. But idk the AWD and turbo will probably be very tempting. But for now I guess I'll try and focus on getting it on the road.

Pics:









The bastard rounded bolt


Mystery Bolts....I took them off something....now if I could just figure out what.....


Old Turbo


Oily Vac Hoses from Wastegate Actuator


The Exhaust


The hold can easily be made bigger.....


I took this off by the battery. I thought it was the igniter.....s.......?.... :shrug: .....but found that bolted to the engine bay/firewall in the back. I just kinda found it interesting looking. Not a clue what the hell it is or does though.




Dirty Cat. Conv.


Dirty Coolant Hoses. Tried Best I could to get good pics. Cellphone cameras aren't the greatest though.




I'ma go try and read up/find a "high flow cat. conv." I believe its called, and see how much those cost and stuff. And then bed. Long day work today, and even longer tomorrow :|

hCD6z

wow the old owner of that car should be shot. how could they let that get that bad

glad you finally brought it home

not sure where to start and I'll make some more comments later but here goes:

mystery bolts: did you pull the stock strut tower bar? those look like the ones that go in the center of it. Might also be to wire harness brackets somewhere. Probably not critical bolts.

the Pieces you thought was the ignitor are the fuel pump and injector resistor packs. Just make sure they get plugged back in.

Fuse box. Mine is just chilling too no brackets. Works fine but f you want the brackets there is an alltrac in feezles (junkyard on pa/oh boarder)

cat: your going to need a cat to pass emissions around here. The alltrac has two cats stock. The primary one attached to the turbo and a secondary further down in the exhaust. you only need one to be legal. So if you buy an ebay SS exhaust it will replace the secondary cat. Ebay downpipe will replace your primary. A high flow cat will run you about $100 and will need to be welded in place of your secondary cat. Personally I would probably opt for and ebay downpipe and have a local shop make you an exhaust with a cat. maybe 1st try engineering? They're a local performance shop thats supposed to be very good.

Turbo gaskets: toyota rapes you on these. 30 a pop. I haven't found a good solution to this yet.

blown turbo seals means oil in the intake system so it very possible to get oil in the vacuum system. Might just want to replace all the lines you can. Just buy a few feet of varying size line and have at it. Should cost you less than $20 to replace almost all of them.

brakes: try 935motorsports for the rotors, Robert has pretty much the best prices around on them. For pads your really can't go wrong with your average $20-30 metallics. Don't bother with ceramics, and only get performance pads if you actually think your going to use them.

turbo: if the new turbo still spins freely its probably ok. you'll know fast if its not.

oh and I always just take the alternator bracket and exh manifold off. Screw removing just the turbo. not worth it.

where in pittsburgh are you at again?

Glad to see that All Trac in the hands of someone who will actually take care of it.

Good luck man.

I'm in Carrick, off of Brownsville.

Didn't get much done today really. Took a quick look at my bolts, gonna make a list tomorrow hopefully so I can head to the hardware store and get the replacements that I need so far (Somehow I don't think one bolt is gonna hold the radiator fan on for long......). Dropped off the downpipe elbow at NAPA to get it cleaned with the gasket for it as well. Gonna pick that up tomorrow. Also ordered in 3 gaskets for the turbo from the dealer today, the two smaller side ones, and the larger oil inlet hose thingy one. Not too bad, $20 for all three. Then $35 for the damn exhaust manifold gasket (I didn't like that carbon burn on the outside of the old one, hopefully its from just using a shitty gasket or not tightening the manifold down enough, but eitherway wanted to make sure I got a good one), which is funny, it was $25 when he first looked it up but somehow at check out it grew $10... :|

Also going to out to Foreign Auto (local owned parts store) and pick up all the exhaust gaskets and see if they got anything for the cat conv. gasket. I think for now I'm going to just try and clean up the cat and exhaust system best I can and throw it back on. Hopefully when I drop the rear section there won't be any more holes, and I'll find a solution to the current hole. And then hopefully that will hold out for maybe a year give or take, and I'll just move the "Upgrade Exhaust" bullet higher on the mods/aftermarket/shitforwhenIhavemoney list.

So in theory, all that's left (all....lol......ah I love how I kid myself):
Replace Fuel Filter
Oil and filter change
Clean/replace coolant and vac hoses
Coolant and other fluid change
Put in new turbo gaskets and install
Finish dropping, inspect, patch, and reinstall exhaust system
Replace the bad brake line
New dizzy cap and plugs
Fix/replace all the little nuts and bolts missing/broke
Fix the bent alloy rim....if you can even do that....we'll see what the tire guys say....
Pay for insurance and registration
Put some new gas in the tank
Wipers and fog lights and stuff
Car wash.....thrice......
Battery
Effin rotors and pads

Well I got a battery for $10 at a salvage yard. Not the exact size, but looks like it will fit hopefully, I just need it to do some labor cranking while I'm tuning the engine and such, figured there's no point in buying a new battery then having it just do cranking and not much else.

Buts that if I ever get there. I got some new gaskets from the dealer. 50 some dollars for the exhaust manifold gasket, the turbo oil gasket, and the two water/coolant gaskets. Special order for all three. Then they called me back, said they got them in, but the exhaust manifold gasket comes in two halves, and they only got one half, so they ordered the other one. Ok, so I go to pick them up the next day when the other half is in. And of course I have to pay for it. Apparently its $35 a half, not for the whole thing. So the guy says I'm gonna have to pay for the other half, but that'd make it a $70 exhaust manifold gasket, which is unheard of. He also said it's his fault making me think I was all paid up and then having to come and pay more, so he gave it to me at wholesale plus tax, so $20 for that side, $55 total. He also said if I ever need anything else for the build just to come back in and talk to him and he'll give it to me at wholesale to make up for it. So I got raped, but the guy was nice enough and hopefully he'll help me out again. Damn thats a long paragraph.

So anyways went downstairs, finished cleaning up the turbo as I wanted and stuff. Anyways I was spinning the turbine for whatever reason, and heard it pinging/rubbing/hitting shit. Seems like there's next to no clearance on the intake side of the turbine. Less then the other two CT26 I have sitting on the table (Old one off the car, and the owner threw in a single entry CT26 with a cracked exhaust side by the waste gate, he was originally gonna try to hybrid them or some shit). So I spin it some more and mess around and stuff. Def is rubbing or pinging or hitting something. Doesn't seem to be all the time, if I'm lucky I can get some spins in with no noise, but its usually hitting a little. Seems to be very light, but still def hitting it. I took some videos of me spinning it, including from both sides. Also took a vid of the shaft play. If I try and press it against the wall while I'm spinning it, I can almost get it to the point where it will rub enough it won't spin.

So I'm guessing I'm fucked, and this was a huge waste of time cleaning this thing up since I'll probably throw it on and it will destroy itself in a few seconds. But before I go cry myself to sleep in a corner I figured I'd post it up and see what you guys think. I never delt with turbos, so maybe they rub a little, or its cause it has no oil or idk. I'd guess it might be from the turbo falling off the work bench, I don't exactly remember it having that much shaft play when I got it, but I could be wrong.

Not sure whats next though, I can't justify putting it back on just for the hell of it to see if it works anyways when there's a good chance of it being bad and spitting metal into bad places, and then having to take everything apart again to put a replacement on. Then again I put a decent amount of work into this, and would like to see some results. Haven't even got to drive the car yet. But idk, I can't exactly scrape together $600 to buy a new one, and I don't think I'm skilled enough to take them apart and mess with them much. I guess I could try getting it balanced, but I'd have to send it off and that's still a good 100 something dollars with shipping. And hell if I got that far I should just get a rebuild kit and do that at the same time, and since its also completely apart, I can just get the exhaust side cleaned by the parts cleaner, which kinda nullifies the hours of wire wheel grinding I did. So basically by the time this thing gets on the road summer is gonna be damn near over. Chingao.

But just for the hell of it I bolted the turbo up to the newly cleaned exhaust manifold and elbow just to see how it fits and looks. Looks nice. I kinda like the dark semi reflective metal color the exhaust housing got on the turbo from the wire wheel via drill, just wish I coulda got all the little rust spots. But its good enough. Found a small crack in the twin entry exhaust gasket, not sure if its big enough to warrant getting a new one from the dealer. Also looks like its cracked on the flip side, but it could be a seam in the metal. But the other gasket is seamless on that side. :shrug:

The replacement studs we got for the elbow side are also slightly shorter, and it looks like they may not cut it, since they leave a mm or 3 of open space on the top of the nut, and do not go all the way through. I got some pics, let me know what you guys think on that too. If not I can probably just get the studs off the old turbo, prob gonna be a pita, but do what you gotta do I guess. Also have pics of the gaskets and their p/ns just incase anyone might need them.

Yeah........... :|

Turbo Being Spun by Hand


Turbo Being Spun by Hand from Exhaust Side


Turbo Shaft Play


The CT26 Single Entry Turbo




Gaskets




Cleaned up Turbo Pics








Always another broken stud or bolt to deal with....


Stud Comparison













Cleaned Up Elbow




What was I saying about broken studs?




Cleaned Exhaust Manifold


Cracked Twin Entry Exhaust Gasket






The other gasket, looks good enough....





Old Turbo Off of the Car





Everything Bolted Together

Guess its time for an update.

I finished mostly all the engine work I had wanted to do. I got everything back together. It was extremely hard, I never imagined putting it back together would have been that hard. With new bolts for half the stuff none the less. Spent two hours on the turbo bracket alone. Replaced the Alt. belt, left the AC belt since it didn't seem to wanna budge when the bottom nut was loosened, and no way in hell was I getting to the top pivot nut. Also got a tiny peak at the top of the timing belt, it looks ok :shrug: , I know your supposed to replace those at whatever mileage (Can't seem to find it in the manual) it is, but hopefully it will hold for a little bit while I get it on the road, and then I'll make that my next big project, since it looks extremely hard to do.

Anyways finally got everything back together at like 11 at night (minus midpipe and the cross member and related), cleaned some coolant hoses and air intake hoses while I was at with a little water and dish soap. Same for the A2A. Filled it with distilled and Mobil 1. $5 junk yard battery was too short, but I put some wood blocks under it and made it work. It did good, it cranked it for the 30 seconds or whatever it took to get started.

So it started, then died about 20 seconds later. So I restarted it, and had to keep giving it gas to keep it alive. Oil light started to flutter, then came on solid. I figured maybe it was still working its way through the system. My friend states they hear something leaking. I decided to go take a look. Had my friend take over the throttle in the car so I could get out and look.

I came around to the engine bay. Smoke effin everywhere. Maybe some burn off? I look down at the street. I'm standing in $30 worth of Mobil 1 oil. I tell my friend to cut the engine. Either they cut it or it stalled, one of the two. After some investigation the next morning, I find that the turbo oil hose has a nice half inch gap on the block side. Bolt is finger loose. I swear to god I tightened that thing. I remember having a shithard time with it to. But maybe I forgot or it wasn't torqued? Or perhaps the turbo refused to turn, and caused some huge back pressure?

The oil hose did get gun decked though most of all out of the install. I left it on the car, cause I didn't have the 26mm or whatever shit it takes to get it off the block (still don't). When I put the turbo back in, it was real hard lining it up with all the bolts and being bolted back into the oil line first. Didn't help I didn't attached the oil hose to the oil pan until everything else was done. So I don't think it got broke, it probably got bent out of shape a little, but maybe just moved a little bit, nothing like a kink or anything. Idk, I'll take it off this time and use the other one that came with the turbo. That gasket probably did take a beating trying to keep on while putting the turbo in (Gasket pretty much goes in upside down as you lower the turbo if you think about it).

So I decided to tighten said nut with one of the most ungodly extension towers for a socket the world has seen. Started tightening the other one as well (I had loosened it). When I was tightening the first one, I noticed it got tight, but could keep going, as it was then lifting the oil hose tight against the block. So I thought nothing of it when the second got a little tight, but keep turning. So it kept turning. Then it fucking snapped.

So now my 'new' turbo has a broken oil pipe stud. I now get to basically redo everything I just got done doing. Months worth of work down the drain in the view of trying to get the car started. I figure it should be a lot faster this time since I won't really need a book, know where all the bolts are and have new ones in place and shit, but still a huge pain the in ass, and nice waste of $30 in oil. Once I get the turbo off again, I'll just see if I can get someone to weld a giant metal stick to it, since I've about had it with 'e-z outs' and all that shit, I've broken so many god damn drill bits and e-z outs and ez effin this and bolt remover that gahhhhhhhh.......yeah.

Anyways get the broken stud out, try and get a new one in place, reassemble and hope it works. My major concern is how much oil leaked out. I can't even get a reading on the oil dipstick right now. I was thinking of loosening the oil drain pain plug to see how much if any is in there. My concern obviously is that the engine more or less seized from a lack of oil before it stalled or got turned off. Perhaps that's why it wouldn't hold idle in the first place (I have yet to replace the plugs and stuff, but it would hold idle before, and the AFM gate is good, hopefully its a separate problem). Or I may just add another 4qts and see if it will run cause if its seized its seized anyways.

If the turbo stud replace fails, then I emailed Gpop shop. They can fix it for $25 a stud roughly. May just have them rebuild the damn thing while they have it. Can also get some monies for those other two cores I have. Did wanna mess with them a little. Or if not that, then klue has some up for sale, had my eye on a JDM CT26. We shall see.

It did start though. Sounded beast with nothing on it after the cat lol. Did make a spool up/blow off kinda sound half way through though, which makes me wonder if that was the turbo spooling up, which blew that gasket. Or if that was just the gasket blowing out (I'm not sure if it was leaking from the start or not). Or if they're unrelated. I've never had a turboed car so I don't really know what I'm hearing or listening for. Anyways I'll throw some pics up.

Some are old of the fuel filter replacement, which was harrowing, since it wouldn't go on right, I thought I stripped the threads. Fairly easy replacement when you do it right though. Took off the charc canister. Didn't have compressed air so held up the vac port to the valve stem old car tire I had laying around and depressed the bleed valve. I smelt gas, so it worked somewhat. I found if you just lay the fuel filter on the bottom fuel line, get it started, then you can just spin it on and get that on in about 10 seconds flat, rather then cranking at the nut on the bottom for an hour. (Really I was down there for an hour between taking it off and putting it). Just tighten it up at the end. Bracket and top nut goes on easy enough.

One important thing I need help with is I found two mystery wires coming from the firewall by the fuel filter. They almost look like radio wires or something. They reach almost all the way to the battery. No fittings on the end of them, they're just cut/stripped. Pretty colors. Have a photo of them and also of where they come out of the wall. Any guesses? Also found a wire form the block which looks like a simple ground wire, couldn't remember where it came from, so just attached to a bolt that made good contact with the frame. I'm assuming it doesn't matter as long as its grounded somewhere.

Lastly, I IDed the mystery bolts and the bolts for one of the heat shields :wink:



Aftermarket is never as good as OEM, but its cheaper




Don't use a McDonald's salad bowl to store gas. Gasoline will pwn it.


Broken Turbo Stud w/oil hose still on and still on car




Some other random pics










Mystery Wires


Mystery Wires Source

Just a quick update, I was away on training for some time. Anyways spent all friggin day (like 11 hours) on the car today. Sucked hardcore, was raining for a good part of it, and wasn't having much luck in the beginning with things. But I had a creeper and a day off from work so I made it pay off. Got the turbo taken off, replaced the stud from one of the old turbos, bought new nuts and lock washers, and got everything put back together.

Clutch safety switch was being retarded for a bit, but did finally get it to crank. Since it usually has to crank for a few seconds to start anyways, decided this time to actually go out and check for any leaks while I let the starter cool down. Smelled oil, but turns out I just left the damn fill cap off, as well as some other odds and ends I missed in a rush to clean up in poorly lit darkness.

Anyways, no oil leaks, but the fuel line was leaking pretty damn good at the fuel filter inlet side. Decided to tighten that up, and go try and start it. (Thing leaks for awhile too after you stop the engine, dammmmnnnnn). Battery started to die so I decided I'd just go check the fuel leak again and worry about starting tomorrow. Unfortunately it was still leaking. It was considerably less then before I tightened it, but still too much to really drive or run none the less. The nut seemed to be tightened all the way as far as it will go as well, so not sure what to do. I did have a lot of trouble getting that bolt on, maybe the threads went or something. I'll check the BGB and see if maybe it has some super high torque setting or something, but short of that, guess I'll take it apart and see what see. Sucks that I gotta do it with the engine back together.....

So not running, but definitely close. Right before the battery gave out it gave a nice little growl, and seemed to be catching pretty good, so Im not too worried about it not starting. Fix this fuel leak, find and replace that broken brake line, patch the exhaust, and get the rotors and pads, and she should be on the road, hopefully by next Monday. And I actually have the money for parts and insurance and stuff this time too.

It's good to see a good restoration going on.

Let me know if you need anything.

Well the car runs now. Got the fuel line tightened up, just took it off and retightened it again, and it doesn't leak, the other set of washers still don't fit it though, so the bottom of the fuel filter doesn't have washers, I'm assuming it supposed to be like that though. But it doesn't leak, I'm happy.

The turbo seems to smoke a little sometimes in the middle, just on the exhaust side. I thought I was screwed, then it doesn't do it, then it does, but even when it does, seems to go away when it gets up to temp.

Found some small other issues, small coolant leak, just gotta tighten up the clamp, tightened some bolts on the turbo elbow to stop an exhaust leak, ect. The A/C doesn't work though. I know it almost def needs charged, but the condenser fan doesn't even turns on, I checked the fuse/resister pack thingys, but can tell if they're blown or not. Idk about that one....

Boost gauge doesn't seem to work, or I have a vac leak, or it rests at vac when I'm not driving, I know you can't get much boost at idle, we'll have to see when I drive. Gauge goes up to neutral when I turn the key on, then goes back down to pure vac. Maybe those two mystery wires?

Anyways I ordered the pads and rotors today. The ebrake cable snapped on me, I gave it a little tug and heard a nice thwack and the handle has no resistance now. Idiot light still shows the brakes on though....I have yet to get under it and look at it. Annoying though cause now I can't move it even though it runs fine, plus I can't seem to find anyone who carries the cable.

So hopefully get the pads and rotors on, fix the brake line and ebrake cable, and then sunny times......

i will be the first to admist i did not read all the text you typed up, but i do want to say props for tackling this project! keep up the hard work man!

and by the way great job on cleaning up the manifold and downpipe, you really did a great job on those!

keep it up man!

good work so far man. Remember if you ever need any help just give me a call.

That sounds like normal operation on the boost gauge. You should be solidly in vac at idle and you really need to actually drive the car to build any boost.

Thanks for the offer man, I'm doing alright, feel free to stop by and check it out though or help with some brakes if you want lol. I'll def call you nonetheless when I get on the road so you can see how it runs and stuff.

Anyways, got the engine all running smoothly and taken care of for the most part. Now I moved onto brakes, supposedly the last step before she's on the road.

My parts store guy couldn't find any rear rotors for a decent price, save for some Beck/Arnley ones, which he wasn't sure if they were Chinese crap or not, so we didn't order any. So I went on rockauto and bought to rear raybestos for $40ish. I wanted to get new/refurbed calipers for atleast the rear, since mine are rusted to hell and appear to be seized anyways. But couldn't find those for under $100 a piece, so I bought a basic refurb kit for the seals and stuff for $7 or something for front and rear, we'll see how well that works. Bought an ebrake cable also (Found the one on the car snapped at the single line from the handle.) Forgot to get bleeder screws

So the parts won't be in till atleast next week, so just gonna slowly work on fixing that front brake line and do the front rotors and pads (got the pads from Toyota), and wait for the rears. Car is sitting on the wheels which are on the car right now without any rotors on it. Seems to work fine, just had to take an extra second to help line up the lugs. Hopefully its ok to do that lol.

But thats all for now. I'll get some pics of all the brake stuff and put it up when I get that all done. Hopefully it will be done soon (Famous last words I'm starting to quickly learn :twisted: )

Oh and does anyone have any recommendations what to grease/lube the power antenna up with? I'm wondering if some dielectric grease or whatever would work better, never really delt with power antennas. Mine gets stuck at a few points going up and down. Its getting harder to get it to fully deploy and contract, even when I put a good bit of force into helping it, it wasn't so bad when I first got it. The white rubber seal is also pretty shitty, anyone know where to get one of those? Its letting a little bit of water and stuff down there which ain't helping much. Thanks guys.

Well the car runs pretty damn good, and got the brakes all finished, save for the master cylinder. Guess its been awhile, so to make a long story short(er)...

Finished the pads and rotors after a lot of bs and issues with pistons and seals and crap, etc etc....

Went to bleed them and the rusted ass brake lines under the car burst and threw fluid everywhere....

So we spliced in some new line from basically the start of the plastic rock guard cover all the way back until where it ends. Also spliced in new 1/4in line for that fuel tank vacuum return line or whatever it is (Not the main fuel line). The 1/4 inch wouldn't hold pressure at all, so after some waterworks with fuel we borrowed a double flare tool and got it to work. All the unions took a massive amount of tightening to stop all the leaks, but they work. We'll do the fuel line sometime in the very near future to get it done. The plastic guard is off still, we're (as me and my dad whose leading the brake line repairing part of this car) going to get under there and try and get them spaced out good and stop the rubbing, get the rest of the clamps on by some miracle (Bending brake lines always looks so easy, but always come out like crap lol).

So we bleed the brakes, but the peddle for the most part still goes to the floor. The car stops alright, not shitty, but not skidding or anything amazing. Trying to be nice and let the new pads and rotors settle in and get along. So with the brake peddle making weird noise, no leaking fluid, no added air in the system, and a peddle that still floors unless you pump it, pretty sure the master cylinder is gone, so ordering a new one tomorrow morning, and hopefully have it here by the weekend. Should be the *last* "major" work before I start DDing it.

While it would have been nice to roll out for the test drive around the block in a brand new paint job with all new parts and decals and Jordana Brewster in the passenger seat (Vin Diesel is an alright dude but c'mon....) in some nice Cali sun, instead me and my started up the street at 11'oclock at night listening to some unknown brake scraping noise and the smell of something burning in the engine bay (turbo, old oil, insulation on the exhaust manifold, who knows), and a little unknown shudder in second gear (as fast as we got, could be shitty tires, loose lug nuts, even though they were tight, the car not being driven since before some kid whose in kindergarden right now was born, idk).

So it runs, it drives. Just not safely enough for anything more then a test run around the block or something. Might take it down to the car wash or something, but I think I'm running on the back up piston in the M/C or something, and while the ebrake semi works, the cables to the wheels are rusted and prob gonna go if I really yank it, so I'll wait for any major driving after the M/C.

I find it funny as before I started working on it tonight I started thinking how this thing prob isn't gonna be running for a long time, and I should stop holding my breath and getting disappointed. The irony sometimes I swear....


I also have some touch up paint and a used turbo timer coming in the mail (I'm always late, so never would have time to idle the car, so figure this will hold me over for awhile). I also have literally $1.12 to my name.




P.S. The car has been christened "Mia". I have yet to do an official ceremony or anything, I'm so sure about breaking a bottle of champagne on the front bumper, so I'm open to ideas....

you have done a great job... i wish i was that far along on mine ( and i was more mechanically inclined). and thanks for writing this all up learned some stuff .. and good luck hope your on the road soon

Well its been awhile, but I'll post up some updates that I can remember

I finally put in a older HKS turbo timer I bought used off the boards. Works like a charm. I installed it in the center console, in the cassette tape area, upright so its velcroed against the side closest to the driver, so when you open the center console, the display is staring you in the face. Was a little tricky to drill through the center console pieces, and it stretched the harness to the very limit to reach, and splicing the ebrake wire sucked, but was definitely an awesome mounting position (got the idea off of someone else's car on the board). I highly recommend it for anyone putting one in. I'll have to put up pics of what looks like. I do have pics of the wires running by the shifter and my ground point however, which is the screw hole for the shifter surround on the driver side.



Ground Point, can barely see the metal ground piece on the side of the screw hole.



Other then that, I've been DDing it for awhile. Definitely a fun car, gets some looks, and a whole lot of looks when I took it up to a little party/open house day at the track. Haven't raced it yet in Auto X or Gymkhana yet or anything, but definitely can't wait too. Boost is very fun, and the cruise control and power windows and leather seats are awesome for the long trips to Virginia, which it just took (PA to VA Beach with detours along the way) with no problems.

However the exhaust did get some holes in it on the other side of the flex pipe now, so I'm going to patch those up and get a complete SS system in the spring. Probably 3 in, maybe 2.5 in, hopefully it won't be too loud. Looking for a double tip muffler system too, only one I can seem to find so far is on 935motorsports.

The rear diff also started leaking before the Virginia trip. That was prob 3k ago, and I still haven't done anything but buy the little metal gaskets for the fill and drain plugs. I can't tell which side its leaking out of, so I'm just going to buy the axle oil seals for both sides, drop it down and do that. Hopefully with that, new gaskets on the fill and drain, and the new liquid gasket FIPG or whatever it should stay leak free until I find a torsen to put in.

The clutch is also starting slip hardcore, even under the silghtest boost, so I've been getting nearly 20mpg driving like grandma for the past few weeks. I'm planning on pulling the engine and doing the timing belt, water pump, hoses from hell, new Clutch Masters FX300 clutch and a new Clutch Masters alum flywheel. Also going to get a new power steering pump, as it still sqeaks and the car randomly pulls all over the place, as well as randomly loose PS for 10 seconds or so once every few days. Gonna check the lines as well. Might throw in some ARP flywheel bolts too since I hear its a good idea while I'm in there. Also gonna do the rear main seal and the tensioner pulley and any other stupid stuff while I have it out.

I'd like to pull off the head and get it cleaned and maybe a new head gasket and etc etc, but what starts as a simple clutch and t-belt job ends up over 2k and putting in forged pistons and cams and shit, so I think I'll just save that for now. I think the new clutch and flywheel will be pretty fun. I now know why when I used to floor it it'd kinda slip and then jump out on me (Because I'm insane and 9 times out of 10 do it going around bends). I always thought it was the power steering, since I'm used to rack and pinion, and the PS lets me oversteer too much. But alas it was the clutch slipping and then catching real quick and surprising the shit out of me. Also explains why I could never lay rubber. I'm pysched.

I plan on upgrading the intake and exhaust in the spring, and then hopefully over the summer do some cheap basic suspension, and if I'm lucky upgrade to a W2A and CT20b. Actually all that, a torsen, and more suspension stuff, some rims, CS hood and bumper, boost gauge, some other small things and that's basically all I want to do with the car. I think that will give me a good tastefully upgraded car that has some kick without getting too insane or unreliable. Hopefully I'll pick up another one that I can do crazy stuff with, but for this one I plan on keeping the boost fairly low and close to stock. Then again I also want a MR2, to get deep in on my 83 Celi's transformation into a Rally Car, still looking for a late 90's or maybe bug eye Impreza, and racing seats would be sweet in the trac. So who the hell knows. Its been fun so far, and I can't wait to do some more.

Oh and the multi-tone paint doesn't look too bad when I do a decent wax job. Doesn't really last though, thing gets dirty hella fast. Gonna try and do one last good one before winter starts. Though it will probably get messed up when I pull the engine and start that work, which should be in a few weeks. I also replaced the brake lines and fuel line with the help of my dad, and he sanded some rust and coated it. The fuel line got kinked to hell bended it though, so I may put on a new one from the dealer next summer so I have no worries about fuel limitations. We ordered some of the brackets that hold all the pipes under the car from the dealer, hopefully we can sort that mess out. The lines weren't exactly bent perfect, and they're all over each other right now.

Bout all I got, I'll throw in some older pics I got for the hell of it. Still gotta bleed the back brakes more, the ABS still turns on early, I think still some air in the lines......





Old


New


In the smoke of the turbo after its first start after I installed it








And as always, all photos are available in the build album
http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt14 ... c%20Build/

Forgot to post this up a few weeks ago when I typed it on the other site's project thread

I love how I say I'm gonna be pulling the engine in a few weeks......a year ago.......haha........

Anyways as it stands now I have the car in a garage and have begun to disconnect everything. I aquired an engine hoist and a stand to work on. I picked up the Clutchmasters 300(I think if I remember right, too lazy to look it up) and a CM lightened flywheel. Also have a 93 AT tranny with 94k on it, so should help with the second gear issue. I also have a Torsen rear end, rebuilt power steering pump from Rockauto (Which people say you have to use a OEM, so we'll see how this works), and a bunch of other small parts, gaskets, wires, clamps, battery holder, etc etc.

I'm currently ordering stuff for the timing belt service, so gonna get an OEM waterpump, I have the pulleys, gonna get the tensioner, and the high volume oil pump from ATS. Also will probably order their gasket kit for the valve cover and cam shaft seals and stuff. Not sure if I want to get their other kit which has gaskets for the oil cooler and distributer, valve cover (again), etc. I also plan on doing some of the engine and suspesion mounts to poly, and some other small upgrades like that here and there. I'd like it to be a little stiffer without getting crazy for daily driving.

Oh and I also got a "complete" WTA intercooler setup off an ST205 . Not sure how much modification this will require, still reading up on it. Probably will get ATS's larger throttle body inlet while I'm at it. Asked the seller how many miles were on the water pump for the WTA and he never responded, so I may look into replacing that refreshing some of the lines and stuff.

My major dilemma now is choosing a turbo kit to go with. I think I'd like to get the GT28 over the CT27 as I'm looking to make more power at low boost with stock internals. ATS, KO racing, and Speed Source all make kits for them, though ATS has a kit for another $700 that includes a ROM tune, 170 thermostat, fuel pump, and bored fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator, at a savings of $274 supposedly if you just bought the basic turbo kit and everything else separate. I'd like to look at the other kits, but buying the fuel support for it can get quite expensive, namely the ECU tune, which from ATS is $600. I can look into piggy back and even maybe stand alone once we get into those prices. So we shall see. I plan on redoing the brake and fuel lines as well since they are somewhat kinked and not the greatest from our custom stuff we originally did. OEM fuel filter too.

I also have to choose an exhaust size. I'd like the 2.5, but its so close I'd might as well go with the 3in. I don't want this thing to be overly loud or anything like that, I'd like to keep it closer to stock with a nice note, so we'll see on that too.

My goal is to have about 300hp at only slightly higher then stock, maybe 14psi? I want to DD for the time being so I'd like to keep it low to keep it reliable and sane, and keep the stock internals alive.

And looks like a year later I'm still long winded....typed....ed......whatever.....

So to update...

I'm still pulling the engine. Got some of the stuff of the way, the midpipe for the exhaust is off, wiring harness is pulled out from the dash (don't forget that little A/C clip on the pass right side kick panel, almost ripped that out when I was yanking the harness out from the engine bay) [word to the wise, it should come out easy], lot of electronics disconnected, alt is off, coolant hoses (the heater hoses are a bitch), rad is out, A/C is unbolted, etc etc.

Right now I'm working on getting that asinine power steering pump bolt off, as well as my front drive shafts/axles. The suspension in this area is extremely rusted, as seen in the pictures. A codder pin broke off on the one side, I was lucky enough to grab the two lose ends and pull it out. The tie rod end castle nuts came off fairly easy enough ironically. The ball joint mounting bolts/nuts look like they will be hell though. I broke a 1/2 to 3/8 drive adapter just trying the first bolt, so I'll buying a 1/2 17mm socket and wrench to go at tomorrow.

I'm undecided how much suspension I want to replace. My inner tie rod boot I found is completely ripped, and I'm not sure if the joint is bad or not though. Everything is rusty, but all seems operational and fairly good shape considering. Moog tie rods are $100 a pop on rock auto, and I don't know if I want to spend 300 some dollars for stuff that may last until I do my suspension upgrades. I may just do the ball joints (way too rusty) and half shafts (boots are starting to crack), and redo the tie rods another day. But seeing as I have to atleast do the boots maybe its worth it, who knows.

Found I'm missing a bolt each for the alternator and A/C compressor, so hopefully I'll be able to pick those up at the dealer. I also broke my first bolt (YAY!), which holds the belt tensioner assembly to the block. Today seemed to be more like I remembered what it was like working on this car. Lots of frustration and disappointment and spending in ornate amounts of time on stupid pointless what should be 3 minute tasks lol. Everything was kinda flowing too well up to this point.

I didn't make it to the dealer in time, I wanted to see about pricing some new brake and fuel hardlines, as well as see what they price for a waterpump and some seals. I'll prob get the water pump off of 1ststoyota and get the seals from ATS, although I'm too lazy to add it all up and see if it'd be cheaper getting them through the dealer.

But anyways the important thing I have my 4k in place for my turbo/exhaust/tires. I'm eyeballing the GT28RS kit from ATS, as well as KO and Speed Source. The latter two I would need to come up with some sort of fuel and engine management, possibly a top feed fuel rail and a walbro pump; not sure where I'd go on engine management. I'd like to just tune the ECU for the time being but at $600 from ATS I might as well put it towards the real thing. ATS' kit comes with the bored fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator as well as the ECU tune, so I may just go with that to hold me over until I move to a top feed and standalone.

There is also an offer of a used GT29**[I don't remember] up on the table as well, which is supposedly low miles. I'd like to get something a little bigger then the GT28 just so I could hit 300hp reliably and easily on low boost. But its also gonna be a DD, so I'd like the fast spool up; I'm looking more to emulate the auto-x/rally/gymkhana type performance then drag racing. So we shall see. Gonna try and piece together some small other things like poly engine mounts and stuff. And find this facking overpriced C-one diff mount that apparently ass rapes your bank account from Japan and then takes the slow boat from China (almost literally). :roll:

What a great idea, let's use nuts and bolts on every other thing in the car except for the axle...


Oh this is gonna be fun taking apart...


Something don't look right there....


And that's why the brakes wouldn't hold the wheel enough to take off the axle nut


So I had to put the tire back on and lower the car back down to crack the nut...hopefully the inner bolts give fairly easily as I won't be able to do that a second time...


Well the ball joint was brand new.....19 years ago....


Then it sat in some guys yard for 5 years


So here we are, sunny times....


Rusty tie rod end but seems good condition? Maybe? I guess?


Sway bar end links, prob leave those be for now...


Never knew what the hell this was....


Fan Connector [Ref for myself for when I hook up a slim electric fan]






Found some Gates belts I ordered, should look nice spinning around :shrug:


Found the world's greatest pen holder (Comes in handy marking all the stuff)


New 93 tranny with 90k abouts on it


Its a turbo whata?


Shifter Linkage, in need of a speed source kit


Some space opening up


I honestly never knew that existed


Wiring harness all pulled out


Think I'll route the wiring harness over this when it goes back in, kinda rough going in underneath


Some older progress photos






Bastard Heater Hose

Mystery Connector

Mystery Wire (hmm....lol)

Ugly Rad Pic.... Now should I get an ASI or a Ron Davis...hmm..

Keep up the good work, looks like you got an alltrac pulled from the ocean :twisted: