Tire Shredder's MK2 7MGE budget NA screamer build thread

[Figit090]

I hadn't planned on torquing them...just snug like on my 5m. My 5m uses the phillips screws aswell. I replaced the gaskets nearly 5 years ago and it hasn't leaked even with the stock phillips screws. I just tried to get them all equally snug by hand. downside is they rust and are half stripped. these things should solve those two problems.

yeah, thats as tight as you need. i'm just a perfectionist and since the TSRM supplied me with a torque rating i used it. kinda silly but sometimes this kind of thing helps me keep peace of mind.

if i ever pull them again i'll probably hand tighten them though, the first time around it felt weird because the rubber washers keep compressing and its hard to tell when its good to stop. they'll be harder next time.

 

[Tire Shredder]

just some small updates! (more pics tomorrow)

I got the lower timing belt cover and plate painted, viscous coupler and water neck...but most importantly I sandblasted and painted the newly modified water pipe!

before:

my lovely mother picked up a sandblaster for me at a yard sale! (yup, she knew I'd want one...) sooo I sand blasted it!

POR-15ed!!

here you can see the modified pipe that's been pressure tested...sweeeet!

really happy with the results.


since i'm waiting for parts to arrive...I did some work on the actual car too! I removed all the flares to clean them again and "fixed" some rust I found under the driver's rear wheel with POR-15...cleaned all of the wheel wells (very time consuming) and gave it a fresh coat of ruberized undercoating. I was tired of how the wheel wells always looked like crap...now it looks like a new car!!

finally, I installed the Kbox.ca fender flare trim I've had in my basement for two years (I hadn't put trim shine on it in these pictures) it made a drastic appearance difference on the outside of the car! at least to me anyways...


Before:

During:

After:

thanks for looking guys...for the record the kbox.ca trim kit is a quality product, really happy with it. I highly suggest it if you are looking to freshen up the exterior of your mk2!

thanks for reading guys, more clean, shiny parts pics tomorrow.

 

[Sawbladz]

You lucky bastard. I wanna see this sandblaster! Good to see you installed that trim. It was long overdue. I need to swing by and pick up that fan after work one of these days this week.

 

[Tire Shredder]

heck yes man glad it's on there too. come on over! here's some parts jamie helped me mask off the other day.

I think I'll polish the sensors on the water neck, and the hosed on it is being replaced with a new one, so I didn't mask it off. but this is shaping up to be an attractive engine!

water neck!

viscous coupler...sawbladz masked off the bimetal strip on the front so it should function the same.

distributor

front plate

intake manifold that needs to be resprayed... not happy with the finish, but it's a start.

 

[SupraRon]

Sweeet! Love it Steve! This is great progress!

 

[Tire Shredder]

thanks ron! this was the reason I wasn't at the meet on friday..car was out of commission, and had a birthday to celebrate. this is the only three day weekend I'm going to have this summer and I really needed to take advantage of it (I worked monday and tuesday). Thanks for the encouraging words!

Steve

 

[MK3.0dudeman]

POR 15 FTMFW!!!! I love por 15 it's so good to work with and it works so well.You'll be happy with it in the long wrong.

The car looks like it's coming a long nice keep it up.

 

[SupraRon]

thanks ron! this was the reason I wasn't at the meet on friday..car was out of commission, and had a birthday to celebrate. this is the only three day weekend I'm going to have this summer and I really needed to take advantage of it (I worked monday and tuesday). Thanks for the encouraging words!

Steve

Was wondering where you were! No prob for the encouragement. I know I'll need some when I do my rebuild. Hope to see you at next month's meet. It's at Pur, if you're not already aware. Can't wait to see your baby in person!

Ron

 

[Tire Shredder]

hmmm what could this mean??

yup! I have 12 litres of super tech oil ready too... I'm going to assemble the block this weekend! I won't have the new oil pump parts or the crank scraper yet, but I should be able to get the rotating assemble together!

Steve

 

[JimR]

Cool stuff!

If you do use washers at the ends of the block where the crank scraper doesn't extend to, make sure you test-fit the oilpan bolts through those washers before you plonk your oilpan down on the fresh bead of FIPG!

It really sucks taking that FIPG stuff off only half an hour after you've applied it... ask me how I know...

 

[Tire Shredder]

drilled the new oil dipstick hole and plugged the old one! it's a little messy internally but I am very happy with the job done. I think it's a thorough one.

since I have never seen this actually posted...I thought I'd post some step by step pictures.

first, get yourself a 13/32" drill bit. You'll need to use some smaller bits first so the large bit doesn't walk... drill the front boss on the block, like this:

once drilled, it should look like this from the bottom. you can see the boss for the old one too, this needs to be plugged.

now comes the big dilema on how to plug this old hole up. There are tons of ways to do this, some use gasket maker, a bolt that's too small, a large screw, the old dipstick, loctite or JB weld....and any combination of these things.

Looking at my tap and die set, it turns out this 13/32s size is the size for an M12 x 1.75 bolt to fit in, once it's tapped. So I decided I would use JB weld and tap the hole for a suitable bolt!

I first grabbed a hex head, which will work but I found an allen bolt that I opted for in the end.

once tapped, I threaded the bolt in from the inside of the block and counted the threads that needed to be cut. I cut off two more than it would required to make it flush, so I could fill the depression with JB weld aswell, to ensure not leaks, while spreading it to help lock the bolt..

test fitting, it looks like this.

I then mixed up some JB weld (the origonal stuff...JB kwik sucks) and applied it to the tapped hole and the bolt. Once tightened I added more around the bolt and then on the exposed (block) side.

It's a little messy, I know...but it should do the trick very well. I filled the void behind the bolt with JB weld aswell, to help lock the bolt.

It's still wet in this pic I and haven't smoothed it, just applied it.

I then filled the depression on the exterior side to complete the seal, make it look attractive (once painted) and help lock the bolt yet again.

This is the most permanent fix for the hole that I can think of, outside of welding (which is a bitch on cast iron...) considering there is no pressure applied to this and the other sketch jobs people get away with...I think this will work great!

with this out of the way, I can finally paint the block tomorrow! I'm going to pick up the bottom end parts so I can get a start on assembly this weekend!

 

[SupraRon]

Very neat job Steve. :thumbup: I like the way your mind works! :icon_bigg

 

[wiseco7mgt]

How about if you just thread it in from the outside with a longer bolt, use loctite then cut the head off? Like you said theres a heap of ways to do it and yours looks like itll work so good job..:icon_bigg

 

[IJ.]

Aluminium plug machined for a 2 thou interference fit a smear of Loctite 262 and hammer would have worked as well

 

[Facime]

yeah, something about having a big chunk of jb weld just hanging out inside my engine block woldnt thrill me, but I think you know what you are doing soooo...

My only other problem with your build is that its SOOOO nice the way it is, and I almost feel sad you are going to do a 7M swap. The 5M/6M looks so good under the hood of a cherry mk2 like yours. But again, you know what you are doing sooo...

lookin good man.

 

[Tire Shredder]

How about if you just thread it in from the outside with a longer bolt, use loctite then cut the head off? Like you said theres a heap of ways to do it and yours looks like itll work so good job..:icon_bigg

yup I considered that...but I wanted it tight, I wanted tension on the threads...

Aluminium plug machined for a 2 thou interference fit a smear of Loctite 262 and hammer would have worked as well

yup, have done something like that before with the race car I work on. I do have access to a machine shop during the school year. I'm fairly afluent with the lathe and would be super easy to make, but alas...they probably wouldn't like me just popping in and making my own part that's not school related, and I didn't feel like paying/waiting for it.

yeah, something about having a big chunk of jb weld just hanging out inside my engine block woldnt thrill me, but I think you know what you are doing soooo...

My only other problem with your build is that its SOOOO nice the way it is, and I almost feel sad you are going to do a 7M swap. The 5M/6M looks so good under the hood of a cherry mk2 like yours. But again, you know what you are doing sooo...

lookin good man.

I've talked to a few machinests that have used it to repair cracked engine blocks and heads, so I am sure it will be fine. I'm not worried.

thanks, I love the way my engine looks right now too. the 5m is much more attractive and looks like it belongs. the 7m is just plain ugly no matter how you slice it... but it's too slow.

don't worry, this will be shinier and cleaner...I promise.


I will check the crank clearance tomorrow since I just picked up my bearings and can finally rest the crank back in it's home. I'll grind it if necessary.


IJ's idea would be the best repair.... but this will work.

 

[Tire Shredder]

block properly prepped for the POR-15 (marine clean, metal ready and dried thoroughly)

first coat of paint

Jamie stopped by when I was topcoating with the engine enamel. here it is done!

very happy with how it turned out! smooth and shiny! I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment....as soon as I started cleaning up the car almost 5 years ago I wished the block was painted.

 

[Tire Shredder]

today was an excellent day. Jamie came over again and we plastigauged the mains and rods. Everything came out perfect! they all have consistent, straight lines and are within spec. main number 2 and 7 are slightly on the loose side of the allowable tolerance, but still within spec. rods are all perfect, in the middle.

pics!

some more of the block painted

after a thorough cleaning, I set the bearings in their respective places.

I torqued the caps a head of time to ensure the bearings were seated properly

Then cleaned the crank, removed the caps and layed the gauge.

rods got the same treatment and ready for their plastigague too..

and measured!

I also checked clearance to the bolt I put in there and there's over 1/4" of clearance. will be totally fine

I've got to go to work now, hopefully I can gap the rings tonight so the pistons will be ready for assembly tomorrow! so far so good! all the major stuff looks great so far!

 

[Facime]

This is the really fun part of the build, the ACTUAL build! I demand daily pics of the progress! :icon_bigg

 

[Tire Shredder]

This is the really fun part of the build, the ACTUAL build! I demand daily pics of the progress! :icon_bigg

your wish is my command! haha