I'm rotarded again!
05-16-09, 10:40 PM
#1
I'm rotarded again!
Back on Christmas Day 2007, my old 12A decided to give up its front apex seal
The plan has always been to upgrade to a EFI 13B, just happened a bit sooner than I wanted.
What it had before:
bone-stock 12A with Bonez high-flow cat.
installed a limited slip differential
Racing Beat springs & Tokico Illumina shocks
Now:
stock Series 4 13B
Richard Sohn metering pump adapter
Racing Beat sway bars
Turbo II seats reupholstered
RE-Speed rack and pinion kit with 15:1 quick ratio rack.
First engine rebuild for me, and boy was I totally nervous putting it together, I was all over the place making sure seals didn't pop out. If I was not making the car a semi-daily driver, I would've stayed carbed. Extending and installing the wiring harness was a royal bitch, but thankfully this site made it a bit easier.
I had to give it a good jump start to get it going, but after the smoke cleared she starts up every time. It's got a vacuum leak or something, but it won't hold an idle, just drops to 700 rpm then revs itself up to 1200. Once going it drives nicely.
The front needs to be aligned, but so far the rack feels good, really good. It's quite an adjustment to make after driving a power steering equipped MX-3 for the last year. Like Sgt Fox, I had to grind fractions of an inch off the tie rods to fit the 13" wheels. It still rubs at full lock, so back to the grind.
They say measure twice, cut once. For the steering shaft that needs to be cut, measure with the column covers on. I measured from the mark I made on the shaft, but it ended up squeezing the plastic covers.
D'oh!
-During engine removal, my helper wasn't looking at the front of the motor and so it banged into the AC condenser, venting all refrigerant. Which is still R12....****. I was under the car making sure the transmission tail wasn't getting stuck on its way out.
-Upon installation, I caught the speedo cable between the body and tranny mount. So when it tries to work, it snaps. Now my speedometer doesn't work. Another cable is on the way.
-Under the passenger side headlight there's a really nice hole that things like to go and stay out of view for days, like my alternator bracket.
Ah, a 13B at my front door.
Yeah, I know the radiator cowling isn't there. And I need to make a hole in the intake for the vacuum line that goes to the Bypass Air Control valve.
The plan has always been to upgrade to a EFI 13B, just happened a bit sooner than I wanted.
What it had before:
bone-stock 12A with Bonez high-flow cat.
installed a limited slip differential
Racing Beat springs & Tokico Illumina shocks
Now:
stock Series 4 13B
Richard Sohn metering pump adapter
Racing Beat sway bars
Turbo II seats reupholstered
RE-Speed rack and pinion kit with 15:1 quick ratio rack.
First engine rebuild for me, and boy was I totally nervous putting it together, I was all over the place making sure seals didn't pop out. If I was not making the car a semi-daily driver, I would've stayed carbed. Extending and installing the wiring harness was a royal bitch, but thankfully this site made it a bit easier.
I had to give it a good jump start to get it going, but after the smoke cleared she starts up every time. It's got a vacuum leak or something, but it won't hold an idle, just drops to 700 rpm then revs itself up to 1200. Once going it drives nicely.
The front needs to be aligned, but so far the rack feels good, really good. It's quite an adjustment to make after driving a power steering equipped MX-3 for the last year. Like Sgt Fox, I had to grind fractions of an inch off the tie rods to fit the 13" wheels. It still rubs at full lock, so back to the grind.
They say measure twice, cut once. For the steering shaft that needs to be cut, measure with the column covers on. I measured from the mark I made on the shaft, but it ended up squeezing the plastic covers.
D'oh!
-During engine removal, my helper wasn't looking at the front of the motor and so it banged into the AC condenser, venting all refrigerant. Which is still R12....****. I was under the car making sure the transmission tail wasn't getting stuck on its way out.
-Upon installation, I caught the speedo cable between the body and tranny mount. So when it tries to work, it snaps. Now my speedometer doesn't work. Another cable is on the way.
-Under the passenger side headlight there's a really nice hole that things like to go and stay out of view for days, like my alternator bracket.
Ah, a 13B at my front door.
Yeah, I know the radiator cowling isn't there. And I need to make a hole in the intake for the vacuum line that goes to the Bypass Air Control valve.
08-01-09, 11:11 PM
#6
wow, thread resurrection. Thanks, guys!
a little over 2 months and 4,000 miles still going strong *knock on wood* Fixed the AC too! The idle problem went away as the engine built compression, after about 1,000 miles the idle was normal. I also solved the tie rod/wheel clearance problem with quarter inch wheel spacers.
Still a couple of kinks to work out, plus some other things that need to be done even before the old engine died, but overall the car is pretty much where I want it. Looking forward to doing a track day or autocross soon.
The steering wheel is by Nardi, called the Gara 3 or Sport Type B. That particular one came with GC8 Imprezas in Japan.
a little over 2 months and 4,000 miles still going strong *knock on wood* Fixed the AC too! The idle problem went away as the engine built compression, after about 1,000 miles the idle was normal. I also solved the tie rod/wheel clearance problem with quarter inch wheel spacers.
Still a couple of kinks to work out, plus some other things that need to be done even before the old engine died, but overall the car is pretty much where I want it. Looking forward to doing a track day or autocross soon.
The steering wheel is by Nardi, called the Gara 3 or Sport Type B. That particular one came with GC8 Imprezas in Japan.
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