Prod

Ok, so I don't really know all that much about cars. I know a lot of numbers and statistics on cars. I know a lot of theory on how they work. I know how to drive and I autocross regularly. But when the hood of a car is open, I've pretty much been clueless. I learned how to change my oil 6 months ago, and I peformed my first mod (ECU reflash, didn't even have to open the hood) about a year ago. I think it's time I learned a little more.

I bought a N/A FC with a blown motor for $100. I got it from a friend who got it without really getting much info from the guy who sold it to him, except that it had no compression. Also, supposedly the transmission was recently worked on. So basically I have no idea on the status of mods and anything else that may or may not be working. The springs were cut, and the car was so low that I couldn't get a jack under it.

My goal with this car is for it to be a street legal track car. Basically I'm only going to drive it on the streets to and from races. I'm going to replace my Legacy at the autocross with it, and I'll do a few track days, and eventually I'll build it up for road racing.

Here's the car when I bought it:


I got a friend to trailer it to my garage:


I got a shortblock with compression (from Molotovman on here), that I'm currently working on swapping in. It was from an automatic, so I'm going to need to swap the flywheel and I'm assuming the counterweight as well.

Pic of the motor:



So to start the swap process, I had to use the spare tire jack from my Legacy to jack it up high enough to get the hydraulic jack under it. I had 2 friends helping me out. None of us have done a swap before, so at times our minimal combined knowledge let us down. Thankfully the guy I bought the motor from tossed in a Haynes Repair Manual for free, so I've been using that extensively. Anyways we went through the process of draining the oil and coolant, removing all the stuff that's attached to the engine, etc, etc. The only thing still attached to the engine is the transmission. Hopefully I can actually get the engine out tomorrow, it depends how long a header swap takes for a Ford Focus.

The car as it sits now:



Ok, so I guess I should start posting where I need help.

I'd like to identify this muffler, the tip says OPAK on the top. Does anyone know what type of muffler it is, and is it any good (performance wise)?




Rest of the exhaust system. Cat-back appears aftermarket, but low quality.


I was told this is an aftermarket radiator. The hole by the radiator cap is threaded, I presume for a temperature sensor for an electronic cooling fan. Since no such fan is present, I'd like to plug the hole. Suggestions?


That's pretty much what I need help on. Here are a few more tidbits about this bundle of joy:

Springs were cut... by a lot. On the ground parts of the car had no more than 1 inch of ground clearance. There are scratches under the car where the thing has been scraping. The scratches are basically the only bits of rust on the frame. I guess I'll journey over to the suspension forum to research aftermarket suspension systems.



The odometer is wrong. It shows 201k, but an educated guess would be closer to 300k on what the previous owner said. It's ok because I don't really need to know how far I'm going, since it's just going to be to the track and back. I'm guessing it's because of this:


The speedometer cable appears to be missing in action. As long as the tach works, I can figure out my speed.


Well that sums up my project. I'll update this as I go and get myself into some sort of greasy mess I can't solve on my own.

Mombodogs

Download, or buy the manual for it. Follow what you can understand, then if you got a question, go to the search here. It has a million posts, on a million things. If still then, you need help, just ask. But search first, it really is that good.

GOOD LUCK, PEACE THE DOG

GTU_FAN

that threaded hole in the radiator is for a fill-level sensor. Easy to find at a junkyard. Although if you have any kind of minor coolant leak you should just ground the sensor wire so it dosen't go off with its ear-spliting tone periodically.

adrock3217

Yeah, I guess doing things the dumb way could be a suggestion. Or, you could fix your coolant leak .........

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

The rad may be aftermarket, but it is an aftermarket stock replacement.

Looks like a good project, and congrats on doing so much work with so little experience! Isn't it great how you lean something new everytime you look at the car?

By the looks of it, the car had some hacking done. So obviously you're going to need to go over the whole thing and make sure there aren't any problems...

GTU_FAN

I knew someone was going to say that... but sometimes you cant afford to replace a leaky radiator and the above statement is supposed to be a temporary measure. I shouldn't have to say that of course your better of fixing your coolant leak. Duh!

Prod

Ok, thanks for the input guys. Here are some brake pads I found in the car. Does anyone know what brand/type of pads they are?

adrock3217

Well, if thats the case, I'd say invest in some StopLeak. Either that, or find the leak spot, clean it well, and JB Weld it closed.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Those aren't RX-7 pads.