Soon i'm going to be acquiring a semi-built J-spec 13b-rew for my widebody shell. And I was wondering if i could get a good thread going regarding things that are worth-while to do to a motor while it is out of the car and/or disassembled.
If that makes any sense.

It can be anything big or small, from relocating of some small wiring or vacuum lines to larger scale things. I feel this could be a good read for anyone (including myself) that is building a motor and doesn't want to look back and see some nice little touch that they could have done with their engine while they had it out of the engine bay.

I've personally never done a 13b build so the only example I could give would be on an SR20, where one of the water lines for the turbocharger goes behind the block of the motor and makes replacing it a B***h should it crack, where you could simply tap a hole on the waterneck and run a short line to the the turbo from there. So please, feel free to contribute. And once i get into my rebuild I will see if i can help contribute as well so as not to be a leech.

 

replace all the gaskets and seals that you can without taking the motor apart. or take the motor apart and replace the coolant seals or whatever

replace all the hoses and coolant lines.... all of them

rewrap/repair your wire harness if it needs it

if youre using the twins, go non-seq.... trust me, just do it

clean the block and all the parts

rear main seal rear main seal rear main seal..... replace it

oil pan..... do this https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-tech-1039223/

visually inspect the inside of the motor the best you can if you arent going to take it apart. looking in through the exhaust side, you can see a lot

lower intake manifold gasket, make sure its made of metal and not paper

oil injector lines, replace them with the ss ones or with new oem. just replace them or delete the system all together and premix

replace thermostat and gasket

stock fuel rail? do this FD3s Pulsation Damper Elimination

stock uim? do this How to Disable or Remove the Double Throttle

im sure theres more but these are thing that you can do to JUST the motor while its out. there are plenty of other things you can do to the car itself when the motor is out but the list above are things that you can do to JUST the motor.

 

Dont worry about the "sequential vs non sequential" thing. Thats not a small detail for improvement. Thats a build plan/path.

Look at the turbos. Look carefully at the heat shield bolts. The thin turbo heat shield vibrates and corrodes and falls apart and is hard to repair with the engine in the car. Make sure the heat shields are not ready to fall apart.

Look at the starter motor. Make sure the electrical connections look good. If possible, add some heat shielding to the wiring that goes to the starter, to avoid heat soak hot starting problems.

 

Hardened stat gears. Renesis e-shaft. 3 window bearings. P-Port it. Ditch EFI & turbo's. Carb it. Weber 51mm IDA. Megaphone exhaust...wake the WORLD UP.

 

Motor Mounts . this is a job that wont be fun if the motor is out , replace them .


everything is basically easier while the motor is out , if you have the twins . its a good idea to port the wastegate.

 

I would port the wastegate on your turbos. Consider any mods that you may want to do. They will all be easier with the engine out.

 

while you port the wastegate, you should take out all the actuators and flapper doors while your in there.

 

Purchase and install a LS motor/ T56. LOL

 

Fluidyne radiator.

 

Paint engine bay

 

I think you guys should read the part in bold again. Hes asking what he can do to the engine itself.

 

Be worth to place heat wrapping inside your tranny tunnel and lower firewall to reduce cabin temps/noise.

 

I suppose engine bay stuff can be included in this, I like how much stuff there is already in here!

 

oh. in that case...

CLEAN the engine bay

relocate the battery to the trunk/rear bins

maybe get the engine bay re-painted (i would)

inspect for rust if that is something that is a problem in your area

ummmmmm... not really anyhting else i can think of that hasnt already been mentioned. do you plan on upgrading parts?

 

So one thing i've decided is worth while (at least for my car) is removing the ABS system for a cleaner engine bay. Luckily Alex Rodriguez happens to sell a premade kit to do so.

I am also going to re-paint the engine bay/crossmember as im changing the whole color of my chassis soon.

oh and i dont have stock twins. Greddy single turbo

 

*If the oil pan has ANY leak at all, remove it, thoroughly clean and re-seal it following tips in a number of threads here and re-install with a pan brace.
*Pull injectors and have them cleaned and flow-tested.
*Unless you're tracking or auto-crossing and have a need to corner-weight the car, leave the battery where it is.
*Depending on ambition, consider an engine harness re-wrap.
*New coil harness
*Remove the flywheel and after you replace the rear main seal, re-torque the tension bolts.
*Replace pilot bearing, clutch fork and throw-out bearing.
*Check inner tie-rods for any slop and replace.