makes me sick to see 10AE conversions.. goes to show that the owner is not a true enthusiast and should not own the car.

i really appreciate all of the compliments on the car. its been a long journey. when i started the engine, it was smoking consistently and heavily. i fear the oil control rings are shrinking and i will need a rebuild i was originally thinking that the turbo was bad but now i'm not too sure..

 

put a NA exhaust manifold on it and start it up?

 

Your interior looks fantastic! Amazing how much class restored interior can bring back to a car.
If you really wanted to go the extra mile you could try an source the OEM radio as well for that 100% period correct look, haha.

 

i actually have an oem radio for the car. the downside is that someone hacked the original wiring pretty badly. it took some time to even figure out the exact wires for the aftermarket stereo. the rear amplifiers in the rear speaker wells are hacked up and worse for the wear. i would literally have to swap over an entire harness from another FC, along with the original speakers with built in amplifiers. i had considered installing the oem stereo and mounting an external amplifier to drive the aftermarket speakers. the original stereo has no built in amp and would not produce sound without one i believe. but i didn't want to try and hide an amp.. i'm pretty torn and this is something i've battled myself over for some time now..

 

i would have to figure out away to eliminate the piping for the intake to turbo and bypass that stuff, but if i did, your idea would work. i could put a few miles on it and see if the smoking persists.

 

Wow, that's terrible.

 

Even though I have a brand new Alpine head unit ready to go for my project, I've debated the very same topic for quite some time. I'm leaning towards going with my complete aftermarket sound system for the time being. An aftermarket head unit sticks out like a sore thumb, but if I decide I don't like it, it is easily reversible. If I decide to go with an OEM unit down the line, I will have to have a shop put an auxiliary input line in; I have to have my iPod.

 

^the aux in is a really good idea!

 

I've seen a few people on the forum mention this site - http://www.factoryradioservice.com, there also may be some shops local to you that offer the same services. He adds auxiliary inputs to radios not equipped with them.

 

^^that's kinda neat adding an aux in port to a stereo.

 

picking up a newly used engine for the car on wednesday and starting the following monday i will start the install and post ***** the entire process with pics.

 

got the newly used engine home last night and set on the garage floor! i will continue to update as the engine is torn down for new gaskets and a good cleaning before being put in my 10AE:

 

You gonna do the seals at all or just the gaskets? I bought a jdm motor for my 10th ae and just gambled hoping the seals were all good. Running pretty damn strong so far. I'm jealous seeing these 10th ae's still being white, your paint is still pretty good. Mine was painted over twice from previous owners, once silver, and now black lol :'(

 

i heard the engine run before it was pulled. runs strong. i'm going to replace every external gasket and seal as well as all of the vacuum lines. i will swap over all of the manifolds from my current engine as they are clean. i will also use my injectors as they have been cleaned and flow tested by witchhunter.com

 

I sold him the engine, it runs.

 

sounds like it will run really well!!

 

Cant wait!!!!

 

maybe you will have to come by and help me put it in, lol. i can bribe you with food and drink, lol

 

Im down whenever. Ill be over tomo probably.

 

see you tomorrow!

 

LOVE the build & the originality that's being kept, great work!!

Here's my radio after I received it from factoryradioservice -



He put a new LCD display screen, all new cassette drive belts, new pre-amp (believe this is in or just after the volume switch, circuit wise) cleaned the CD lense, replaced all the bulbs, and tested to make sure everything works. Great work, 60 day warranty if you have a problem too.

Keep it up on the 10 AE man, I'm really digging it!! Stock cars are my favorite

 

How much did that set you back? i was thinking abouut getting the same thing done but get a ipod hookup as well.

 

It was a bunch, $275 including shipping there & return shipping. It would've been an even $200 if I opted out of the new LCD screen, though.

 

i will update more tonight when i get home form work. i have new pics of the engine. the old engine will be pulled on tuesday.

 

Your revitalized factory audio system looks great. I had been planning to wire in a iPod connection using the built in RCA jacks (who needs a cassette player?). But, I like what you have. Well done & thanks for the factoryradioservice reference. If you haven't already, consider posting this in the general 2nd gen area.