Motor Rebuild (Pics Included) 56K WARNING!

[FlyinHawaiian]

Hey guys. For those of you who don't know, I am rebuilding my motor in my Protege. Its been burning a ton of oil (1qt/100 miles) so I am gonna pull it apart and see what's up. As of now, this is the list of parts (and other things) that I plan on using on the rebuild:

9.5:1 CR forged pistons w/.020 over bore
Forged rods
J-Spec Cams
J-Spec (626) Intake Manifold
Port & Polished Head/Intake Mani.

I'm getting most of these parts from Ken at ProtegeGarage.com and he's been a big help so far in helping me decide on which route to go. I reccomend him highly if anyone needs help with parts and such. This is my first update on the project and I plan on posting step-by-step updates with pictures. Me and my mechanic buddy Tom pulled the engine on Easter Sunday 04/16/06 (Ironic how this is a resurrection of my own...). We started at 11 am and finally got the bitch out at 4:25 pm. The hardest part was getting the clutch to clear the bell-housing. The only casualty was the front motor mount: The nut closest to the rear of the car got rounded off and we had to destroy the mount to get the engine apart from it, you'll see how we did that! Please feel free to ask any questions and give any advise along the way.

Hood off, ready to start disconnecting everything:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0008.jpg

Underside of the car... Don't you love that 2.5" Cat-Back?
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0011.jpg

Ready to disconnect the last parts and motor mounts... We'll need the extra support...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0021.jpg

Your's truly beginning to lift the engine free...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0023.jpg

Minor hang-up with that mount so we'll cut it free...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0027.jpg

Oops...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0030.jpg

Free at last! Heaven almighty, she is free at last!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0032.jpg

My poor baby...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0034.jpg

Stay tuned for further updates, same time, same place!

Jeff

[boostdprotegelx]

cool man, where is this located? I loved taking my motor out. it was a blast.

[FlyinHawaiian]

cool man, where is this located? I loved taking my motor out. it was a blast.

Elizabethtown / Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania... My friend works at two shops and one of them allowed me full access to their equipment and resources.

[boostdprotegelx]

Elizabethtown / Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania... My friend works at two shops and one of them allowed me full access to their equipment and resources.
that's awesome man. I live in reisterstown, MD. i dunno if that is far..maybe an hour or so?

[FlyinHawaiian]

that's awesome man. I live in reisterstown, MD. i dunno if that is far..maybe an hour or so?

Shit... my permanent home is in Urbana, MD (just south of Frederick off I-270). I go to school up here in PA. We're gonna be tearing down the motor to the block on Friday, you're welcome to come up and help if you wish. Let me know when you're available and if you want to help out and I'll keep you updated on when we're gonna do work.

Jeff

[boostdprotegelx]

Shit... my permanent home is in Urbana, MD (just south of Frederick off I-270). I go to school up here in PA. We're gonna be tearing down the motor to the block on Friday, you're welcome to come up and help if you wish. Let me know when you're available and if you want to help out and I'll keep you updated on when we're gonna do work.

Jeff
cool man. did you get your parts yet? I have a stock LX motor I need to get rid of, a fidanza 7.5lb flywheel, and an act stage 3 or 4 clutch..6 puck..

I'd prolly be up for that sometime. I'll let you know.

[FlyinHawaiian]

cool man. did you get your parts yet? I have a stock LX motor I need to get rid of, a fidanza 7.5lb flywheel, and an act stage 3 or 4 clutch..6 puck..

I'd prolly be up for that sometime. I'll let you know.

I'm probably gonna pass up the flywheel and clutch, a little too hardcore for be, but if you PM me your contact info I'll give you a shout whenever we're gonna work.

[boostdprotegelx]

I'm probably gonna pass up the flywheel and clutch, a little too hardcore for be, but if you PM me your contact info I'll give you a shout whenever we're gonna work.
yeah man. I'm just saying I gotta get rid of em. lol. You have more on your plate to deal with than my shit.

i'll pm ya. did you order the parts yet?

also, i have some AWR front and rear motor mounts, and some kartboy shifter bushings.

[Captain KRM P5]

I'm getting most of these parts from Ken at ProtegeGarage.com and he's been a big help so far in helping me decide on which route to go. I reccomend him highly if anyone needs help with parts and such.

thanks jeff!

[FlyinHawaiian]

thanks jeff!

I thought you'd appreciate the plug!

[Captain KRM P5]

I thought you'd appreciate the plug!

indeed i do - give me a call later tonight or PM me with your number and we can finalize details to get you all these parts

[SlowPro98]

What's up dude? keep the pictures coming. I love seeing engines getting pulled. good stuff!

[Protephile]

Good luck, Jeff...that looks like a lot of fun.
Let me know when you need an intake/ header /exhaust...lol.

[FlyinHawaiian]

Well we took apart the motor on Friday. Stripped the bitch to the block and took it along with the pistons, cams, and head to the machine shop. It took us about an hour to take the head off and another 3 to get the bottom end dissasembled. Funny how it took us less time to take the thing apart than to get it out of the damn car! Anyways, thanks for all of you who have been following this and I will continue to keep you updated...

The tear-down begins...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/2978.jpg

An hour later, the head is off... Pointing at the crappy #4 cylender head:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/2988.jpg

The block minus a couple of other parts...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/2990.jpg

Finally I come face-to-face with my nemisis, the troublesome #4 piston. Note the dings and pits on the top and bottom of the piston. That's what happens when a spark plug electrode shears off and plays ping-pong inside the cylender... DAMN!!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/2992.jpg

Doing bicep curls with my crank! Don't I look the part of a mechanic (Filthy jeans, old sports-t & backwards Foose design cap)?
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/2998.jpg

So, uh... Do you remember how this came apart so we can put it back together? Uh... no. DO'H!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/3000.jpg

Stay tuned for more updates and pics! Until then...

Jeff

[99 Pro]

Ha, ha. That is awesome that you are pulling everything apart and getting your problems fixed. Good luck with everything!

[CRZbrussian]

holy crap that thing is DIRTY! make sure to keep everything organized to the max, like label everything and number everything and put everything in seperate baggies. keep those pictures coming, looking good so far!

[FlyinHawaiian]

Update: Almost are the parts are in now, I just recieved the pistons today. Thank you to Ken from www.protegegarage.com for all of his continued help and service!

As soon as the pistons get up to PA, they along with the block will go to the machine shop to match the bore of the cylenders to the bore of the pistons. Then, the pistons will have the rings put on, attached to the rods and set to the crank (Which should be here soon too). Once that happens, it'll all come back to me (Including the now complete head) and the build will begin. I am planning on at least two full days for the rebuild, and then another day to get the motor installed into the car.

No real pics to post on this one, but things should be speeding up within the next few weeks, stay tuned!

[NegatiZE]

*subscribes*

Good job so on what you have done so far!

[zerocover]

Good to see that your still with us.
Get that thing fixed up and come to the next meet.

Planning on boost or just running forged rods for fun.

[FlyinHawaiian]

Well guys, time for an update. I have run into some interesting difficulties since the last updates. Turns out, everyone was wrong about the interchangability of the FP and the FS blocks. They are different and the internals are different as well. I found this out the bad way. After the machine shop tried to build my bottom end using the 2.0L parts in the 1.8L block, they discovered that the rods were hitting the bottom of the cylendars and the pistons were sticking 3/8" above the deck of the block. So all of that machine work done to the FP block, my beautiful beloved block, WORTHLESS!!! I passed this information on to my (now) good friend Ken over that ProtegeGarage.com, and he told me that he would see what he could do. I was at the beach at the time and with no access to a computer to try and find different parts or block, I felt pretty screwed. Ken came though and DONATED a FS block that he had lying around his garage.

I got a call from my mechanic and machine shop this weekend saying that my block will be ready for installation and assembly this weekend. Therefore, I am getting ready to drive down to Harrisburg to put the head and bottom together and install it. Zerocover: I am going with the forged internals so I can eventually run N20, but frankly, the parts are lighter (decreasing rotational mass) and its gonna take MUCH more for me to blow this engine...

Wish me luck and I'll be keeping everyone closely updated. I was thinking about all the mods I've done to this motor and I'm thinking that this could become one of the fastest NA Protege's. Finally, I couldn't have gotten anywhere without Ken's help, I would never hesitate to recommend his services to anyone. Well, this is probably going to be my final post before it all goes down. So: Here goes nothin...

Jeff

[Captain KRM P5]

Well guys, time for an update. I have run into some interesting difficulties since the last updates. Turns out, everyone was wrong about the interchangability of the FP and the FS blocks. They are different and the internals are different as well. I found this out the bad way. After the machine shop tried to build my bottom end using the 2.0L parts in the 1.8L block, they discovered that the rods were hitting the bottom of the cylendars and the pistons were sticking 3/8" above the deck of the block. So all of that machine work done to the FP block, my beautiful beloved block, WORTHLESS!!! I passed this information on to my (now) good friend Ken over that ProtegeGarage.com, and he told me that he would see what he could do. I was at the beach at the time and with no access to a computer to try and find different parts or block, I felt pretty screwed. Ken came though and DONATED a FS block that he had lying around his garage.

I got a call from my mechanic and machine shop this weekend saying that my block will be ready for installation and assembly this weekend. Therefore, I am getting ready to drive down to Harrisburg to put the head and bottom together and install it. Zerocover: I am going with the forged internals so I can eventually run N20, but frankly, the parts are lighter (decreasing rotational mass) and its gonna take MUCH more for me to blow this engine...

Wish me luck and I'll be keeping everyone closely updated. I was thinking about all the mods I've done to this motor and I'm thinking that this could become one of the fastest NA Protege's. Finally, I couldn't have gotten anywhere without Ken's help, I would never hesitate to recommend his services to anyone. Well, this is probably going to be my final post before it all goes down. So: Here goes nothin...

Jeff

thanks for the kind words Jeff (first). i am as eager as you are to see how well this new build works for you! let me know if you need anything at all. i figured out our motor mount confusion and will be addressing that with you tomorrow. simpler than you think!

[crzywolve]

'scribing :)

[FlyinHawaiian]

Okay, well thankfully it was only a one week delay this time... My buddy just took delivery of the finished motor and says it looks beautiful. I'm writing this post from Harrisburg, where the car is and will be starting re-assembly tomorrow. I'll be posting pics as it comes together. Wish me luck and here goes nothin...again!

Jeff

[FlyinHawaiian]

Well I am happy (EXTREMELY) to report that the motor is officially in one piece. My firends and I got together at 7 pm and built it piece by piece and we actually weren't left with any questionable parts! Finished it at 11, therefore only taking us 4 hours to build; granted the bottom end was assembled by the machine shop as was the head. We are all set to drop this beast into the car tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not being my high-res camera to the motor rebuild, but I snapped some pics with my camera phone:

My nice shiny new FS block with .020 over-bore, 9.5:1 CP foreged pistons & forged rods:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_Rebuild/Picture038.jpg

Head mounted on the block with the oil pan set as well as the J-Spec cams and timing belt:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_Rebuild/Picture058.jpg

Almost there, I'm just tightening the bolts on the intake manifold:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_Rebuild/100606_22251.jpg

The finished beast, gonna throw her in tomorrow:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_Rebuild/Picture059.jpg

Well that's it for now folks! Almost there! See you tomorrow, same time same place...

-Jeff

[Captain KRM P5]

looks awesome jeff - hope everything goes smoothly!

[Kagymp5]

looks great

[DiS]

Jeff! That's hot! Cograts on the rebuild!

[D-rock240]

Awesome news man! I'll have to meet up with you once you get it installed and everything, are you still working in Columbia?

[FlyinHawaiian]

Well, putting the motor went well, but the end result was not exactly what I wanted. We got the motor in with some minor bumbs and scrapes, but everything was okay and in place. As with anyone else who has ever dropped a modern Japanese 4-banger into a car, the hardest part was finding where all the damn plugs on the wiring harness went. Well we got all but one, and decided to leave that be: It looked like a signal wire and not a big deal. While we were putting the motor in, we also welded my old exhaust on and took out my Main-Cat, replacing it with just a straight pipe. Filled her up with oil, coolant, new oil filter, and spark plugs. Cranked her over and she started right up!

Needless to say, I was really happy. Initially, we heard some pinging and little rattles, but they worked themselves out. Also, there were some squeaks and such, but that was most likely from the belt-pulleys which needed a little WD-40. It ran for about 20-25 seconds and then just STOPPED with a little clunk. Not good. We checked under the car and it had spit ALL of the fresh oil I put in all over the bottom of the engine and on the floor. Turns out, that wire was a little bit of a big deal. It went to the sensor that fit in the hole next to the oil filter which all of the pressurised oil came out of. AKA, oil pressure sensor. We turned the crank to make sure nothing was siezed, and everything seemed okay. Since I didn't have a spare sensor lying around, we plugged the hole and filled her back up with oil. She ran once, so she should run again... right? Nope. I cranked and cranked, but it wouldn't catch. After about 15 seconds of craking, smoke came from some wires near the coil pack.

My conclusion was that it turned over the first time because of the fuel already in the fuel rail and system and quit when the supply ran out. Also it didn't turn over the second time because of a combination of the obvious short in the system and that my battery was low on juice. It had been sitting for about 8 months, so it wasn't giving me all it had. I'm pretty optimistic that we can get it running and good to go very soon, and my mechanic friend is going to try and work out the electrical issue.

For now, I'm still SOL, but at least my car is in one piece, in one place, and that it ran once, so it should run again...

Pics:

This was my first look at my baby in 8 months. You can't see it in the pic, but besides the dirt, the only casualty was a cracked windshield... thankfully covered by insurance:

http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/engine_rebuild/firstlook.jpg

Motor positioned, ready to drop 'er in. Interestingly, the hardest part was aligning the crankshaft with the tranny:

http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/engine_rebuild/downwardho.jpg

Darkness fell and work continued on my car until 3 that morning (I kind of like this picture):

http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/engine_rebuild/theshop.jpg

And then... the moment of truth:

http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/engine_rebuild/momentoftruth.jpg

I have a video of the initial start-up and it dying, so look for that soon. I've got the correct oil sensor and my buddy is looking at a working Protege to see where the wiring could be wrong. Updates will be soon!

-Jeff

[FlyinHawaiian]

So why does my motor not run??? Well, according to my mechanic friend, the exhaust cam siezed; not from oil starvation, but from possible out-of-roundness. As of now, it doesn't seem that the valves are hurt, nor any other vital parts in the bottom end. We're gonna see tomorrow if the journals are fried and what else is what. It was a low-milage J-Spec cam that I bought second-hand. If worse comes to worse, I'll throw my stock cams in, but if anyone knows, can I use my good J-Spec intake cam with the stock cam, or should I go both to stock?

This project has not produced much luck in my direction so any help / words of encouragement are welcomed.

...F*ck...

-Jeff

[Sleepy]

Dude, hope it gets sorted out! I'll be watching this. Got a 1.8 that I'm wondering what to do with.

[FlyinHawaiian]

Well guys, I took delivery of the car today! She purrs like a kitten and feels absolutely wonderful. I've been driving her all night. I'll update you all with pictures and tales (and maybe even a video) tomorrow.

YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff

[Captain KRM P5]

Well guys, I took delivery of the car today! She purrs like a kitten and feels absolutely wonderful. I've been driving her all night. I'll update you all with pictures and tales (and maybe even a video) tomorrow.

YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff

congrats jeff - you beat me on my own for sure :)

[Protephile]

Congrats on getting it running. You're gonna have to fill us in on everything since the last cliffhanger.

[D-rock240]

Awesome man, congrads! Will you be driving it to work? If so, lemme know. I'd like to see it in person.

[Kansei]

nice! yeah what happened after finding out that the exhaust cam siezed? After you get your fill of zoom-zoom for the day let us know!

[99 Pro]

Nice work! Give us the details.....and maybe some pics. :)

[mdl247]

congrats on the work hope it was worth it and btw whats with the story of your member name?

[bazooka joe]

still drivin!:)

[FlyinHawaiian]

Alright, well here's the final scoop:

After that exhaust cam seized, we looked into several different reasons for why it did. We determined that the machine shop did not verify the thickness of the cam in relation to the #4 journal and that the cam was slightly on the thick side and ground in. I had to buy a new head and, as of now, will wait to buy a replacement exhaust cam. The machine shop did all the remachining on this new head for free and delivered it to my mechanic friend who was gonna put it on. He did and started her on the first try. Unfortunately, there was a ticking sound coming from the top end when he went on his test drive... not so good...

Turns out, the machine shop, in their trusty craftsmanship, did not do a correct valve adjustment and the "wafers" (aka small discs on top of the followers) were too thin, causing the cams to knock every time the lobe came back around. My buddy called the shop to get new wafers and the valve adjustment tool. They, in turn, sent the OLD wafers that came out of the head and "couldn't find" the tool for Tom to borrow. My bud said "fuck you" to the machine shop and ended up going to Mazda, and borrowing the tool and getting wafers from them.

And that brings us to now... My friend put 550 miles on it between Friday and Saturday, for the initial break in, and I have put an additional 350 between last night and today. This morning I washed off the 8 months of grime and dirt that had accumulated on the car. She runs absolutely great and I can't wait to hit 1,000 miles, get the oil changed (to Royal Purple Synthetic) and let her rip! The only faults that are apparent as of now with it are: A lit check-engine light, most likely from a gunked-up O2 sensor; my reverse lights are both out, not sure why, but I'm not especially concerned; there seems to be a little bit of clutch slippage when I do a hard/quick upshift, but my friend told me that its just from the clutch disk/flywheel being inactive and out of the car for 8 months and that it should work itself out relatively quickly.

The car is pretty loud now too because I removed my main-cat and it pops quite a bit under engine braking... To be truthful, the exhaust sounds a bit like a WRX! I also notice a difference in power too. Between the upped compression, port-matched intake, no cat, bigger bore, and 2.0L vs 1.8L block, there is certanly no lacking for power: I can make safe passes from 55-70mph in 5th gear and in 4th, it goes all the way to redline (100 mph) without any slowing. I can't wait to take it to the track as well as get it dyno'ed.

This has certanly been a crazy adventure as this log has shown. Rebuilding a motor is definately not for the faint-of-heart and requires a crap-load of research. I've learned a lot though. I know that motor inside and out; every nut, every bolt, every sensor wire, every plug. Having said that, I am glad its over though and don't see myself undertaking a task like that again any time soon. For the short term, I'm gonna save up some more money to buy just a few last mods: First a new J-Spec exhaust cam; a good header; and I think its time to invest in a short-shifter.

Thank you to all of you who have followed me through this and have been keeping tabs on the progress. Its been 230 days exacty since I started and have spent $3,249.39. My biggest thanks go out to Ken from Protegegarage.com for all of his help with parts and expertice through troubleshooting; my friend Tom, for his mechanical skills and endless patience throught all this and Tom's dad, who, without ever seeing a Mazda 4-cyl motor before, told us, step-by-step, how to put it back together correctly.

Pics:

The very first look I had of her at the time of delivery:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0007_1.JPG

I think I was a little on the happy side to get her back...
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0008_1.JPG

This morning after the bath... Still dripping!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0016_1.JPG

The new engine... Oh yeah, I painted the valve cover too!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/FlyinHawaiian/Engine_rebuild/PICT0018_1.JPG

Thanks again guys and I'll be posting a video in the next week or so after I get the oil changed and can really stomp on it.

-Jeff

[FlyinHawaiian]

congrats on the work hope it was worth it and btw whats with the story of your member name?

Well, I was born on Maui and am a pilot as well. I'm gonna be comin back to the islands for the first visit in 20 years this summer!

[Sveivo]

You've done an amazing job!

[Captain KRM P5]

My biggest thanks go out to Ken from Protegegarage.com for all of his help with parts and expertice through troubleshooting

jeff, thank you much. it looks great. i don't recall but thought we did an obx header with the package for you - am i wrong on that or was there an issue with it?

[99 Pro]

Looks amazing dude! Props to you for all your hard work getting it back up running again.

[mdl247]

Well, I was born on Maui and am a pilot as well. I'm gonna be comin back to the islands for the first visit in 20 years this summer!

ah coo i was thinkin wow who's dis haole reppin da s/n flyinhawaiian. well as for maui dunno hardly went there but they built a whole lotta new stuff in certain places can't remember the name of the parts tho lol. congrats on the rebuild tho and sorry to hear about having to get a new head pretty much right after da build. im planning on forging my own motor but dunno what the torque specs would be for a lot of stuff, escpecially the con rods to the crankshaft plus i have no idea what the main bearings and rod bearings are or look like lol so i got a lot of research and crap to do lol. so far i got crap(thumb) .

[zoomzoom02]

congrats on the rebuild!

[NA_wagon]

what air intake is that?

[FlyinHawaiian]

im planning on forging my own motor but dunno what the torque specs would be for a lot of stuff, escpecially the con rods to the crankshaft plus i have no idea what the main bearings and rod bearings are or look like lol so i got a lot of research and crap to do lol. so far i got crap.

I got all of my torque specs from this website: http://protege5.ugly.net/ Someone took the time to put the entire shop manual online in .PDF format and it definately saved my ass from having to buy it.

And, yes, this haole (I know what it means...) is representin' but if it is any consolation, my middle name is "Kaholo."


what air intake is that?

It's an eBay intake that I bought off Super Matty P a while ago that he gave the matte finish to. I need to change the connecting hoses to black and get a new filter, but hell, I only paid $35 for it!

I seein your sig that you're running hi-comp and NO2... What is your CR (forged internals I have to assume) and how much nitrous are you shooting? What numbers are you seeing Dyno-wise and 1/4 mile wise too? I'm thinking of staying true to the NA cause and running a 50-shot eventually.

-Jeff

[bazooka joe]

nice job man!! (hang loose!):)

[FlyinHawaiian]

Just passed 1,000 miles on the new motor! Running strong too... Gonna get the oil changed this weekend and then gonna see what it can really do. I think I'm gonna switch to Royal Purple synthetic.

[mdl247]

[quote=FlyinHawaiian]I got all of my torque specs from this website: http://protege5.ugly.net/ Someone took the time to put the entire shop manual online in .PDF format and it definately saved my ass from having to buy it.

And, yes, this haole (I know what it means...) is representin' but if it is any consolation, my middle name is "Kaholo."


nah its all good braddah good enough for me dat you was born in maui lol, just thought was someone who came to da islands and decided to rep da name. but thanks for the link i am gonna save and print it later.

[NA_wagon]

I got all of my torque specs from this website: http://protege5.ugly.net/ Someone took the time to put the entire shop manual online in .PDF format and it definately saved my ass from having to buy it.

And, yes, this haole (I know what it means...) is representin' but if it is any consolation, my middle name is "Kaholo."



It's an eBay intake that I bought off Super Matty P a while ago that he gave the matte finish to. I need to change the connecting hoses to black and get a new filter, but hell, I only paid $35 for it!

I seein your sig that you're running hi-comp and NO2... What is your CR (forged internals I have to assume) and how much nitrous are you shooting? What numbers are you seeing Dyno-wise and 1/4 mile wise too? I'm thinking of staying true to the NA cause and running a 50-shot eventually.

-Jeff


yea im in the process of building the motor right now i should be getting the crank and block back next week from the machine shop as of right now the plans are pauter rods and arias pistons 10:5:1 might mill the head still unsure of were i want to be at compression wise as far as the nitrous goes probably start off with a 50 shot and keep moving up intill i meat and exceed my goal which is around 275 whp on the juice im hoping to make over 200 whp on the motor which is going to be hard to do but its going to be done i have a thread in the na section thats got pictures of the build going its titled na build right now its just got pictures of the block and old internals my plans are having everything done by mid summer i just got a killer deal on a nitrous kit so thats out of the way ill update my build thred when i get the crank and block back from the machine shop. nice car and glad to see im not the only one thats is committing to na or nitrous for that matter. good luck with your car and lets us know when you do some more stuff really interested in seeing progress on this thing cya

[FlyinHawaiian]

yea im in the process of building the motor right now i should be getting the crank and block back next week from the machine shop as of right now the plans are pauter rods and arias pistons 10:5:1 might mill the head still unsure of were i want to be at compression wise as far as the nitrous goes probably start off with a 50 shot and keep moving up intill i meat and exceed my goal which is around 275 whp on the juice im hoping to make over 200 whp on the motor which is going to be hard to do but its going to be done

Damn dude, you have your work cut out for yourself. 200 whp is a lofty goal, but I'm sure you can pull it off. What management system are you gonna use for it? If you're gonna run ultra-high compression, definately get a piggy-back or stand alone engine management system. With this you'll also be able to pull your redline up to get some more power out of the beast. A Protege revving to 8,000 RPM would be fucking sweet!

As far as the head is concerned, I'd recommend getting it milled and re-set using stronger valve springs. That way, you can not only boost the compression higher (I recommend 11:1 or higher) but also raise the redline a bit without blowing your head to tiny bits. (shocked)

_____________________
I'm gonna add a header soon (I hope) and throw the J-Spec cams in to fully bring my motor to NA glory and hopefully do some dyno runs. There's a dyno close to campus here and I plan on fully utilizing it. Only problem I've developed was I noticed a slight misfire today. Not sure why, but I checked the spark plugs to see if they were burnt or gummed up, but they looked beautiful. So I added a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to my tank to see if it'll clear it up. My friend suggested that it could be some crap that worked its way through the fuel system from the tank that sat for 8 months. It's intermittent, and I'm pretty certain that its fuel related and not mechanical. It only happens between half and full throttle at low RPMs. If anyone has any ideas, please pass them along. Other than that, its great! (first)

-Jeff

[NA_wagon]

probably go with microtech, it seems like a really smart system i dont think i could get away with a piggyback for what i want to do not real sure about what is going on with the head ill worry about that when i get the short block togther but it should be fun

[FlyinHawaiian]

Alright, well, there we go! Last night, I went down to visit my mechanic friend for the 1,000 mile check and oil change and everything looks good. I changed over to Mobil 1 Synthetic (Although I wanted Royal Purple) and she's running smooth as silk. I worked out the misfire problem too and I think it was a case of bad gas. I put 89 octane in to see if I could get away with it. Apparently not. Ran her almost empty on my way back, filled up with 93 and it almost cleared up immediately.

I'm gonna be racing my friend in his Nissan Sentra SE-R tonight, to see who is supreme now. Before, I would get him off the line and be ahead to the top of second gear, but then he would walk all over me. That was with a nasty 1.8L. Wish me luck and may the Sport-20 rule over all!

-Jeff

[DiS]

good shit man! (thumb) and good luck racing your buddy

[hellcat]

If someone hasn't told you already, check the reverse sensor on your tranny. There are only two. Check the wires. I bet that might be what is holding your reverse lights from coming on. When I did my motor swap, I damaged them in the process by setting the motor on them. Really easy to do as it turn out. Hope this helps :)

[Jas00x]

I figured I'd dig this one up as I am thinking about swapping in a 2.0L(na) in place of my 1.8L. My plan was to keep the F-type tranny and just swap the motor. Maybe a little headwork, ported manifold. I was wondering what you were using for an ECU to get the 2.0L to work. Did you have to replace the 1.8 wiring or ECU to the 2.0L parts?
Also, did you ever cure your Check engine light after removing the cat?

[Captain KRM P5]

he is running stock ECU right now

[FlyinHawaiian]

I figured I'd dig this one up as I am thinking about swapping in a 2.0L(na) in place of my 1.8L. My plan was to keep the F-type tranny and just swap the motor. Maybe a little headwork, ported manifold. I was wondering what you were using for an ECU to get the 2.0L to work. Did you have to replace the 1.8 wiring or ECU to the 2.0L parts?
Also, did you ever cure your Check engine light after removing the cat?

Well, here's the deal, I haven't sorted out the check engine light yet, and for sure the car is running a bit lean. I originally thought that it was from the O2 sensor giving a false reading from the broken mounts on the cat, but the problem still remains, indicating a tuning issue. It sucks to chase these problems, but there are things I could have done differently to avoid them. If you're going to do any work past just a basic swap, I'd recommend getting a SAFC-Neo Gen from Ken at ProtegeGarage and tune the car properly. With all the mods I did and from the CEL codes I'm throwing, its a 99% chance its a tuning issue. As a warning, though, the FS- ECU will not plug in to the FP- wiring harness, so unless you're planning on switching that out, I'd say spend the extra $200 and get the SAFC.

Good luck and if you need any help or advise, don't hesitate to ask!

-Jeff