Slow NA Pro5 build

Finally got to work on my shocks today, got the fronts put together. I have to cut apart the rear tokicos (siezed tophat nuts) so I'm waiting till tomorrow for that. Rock auto sent me 3 black shocks and one silver one... little peeved about that as I want the 03 to be my "clean" " nice" car, but not peeved enough to deal with sending it back and waiting longer. Looking back at it now i realized i put the shock boots on upside down so the top half is exposed, too lazy to redo them plus they are already mismatched screw it.

 
Im too lazy for all that taping haha, I've had lots of bad luck with my taping off skills. Luckily there wasn't too much tension on them, spring compressors help. I would highly recommend getting a set saves loads of money down the road. I reused all the hardware off the tokicos, all looked halfway decent for OEM stuff.

This is why it pays to keep your old crap










Chipped off the scale rust and wire brushed it down to bare metal, coat of rustoleum black and good to go.

Think I found my p0455 evap system leak lol cleared the code, we'll see if it stays off



 
P.S. gave up on sanding the outside of the intake mani, waaaaay too slow going for me. Smoothed out the transition between the stock port and the newly sanded surfaces. Just gotta plug the holes and find the gaskets and hardware for it
 
Finally got the daily lowered, endlinks are in and outer tie rods as well. Car is much more stable now, still kinda rough but more stiff now than bouncy. Still definitely need to do LCAs, I also nicked em while cutting off the endlinks (my poor front sway bar). Checked the oil for the first time in a week, that was a bad move. Only an 1/8" above the "oh s***" line, acceleration and downshifting feel so much easier now. Not really leaking too much, just the usual oil plug drip. still smokey start ups so I'm assuming my piston rings are still siezed so I threw in a quarter can of seafoam until I can do another flush. After reading Spencer's daily build I'm thinking of trying some atf down the plug holes. I'm doing a tune up soon anyways so F*** the plugs. I'll try to get some pics up tonight, trying to get some tires pulled off my "new" wheels haha
 
... Checked the oil for the first time in a week, that was a bad move. Only an 1/8" above the "oh s***" line, ..,. Not really leaking too much, just the usual oil plug drip...

Are you sure it's the oil plug leaking and not something else leaking from above and dripping off your drain plug?

You could be burning way more oil than you're dripping.


... still smokey start ups so I'm assuming my piston rings are still siezed so I threw in a quarter can of seafoam until I can do another flush. After reading Spencer's daily build I'm thinking of trying some atf down the plug holes...


I say flush it with 2 liters of diesel fuel mixed with 2 liters of engine oil.
Lol.
 
Lol I'm not sure my 226,000 mile fs would like that very much, might clean out a ring with the carbon haha. My oil plug is just a small drip, both my cars do it. I learned 2 new things today, first is the p5 can "comfortably" fit a set of 16" wheels and a set of tires. Second is racingbeat's sedan springs sit a good bit higher than Tein's sedan springs





























 
I would do a couple engine flushes or the diesel oil with diesel fuel that I'm currently doing before your smoking gets as bad as mine. I'm due for change 3 of 3. I wish I had done this last time I owned it and maybe it wouldn't be this bad now.
 
All the know how for that is on your build page correct? I'm starting to think maybe I should, it would be nice to free up the rings and stop the oil consumption
 
I think, I don't know how thorough I've been lol.
I got 15w40 Valvoline premium blue diesel oil, I'd probably do 5w30 diesel oil if I did it again but I don't know if it really makes a huge difference. My engine still runs so... But the Vavoline was $35 for 2.5 gallons so that also helped the decision making. Anyways diesel oil with 1/2 a quart of diesel fuel and run it for about 50 miles. Note: I can't say this has or hasn't improved anything for me, but it is a lot cheaper than an engine if it does help.
When I first got the car I used Liquimoly engine flush. I'm thinking of getting some engine restorer to see if that does anything.
 
If you're smokey on startup it's likely your valve seals. Same to my p5. I'd check that out.

I like the wheels in the garage!
 
If you're smokey on startup it's likely your valve seals. Same to my p5. I'd check that out.

I like the wheels in the garage!

Our FS engine has the specific problem of carboned up and seized oil rings.




To find out, remove your spark plugs in the morning before you start your car and look down the spark plug hole.
If the pistons are wet with oil then your valve seals are leaking.
If they are dry, put your plugs back in, start your car and run it for about 20 seconds.
Remove the plugs again and if they are now wet, it's the pistons oil rings.
 
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I like the wheels in the garage!
Thanks man, I'm hoping they turn out alright after I paint them. I havnt pulled plugs yet cuz I'm lazy, the seafoam flush did the trick with the 02 so ima try another flush or 2. If that still doesnt do the trick I'm gunna look into what Spencer_P is trying. I'll have to try what PCB is talking about and see if it actually is my rings 🤞 I really dont want to put a new head on 220k mile engine. I'm really trying to save up for a lower mileage engine and trans (really I swear!) But i keep buying little things like vacuum lines and rotors and small stuff like that. Honestly if I can do the mp3 swap, get a lower mileage drivetrain, and install all my goodies coming in the mail I'll be happy with this for a daily and can start working on project rally thrash wagon
 
Well bad news for sam (that's the 03 I finally named her) driving to work thursday the engine started stalling and knocking like crazy. I got it towed home so i didn't throw a rod through my block, did an oil change with some seafoam, reset the ecu, cleaned the maf, and changed all the plugs wires n coil packs out. Everything looked great except for the #4 spark plug. The electrode was bent and making contact with the....uh ground? Anyways it's still missing and stuttering but the knock has gone away for the most part. Just threw some more seafoam down the brake booster line. In other news I got the progress rear bar installed with the polyurethane bushings, got the control arms in too. PITA as always, I think I'm gunna try some atf in the plug holes next. Cylinders 1 and 4 have heavy oil deposits and 3 and 2 are pretty caked in carbon so I'm hoping I can free up my oil rings and clean off the pistons. HOPEFULLY it's just knock caused by all those heavy deposits, if not well I'm finally restarting my engine tear down. Got the head off yesterday with disappointing results, no scaring in 2 and 3 but theres rust on the walls. Getting a stand today so I can finally pull the oil pan and get all that nasty oil out. I'll try to get pics up later when I have the time
 
22mm progress rear sway bar and beck and arnley front LCAs, little bit of rubbing on the driver side rotor so gotta get the grinder out or just let it self clearance since I have new rotors to go on 😂







Some things you just never want to know



Towed her home so I didn't completely lose the engine



Number 4 was messed up pretty good but every other plug, wire, coil packs all was in good condition. Only seemed a couple months old, swapped everything just to be sure but I'm keeping them for backups



Cylinders 4 and 1 have heavy oil deposits and 2 n3 are pretty dark looking, but at least dry. I'm assuming I had some detonation caused by the heavy carbon build up, hopefully I can squeeze another 25k out of this engine







Definitely need a coolant flush, started getting deeper into my block now that I have a stand. Doesnt look so back, only major worry for me is the rust on the cylinder walls. I'm trying to reuse the rods and pistons since I just spent all my money on suspension. MY EXHAUST IS HERE!!!! I got the megan racing catback, I based my decision off youtube sound clips 👍 probably wont be going in for a while. Unless I can free up some carbon deposits in the current engine











 
Looking good! that exhaust is sexy

Might need a dingleberry tool if you've got some light rust on the cylinder walls. a cheap and cheerful honing job!


Looking forward to more progress!
 
Thanks man, what size brush should I get? I remember reading somewhere that the bore was 86(?)mm, so that would be roughly 3.4inches right?
 
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