My Project Blog (PLOG)

[techy101]

So I decided that I'd like to keep a running log of this project from start to finish. I'm not sure if this is the correct sub-forum, so feel free to move it.


I'll preface this with saying please correct me if I'm calling things by the wrong names, or are incorrect about something. This is my first time doing something this in depth with a car, and I'm kinda stumbling my way through learning as I go along (allbeit with a lot of help)

Anyways, today only a little bit got done. I got the piston that holds the timing belt in place put back in, and everything seems peachy. I won't really know until I get the rest of the car together and can fire her up again.

The A/C is now totally removed. (well, at least the parts in the engine bay)

I'll be purchasing a tranny cooler and a new tranny filter in the very near future to help out until I save up the $$ to do the manual swap. Those will go in before I put everything back together, just as a matter of convenience.

The brake leak that I have seems to be coming from a hard line, but I can't exactly tell where. Two lines drop under the car from the inside, just below or behind of the rear bench on the passenger side. They then go back beyond where I could see with my limited vantage point at the time. But the fluid was clearly coming from there. A few hard pumps of the brakes confirmed that. That's high on the list to tackle as soon as I get back in town.

Also cleaned the engine bay kinda. Just soaked with simple green, and hosed down twice. Made a huge difference. There's still a lot more cleaning to be done, but this alone made it look like a whole new car.

Both rear wheels have one stud that isn't like the others. I assume it was from an OEM lock or something, But they're rusted beyond use, and there's no way to thread a lug nut onto them. So today I replaced the one on the passenger side. Brake rotors were a pain in the butt to get off, but some PB Blaster and a dead-blow hammer helped a lot. Also, getting the bolt out is quite a chore, but it is all done now. When I get back I'll to the other side.

Also, under closer inspection, it would appear that the power steering pump has been replaced fairly recently. The aluminum is in much better condition than the rest of the engine.

So the agenda for when I get back into town, and can pick up my parts from the dealer (a week from Monday) is:

(X) figure out how to fix the brake fluid leak
(X) Replace rubber seals on the center timing belt cover
(X) re-assemble timing belt cover, all pulleys, alternator, and the alternator/P.S. belt.
(X) replace the two (i think) bypass hoses on the water pump
(X) install tranny cooler/filter
(X) re-install the radiator
(X) find a way to mount the (what I believe to be) power steering cooler since I removed the A/C Condenser which it was attached to.
(X) Finish up fixing drivers seat belt
(X) Replace rear-wiper nozzle, which has broken down where the hose attaches
-replace drivers side rear wheel stud
-remove rear sway and grease bushings
-replace passenger side seal on the rear-diff
(X) install other door speaker, finish wiring new head unit
(X) change oil and filter
-flush/fill rear diff fluid
-find and fix creak that's coming from the front passenger side wheel area. (suspension related)
(X) Get started removing rust from the engine bay, and other places where there are small spots.
-continue to clean interior
-Re-install rubber door seal things, which were removed by previous owner.


I think that's about everything. It's a lot of little things, and should keep me busy, but I hope to have the car back on the street by that Friday or Saturday (6/22, 6/23) so I can drag it to the weekly Scooby meet.

Here are a few engine shots for your enjoyment. They are post-bath.

[XT6Wagon]

If you are planning on doing the 6spd swap, you can use the tranny cooler for it since it has an internal oil pump and provisions for external oil cooling. The JDM STi's come from the factory with external oil coolers. Which I do reccomend doing if you are going to be running track time or other applications that will have the front LSD working hard.

You can also use it with an external oil pump on a 5spd though without a front LSD they don't have remotely the same thermal issues and would be slightly pointless.

good luck with it.

[techy101]

I am hoping to do the 6 speed swap. The end goal will be ~350-400whp. It's going to be a long time getting there though. If only money grew on trees.

[sicksubie]

your plans to reach that whp mark being?

[Kelvin]

Yellow paint. Lots of it.

[techy101]

Installed a tranny cooler tonight. As well as replaced the missing radiator fan. Probably a good thing to have on there.

Tomorrow will probably be a day to do the other rear-wheel stud, change the oil, and replace the seal on the passenger side of the rear diff. I'm not sure how to do that, but that's what the interweb is here for. That, lots of tinkering, the service manual, and it should get taken care of.


Then on Monday I can go get all my random bits from the Dealer, and get the rear-wiper thing working again, put the timing belt cover back on, re-attach all pulleys, pop the alternator belt back on, hook everything back up, and fire her up again.

Once that's done, the only thing really keeping me from driving her is to find and repair the leaking brake line.

[techy101]

Well, I got all the stuff I needed from the dealer, and got crackin'. I just threw 4 new tires on the car since one of them had a puncture in the side wall, and they were junk anyways.

Got the cooling system put back together, and everything seems to be good. Well, except for a very small leak at the top of the radiator. It's just a mild drip leaking out around one of the bolts that holds the rad. fan in place. I put some stop leak stuff in there for now until I find myself a new radiator.

Got the brake issues solved. I had a local shop make a new hard line for the rear-passenger brake line, since the old one was rusted and spewing brake fluid. It was like if you were bleeding brakes, the pedal just dropped to the floor. So they made me a new line for the one that was ruptured. The other one is pretty rusted up too, so I'll be going back to have that one done in the not to distant future.

I'll try to snap a pic of the old water pump later tonight. It was definatly toast.

I've now changed the fuel, oil, air, and transmission filters. Tranny fluid looked good so I left it, but I changed out the coolant and oil. I tossed a quart of Rislone(sp?) in with the oil, and a thing of sea-foam in with a fresh tank of gas. Should help clean things out a bit if they're gunked up.

Also had to change out the transmission resistor. That was easy and fast, and now no more blinking power light on startup. As well, I got a new nozzle for the rear sprayer, and got that replaced, so now I have working wipers all around

That's about where things stand right now. Next on the hit list is the remaining wheel stud that needs changing, and the seal at the half-shaft and rear diff.

[techy101]

Re-wired my new stereo, so it works now. Tunes are great to have while on the road.

Also did the re-solder fix on the seatbelt control unit, and it seems to have fixed everything right up.

[techy101]

Getting a bit farther on the car. Have a stuck bolt trying to remove the rear pass. side half shaft from the diff. I think tomorrow I'll just drop the diff and avoid this whole fiasco. Spent way to long already with this bolt.

Anyways, Here's a picture of what my water pump looked like. No wonder it was leaking, and howling. Also a picture of the rear hub I'm working on right now.

[techy101]

Well I finally caved yesterday and gave up on trying to free up the stuck bolts, and just dropped the rear diff. I was able to remove that piece on the side of the diff that the side seal sits in, and clean everything out. The Shims were pretty nasty, and I suspect that it was also leaking through them. So after a good cleaning, I swung by the local scooby dealer and got a hand putting the side seal in. They had the right tool, and did it for free for me.

Got everything put back together, which took a bit, and things seem to be working fine. I haven't been more than about five miles though, since the brake line that wasn't replaced yet is leaking, and I don't feel like killing myself. That'll get replaced tomorrow or Tuesday.

Also drained the tranny, and refilled. The fluid looked pretty good, and probably didn't need it, but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. Which was a good thing since the drain plug was somehow missing the crush washer.

My oil leak is getting a bit larger. It's dripping right down on the exhaust, so it's making lots of pretty-white-smoke. It's not pouring out, just looks pretty bad because it's dripping right on the hot exhaust. So I've got to figure out which seals are leaking so they can get replaced. Or just deal with it until I do the full rebuild.

Since it's not really going to be on the road until the brakes are fixed, I think I might attack the squeaky suspension on the front passenger side today.

[It's Just Eric]

This is my first time doing something this in depth with a car, and I'm kinda stumbling my way through learning as I go along (allbeit with a lot of help)

You're doing a GREAT job so far. keep it up

[techy101]

It's been a busy few days. I got to the bottom of my squeaky suspension. Turns out that the endlink on the front passenger side sway bar had one of the bushing things mostly frozen. So it was squeaking something awful when it would get enough force to move it.

I swapped that one out with a new one. Suspension is quite as can be.

I also changed out spark plugs, cleaned the MAF and throttle body, and put a new timing belt on.

It's been a whole fiasco though. I changed out the plugs, and took the car for a test drive. It died on me on the side of the road. I couldn't get it started back up again. Eventually I got some tools and pulled all the plugs, and reseated them. The car started up, and I was able to limp it home. But it was running like crap.

Took a look at it today, turns out that in my many attempts to crank the car, somehow the timing belt jumped a tooth.

I took the opportunity to change out the belt since I already had to take it off. I was having issues still getting the car to run, so I pulled and cleaned the plugs again, and things fired up. But only for a little bit. Then it died again.

Figured out finally that it was a barely loose connection at the igniters. I threw a zip tie around the connectors, and everything worked right away.


After all the changes, the thing is running like butter. Much smoother than before. Now I've just gotta figure out where the heck she's leaking oil from.

[Kelvin]

My guess? Cam or crank seals. Subies always seem to leak there.