#1289 - A story of rebirth

Quick update.. got the last piece of the pieced together FMIC setup. DC Sports makes a "funnel ram" pod filter. No rubber. 2.5" inlet, without any of that bad, leaky rubber s***.. this thing is pretty stout. Came with a 2.5 - 2.5 coupler.. so that was an extra bonus. Supposedly its design is also better than a regular pod filter. but who really knows. I am sure it isn't that big of a deal. But either way. I got it in red, because all the couplers that came with the kit are blue. I've seen a LOT of engine bay pics. I don't want it to be too much of 1 color. You guys know what I mean I'm sure. Too much "matchy" looks RICE to me.



Oh and a pic after I got the regular protege cluster and robbed it for the glass and 2 light bulbs.



Oh yeah.. and this cubby. I am convinced this is a wallet holder. I have no idea if it actually is meant for something specific nor have I searched or checked anywhere. But there IS a coin holder right above it.. No wallet = more effective ass dyno.. so maybe I am right.




Thats all I have for new pics right now..
 
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"Oh yeah.. and this cubby. I am convinced this is a wallet holder. I have no idea if it actually is meant for something specific nor have I searched or checked anywhere. But there IS a coin holder right above it.. No wallet = more effective ass dyno.. so maybe I am right."

I know about the coin holder.. lol I was talking about the cubby hole under it..
 
Super stoked right now.. I knew the fan shroud was delivered, but I didn't know the rad came too.

You can literally smell the quality. I'm glad I didn't cheap out on this..

Now I finally have all the major pieces. This is gonna be awesome. I'm doing it all at once, next weekend.. rebirth style. I'll drive the Tercel for a couple days if I don't finish.



 
I am getting antsy so I think I am gonna start working on the rad change and while the old one is out, getting the broken exhaust bolts out of the head. I think I wanna also try to get this boost gauge installed.

I don't know how you guys down there in Texas do it.. It is hot as BALLS here in North Carolina today. I can't imagine trying to do anything in FULL sun 97* weather, 80% humidity.. SCREW THAT. I took all the parts, threw them in the trunk and I am headed up to my work with a climate controlled shop where day can turn to night and not make any difference to me. Also, if for some reason I want to weld... (like a nut to the top of a broken bolt) I have access to a couple MIG welders.

I have to get this Mishimoto installed.. I dont trust that rad in the car now.
 
We have actually had a mild summer, lots of rain (record rainfall and flooding actually). Hasn't even hit 100 yet and usually when it does there is little humidity. At least here in central Texas. My aunt lives near Raleigh and wants me to come visit, never been to NC
 
We have actually had a mild summer, lots of rain (record rainfall and flooding actually). Hasn't even hit 100 yet and usually when it does there is little humidity. At least here in central Texas. My aunt lives near Raleigh and wants me to come visit, never been to NC

I'm about 30-45 minutes from Raleigh.. its worth a cruise I guess. from Winston Salem to about the Raleigh/Durham area is a bad climate zone. In Boone and Asheville you have mountains, and at the beach you have the ocean breeze. Central NC is usually HOT, humid, and STAGNANT. That last part is what really sucks. Its like the heat just keeps piling on.. it doesn't go anywhere.

It horrible... and the MSP doesn't like it either. Not with a stock SMIC and old radiator at least.
 
SO I had said I was gonna wait till next weekend.. But I couldn't wait. I spent 30 hours over the weekend working on this thing. I am spoiled and got to used the climate controlled shop at work.. I accomplished a lot.

Rolling in



Radiator coming out.



Not too shabby color considering what it came out of





Tiny crack.. it doesn't not wrap around to the back (I checked) I will MIG weld this maybe next weekend



Considered doing it, but realized I might not have time



Exhaust leak much? lol



Cool trick. Routing the vacuum line for the boost gauge. Started with some wire and a tire plug tool



I've heard people struggle with this. Its 26mm. Being a shop that primarily works on trucks, I didn't have any issue finding a wrench for this



BAM! That looks so good...



Still leaking oil a little. It looks like its coming from those.. Its easy enough to fix.. just didn't have time for it



So I guess this is "not bad"? You tell me



Same pic, but with flash



Was gonna cut there... but decided to drill out those two spot welds instead




LOL everything is COVERED in PB blaster



Found out that one of the turbo mounting brackets is broken. I still haven't fixed this. I think I will try welding it first.. then I will fabricate a new one if that doesn't work. Looks easy enough to make




Pulled the whole turbo assembly, from the cat to the manifold. Cleaned and inspected. WAY less oil in there. I didn't see any on the turbine.. But I suppose at 120,000 rpm, you wouldn't.



The exhaust leak was significant (the wetness is mostly from all the PB blaster)



Those valves are more light grey in person. Although that was surprising to see them not black.. being as rich as we run.. But I was flashed in 2006, if I am not mistaken. You can also see the broken bolt I have been talking about for 2 months now. its been broken for a WHILE.. same color as the metal around it



It looks like a new DP is in the future. This just looks terrible to me. (maybe its not?)



I successfully extracted all bolts. One the one in the top location for cylinder two had enough meat on it to use vice grips The bottom, cylinder 1 bolt was about 2 mm below the surface of the head. I actually slept in the garage in my car (its 20 minutes from home). I had a dream about how to extract it.. I used a center punch and a 5/32 drill bit. (smallest I had) I center punched the middle, 12oclock, and 6o'clock... drilled each about 2 mm deep, then gently coerced the bit across the space between... connecting the holes. Then I used a flathead and it came right out. SWEET!



This tool works pretty good, but I had to make the hole bigger to accommodate the 45ish degrees I ran the pipe threw there (due to not enough 90* couplers)



I did the 180* pipe for the hotside, snaked under the frame, keeping my windshield wiper fluid container. i had to use like 6" of extension and an extra coupler to get it where I wanted.

Also, I was nearly screwed. I didn't have enough clamps, or couplers, or pipes for that matter. I went to Autozone and spent $77.00 on Spector parts to make it happen. Of all the stuff I bought, I used 2 clamps off the filter. didn't think I had enough pipe to run the good filter I had bought (2.5"). Turned out it would have been way harder to go 2.25" to 2.5", then 2.5" to 3.0" (the spector stuff).. and still fit the blue, 3" pod filter. What a waste of money.. but I was in a pinch. (leaving this car in the shop was NOT an option - I would have gotten my ass chewed out for anything other than weekend use of the shop)



The scene



So here is where I stopped



Yes, the bumper has been hacked up.. There was no way around it. I may not have wanted to do it, but I didn't have a choice. I will do some measuring and fine tune type work on it soon. Its gonna be chopped up though... (shrug) At the end of the day, the tab on the passenger side, that holds on by the headlight was broken, and upon further inspection there is actually a crack in the bumper and I am pretty sure it was repaired when dude drove the car off the road years ago. I am probably gonna look for an after market bumper, thats meant for a front mount.. Like the B2 maybe
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Last one for now.. Under the hood (Yes my air inlet temp sensor is painters taped to the pod filter. It works. I know its INCREDIBLY ghetto... but keep in mind I did all this in 30 hours.. and I took a lot of breaks.. and I work really slow. lol

 
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NOOOOOO why did you cut the lip and bumper... That makes me sad, I don't care what anyone says it's not necessary to cut it to fit the piping. I have done it on 3 different MSPs. Good luck finding another clean front lip in the future.
 
i didn't have a choice.. I didn't have enough couplers or pipes or clamps and I was out of time. It was cracked anyways, with broken tabs... I was already considering replacing it. I think the B2's look good.

lol.. I knew you wouldn't like it.

Got a vid of the BOV sounds though

 
You did have a choice, you could have driven without a bumper for a couple days until you got the piping adjusted properly. And for the love of god please do not buy a body kit. What is happening?

To answer your questions, the stock S and J pipe look fine. They are cast iron so surface rust is normal and the broken bracket for the J pipe isn't necessary to replace. Most people just remove the clamp and hose for the oil return so they don't have to replace the gasket on the MBSP. And the IAT sensor isn't a big deal, some people stick it inside the air filter, I just left it tied away in the engine bay.
 
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oooooh.... s***... you DID do that =O... i mean i cut the tabs off the undside of mine... but damn that there you did is OBVIOUS lol... ah well..


i used smaller piping than you did, so i was able to.. persuade it.. around the buckets. your intercooler is also bigger.. you could have turned it upside down me thinks and not had to cut.. but hindsight. glad its all coming together for you finally.


ps... that frontlip is like.. $200 to replace.. in horrible condition... it will continue to climb in price to ;)
 
You did have a choice, you could have driven without a bumper for a couple days until you got the piping adjusted properly. And for the love of god please do not buy a body kit. What is happening?

To answer your questions, the stock S and J pipe look fine. They are cast iron so surface rust is normal and the broken bracket for the J pipe isn't necessary to replace. Most people just remove the clamp and hose for the oil return so they don't have to replace the gasket on the MBSP. And the IAT sensor isn't a big deal, some people stick it inside the air filter, I just left it tied away in the engine bay.

I think you are taking it worse than I am. lol. I honestly don't think once I trim it so its even, and clean, that it will be a big deal. And again.. this bumper was jacked up to begin with.

In hindsight, sure.. not cutting it would have been the more proper thing to do.. but I HAD to get it done, and I was out of time, sleep deprived and I wanted to go HOME. So I chose to cut.. Do I regret it? Maybe a little... but it wasn't perfect to begin with, and these things aren't Ferrari's. I think everyone here is WELL aware that these are worth more in parts anyways. $300.00 for a new bumper is nothing compare to the $400+ I just spent on a radiator and fans.. If this bumper was PERFECT, and cost $1000 to replace, then sure, I wouldn't have cut.. But at the end of the day, a new front bumper solution has been on my mind since I noticed the broken headlight area retaining tab.

I will drill a proper hole in the intake pipe to mount the IAT..

LOL though.. why do you hate an aftermarket front bumper so much?
 
oooooh.... s***... you DID do that =O... i mean i cut the tabs off the undside of mine... but damn that there you did is OBVIOUS lol... ah well..


i used smaller piping than you did, so i was able to.. persuade it.. around the buckets. your intercooler is also bigger.. you could have turned it upside down me thinks and not had to cut.. but hindsight. glad its all coming together for you finally.


ps... that frontlip is like.. $200 to replace.. in horrible condition... it will continue to climb in price to ;)

LOL.. yes. I did.

Thanks man. I made it run, I made it choo choo.. I HAVE what I really wanted. At the cost of some air intakes on the bumper. It is what it is. I will trim all that surrounding mounting plastic, thats meant to hold the black plastic inserts, then I will CAREFULLY trim the bottom section where its the ugliest and even it all up and make it look smooth. I will get more piping, couplers, and clamps so I can route things more the way I want. Not the end of the world.
 
Inter cooler looks like it's too far to the passenger side to me? Once you put your lower grille back in it won't be as obvious hopefully.
 
Inter cooler looks like it's too far to the passenger side to me? Once you put your lower grille back in it won't be as obvious hopefully.

Yeah, I didn't realize its a little out of adjustment from where I had it originally. I will be tweeking it as I get couplers and some more piping. Its no where near finished.

But I will have you guys know that I went ahead and just ordered brand new #0000-86-C02-00 (The insert piece I cut)

You guys made me feel guilty for cutting it and now I can't stop looking at it.. for that you suck, but also thank you. lmao

This still doesn't solve the bumper tab by the headlight issue though. Maybe I will try some epoxy or something.

Also.. holy crap this VTA BOV is loud as hell.. I may end up wanting to recirculate. Live and learn...
 
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