I'm BAAACK! and here with my 98 626 (56k no way, tons of pics)

[mikebontoft]

OK guys, well I've decided to stick with the 98 626 over the 88 (though I think the 88 is cool.... I need a comfy car to head down and back to college. in a few years I'll probably look into it again, but at the same time I'll probably end up owning it anyway..... seeing that he wants to sell me the shop in 5-6 years. lol

SO ANYWAY...... back to the car:

Preliminary specs:
It's WHITE
Gray interior with leather seats
cruise control
tinted windows
5 speed 2.0 (FS-DE stupid interference type lol)
steelies....meh.
body issues.


Finally started the digging. the results? not good, but not bad....
First the snapped timing belt: (and ugly engine)

checked the valves with an air hose connected to the hose from a compression checker. Two cylinders leak through the exhaust, two through the intake. Go figure lol

SO for the record........I will admit I am fully pleased with the performance of this FACTORY timing belt........being that it ONLY took until 183k miles to snap! (nuts) (see why I don't trust anything on this car now? it was poorly maintained.

Hey I cleaned it up! made it SEXY! (lol2)

EEEW dirty carpets... (then all clean )

and then some good bad and ugly of the exterior:

I plan on getting some different hub caps and painting those white, then the steelies flat black (thought of just the wheels being white but the design on them is UGLY)

for a little more fun, while the intake and exhaust manifolds will be undone, I'll paint them white as well as the valve cover

I'll also be building a 2.5" exhaust replacing the cat with with an HFC one and magnaflow muffler out back (quality though ) not much else planned for mods

BUT
but I DID get this neat little toy that needs a home (nana)

I'll be back after work to update what all needs to go into this thing to make it roadworthy

 

[mikebontoft]

work bump. (yeah yeah I know lol)

actually wait heres the list for it all..... (fail for 56k work connection.)

I need 4 intake valves
4 exhaust valves
water pump
timing belt
plug wires
plugs
engine gasket set
(having head shop do the valves for me)
battery

Anyway, I've priced this up (with the exception of calling our head shop for labor for "our" cost) and it's $316.56 for the parts. not TOO bad. Right?

That at least gets it running...... the rest is to either have it pass safety & I/M or because I want to.

4 tires
headlight bulbs
serpentine belts
A/C recharge
coolant system flush (heater core too)
trans fluid flush
oil change

and I think that's about it.

eventually I'll get a new front bumper as well (seeing as it is messed up like freakin crazy) and fix the rust issue (visually) also either replace or polish up the headlights

 

[msp5]

dont forget your cam and crank seals also, good lookin car too, there rare to find in a 5 speed.most of them i see in the junkyard are all autos.good luck with the build

 

[mikebontoft]

yeah I didn't realize that I guess. The only ones I saw in the junkyard we autos and V6's as well lol...... and do you know if those seals come in the engine gasket kit as well??

anyway, I'll post this here

I'm not amused......

the head finally came off today..... these do NOT look bent (to me). but I'll have to check it out a bit more... (and take better pics)

all that's left on the pistons is a ton of carbon.

oh but let's play "spot the foreign object" what does not belong here?

lol.

 

[PrinceValorum]

It's a non-interference engine. Do you actually intend to attach the turbo?

 

[mikebontoft]

^^ YES apparently it is........

and yes I do.

 

[PrinceValorum]

Okay, it sounded like you were skeptical about the valves not "looking" bent. That's good news for you, though!

What kind of build do you envision?

 

[mikebontoft]

^^ nothing special... I have a small turbo too. it's a TD04 from a subaru.

just a few fun mods like paint stuff and just fixing up the car. I'd like to sell it eventually. get the 88 GT hatch

 

[PrinceValorum]

Hmm, that seems counter-intuitive to me. Mods usually devalue a car. When I see them on a sale site or whatever it always makes me think the car has been raced around and abused.

I wouldn't consider paint and fixing things mods. That's like a restoration/repair. I'm not trying to be nit-picky. I don't know how much you'd get out of it. Those gen 626's don't got for much over 2-3k in my area. At least that's what the listings are, I don't know if they actually sell.

 

[mikebontoft]

lol I guess that is a good point........ I'll just be restoring it.

just in the engine bay I want to paint a few things white. LOL.

most in crappy condition are around $1,200 last time I looked. didn't find any with leather though. so I could maybe even get hopefully $2k.

 

[mikebontoft]

eww can't believe how dirty that head was compared to now, with the new valves installed and all that good stuff.

also I did a little painting while the engine was apart (don't mind the wheels... I was bored lol)

I'm also getting these 15" lexus wheels and tires with great tread on them, for $100 tomorrow. just need to drill out the center bore 7mm bigger in diameter to fit the 626's 67.1 CB measurement. then I'll paint those gold like the valve cover

then also this is what it looks partly assembled in my trunk. still have to do the intake mani as well (not really looking forward to that.)

and I guess a few of the next things will be my own 2.5" exhaust with possibly a corksport muffler (as offered to me awhile back. gotta check on that), I'll check on how much a drop would cost me, and I'll probably change the gauge bulb colors to red just because I need to replace half of them since they're out on the left side.

 

[PrinceValorum]

A 2.5" exhaust it too large if you're planning on staying NA with the 2.0. 2.25" is about the max you'd want to go, that's what I've got. Did you paint the exhaust manifold with spray paint? It won't be white for long...

 

[mikebontoft]

^^ echo........ LOL.

yeah it was engine paint. I didn't expect it to stay white very long anyway. just kinda for the hell of it.

eh whatever one........ I don't care so much. I have a 2.25" one on mine and it's a 2.0. but a lot of people have it on 2.5" but no bigger if NA. and I may end up boosting it this summer just lightly. lol.

got my wheels in. I can't believe how big the tires are. I'm PROBABLY gonna need spacers but I'll have to find out after I take a hole saw to the wheels (NOT ideal. but it will work)

can't believe how much stuff I put in the trunk of my current car though. 4 wheels and the tires, the valve cover, exhaust manifold, spray paint, timing belt, some parts from the head, jumper cables........ and probably a few other things I don't remember.

LOL:

edit: looks like the lexus offset is +50mm while the 626 is +45mm. Looks like I might need at least 5mm spacers.