Ryan
New member
Well here we go again. As you all already know, my EJ257 hybrid motor build took a digger at 3k miles
. Being a full time college student, I was hoping that the motor would have lasted a bit longer
. I honestly don't have much time to work on the car, but there was no way I was getting rid of it. This next rebuild is going to be a slow process, but it will get done, and it will be built even better this time around!
So this previous weekend, Sergei and I ripped the motor out and got it pretty much completely torn down. We didn't find anything "alarming", which we were really expecting due to the amount of oil I was losing. There was some significant carbon build up on the pistons, but nothing eye popping. We didn't get a chance to pull the pistons out completely, which will definitely unfold the story some more on what went wrong. The heads and the seals all looked fine. I'm sure we are going to find a busted ringland or oil ring on at least one of the pistons. My biggest concern was cylinder scoring. I was terrified of it. I certainly did not want to have to bore the cylinders bigger than stock size (99.5). Looking at the cylinder walls, they look fine with no scoring found (thank goodness!). Everything else looked fine. Like I said, we really didn't find anything alarming, which is a bit odd. I was losing a quart of oil every 200 miles!
So, what do I have planned for this next build?
-My EJ205 heads are being sent to Equilibrium Tuning to have the combustion chambers machined to match the bore size of the EJ257 cylinder. This will not only yield some power gains, but more importantly eliminates head "overhang" over the cylinder, and also eliminates "hot spots" which can cause detonation. Some hybrid users get away with not doing this, but this time around I'm taking all precautionary measures.
-My short block will obviously need new honing and inspection for damage. I found a place up in Augusta (thanks Phil) that will hone and assemble the short block for a great price. Most importantly, I'm certainly ditching the stock STI pistons (junk) and replacing them with Mahle 4032 forged pistons.
-I'll admit, the TD04, for the time I got to use it on this block, was pretty damn impressive. I made close to 250whp/300tq. That is pretty damn good. But, I'm not doing this again for this next build. I got extremely lucky and found a VF22 turbo for an excellent price. The 22 is the largest of the VF series with the most power potential
This turbo will fit this build perfectly!
-Ditching my Exedy Stg 1 clutch and ACT 14lb flywheel for all brand new OEM parts. The chatter I get from this setup is enough to drive you crazy. It's coming out for good this time around!
-Good possibility I may get all new valve train parts. Considering STI cams, and BC valves and retainers, and ARP head studs. I'm not quite fully convinced about swapping out my stock valve train parts... for a DD car, it may not be worth while.
That's all I can think of for changes for now. I'll add and keep you all updated on the build process! I've also got some changes coming to the interior and exterior!
Few pics from this past weekend. Big thanks to Sergei (Lobstah). He has been a life saver and I cannot thank him enough.
Also, I'm open to comments and suggestions, so let it be heard! Say anything you want. I'm all ears at this point.
Ryan.
So this previous weekend, Sergei and I ripped the motor out and got it pretty much completely torn down. We didn't find anything "alarming", which we were really expecting due to the amount of oil I was losing. There was some significant carbon build up on the pistons, but nothing eye popping. We didn't get a chance to pull the pistons out completely, which will definitely unfold the story some more on what went wrong. The heads and the seals all looked fine. I'm sure we are going to find a busted ringland or oil ring on at least one of the pistons. My biggest concern was cylinder scoring. I was terrified of it. I certainly did not want to have to bore the cylinders bigger than stock size (99.5). Looking at the cylinder walls, they look fine with no scoring found (thank goodness!). Everything else looked fine. Like I said, we really didn't find anything alarming, which is a bit odd. I was losing a quart of oil every 200 miles!
So, what do I have planned for this next build?
-My EJ205 heads are being sent to Equilibrium Tuning to have the combustion chambers machined to match the bore size of the EJ257 cylinder. This will not only yield some power gains, but more importantly eliminates head "overhang" over the cylinder, and also eliminates "hot spots" which can cause detonation. Some hybrid users get away with not doing this, but this time around I'm taking all precautionary measures.
-My short block will obviously need new honing and inspection for damage. I found a place up in Augusta (thanks Phil) that will hone and assemble the short block for a great price. Most importantly, I'm certainly ditching the stock STI pistons (junk) and replacing them with Mahle 4032 forged pistons.
-I'll admit, the TD04, for the time I got to use it on this block, was pretty damn impressive. I made close to 250whp/300tq. That is pretty damn good. But, I'm not doing this again for this next build. I got extremely lucky and found a VF22 turbo for an excellent price. The 22 is the largest of the VF series with the most power potential
-Ditching my Exedy Stg 1 clutch and ACT 14lb flywheel for all brand new OEM parts. The chatter I get from this setup is enough to drive you crazy. It's coming out for good this time around!
-Good possibility I may get all new valve train parts. Considering STI cams, and BC valves and retainers, and ARP head studs. I'm not quite fully convinced about swapping out my stock valve train parts... for a DD car, it may not be worth while.
That's all I can think of for changes for now. I'll add and keep you all updated on the build process! I've also got some changes coming to the interior and exterior!
Few pics from this past weekend. Big thanks to Sergei (Lobstah). He has been a life saver and I cannot thank him enough.
Also, I'm open to comments and suggestions, so let it be heard! Say anything you want. I'm all ears at this point.
Ryan.
