JBB's redtop s14 build

[dreimers]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

You know what, I'm just glad you didn't kill yourself on your test drive since your brake pads are on backwards man.
Fix that shit. You're running metal on metal.

DAMN!! I'm surprised that wasn't noticed sooner!

[TheRealSy90]

Originally Posted by dreimers

DAMN!! I'm surprised that wasn't noticed sooner!

Seriously, every reply after that post I was looking for someone to point it out, hoping that it would be before he went and drove it.

[JBB]

holy shit, good looking out guys, i dont know how i possibly could have done that..

im getting out to the garage tonight to continue some work but i will definitely attend to that soon

[JBB]

Ok so heres the deal. I went down to JDM Miami the other weekend to pick up a short block. It was about a 10 hour roundtrip but now Im making progress. Got to work on breaking down my motor.


















So I had let my friend seal my valve cover while I was working on something else. He's like "oh yeah I know how to do this, you just put a little bit of liquid gasket on the corners of the half moons". I knew that you needed to fill the half moon and I should have stopped him there. Here is the result:






I was pretty angry and alone and somehow managed to pick up the block and get it on the stand by myself







my bearings








"new" block from JDM Miami



that oil return hardline (the one that meets up with the T on the valvecover) was super sharp. I walked past it and just barely bumped it



anyways, got the old block down and the new block up on the stand and started taking it apart. things were good except for the timing chain guide bolts (the allen head ones); some monkey torqued these to probably 50 ft lbs and one of them stripped



we broke off the old plastic style guide and were able to clamp on with vice grips and spin it free

then last night i started the reassembly with a new oil pump























and i got tired / called it for the night. i set my oil pan ontop but it isnt sealed




picked up some assembly lube



ive got midterms to work on today but when i wrap up im going to head back out there this evening. ill seal the oil pan and secure the chain so it doesnt come loose. then im going to take out all of my rockers, shims, and lifters and spray out my head real good to get any metal shavings out and then scrape off the gasket on the bottom. depending on how things go i may torque down the head and continue reassembly

[JBB]

I slacked last weekend but I got down to business last night.


oil pan sealed:



Water pump:



Pulley:



Cylinder Head:





Bled all my lifters again. Intake side lifters, shims, and rocker arms back in with a little bit of assembly lube



Both sides



Cams buttoned down






chain guide in, tensioner in, CAS in, and a light coating of oil poured on everything




Valve cover sealed



coil packs



spark cover



and how she's sitting now



Im wrapping up some work then I have to go to a housewarming party for a bit. Afterwards I'm going to bolt pretty much everything on and see about getting it on the ground for the flywheel/clutch/tranny.

[Malik]

nice work... looks good

dont do the s15 front though

[TheRealSy90]

Missed a prime opportunity to do dual rocker arm guides while you had it all apart

[JBB]

haha true. i wont even really get to enjoy it much, im on such a time crunch. im moving to CA in december and leaving this car here for when im in town; i need to get it up and running so i can get it over to where i am storing it.

i got down to business saturday night after the housewarming party i went to:

motor mount brackets and ac/alt brackets




water neck sealed


coolant inlet sealed, rubber lines getting added back on, knock sensor on



intake mani back on




fuelo rail





exhaust side














ready for flywheel/clutch/tranny. ive got family coming to visit this weekend. looking to do those last few things the 30th and get it back in the car the 31st and running the 1st (hopefully)

[JBB]

finally got back outside --

got the flywheel/crank pulley torqued down



no pictures but got the clutch also torqued

tranny bolted up



somehow, during the struggle of getting the tranny to slide in, i lost the spring that goes under the shifter plate. i was able to order one from a nissan dealership in Massachusetts so I didnt seal that just yet. Ill have the fun task of doing it in the car again











got the motor in and my friends got the driveshaft in.

should be one more day to hook up the harness, do my belts, throw in the radiator and fill it, and hook up the intercooler pipes

[SoundEfx]

I just finished reading the entire thread and I must say that's a hell of a job. You're now the SR Swap Master....lol..

I'm glad you didn't quit.

But I must add that if you want to make some money, you could sell that S15 front you have and not put it on.... Jus sayin....lol.

[JBB]

haha thanks man. yeah, my experiences have been unfortunate but i think that i would be able to tear an SR down and put it back together in 1-2 full days pretty easily now

[Hoffman5982]

Why are you so mad about the half moons on the valve cover leaking? At most it was a very slight leak, I certainly hope you weren't trying to say that was the cause of your motor running out of oil

[JBB]

nope, not at all. the major leak was most likely at the oil filter relocation lines, like i said, they were loose


ETA: got pretty much everything connected and hooked up on sunday. lost sunlight and didnt get a chance to get it started. i noticed that my gauges werent coming on for some reason so ill have to look into that. this puts me in a real bind because ill be in CA the next 2 weekends and then when i get back i will only have 3 weekends left before the move to CA. that time includes working, finals for 4 classes, and packing :\

[BryanS14]

Holy crap dude chill on what every you use for your gasket material.

Id be scared a piece will break off in the engine and cause major issues.

[greenwood]

whatever squeezes out is not used. I also get excited with gasket material. I just error on the side that it squeezes out so it will not push out into the engine.

I'm sure the gasket stuff being red makes it look much worse compared to nissans gray

[JBB]

Originally Posted by BryanS14

Holy crap dude chill on what every you use for your gasket material.

Id be scared a piece will break off in the engine and cause major issues.

cool your jets, muchacho. as my last blocked leaked oil out until it was bone dry (admittedly, probably due to the loose oil filter relocation lines), i went with a little extra liquid gasket this time around. i still didnt use an exorbitant amount and there are many build threads showing way more liberal usage than mine

[JBB]

Ive got no pictures to post but it was a semi-success today. The car started just fine with the "new" block! The reason that it was a semi-success is because my tuner wasn't able to get into the map with his password so we could adjust the timing and verify that everything was good to go. He's going to look into it and see if its an issue with his laptop and try to get me running by next weekend. Its cutting it pretty close because I am packing my POD on the 18th and moving to Corona, CA on Christmas day!

ETA: in the downtime, I swapped the brake pads around so I wont die next time I get out on the street. It was just the one wheel and the rotor/pads didn't appear to be damaged

[damebash]

Hey man do you live in the North Tampa area? I recognize those apartments, I have a friend that lives there, if its the right apartments. But if you ever want to go for a ride or need help I live in south tampa. New on here but I read your entire thread lol. Good luck with the tune! I hope everything works out after all the headaches.

[JBB]

Nope, I lived in Town n' Country, at Camden Bay. Thanks for the offer! Im just now seeing this unfortunately.

So Glenn came by and got into the tune...not sure if I mentioned that we were locked out one of the days he came over. He found his old laptop and the password worked just fine. He got my timing dialed in and we were good to go!!

After I had finished packing up everything I was ready to drive the car over to storage. I turned it on to let it idle while I was trying to install that little brake pedal stopper thing (the one that causes your brake lights to stay on when it breaks or falls out) so I could drive over safely. Im laying upside down in the driver area when I start hearing this tapping noise, so I hopped out and went to look. My belts started to shred and were coming off!

I didnt get to have a final drive; we had to have it towed over there.

So anyways, I moved to Corona, California on Christmas day. Things were super busy as we had plans to go to Las Vegas for New Years Eve -- I had like 4 days to do a bunch of things like establish power, cable, etc. and buy a car. I started work the Monday after New Years; I work in Irvine, CA!

So yeah, sorry my thoughts are jumbled right now. I was cross-shopping an FRS/BRZ, a WRX, and a few other cars. I really wanted the WRX because they dont depreciate at all out here and it would be a good investment, but there were no newer ones in my price range. I went and test drove an FRS and really liked it.

So, I ended up going with something a little different:











Its nice having a working turbo car! lol

[Lees_Garage]

Nice ride, and welcome to the I.E. lol

[vJilly]

Damn i think if i was moving to california i would much rather have my car near me. so many track events in cali it seems.

[SoundEfx]

Damn pimp, brz, wrx or a BMW..... hmmm..... It doesn't look as if that was a tough decision....lol

Nice purchase.

[JBB]

Thanks everyone!!

I would have loved to have my 240 out here but I didn't really know how to go about it and had read some of the risks involved with having an SR -- sure I could pay someone to pass me for the smog but what about getting pulled over. I also needed something reliable because I'm commuting about 55 miles round trip every day.

I'll be back in FL the first week of May and will snap some photos and videos when I get to drive the 240 again!

[SoundEfx]

So you're going to drive the 240 twice a year?
You're not thinking about selling it right?

[JBB]

I have it stored at her parents along with my s15 front clip and my rolling tool cart. We both have family in FL and will visit yeah about 2-3 times a year which is when I'll get to drive her. I considered selling it but man I wouldn't get half of what I put into it and there are a few little quirks that make it not perfect that would cause someone to low ball even more. It would be nice to have that little chunk of cash in the bank though. It's a tough decision, so much blood sweat and tears have gone into this project haha

[SoundEfx]

It's not a hard decision at all... DO NOT SELL!!! lol...

Most of the time after someone sells their project that they literally put blood and sweat into, they regret it when they see another one.

Also, finding these cars in good shape is getting harder and harder by the day.

[vJilly]

I would have it with me, so many other people in cali run around with VH's, SR's, Rb's etc... I'd do it, have it looking respectable and only drive it every now and then but thats just me.

[JBB]

So guys, to give an update on my new car in case anyone had thoughts of purchasing a BMW, let me tell you a little story.

I bought my 2013 328i as a certified pre-owned vehicle through a local BMW dealership out here on 12/29/2015. It had 23,500 miles and, being a CPO, it had a great warranty. All of my maintenance and everything will be covered for the next year or 50,000 miles. After that, the CPO warranty kicks in and lasts until 2019 and 100,000 miles -- it doesn't cover maintenance (oil changes, etc.) but covers everything else.

So the night I picked it up, the head unit started going into this reboot-loop where it would stay stuck on the BMW logo screen (no access to iDrive controls) and play music for about 2 minutes before going blank and restarting a minute later.

We were heading to Vegas for New Years celebrations, so we took it to the dealer to see if it was a quick fix, and it was not. They said it was ok to drive so we road tripped to Vegas with no tunes. Coming back on 01/02/2016, we dropped it off Sunday morning, 01/03/2016, and they put me in a loaner 2016 528i with some nice options!

I was in the loaner for just a few days until about 01/06/2016 when they said I could go pick her up. They had replaced the entire head unit and iDrive system under the warranty and my car was back to new!

I made it a week, to about 01/13/2016, when I started hearing one of the door speakers rattling. I wondered how it could have blown as I haven't REALLY bumped the music. Then again, with my options my iDrive doesn't have a volume meter, but I don't think it was my cause. I was thinking about bringing it by the dealership again because the speakers are covered as well. Then Saturday night, we had stopped by downtown Fullerton for dinner and we were heading back on the 91 when all of a sudden I get hit with a drivetrain malfunction error, the car starts shuddering, and then I lose all power and come to a dead stop. A fuel supply error pops up on the screen which is odd because I had over half a tank of gas and haven't used anything less than premium since purchase.

Luckily, there was a CHP not too far behind us and he stopped all of the lanes of the freeway. I effectively shut down the entire 91 (which is like 6 lanes of traffic) for 15 minutes. Because this thing is so electronic, we couldn't get it to go into neutral. **I later found out from the tow truck driver that the neutral release is under the center console and you have to pop it off and use a penny or a key or something to twist it**. The car wont start, as its cranking you can get it into neutral but then once it stops it goes straight back into park. The CHP officer wanted to push my car with his bash bar while it was in park and Im like uhhhhh....please dont do that, let me keep trying. Miraculously, Im able to get it into neutral and we push it over to the shoulder and the traffic is on its way.

I wait in the shoulder for 40 minutes for AAA to show up to tow us 3 miles to the dealership where I actually purchased the vehicle. It's 7:30 at this time and so the service department has been closed for half an hour; they're the ones who set you up with a loaner vehicle. The sales floor manager comes out, who I had dealt with during the purchase, and he starts giving me the standard bs about how he can't get us into a car for the night.

So on 01/16/2016, I am in another loaner. This time a 2016 328i, also with some nice options.

I swung by the dealer today as the service dept. wasn't open yesterday. They wanted to swap out my inventory vehicle for an actual loaner. I was like 30 seconds too late and these asian girls got the 4 series I wanted. They didnt have any 1's or 2's available so my options were an X1 or a 3 series. I said I would take the 3, not knowing that they were going to put me into a 320i !!

Now I'm on my 3rd loaner in less than 3 weeks lol. and man, the 320i is seriously slower than the 328i by a considerable amount.

All in all, I'm kind of regretting this purchase... :\

[rawgarage]

Lemon law.... Cancel the purchase

[moto21]

Agreed^^^


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