JIC FLT-A2s

Alright, while I'm waiting for my engine I'll catch up on some past modifications that I've made.

This is the first performance modification I did to my car. JIC FLT-A2 coilovers with a Suspension Techniques rear sway bar. I installed the coilovers myself, and they were dialed in by John Mueller of Road Race Chassis. The difference in handling once I put these on was AMAZING. the car really sticks to the road. One note on the quality of Mueller's work: A while after I had been running this setup I took my DSM back to Mueller for some additional suspension work. He installed Diamond Star Specialties' spherical bearings on my trailing arms which disabled the active toe change (the DSS website has been down, so I guess they're out of business. Here's an archived link to their toe elimination kit. Here's a thread at DSMtuners that talks about the modification). He also had some tricks up his sleeve to use on the front end...which I don't think I'm allowed to disclose. After he did that, the handling DRASTICALLY improved above and beyond what it was like w/ just the JIC's and the swaybar. I recommend doing the rear toe elimination to anyone that owns a 1G DSM. The car is way more stable, predictable, and it rotates when I want it to.

Coilovers and swaybar:





First pic is has rear shock on the left and front strut on the right. Second pic is the two fronts:




Niceley labled for ease by JIC Magic:




Pics of the coilovers installed:

4G63 Build, Part 2

Finally, another post about the engine! :P

Okay, so after pulling the engine I had to strip it down to a long block. I took everything off except the timing stuff, valve cover, and oil pan.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me:





Harbor Freight stand bolts up nicely:




Intake side. Note the thick goo running down the block. Oil? Nope. Dead knock sensor. <=P





Intake ports up close:





Exhaust ports:





Timing stuff and valve cover:





After stripping it down I strapped it to a tire in the back of my neighbor's pickup and took it down to Robert Garcia at Road/Race Engineering (getting used to that shop name yet?? It's RRE from here on out.)

I should get the engine back at the beginning of next week. Now I have to clean the engine bay and a bunch of parts. I also have to order about a zillion gaskets, o-rings, and other misc. parts! =\

Stay tuned!

4G63 Build, Part 1

For those of you who don't know, I've been building/Autocrossing a 1990 Eagle Talon TSi (aka DSM) for a couple years now. Well, excessive blow-by as well as an unfortunate case of crankwalk (yes...even happens in a 6 bolt) have forced me to pull out the ol' 2.0L 4 cyl turbocharged 4G63. The good news is, its getting replaced with a 2.3L stroker built by Road/Race Engineering!!! XD

Here's a basic writeup of what I did. Part 1 is pulling the engine. I suppose this can also serve as a vFAQ for those interested in doing a 4G63 swap. Oh, many thanks to Andrew Finzle who helped me pull the engine! He's the one you see in the pics since I'm holding the camera.

First thing we did was pull the hood. This made maneuvering around MUCH easier, and allowed more light in the engine bay so we could actually see what we were doing:



Next...we disconnected EVERYTHING. I labeled all connections with masking tape and organized all nuts/bolts/etc in little ziplock bags with lables:





Look at the nest of vacuum lines! =S




I left on components that are hard to remove with the engine in the bay (i.e. manifolds, turbo, etc), but I pulled everything needed to clear the engine/trans from the car.

Look at all the space in there!:




Radiator removed:




Transfer case removed:




We used an engine hoist equipped with a load leveler (which I highly recommend). The best way with this car is to drop the engine out of the car by lowering it while jacking up the car (really...really high). I had to use the jack stands I usually reserve for my truck. Once the transmission cleared the frame we rotated the whole assembly 90 degrees and lowered it down onto a tire.








"It's late, Clint, put down the camera"






Ta-Daaaaa!



Thanks for the help Andrew!



I video taped the entire process so far, and when I'm done with everything I'll post a time-lapse video. Part 2 will be photos of the engine after I stripped it down. Stay tuned!

About Me

I am a video editor trying to make it in SoCal. I am a car fanatic. I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world (Megan). That's it for now.