the REbuild thread
 

This is the documentation of my rebuild after I lost oil pressure, opened up the engine to replace the oil pump and instead discovered that one of my oil squirters had destroyed a piston, scratching a cylinder wall in the process. See carnage thread here.

As of right now, the head, rods, pistons, crank, oil pump, etc are off the block and I'm getting ready to take it to a machine shop Monday to find out what size pistons I end up needing.

Going to add double heavy valve springs, BE oil pump and one of those 949 harmonic dampers as I reassemble.

Things I'm wondering about:
1) Should I redo rod/main bearings because I have everything apart even if everything looks fine? This does seem like a good time to verify clearances are cool. I will feel kind of retarded if a spin a bearing 3 months from now and have to do this shit over again. Of course I will also feel retarded if I use the wrong size bearings or something and make things worse.
2) edit: nevermind, I see them
3) opinions on using "assembly lube" vs motor oil

Also, I learned a very valuable lesson about engine disassembly. GET AN IMPACT WRENCH. It turns hours of HNNNNGG into minutes of BRRRT.

edit: image upload is working again

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448216490

Everything taken out and set aside for later reassembly.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448216490

Still have to remove the bearings in the block, the head studs and the remaining oil squirters.

Welp, it's at the machinist now. Updates next week.

YAY

Assembly lube = YES.

I did all my engine stuff with hand tools. I didn't want to much up threads or do something stupid hamfisting it with impact shenanigans. That's an excuse for me not having any powered tools other than an angle grinder.

My impact wrench never leaves the lefty loosey setting. Thats just asking for me to break something.

I had no success removing pistons with an angle grinder. I just didn't want to say anything because I didn't want Fae to laugh at me.

edit: valuable lesson learned, always go talk to the machinist in person. Explaining over the phone was a train wreck. In person, everything made sense and he could just show me what he was talking about.

New plan:
1) Rough bore to see how deep the scratch is, then he'll tell me the new size so I know what size pistons to get.
2) Looks like there are little ridges around the edges of the main bearing surfaces, which he wants to bore hone away so that the little ridges don't collapse after I put the bearings in and change my clearances or let the bearings settle at an angle. He said that if I wanted to switch to arp main studs, he'll do it after I get them in.

So that's pretty much it for the next week or so.

Just heard back and 84.5mm pistons and ARP main studs shall be ordered. I'm going to bring by my crankshaft to have it miced and then order bearings as well.

I have double heavy valve springs and a set of valve seals on the way already. I'm going to drop the 99 head off for a rebuilding as soon as it all arrives.

So it's looking like I should have everything (give or take pistons... edit: ooh nevermind, looks like wisecos sometime next week) ready to reassemble by the end of the month.

are you keeping oil squirters or ditching them? curious

Ditching them as soon as I find a fastener of the appropriate length to plug the hole.

They're a bandaid for running cast pistons with a turbo on a low boost setup. I just don't see the benefit to keeping them. I'm open to counter-arguments but the topic has pretty much been done to death with nearly everyone reporting improvements in oil temps, oil consumption and oil pressure. Add in the ability to torque them down a bit harder without breaking anything, and it seems like a non-brainer given the cause of this rebuild.

i'm stuck with mine in, i hadnt thought of it during my build :\

i thought a benefit was a cooler piston which might help further prevent detonation. As far as oil temps, I think an oil cooler is in my future, but oil pressure wouldn't really be that big a concern if upgrading a pump w/ shim

Eh, I wouldn't stress over it, since my car was fine for over 10 years with them and I never noticed the problems others have complained about. Unless yours fall out, it will probably never be an issue. I still have no idea why one of mine came out after so long. With me upgrading the oil pump anyway, it's probably massive overkill to seal the sprayers.

:party: Copper crush washers.

I already have copper crush washers. I am probably going to get some 10x1.25x20mm fasteners and grind them down to 10mm.

84.5mm wisecos on the way.
ARP mains on the way.

edit: ooh, wife called- double heavy valve springs just arrived.

Head got finished in like 2 days. Wooo!
Pistons got drop shipped to the wrong address. Fuuuuu.

TTIWWOP of parts, cats, wife

You aren't getting wife or cat pics. Have a picture of a dog sitting next to a cylinder head instead. BTW, the quick reply function is broken. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450803576

That's a weird looking cat

Is that your wife's purse strap hanging off the chair? Just seeking proof of your claims; there's a lot of misinformation spreading around on the internet these days. It'd be a shame to find out you where lying all this time.

Do anything special with the head, or just a good ol' stock refresher? Did you have to get new valve guides? Reuse valve train? Did you forget to pick up orange juice from the market?

Cute cat.

What would be the point of lying about rebuilding my shitty car?

It's just a stock refresh. Basically new guides, seals, springs, retainers with valves and seats reground. I would have used new valves but the old ones looked practically new so I didn't see the point.

Lies...about you being married ;)

I keed.


But you did end up with the double valve springs as in your first post right?

Yep, double heavies. I described my setup to emilio and he told me double heavies so that's what I got. I still have the old ones. I'm kind of curious what the actual spring rate is after all these years.

Finally.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450975060

Got a call from the machinist, gonna pick it up Monday.

Wiseco lists several categories for ring gaps and none of them really seem to match my application. I'm guessing I'm either street-moderate turbo/nitrous or high performance street/strip.

If I go with "high performance street/strip" (.0045/.0055) I end up with
.0150" top ring
.0183" 2nd ring

If I go with "street- moderate turbo/nitrous" (.0050/.0055) I end up with
.0166 top
.0183 2nd

I'm leaning towards the first one. I found another thread on here which had the same question but no answers.
edit- machinist says I am street moderate turbo, I want the extra top gap

Also, is it normal for both the compression rings to seem identical with no discernable tops and bottoms?

Also, I thought ACL race bearings were out of stock everywhere. I just picked up a full set for 126.

edit, finally got home, have pics from this morning

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1451967277

Since the end gaps are minimum, I assume that you go up to the nearest measurable feeler gauge size, right?

IE, run .017 for the top ring, .019 for the 2nd. That gives me .00511 per bore-inch 1st ring and .005711 per bore-inch for the 2nd ring. That's a hair above the moderate turbo, but still a bunch below the oval track ratings.

Going to take all weekend to do the ring gaps, don't want to fuck this up.

Hmm according to the guy at wiseco I spoke with, you don't mess with the oil ring spacer at all. The rails get gapped to .010.

edit: update for tonight:

Doing the rings this weekend. I learned you have to be really careful squaring the rings or it throws your measurements off by a bunch. I got an initial gap reading of .024 and then more carefully redid the squaring and got .020. Still wider than I would like, but I'm going to see how the rest of the rings measure out before I call up wiseco to whine on monday.

When the wife is away, the dining room table is a workbench.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1452999526

Not that anyone is following this thread but here is another update:

Used the 5 dollar ring compressor instead of the 70 dollar fancy one... and it was fine. Incidentally, all four rods + pistons + rings + bearings together were within a gram of each other. Feels good man.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453089048

Time to install the caps and plastigage everything.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453089048


And to celebrate, beer time. This is a 9% ABV hefeweisen I brewed last year. Found 4 bottles sitting around in the brew room. It tastes like weihenstephaner, but it will get you wrecked a lot quicker.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453089048

Weihenstephaner is my favorite beer. This would be holy grail.

Beer news:
The belgian trappist style strong dark ale I was brewing turned out awesome. 11.01% ABV, tastes great. Dry, malty and super complex. Very dangerous to drink as it doesn't feel boozy at all but about a half hour after you drink a glass, you really feel it. If you pound away 2-3 glasses in a hurry, watch the fuck out.

I am reusing the yeast cake to make a pineapple cider- 4 gal apple juice, 1 gallon pineapple juice, 2 oz citra dry hop for a couple of weeks. Basically my dry hopped cider recipe with pineapple added. Gonna be super dry and fruity.

Car news:
Oh and I got a beam torque wrench (infinitely superior to that clicky bullshit) and finished plastigaging my bottom end. Engine is loose by factory specs but a bit tight by race specs.

Mains are all .0015 on the nose.
Rods are all .0012ish.

I am happy with this. I am now going to lube everything and reassemble again for the last time (hopefully).

What did you end up going with on the rings?

I told my machinist to set the rings for 30 PSI boost, so mine are loose. But if I had to choose between two of Weisco's recomendations, I'd pick the looser one. Too loose they won't touch and trash a hole.

Build is looking great! :)

Oh shit sorry I keep making question threads in the performance section and then don't update back here. The machinist seemed to think my application was firmly in the "street moderate turbo" category, so I decided to go for the first feeler gauge increment above that, which was .017 top and .019 second ring. So that puts me somewhere between street moderate turbo and oval track. I agree it's better to be a hair loose than a hair tight.

I aligned everything the way the wiseco sheet said and then I used my 5 dollar ring compressor to put them in the block. It was much easier than I expected. Just tighten and then *pop* they go in. I think the shittiness of old fashioned ring compressors has been exaggerated. Glad I didn't spend like 100 bucks getting one of the fancy tapered ones.

I've used plumbers tape and pliers before... And it worked surprisingly well.

I'm wondering whether I should go through with my plan to delete the oil squirters and replace with block off bolts or just replace the broken one?

All the posts on here except for the guy with the stroker kit (which has a joined oil control groove and wrist pin) seem to indicate that removing them is a super bad idea for a turbo motor. Some people seem to think that they are pointless with forged pistons, but I'm not sure exactly how high piston tops get when being driven hard.

I never had oil problems (consumption, heat, etc) with the squirters before, pondering what I should do.

I typed this out in your other thread, but it depends on the alloy of the metal used in the forged piston. Wiseco's don't need squirters because the alloy is strong at temp, where others turn to play-dough without squirters to keep the alive. If you want data/numbers, look up temp/strength curves for the alloys in question.

Well the basic problem is that I don't actually know how hot temps get at the top of the piston while the engine is running full blast. I know the EGTs measured at the turbine inlet temp peak around 1600-1700 and I know that the temps inside the cylinder are much lower than that... but how much lower?

Keep in mind the following happened while I was totally sober.

Take out crank, lube all bearings, put crank back in.
Oh fuck, thrust washers.
Take out crank, put in thrust washers, put crank back in.
Torque everything down, begin installing head studs.
Reach over for my allen wrench, notice a main bearing covered in assembly lube. It stuck to the bottom of the crank when I pulled it out.
Take everything back apart, install missing bearing, double check FUCKING EVERYTHING and then retorque.

If I had finished the build without noticing that, wow that would have sucked. I think I know how the space shuttle guys must feel when they forget an o-ring in the middle of the build and it explodes in mid air.

I'm going to stay with oil squirters for this build. My current setup keeps the oil very cool, which I think helps with detonation. I also don't have the oiling issues of the stroker guys.

I dunno where the rumor started but neither these pistons nor the pistons from my first build have any issues hitting the squirters. There's several mm of clearance at BDC.

edit nevermind, I'm retarded, they're the same size as the ones I took out of the engine, which were fine.

If you have an 01+ engine (I think) Its a different thrust bearing

I was just idling thinking about bearings and washers on the way to work and I suddenly had a moment of panic, that's all. Probably residual *ohshit* left over from yesterday's bearing issue. Everything is fine.

This is a 99 engine. I rebored/honed the cylinders, went to arp main studs and had it align honed, had the crank polished and everything generally cleaned up. Replaced all bearings with fresh ACL bearings.

Annoying, neither emilio nor fm have any oil squirters for sale.

It's a sign not to run them. :)

I thought a lot about this and since I'm basically just replicating my last build I'm going to keep them.
Benefits
-cools the piston
-lubricates the wrist pin

Drawbacks
-lowers oil pressure (never been an issue and I'm going to an upgraded pump anyway)
-heats up oil (never been a problem since I already run an oil cooler and was consistently running under 200F oil temps under heavy load)
-oil consumption (never been a problem)

So basically this mod is addressing problems I don't have and raising the chance of detonation. I like having nice cool combustion chambers.

Admittedly I could start running E85, but I'm already dialed in fine with 93 octane and E85 is a huge pain in the ass to get here.

About to order the oil pump and the harmonic damper.

Now that having the engine done is realistically a few UPS trucks away, I think it's time to start thinking about smaller stuff.

I was going to do the rear main seal and the front main seal and use Right Stuff for the oil pan, oil pump, water pump and thermostat housing. I am going with a new head gasket and new timing belt as well.

Anything I'm possibly forgetting as far as small stuff that will be annoying if I forget?

Fuuuuck, harmonic damper is backordered. Everything else is already on the fedex truck tho.

Buy an ATI Damper instead.

I thought the 949 one was better, cheaper, lighter, etc, etc. Was I misinformed?

949 is cheaper/lighter. ATI is a better damper. IMO. I run an ATI. Look into ATI dampers and how they work if you want to know which is a better damper.

Has anyone actually tried both?

Welp, A huge pile of shit has apparently arrived just in time for the weekend.

My wife just signed for a package from some guy named emilio in CA. Head should be going on this weekend.

Retarded question time:
1) the picture below, is that where I put the gasket material?
2) at the bottom of the oil pump, is there a special gasket or do you just put right stuff there too just like the rest of the oil pan?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455336627

I just put grey RTV on every surface that the oil pump contacted the block. Right or wrong, it no leaky. No gasket for the oil pump to block connection.

Yeah no gasket.

I'm being extra careful because I still have nightmares about the water pump replacement I did 10 years ago. I did it three times and it still fucking leaked. Then I realized that the shaft on the replacement pump was leaking. Trololo. The upside is that my timing belt alignment game was top notch afterwards.

Is there a rubber anything that goes between the round part of the oil pump and the oil pan?

Not sure what part you are asking about.

The half moon part under the crank. The bottom of it has a channel where it seems like it would meet the oil pan. is it just lots of Right Stuff or is there anything rubber that goes under there?

Dude. You need to buy a manual and read it if you're putting a motor together and don't know where all the pieces/parts go. Not trying to be a butt about it, but if you're guessing along the way you're going to miss something.

Yes there's a seal that goes there. And RTV it too on the corners.

Is there manual for this that isn't complete shit? Back a million years ago I relied on a manuals but I eventually found they were pretty much all awful. I tend to use google for everything these days.

I've taken apart and successfully put together everything else on the car at least once, so it's not a completely shitty approach. Also, so much of my current build is aftermarket stuff, I just follow the specs of the parts anyway.

But yeah, I would appreciate guidance.