Yeah, I installed badly fitting plugs (see above) that were making contact with the metal timing cover. Putting my timing belt back on I noticed the trigger wheel was loose so I’m planning on pulling the damper and tightening them, don’t think the engine has to come out (hopefully)

 

Running the 949 36-2

 

Nice choice, and should definitely work with the fluidampr. Sounds like it just came loose or never got torqued. Throw some blue loctite on it and torque it down, the trigger wheel should not be able to move independently of the damper. It seems like that's definitely your sound, it's way to fast to be a bottom end knock.

 

Damper off (i managed to remove the crank bolt with a 24 inch breaker and 5th+ebrake), all four of the bolts are loose. gonna locktite and put it all back toghether

 

All back together, noise is fully gone. pretty sure i just didn’t locktite those first time around.

 

Yeah its faster, pretty sure the trans synchros are already on the way out though lol. How hard is doing a ring and pinsion swap in a torsen? I have access to all shop tools/presses through my school machine shop

 

This guy makes it seem easy and is likely the guide I'm going to use when the time comes. Also, I'm considering selling my 3.6:1 ring and pinion that I bought from Yossi126 a few years ago. With my transmission swap, I think I'm going to want to get a 3.3:1, but only if someone buys my 3.6:1 first lol. Feel free to reach out if you're interested, I'd let it go for the same price I paid for it ($680 + shipping).

 

How important is ducting/undertray? Im on a trackspeed radiator + fab 9 stage 2 and this thing overheats even in cruise, seems to hold temp at idle (right after burping) but after driving 10-15 min starts overheating. Pretty sure the fan was wired backwards and there is a hissing noise from the coolant tube that feeds the heater core after turning off the car (probably not tight enough) but are either of these enough to make the car overheat this badly?

 

Lol

 

Ducting and undertray is critical in a turbo engine. You want to seal everything around the heat exchangers and there is lots of information around this forum on how. Cruising and idling without working fans is also asking for trouble. And with both of those you may still have some issues to fix if you have AC.

 

Hacked up an oem undertray, fixed the fans, and sealed the underside of the rad to the fmic (the bottoms are at the same height) and the bottom of the fmic to the bumper opening, and temps holding perfectly. Now off to the DMV then "smog" and shes ready to go

 

QFT. Yeah, OP, ducting is the single most important thing you can do for cooling.

If you continue to have cooling issues look into improving your ducting more, a lot can be done over and above the OEM undertray.

 

With basic ducting and a 12 inch spal it seems to be fine for street driving, I think the track speed radiator is putting in some crazy work. Next up is 6spd + 3.3 and give this poor little 5 speed a break

 

Theres a crazy metal clanging noise coming from somewhere in the drivetrain, goes away when car is stopped and no sound when engine is revved, theres also no change in sound in any gear and the car drives fine. I’m leaning towards something on the bottom of the car just coming loose

 

m

my car isn’t that low, anything else that could have causes this (ppf bolt)

 

It definitely looks like it just came loose, fell out, then got caught and bent. Though the head is ground down a bit, that seems likely from it coming loose and dragging on the ground for a while until it caught something and got bent.

 

Yup, came loose and I limped the car home (2 minutes). Anywhere I can overnight this bolt from?

 

I feel like you'd be fine with a long enough bolt from the hardware store. They clamping force is generally what holds it when its tight enough anyway. Grab some blue loctite and a hardware store bolt and keep enjoying the car.

 

Ok, anyone ever measured the length/thread pitch before? Running to home depot to grab one soon

 

You could likely also just bend that thing back for now. I'd personally stick with the OEM bolt, but agree any bolt of the right length and thread/pitch will work in a pinch.