something is amiss with mine then, hit 95 dc on kraken 700ccs @nb2 pressure of like 60. - 14.5psi

 

Hmm, yeah Idk what to tell ya there. Other than to check all your injector data is correct in the software, verifying you have proper fuel pressure, and full running voltage at the injectors.

 

If it’s not an Aftermarket pump (TI is my preference) throw it in the garbage, i haven’t seen an OE one capable of a mild turbo build in many years, despite what the internet says.

 

oil or fuel pump? Im guessing fuel, what is TI?

 

Yep, fuel pumps. Walbro basically became TI, or TI assumed the walbro name and products, blah blah you get the idea.

 

Just got my main bearings in, I went acl race rod bearings, and some main bearings off rockauto. Noticed some brands have all 10 of the same mains with the groove and hole, and some have 5 smooth bearings and 5 with the groove, is one correct? Id assume the half smooth half grooved it right, no need for a hole or groove where there isnt an oiling passage.

 

I’m of two minds on this; the smooth shell technically will give more support to the main journal, but since the rods are fed oil through the mains, the full circumference groove may allow for more oil flow to the rod journal passages… the extra holes are indeed superfluous though. TBH I’d say get OEM mains from Mazda, they’re not that expensive and are undoubtedly much higher quality than the rockauto fare

 

I made 296whp on a 2560 @18psi and pump gas 93 so on e85 I think just from a little extra timing he should be able to get there at least imo.

Here is what I would do on a rebuild. ARP main and head studs especially for the head, mains for your power level aren't really necessary but it can't hurt only help. I like to overbuild. Bore the cylinders for 83.5mm pistons your bores get ovalized over time and you'll want them to be true and cylindrical again and you'll get much better ring seal. Forged rods/pistons, OEM MLS hg. Head do new guides and springs and retainers. I use super tech springs and ti retainers but at the very least upgrade the springs and guides. For the oil pump... definitely a boundary pump and it's not necessary but I use a fluiddamper crank pulley. The OEM ones are so worn by now and mine literally came apart on me. The better damper will keep harmonics in check.

Good luck with the build. 😎

 

For an update, unfortunately all the shops were a month+ out even a few nearby towns. I decided to just get it together with what I could. Honing, rings, rods, bearings, donzo, whilst I gather parts and or a good block to bore out and build the hell out of. All of the valve stem seals on this head were toast. I had to replace the vvt head a while back due to bent valves (it took a special kind of fuckery) and got one for 100$ all cam caps, hardware, valves - had like 70k miles - PRISTINE. I checked all the valves and they all seated perfectly, held acetone, didnt let air by, pulled great vacuum and held it.

I had forgotten that I did the stem seals on the old head, but never this one. Definitely contributed to some crazy oil burning, along with the rings, and the turbo seems to have been leaking oil and burning it. 3 horsemen of oil burning and I had them. Anyway, as long as the oil burning is kept somewhat to the rings sealing, im confident with some amount of attention to detail itll come out similarly or better to how it was performing before. Thats enough for me. Ive been cleaning the hell out of every nook, cranny, passageway, tube, hole, everything. I had a lot of that hard to get off copper sparkle goop in the head, presumably from it getting pumped it and sitting there. The VVT actuator got cleaned out as best I could without taking it apart. I finished up the head and checked all the lashes, all within spec. Use some zip ties in a drill to clean out the crazy amount of carbon in the exhaust ports, was a little rich it seems.

Did you guys know that while you may think its okay to put the freshly pressure washed head into the dishwasher because "its aluminum, it cant rust!" -- youd be correct that the head wont rust, but the guides will flash rust very quickly instead. I cleaned all of that and used an old valve with oil to go in and out of the guides one by one to get what I could out, then oiled everything. Very clean head from the dishwasher though.

I'm sending the main bearings back and grabbing some oem, or king bearings. Whatever is easiest. Didnt like the redundant grooves.

I "decked" the head and block on a piece of glass with some 220 grit. Scared the **** out of me to do, but I had given up hope of perfection and wanted to try it out. Checked both with a new straight edge and feelers, couldnt get the smallest (0.0015??) in anywhere with all 8 angles. seems good enough to seal- though i know mls gaskets are picky, some copper spray might take care of it, and it saved me a ton of time having to clean all the old gasket off. I count that as a win.

Been looking at turbo options, ive found this 2860 seems to be a good price, any opinions?

If anyone has any areas I should be extra extra extra thorough on cleaning let me know, im going to clean this thing to death. Thats all for this post.

 

Have a cat for cleaning your head in the dishwasher

PS - Some pistons just popped up in the buy/sell/trade thread. I think they're forged. Used, but cheap. Might be worth giving them a look

 

Oem main bearings are otw, meantime i got my rings, hone, and everything but the main bearings. Got the bores cleaned up, number 4 has a score along it that I can feel with my fingernail.

Oh well, wether it will be detrimental or not im going to trudge along. All the other bores have nice clean hatching without scores i can catch with a nail, guessing this happened when it got hurt. On a good note the crank cleaned up well, i got as much of that impossible to clean copper goop **** out after using like 5 cans of brakeclean.

Im thinking it couldnt hurt to start it for about a minute and change all the dino oil and filter with fresh less contaminated oil?

its inevitable that I miss some metal and foreign particles.

I only had to file one ring to get it within spec, though I might do more research on what clearances I should run for my goals. Also planning on switching to vr1 20w50 after 1000ish miles (if it makes it that far) and when it warms up a bit here.



assuming all the bearing clearances are good, I might be back to cruisin in no time. It also warmed up for this week here in texas so I dont have a freezing garage to deal with

also do rings spin in their ringlands during operation? The rings i took off did not have the gaps spread out and were almost perfectly above each other.

 

Every clearance was good and within spec, even at the perfect spot I was going to shoot for for the turbo build. Only had to grind one ring down as well. Got her in and started today. Sounded healthy. I broke in the rings with walmart dyno oil, changed it when I got home from the high vaccuum and load driving. I wouldnt have been able to stay out of boost with my tiny turbo, so i kept the wastegate open and drove around that way.

The question:
is this too much sparkle for maybe 4 miles of first break-in? It definitely seems like a lot. I expected to miss some shavings from the oil galleys. I guess Im going to put some more oil in it and see how it responds for the next 300 miles.

 

I would switch to the oil you plan to run and change it again after another hr of varied speed operation.