LT's Engine swap and more Extravaganza

haha.  Thanks!  I'm afraid that 040 would make the car too fast.  So I've already painted the engine a gray color that you can see a few posts up.  The engine bay will be re-painted in 040 Super White though.  It's mainly to clean everything up.

I'm using a Revolution Lift 6-ton scissor lift.  It raises the car pretty high.  And it's great for working on the front or rear of the car.  The middle ... eh, not so much.  But it's been great during this process.  The shop crane helped with the engine separation.  I busted a few clips on my way out with it, but I have some replacements on order.  If I had a better (aka taller) garage, I would have put in a 2-post lift for about the same money.

@lordtakuban Maybe you already are planning this, but don't skip bracing the turbo to the block.  Don't just have its weight supported by the exhaust manifold or it will crack due to vibration (fatigue).

Dave

@lordtakuban thanks for telling me about the jack. it looks pretty convenient. One day when I have a garage, I think I'll get one unless I can squeeze in a lift lol. Currently working out of my apartment parking lot. I think I'm going to make some stackable wooden cribbing.

@dblotii This particular turbo setup has bracing on the exit pipe that connects to where the main cat would be and that connects to the block.  So it's more than just the turbo hanging off of the 5 studs at the header.  I am not opposed to finding a good mounting solution that also attaches to something like the header where it attaches to the turbo and then bolts to the side of the block.  But I'll have to look and see what, if anything, is possible for that.

Pics will be coming soon, but the engine bay is painted and now starts the process of putting things back in.  I still need to paint the transmission and a few other things, but that can happen in the cooler months.  I have lots of wiring and other misc part installs to do.  The next post will have pics.

OK.  So the engine bay is finally painted.  Here are a couple shots of the makeshift booth I setup...

And here's one of me in the booth:

I don't have a ton of pics during the process, but you can sort of see the before and after in these.

Before:

After:

As you can see, the setup of this whole part of the project took the longest.  Taping, covering, planning, etc. took a long time.  I ran an intake fan and exhaust fan to keep static pressure in the booth, but with decent air flow.  I used AC filters at both ends  Lots of dried paint pigment in the exhaust filter.

I'll be doing something similar when I paint the transmission and a few other larger pieces.  I still want to paint the underside of my deck lid so it will look nice too.  Apparently I never want to be done with this project.

Next Up? Putting the stuff back in/on the car.  I re-sleeved the body harnesses and will be running all of the known wires for things like boost control solenoid, meth pump, trailer hookup wiring, rear camera, etc.  I plan to do as much of this stuff as I can while the engine is out so I have all that room to move around in.  I will also be installing some rivnuts for attaching some things that were just sort of half-assed before as well as using proper grommets in holes and paying much more attention to detail this time around.  I have 2 other projects that I'll start after this main engine one (interior changes and exterior tweaks).  But those will come after this car can easily move around on its own.

Looks great. I think we are both getting close to finally completing our projects. 

Man, I am so ready for this to be a functioning vehicle again.  By the time I have it running, it will have been out of commission for about 2 years.  Hopefully, the gas in the tank hasn't gone bad.  I should probably look into pouring some Sta-bil in there or something.

Man that's awesome! 

I'm making small bits of progress still.  I've re-mounted the meth/water pump and put some riv-nuts in place for mounting the meth/water reservoir.  I'm also working on re-doing my plumbing for the a2w intercooler setup.  Here's a pic of the intercooler.

MOAR PROGRESS!  So, I now have most of the meth injection setup installed again (pump, reservoir, lines, wires).  I also swapped out my coolant overflow tank for a new one.  And you can see some of the HPS silicone coolant hose replacement kit starting to go on the car.  I neatly sleeved and tucked wiring for my meth kit, trailer hitch, rear camera, greddy boost control solenoid, and more.  Those are going through another grommet that will also get a vacuum feed as well as power and maybe ground as well as the extra wires that will be coming from the engine harness.

It may not look like a lot was done, but this is quite a bit of progress.  I'm working through the various diferent supporting pieces while the engine is still out and i have more room to work.  Then, once the engine goes in, it will really start to come together quickly after that.  I just need to remember where I put all my damn parts!  hahahaha.

... Oh yeah, posts are useless without pics.  Check out the difference between the old and new reservoir as well as some other fine finished pieces.  🙂

The hits keep on coming!  I was able to route all things through the new grommet into the cubby area (except for the wires that are currently run with the engine harness).  I've run new hoses for the a2W system (The red ones). All body harness cables are secured in place where applicable (some will need to wait for the rear bumper and deck lid to be installed).  Oil cooler heat exchanger and lines mounted and ready to attach to sandwich plate.  Both left and right motor mounts are installed and torqued to spec.

... Oh yeah.  Here are a couple pics of the progress:

Also, I cleaned a bunch of other components and fasteners so that they're ready to go when the time comes.  And I've prepped some of the components for paint.  These were typically items that couldn't be cleaned that well.  Also, I'm sort of going with a Gundam type theme when it comes to colors.  The car is white, hoses will be blue or red.  and some items will be a light gray or black (depending on what they are).  And the engine is already painted.  so that will be its own unique color.  I plan to paint the tranny to match the engine.

Dang. That's looking really good!

Very nice! Why did you make the oil cooler sit sideways?

Very nice indeed 

LT if you keep it up UM will have the second best white Spyder

what is the black bracket used for?