My 08' rebuild thread

[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by kTaLgsTo I very much enjoy seeing this happen in an apartment parking lot. Looking good so far.

I take it that most the guys that do this kind of work usually don't do what I'm doing but I'll do what I need to in order to get my speed running right


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[Thor Hammer]

Right on man. I don't miss the days of working on my car in the apartment parking lot!

Did you by any chance send off those injectors to get cleaned while you had it all apart? Now would be the time and upgrade to Corksport seals. I know you're trying to save money but its worth it IMHO.

[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by Thor Hammer Right on man. I don't miss the days of working on my car in the apartment parking lot! Did you by any chance send off those injectors to get cleaned while you had it all apart? Now would be the time and upgrade to Corksport seals. I know you're trying to save money but its worth it IMHO.

I got a car fax on aurora and she had her injectors replaced at 165,000 miles at the dealer and I I got a set of oem injector seals so hopefully that'll be enough until I have the chance to dump a fat stack of cash on my car to do HPFP and a few other mods whilst I get the opportunity to research tuning options for this car without having to buy a handheld can tune.


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 I got a car fax on aurora and she had her injectors replaced at 165,000 miles at the dealer and I I got a set of oem injector seals so hopefully that'll be enough until I have the chance to dump a fat stack of cash on my car to do HPFP and a few other mods whilst I get the opportunity to research tuning options for this car without having to buy a handheld can tune. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OEM injector seals are terrible and if you go WOT often it’s only a matter of time before they start to leak. You don’t get very many opportunities to have everything taken apart like this and put new seals in. The Corksport seals simply don’t fail.


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[Thor Hammer]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 I got a car fax on aurora and she had her injectors replaced at 165,000 miles at the dealer and I I got a set of oem injector seals so hopefully that'll be enough until I have the chance to dump a fat stack of cash on my car to do HPFP and a few other mods whilst I get the opportunity to research tuning options for this car without having to buy a handheld can tune. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've never priced out the OEM seals. But like Solarsurge said CS seals are better. Up to you.

And upgrading your HPFP internals should be top priority honestly. Its cheap insurance to protect your motor under WOT. Get either Corksport or Autotech. On the other hand perhaps the PO upgraded them. Take it apart and check for sure.

That's good the injectors were replaced!

[Speed.mazda.3]

And here we go!

Okay so today had to do last minute shopping for a throw out bearing becuase somehow I lost the one that I bought, oh well. Got the motor buttoned up a little more and got the timing set dead on, went two full rotations and everything turned beautifully. Accessories and belt went on last and that was as much as I got to today, tomroow once I get the throw out bearing I most definitely will have the engine and trans mated and back in the car by Sundown. Then all of the wet systems and electrical work begins. More to come tomorrow!

in this picture that's the tool I made to keep the crank in place while I tightened the piss out of the crank bolt




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[hickorysmoked1]

Hopefully buying an 08 3 on Monday.
Excited to see this build

[Speed.mazda.3]

And she's in!


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Alrighty well I got literally everything done yesterday except the fuel pump and getting the wheels and tires back on. So I present to you, with just hand tools, an apartment complex, an engine hoist, two friends, and a lot of know how. My car aurora


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[Speed.mazda.3]

So got her washed up today and prepping her to move her over to a friends garage to do the rest of the work. Fuel pump will be in tomorrow morning so hopefully by tomorrow evening she'll be shooting flames out the tailpipe. In the mean time I made some aluminum brackets to hold the front bumper on since the factory clips are toast. I'll get some pics of that this evening. For now I just have a picture of what everyone I race will be looking at. More to come tomorrow!



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[Fstrnyou]

Well gah dang. Git er done son!

Making quick work of it.

BTW and FWIW, I'm running 22psi on the Corksport turbo and using Toyota injector seals. Literally like $2 a piece. Been using them for at least a year now. No issues yet. 300-350whp depending on weather. I'll continue to use them on my forged build if/when they fail.

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Fstrnyou Well gah dang. Git er done son! Making quick work of it. BTW and FWIW, I'm running 22psi on the Corksport turbo and using Toyota injector seals. Literally like $2 a piece. Been using them for at least a year now. No issues yet. 300-350whp depending on weather. I'll continue to use them on my forged build if/when they fail.

The thing about failing fuel system parts is you never know when or how it will go down. If they fail at 6,000 RPM, with an average human tactile response time of .15 seconds, that’s possibly 7 or 8 lean detonations per cylinder before your brain even has a chance to react. There is absolutely no fucking chance I’d risk a several thousand dollar motor build on any fuel part that’s not specifically designed for my car. Cheap fixes are great when they work or if there is minimal risk. IF any critical part grenades as a result, I guarantee you will be kicking yourself and will never buy a cheap part again. Speaking from experience. lol

[Fstrnyou]

Explain to us again how a failed injector seal causes a lean condition.

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Fstrnyou Explain to us again how a failed injector seal causes a lean condition.

I was speaking broadly about fuel system parts in general. As I said, you don’t get to choose how things fail. You assume you’re just going to see warning signs of just injectors. Things can fail in chain reaction fashion in the blink of an eye and cause all sorts of damage. MaisonVI’s entire car was roasted almost immediately and he still has no idea how it happened or what caused the fire. Also, there have been recent studies into what actually causes detonation in DISI motors and there is evidence suggesting that it may have to do with ring scrape on poorly oiled cylinder walls. This is precisely why ILSAC GF-6 motor oils have been delayed. Leaky injectors WILL cause your oil on the cylinder walls to thin. It’s just not a risk I would take.


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Just snapped a quick picture of my car and my truck outside my buddies garage before we get to work today with the little details



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[Fstrnyou]

Carbeque = A really bad day for sure.

A leaky injector seal will show up as knock (it's not real knock), so there will be signs of a problem.

CS sold me on the idea of replacing the high pressure hard line with their SS braided line. They claim the hardline can/could crack. (read: fuel leak -> fire)

[Speed.mazda.3]

Okay so got my car "started" but here's the deal. Clutch in, give it a small amount of throttle and it'll start after hesitating for a bit, sounds like it's running on three cylinders and won't idle worth a crap. So seems like I'm going to be chasing down things like spark plug gapping, possible back coil packs, maybe fault to ground. Not sure yet but I think for the most part it's going to be an ignition problem. Sucks but oh well. There will be better days ahead.


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[Speed.mazda.3]

FREAKIN FLAMING BALLSACK

I know what I did wrong.......

The crank pulley is slightly off so it'll run very bad but it's so far advanced that it won't rev past 2000. Now I have an interesting fix ahead of me


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Well crap. Got the crank pulley placed correctly and got it started and got some bad news. Huge plumes of white smoke. So I guess it's going to be and engine part out and buy a used motor to swap out.


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 Well crap. Got the crank pulley placed correctly and got it started and got some bad news. Huge plumes of white smoke. So I guess it's going to be and engine part out and buy a used motor to swap out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Huge plumes of white smoke isn’t necessarily the motor. Mine fogged the whole neighborhood when I had a clogged PCV hose. I was told 3 times by 3 different mechanics I needed a new motor or blew a head gasket. These motors are touchy.


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Well. More I think on it. Pretty sure that the head may be warped or I may have gotten a bad head gasket. Unlikely but possible. What I'm going to do is drain the coolant and then run the motor for 20 seconds and see if that changes anything. If it doesn't smoke and if it revs past 4000 then I'll know what the problem is. If not then I'll more diagnosing to do


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Alrighty well it's time to hear from you guys. Pretty sure it's the head gasket, pressurized the cooling system and it doesn't hold pressure, checked all connections and they're tight, checked turbo and it's not leaking, pretty sure water is leaking into the cylinders. So if anyone has any information, Tell me about cometic Head gaskets for these motors. Would a thicker gasket be better or is it smarter to roll will oem thickness. Pretty sure it's .030". I've searched some stuff around but can't find to many people running thicker than oem


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 Alrighty well it's time to hear from you guys. Pretty sure it's the head gasket, pressurized the cooling system and it doesn't hold pressure, checked all connections and they're tight, checked turbo and it's not leaking, pretty sure water is leaking into the cylinders. So if anyone has any information, Tell me about cometic Head gaskets for these motors. Would a thicker gasket be better or is it smarter to roll will oem thickness. Pretty sure it's .030". I've searched some stuff around but can't find to many people running thicker than oem Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Assuming your head/deck surfaces are perfectly square and flat, either gasket *should* be fine. I prefer the Cometic gasket, but many swear by the stock gasket including Speed Performance, who is probably the #1 engine builder on our platform. Stock thickness is .030”. Also, you also should NOT reuse head bolts, as they are torque to yield bolts.


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by Solarsurge Assuming your head/deck surfaces are perfectly square and flat, either gasket *should* be fine. I prefer the Cometic gasket, but many swear by the stock gasket including Speed Performance, who is probably the #1 engine builder on our platform. Stock thickness is .030”. Also, you also should NOT reuse head bolts, as they are torque to yield bolts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright so new set of head bolts and a new gasket, would it be unwise to roll with a thicker gasket to ensure proper sealing?


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 Alright so new set of head bolts and a new gasket, would it be unwise to roll with a thicker gasket to ensure proper sealing? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depends if you machined your surfaces. If not, a thicker gasket will lower your compression.


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[Fstrnyou]

Why would a thicker gasket seal better?

[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by Solarsurge Depends if you machined your surfaces. If not, a thicker gasket will lower your compression. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

At this point I honestly don't care if it lowers the compression a bit. This isn't going to be a street destroyer. Just a good daily. And the comp ration wouldn't be changed by that much? I'm mainly going for sealing quality


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Originally Posted by Fstrnyou Why would a thicker gasket seal better?

Being able to make up for any slight imperfections in the surfaces


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[Fstrnyou]

That doesn't explain why thickness fills slight imperfections.

I guess the real specification to note here is compressed thickness vs raw thickness.

If both gaskets compress the same amount, the thicker gasket won't have any additional "sealing of imperfections ".

And if your imperfections are bad enough that a standard OEM gasket won't seal it up, you have bigger problems.

Something to note, I just finished up my forged build. I only resurfaced the block. I pulled the head off my old motor, cleaned the gasket surface with a razor, wiped it down with alcohol, and slapped it on the clean block with an OEM gasket. With only 30 miles on the engine at the time of this writing, it's too early to tell if it'll be solid or not.

[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by Fstrnyou That doesn't explain why thickness fills slight imperfections. I guess the real specification to note here is compressed thickness vs raw thickness. If both gaskets compress the same amount, the thicker gasket won't have any additional "sealing of imperfections ". And if your imperfections are bad enough that a standard OEM gasket won't seal it up, you have bigger problems.

So I'm hearing stock gasket will work well. Know anything about mahle gaskets? Better to go with a cometic?


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 So I'm hearing stock gasket will work well. Know anything about mahle gaskets? Better to go with a cometic? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OEM or Cometic.


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Well definitely found my problem



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Oil all over the motor, so I guess I'm one of the very few people who had a failed head gasket on stock block, stock turbo. Oh well, I'll get a new one and a new set of head bolts and continue


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[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by Speed.mazda.3 Well definitely found my problem Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oil all over the motor, so I guess I'm one of the very few people who had a failed head gasket on stock block, stock turbo. Oh well, I'll get a new one and a new set of head bolts and continue Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Drain and refill your oil and coolant. If any of that shit mixed in the block you’ll be lubricating and cooling your block with milkshakes.


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[Fstrnyou]

Don't just drain it. Flush them both.
A little oil in the coolant might not harm anything, but coolant in the oil can be terrible.

[Speed.mazda.3]

Gonna flush both systems and I already ordered a new head gasket and head bolts. Hopefully with a few hours a day over the next week I can get this thing cleaned up, torn down and back together with a new gasket and hopefully won't run into this problem again


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[Speed.mazda.3]

So in order to let out some of my frustration I decided to pack my truck up and take my girl down to Galveston for the weekend. As we were about to leave I decided I'd go and take a picture of my car just for fun. If I didn't know that it had mechanical problems I would be like "damn that's a nice car" but for now all I can say is "damn, that'll be a nice car"



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[impossible]

Saw this car on Houston Craiglist for the longest. That motor has been remanufactured, likely by ATK or Ironclad with the black painted block and paint marked cams. Make sure you check everything, it might need sleeves and the valves and pistons arely likely not OEM. I'd offer some sound advice for doing it right but you probably won't give a fuck with the way you're slapping together a performance engine together like a shade tree mechanic would do a Chevy small block

[Speed.mazda.3]

Originally Posted by impossible Saw this car on Houston Craiglist for the longest. That motor has been remanufactured, likely by ATK or Ironclad with the black painted block and paint marked cams. Make sure you check everything, it might need sleeves and the valves and pistons arely likely not OEM. I'd offer some sound advice for doing it right but you probably won't give a fuck with the way you're slapping together a performance engine together like a shade tree mechanic would do a Chevy small block

How about this bud. You can give me some advice and I'll appreciate it. Yeah I agree with you that I am a "shade tree" mechanic becuase I don't have a machine shop or a garage but I'm pragmatic so I do what I must. Since you haven't commented up until now, your advice may help me out or it may be something I already know, I didn't go onto your build thread and start cussing and saying that your build is el cheapo garbage becuase you move fast through engine building. I may be 20 but I have years of experience building engines and transmissions becuase my father and grandfather both are machinists and both have owned machine shops that have built engines and they taught me, as well as three years in high school and between those three years I went to two state competitions and placed 5th and 3rd.

No one posts on this site to get cussed at or criticized by someone who hasn't said a word during the few weeks theyve been posting in their thread.

Also if you saw this car in craigslist you would have seen the potential for it since all it needed was a little bit of love for it to be a great car again


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Anyways in other news, Head gasket and head bolts are now sitting at the autoparts store for me to go pickup. Won't have much time this week between summer class finals week but this weekend it'll be all of the wrenching. Anyway, I saw this Focus RS this morning at a Panera just north of Houston. Super clean and very well taken care of by and older gentleman that has great taste in cars


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[Speed.mazda.3]

Alright so took a few hours today to get the car torn down again to swap out the head gaskets and then get everything torqued down again. Got as far as putting the new head bolts into the holes and then I stopped for the day. More to come tomorrow



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[Speed.mazda.3]

In the last two days I made slow progress, got the head on and torqued down with new bolts and a new gasket. Got the battery relocation kit halfway done, pulled the positive wire to the trunk and all that's left is to make the ground wire and and get it bolted down and that'll be that. Within the next few days ill get all of the small things done to finalize the rebuilding process hopefully for the last time. More to come