87roach's 1987 S Hatch Build

[87roach]

Today's update:

So today I pulled in the hatch after shuffling all the car's in the driveway around.

After I warmed it up for a bit I did a compression test after I got it in the shop. Which was a difficult task by myself and with a dead battery(duh, I grabbed a working one).

It went #1 = 175, #2 = 175, #3 = 185, #4 = 183

I took multiple reading's of each cylinder and those were the highest. I also put a bit of oil in each cylinder after those readings and got higher reading's(around 190-200ish), so I don't think my ring's are the healthiest.. The engine was also cooling down so I don't know if this affected my reading's along the way. It's still pretty healthy but I thought it would be better.

So I drained the fluids and took off the hood, these are more of a before picture:









Bye bye N/A, oh wait...









It look's as if I've been running on 3 cylinder's this whole time :O Talk about a fail... still managed to make 130whp though haha. So far I'm thinking it's a shitty injector, I will know more when I get around to tearing everything off.

[87roach]

The motor mount I got with the turbo needed modification to the block for it to fit:

Just grinding off the nubs in the way



The mount is in but the bottom doesn't line up, I also think it drops the motor some so I'd have to modify it anyway. I'll get that done when I find a piece of plate to use.



Enough of that, I want turbo!!

I had to move over the dipstick a tiny bit but this is a test fit anyway, to see what'll need modification.











I've gotta cut off that flange and figure out where to put the new one, and how to route/tuck the rest of the exhaust(when the time comes).





I've got to disconnect everything and then take off the head to check it out.

[Pico]

Sweet..Hurry up and finish the Car

[Rendon LX-i]

nice. Looking good man. Time to hurry up and see some vids lol.

thats weird on your compression test.

[MessyHonda]

yeah engine bay looks clean as hell...

[Tdurr]

sexy. i want the motor mount btw. I think imma see aobut having one made lol pm me specs on that.

but a bigger turbo is needed. a t25ish sized one right? and just like messy said, ur bay so stupid clean.

[87roach]

Sweet..Hurry up and finish the Car

I feel the same man haha.

nice. Looking good man. Time to hurry up and see some vids lol.

thats weird on your compression test.

I figured it was a bit strange too, I will definitely get some help next time with it.

yeah engine bay looks clean as hell...

Thanks!

I cleaned it before I brought it in, but even before that it was still pretty clean Some rust starting to show that I need to care of though..

sexy. i want the motor mount btw. I think imma see aobut having one made lol pm me specs on that.

but a bigger turbo is needed. a t25ish sized one right? and just like messy said, ur bay so stupid clean.

It's from the 2.3l supercoupe tbird, should be plenty for me now, no point in blowing it up if it can't handle it. I also don't really get rev happy so it should be good fun. As for the motor mount I can take some snap's after I modify it and finish it up.

[2ndGenGuy]

Looking awesome man! I don't think the compression numbers are that big of a deal to worry about. Maybe a little wear, but meh, it'll probably still run forever. As long as they're within a certain percentage of eachother, you're fine (according to the FSM). 180 is a pretty healthy number as far as I know. I think you'll only get near 200 if you have tighter ring gaps or run those gapless rings...

[YK86]

Very clean indeed! Nice work so far.

I usually do my compression tests with the engine at normal operating temps. I definitely find the readings are lower when it's cold. Also, the efi motors should read around 175psi nominal so those readings are actually pretty good unless you have non stock pistons??

[Hazwan]

Is the car done yet?

[Mellexx]

Sweet Sweet, lookin' good! I need vids when it's done!!

[Fedor B.]

Bring on those photos!!

[87roach]

Looking awesome man! I don't think the compression numbers are that big of a deal to worry about. Maybe a little wear, but meh, it'll probably still run forever. As long as they're within a certain percentage of eachother, you're fine (according to the FSM). 180 is a pretty healthy number as far as I know. I think you'll only get near 200 if you have tighter ring gaps or run those gapless rings...

I hope she will run forever

Very clean indeed! Nice work so far.

I usually do my compression tests with the engine at normal operating temps. I definitely find the readings are lower when it's cold. Also, the efi motors should read around 175psi nominal so those readings are actually pretty good unless you have non stock pistons??

The piston's aren't stock to my knowledge. The engine was at normal operating temp before I started but it could only cool off while I got setup and during the test so.. I don't know if it would really be a significant increase but I don't know. After the head goes back on I will get someone's help and do another test. Oh and yea that's what the book said were good number's so I think I'm okay for now.

No video's yet, more picture's to come though..

[Tdurr]

It's from the 2.3l supercoupe tbird, should be plenty for me now, no point in blowing it up if it can't handle it. I also don't really get rev happy so it should be good fun. As for the motor mount I can take some snap's after I modify it and finish it up.

sweet. good info there.

as far as the rev happy goes, u dont need to be rev happy to want a bigger turbo. ull get tired of the t25 one day and upgrade... just like everyone does haha. the only real nice thing about it imo is the instant spool.

[87roach]

sweet. good info there.

as far as the rev happy goes, u dont need to be rev happy to want a bigger turbo. ull get tired of the t25 one day and upgrade... just like everyone does haha. the only real nice thing about it imo is the instant spool.

I agree man, everyone always outgrows what they want, thus we have the crazy world of automotive lovers. I think the power band will be fun and I will learn a lot, and then be able to further research what a good upgrade for my application would be. I think by then I'd be able to know a lot more about tuning and try to take care of just about everything by myself and with friends.

Sooo much work to do before that though haha, damn.

[Tdurr]

lol yeaa but at least ur test fitting all ur stuff. i didnt when i did mine.. my downpipe was the luckiest thing ever. i just took a cut peice of u pipe and the flange to some exhasut some and was like "FUCK i forgot to mark this shit!!" and just randomly lined it up and had him weld it. but it ended up working fine for over a year

and as far as tuning goes, its not too hard once you understand how it all works. it just alot of fine tuning(lol)

[87roach]

lol yeaa but at least ur test fitting all ur stuff. i didnt when i did mine.. my downpipe was the luckiest thing ever. i just took a cut peice of u pipe and the flange to some exhasut some and was like "FUCK i forgot to mark this shit!!" and just randomly lined it up and had him weld it. but it ended up working fine for over a year

and as far as tuning goes, its not too hard once you understand how it all works. it just alot of fine tuning(lol)

haha it sound's like you have quite a lucky streak going. I'm test fitting everything because I have time and I'm not in a rush to get it done, because I have a daily. I don't think it's the same in your case, so it's pretty impressive that thing's have worked out for you(for the most part that is).

Managed to get the head off, the book says to take the intake manifold off before removal, yea.. O K. I remember a post way back with 2ndgenguy saying it was easier to remove it with the head, this is the truth. It's heavy but easier in my case.





Off with your head!















I will give thing's a good clean before being assembled again. Oh I forgot to snap a pic of the piston walls, they look hone-e. Sorry the picture's are so bright, I'll have to try another setting.

[87roach]

This manifold is really quite heavy, I don't have a scale but damn.

Bye bye



Onto the good shit! I have had this stuff for pretty much a year and it's just been sitting around. Well, until now

Skunk2 Pro Intake Manifold with Skunk2 68mm TB, AEM fuel rail, AEM adjustable FPR, B&M fuel gauge, Bisimoto intake manifold gasket, ARP head studs, oh and dsm 390cc injectors.













Obviously I am going to have to modify the manifold flange to accept the a20 bolt pattern and there is a bit of port touch up to match them.

[ShyBoyCA6]

dont worry about the birghtness it looks great! did you change the valves or clean them up?

[87roach]

Here I am comparing the old to the new:

The inside of the manifold bore.



The inside bore of the throttle body.



Side by side..



Gobble!



Bore of the skunk2 throttle body.



Bore of the skunk2 manifold, this used to be 64mm. I had it bored out by a local shop to 68mm to match the throttle body. God damn job cost me $110!



The old intake piping won't work... change of plan it seems.

[87roach]

dont worry about the birghtness it looks great! did you change the valves or clean them up?

This is exactly how it looked after I pulled it off, I haven't done anything to it/them.

[ShyBoyCA6]

wow when i took my head off it is all dirty compared to yours. how would you clean it off?

[redaztec]

Nice work - makes me wish I'd done more upgrades when I built mine...

[knarg]

those calipers are identical to the harbor freight ones!

[MessyHonda]

so what is wrong with the valve?