Perfect Balance's cars | Small update| 05/03/14

[Dennisch]

Feel free to continue posting as much as you like - I can confirm I'm reading each post with interest, but most of what you're doing is outside my level of expertise so there's little I could add of any value to the thread.

+1.

I love threads like this. It reminds me and gives me some inspiration for all the things I need to do to my own cars.

 

[Punknoodle]

I see, yeah that's quite a list, for sure. I know what you mean about the whole money thing, too. I earn enough to keep my son and I going and don't have a lot of spare cash, so it takes a whole to save to do things to the car, as it's the lowest priority. I usually have to wait until I get a heap of overtime.

 

[speed junkie]

We all just stalk your thread. It's how it's done.

 

[Punknoodle]

Personally, this is my favourite thread on GTP.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Cool. I'll keep posting updates as they come then. Thanks for the support everyone.

 

[Ibonibo]

^Yeah, I like engine rebuilt or upgrade threads.

Following two on the Audi forum (1.8t up to 450hp).

I have a huge respect for people doing it themselves, I know how much work, knowledge and patience goes in it.

I don't have the courage to do it myself... . I fear blowing it up later and having blown up an engine and a fortune

 

[speed junkie]

Yeah keep at it, people enjoy it and it's quality stuff. I haven't updated mine in long time. Since like, the end of summer. Maybe I'll build up the motivation to update it after I get the car running again.

 

[JrDarknes]

I don't have the courage to do it myself... . I fear blowing it up later and having blown up an engine and a fortune

Yea I'm so scared to do mine but I have to do it eventually soon =|. Its just the fact I have so little knowledge about the engine and the mechanical bits of a car. Can't wait when I can take a class about this stuff.

Just don't like that fact you make this all look easy PerfectBalance >=(.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Just don't like that fact you make this all look easy PerfectBalance >=(.

It's actually surprisingly easy if you've got the right tools and the spare time. It's just extremely time consuming, but I haven't actually run into anything that was hard to do yet. Keeping up with all the bolts and stuff though is a bit tricky. Especially since I took apart the engine in a shed and I'm putting it back together in a house. I have to run back and forth and find little piles of bolts I've made all over the place to put things back on.

 

[JrDarknes]

It's actually surprisingly easy if you've got the right tools and the spare time. It's just extremely time consuming, but I haven't actually run into anything that was hard to do yet. Keeping up with all the bolts and stuff though is a bit tricky. Especially since I took apart the engine in a shed and I'm putting it back together in a house. I have to run back and forth and find little piles of bolts I've made all over the place to put things back on.

Oh, well at least thats a little confidence. Just out of curiosity? If shops do rebuilds how much would it cost for a ka?

 

[colepepper]

Keep the updates coming! I check the members rides section religiously and am always especially happy when I see an update to this build. You've done a great job on the car so far and you're still at it. I personally have just begun to really work on cars and it's threads like this that show me not to be afraid of what's under the hood. It's just a big lump of metal after all. Anyway the more updates the better. Always a good read. 👍

 

[speed junkie]

Oh, well at least thats a little confidence. Just out of curiosity? If shops do rebuilds how much would it cost for a ka?

Easily in the thousands range. Like PB said, it's really time consuming which is where most of the cost would be. Just research on your own. Research any questions you have and educate yourself. That's how most of us here have done it. There's nothing you can't learn by reading.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Just a quickie update. Got done with cleaning/painting my intake manifold and throttle body, ran the crank pulley under a wire wheel and sprayed it, and took the alternator apart, cleaned it somewhat, and sprayed the housings, and cleaned the water pump. It cleaned up well so I decided to leave it raw so it doesn't just look like I had a field day on the engine with some spray paint. I'm trying to leave bolts unpainted, just cleaned with a wire wheel for the same reason.

Currently broke so I don't see myself buying anything really until tax returns come in, or I get paid a few more times.

Until then it's just more cleaning and painting.

 

[-Fred-]

Can't seem to find the information, or maybe I just didn't look hard enough, but what turbocharger are you planning on using?

 

[Perfect Balance]

Can't seem to find the information, or maybe I just didn't look hard enough, but what turbocharger are you planning on using?

Just the factory T-25 for now, and probably around 12psi of boost. I can't afford to upgrade right now regardless, and I should have enough power to keep me happy for a while.

Down the line, I'm not sure, I haven't looked into it too much, but maybe something like a GT28, or a TD06, which seems to be extremely popular in the Australian/New Zealand drift scene. I don't ever plan to exceed 350whp or so, I don't think I'll ever need it for what I do with the car.

 

[homeforsummer]

All that cleaning must be fairly therapeutic. I can't wait to get to that stage with my Beetle's engine - I imagine it makes putting everything together again quite a pleasant experience.

 

[Perfect Balance]

All that cleaning must be fairly therapeutic. I can't wait to get to that stage with my Beetle's engine - I imagine it makes putting everything together again quite a pleasant experience.

It's pretty nice to not be rushed while working on something, though I'm not sure I'd say therapeutic, since I also do it for a living, and the enjoyment of it goes down by a lot because of this.

I pretty much finished assembling the intake side of the motor today, minus the injectors and oil pressure sensor, which is missing for some reason. I guess he might have had an aftermarket unit in there.

I'm not absolutely sure I will be keeping the s13 manifold, I don't like the way it curves downward instead of having the plenum up top. I need injectors, and I found a few people selling entire complete intake manifolds, so I might just pick one of those up if I find what I need for a good price.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Well, time for a small update. Over the new year I sort of ran out of money to really buy any parts, so I decided to use the time to install some fittings on the valve cover and redo the factory catch can setup to one a few people designed online that seems to work well. I didn't take any before pictures, but basically I removed the "T" fitting off the side of the valve cover and replaced it with a 90 degree one, and installed another one off the top.

First of all, I had to remove the factory baffles by grinding the tops off all the rivets to gain access to everything and clean it. This pic wsa taken after running it all through a parts washer, before I started grinding.

Then I had to drill out what was left of the rivets, so I could thread the holes and install screws. I don't think it's possible to clean the valve cover enough after doing this.

Threading the holes for machine screws:

Then I kind of stopped taking pics because I had to order some fittings. Once they came in, I ran a NPT tap through the hole I drilled in the top and where the factory T fitting is on the side, and installed fittings. I also put some JB weld around them to help them seal and for support. The fitting on the side wasn't sealed yet in this pic. I wish the fittings looked a little nicer, but this was the only ones I could find in both sizes I needed that matched each other. I didn't want to spend the money on AN fittings, so thats a project for the future. I didn't know how well this would work in the first place, so I didn't want to dive a few hundred dollars deep in AN lines before even knowing if I could pull it off.

Got the bottom all sealed up again with machine screws with threadlocker:

Then a basecoat of some stuff that looks like small metal shavings in a can.

Followed by a transparent layer of purple stuff.

And finally, sanded the paint back off the lettering. Disregard the center bit not being painted, My dad is making me a plate that covers that whole area. There is one there from the factory, but I don't have one, and a nice shiny aluminum plate will look nicer anyway.

Other than that, I'm just waiting on tax returns so I can buy a few more pieces. I need some exhaust studs so I can bolt the exhaust on, and figure out how long of AN lines I need to buy/make for the turbo coolant feed/return and oil feed. I discovered it was cheaper to buy high quality lines from Summit Racing than it was to buy pre-made kits for the sr20.

 

[Punknoodle]

That purple looks really, really cool. Good work man can't wait to see this all finished.

Are you making new fuel lines as well? AN braided lines look awesome, I know how pricey they are though. I'm going to have 2 90deg AN-6 speed flow fittings spare soon as they don't suit my new rail. There's $100 bucks wasted just for those 2..

 

[Perfect Balance]

Thanks man. I can't wait to see it all finished as well lol. Also that purple looks even cooler in the sun, where the metallic base really pops.

The fuel lines are going to remain the factory rubber lines, at least for now. I don't have a oil feed line so I need one anyway, and I'm running an s14 sr20det water neck, so I need at least 1 AN coolant line as well, so I figured I would just get them all in AN lines. The cheap kits that fall apart go for roughly $130ish, and I can buy pre-made lines from Summit Racing for about $40 a piece, or make my own for slightly less. Fortunately I already have the fittings that go on the turbo and block that I found in a box I got with the engine, so all I need is the lines and I'm set. Saves me a little bit of money and I know this will be high quality stuff.

Sounds like maybe AN stuff is a lot more expensive down there? I would check out Summit Racing in the future and just see how much shipping would be to you.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah speed flow stuff is expensive. Straight connectors are ok it's when you get in to the elbows etc, each fitting is around 50 bucks. The actual line isn't too much then you just make them to suit. My turbo oil and water feeds are hard lines.

 

[JrDarknes]

Freaking Awesome dude.

I also Cant wait for my tax return.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Freaking Awesome dude.

I also Cant wait for my tax return.

Thanks man.

Also, coilpack cover prototype:

 

[dudeguy]

Do you plan on the cover being brushed or polished?

 

[Perfect Balance]

Do you plan on the cover being brushed or polished?

Polished. Much easier to clean. If I ever get bored of that, I might paint it something.

EDIT:

On a someone related note, I got some moar parts.

 

[Punknoodle]

Did you get those anodised yourself? They look rad!

Edit: Just had a thought. Your pulleys are that colour. Get your coil pack cover anodised the same colour, would look great and would go with the pulleys

 

[Perfect Balance]

Did you get those anodised yourself? They look rad!

Edit: Just had a thought. Your pulleys are that colour. Get your coil pack cover anodised the same colour, would look great and would go with the pulleys

They're actually just aluminum pulleys that come in a variety of colors. To use my ka24 power steering pump, I needed an sr20 pulley, so I just bought this set.

I don't think I want to have a blue coilpack cover next to a purple valve cover though, I just think that would end up looking kind of messy. I'm trying to retain a clean but functional look. One color at a time seems to do a decent job of retaining that. I'm actually going to try and get black AN lines for the coolant and oil turbo lines to avoid this as well.

 

[Punknoodle]

Ah ok, in the pic the look kind of like Teal or something, thought it would go nicely with purple seen as how the pulleys will be the same colour close by.

Yeah Black AN fittings will look nice.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Ah ok, in the pic the look kind of like Teal or something, thought it would go nicely with purple seen as how the pulleys will be the same colour close by.

Yeah Black AN fittings will look nice.

Yeah they are blue, I think the lighting in my room just made them look teal. Honestly, what you're suggesting wouldn't look bad, it's more a case of I've got somewhat of a picture in my mind of what I want this to end up looking like, and blue coilpack cover isn't part of it. I think the polished will go well with the polished fittings and lettering on the valve cover.

I plan on black AN fittings and lines, but I'm not too concerned about those, so it's really of matter of what's available for the price I want. If I come across a good deal on some blue/red fittings with silver hoses, so be it.

 

[Punknoodle]

I know that with Speed Flow, black is a no-cost option