Hello everyone. This has actually been a project that I have been working on over the past couple of years, been slow at first due to a lot of BS happening but has gotten a lot further along as of recently.
Here is the complete build thread of the engine. I do apologize about not typing it up nice and neat over here, but there is a shitload of information for me to be typing twice.
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First off, the cornerstone of this build is the engine. I could have easily gotten an imported motor that was running with a gearbox for what I have put into this by now but decided to build one from the ground up. oi what a mistake that was, lol.
Here she is sitting in the 84 escort that I found her in:
in the back seat of my 4 door civic:
The copper head gasket custom made by Cometic:
All tacky ready for installation:
Intake before flipping:
Intake after flipping:
Stock NA exhaust:
Modified for my T-25 Turbo:
Completely repaired cylinder head, courtesy of Walker Custom Performance:
O-ringed block thanks to Greg Grimes of Twister Engines:
Thermostat spacers courtesy of Gimpy (Dave Knapp):
Stripping apart 2 transmissions:
Reassembled with good, sealed bearings and the Mazda Bongo bellhousing and a redone overdrive of .701 and Reverse with synchronizer:
Reassembled (mostly) and under the hood:
Still have to notch the firewall to fit the rear of the intake in a bit, including the thermostat.
Look at this wire, it's 1 gauge welding wire. isn't it pretty?
compressed into the copper fittings using my new hydraulic press, boy that made things really easy <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" />
I got to use a torch here to solder them in, filling any cavities and tinning the wire, helping to prevent corrosion.
A dab of RTV black, it's the only stuff that I use around the shop period silicone wise, and it's really great for getting into any smaller holes and keeping moisture out.
Heat shrink tubing thanks to my local Fry's (the whole strip of red was less than 3 bucks and was a total of 4 foot in length, same price for the black, much cheaper than the smaller packages sold elsewhere.) (Fry's is like Best Buy on a Home Depot scale.) The little bit of black on the red was because I accidentally dropped it while it was still soft and the RTV sprung a leak. doesn't leak anymore
The style of battery terminals that I am using, the brass marine ones.
Now let's move onto the body work: (note that some of these are not in chronological order)
Rusty floor pans:
Repaired floor pans: (to be fair they weren't that bad but very surface-rusty)
Fender repair:
Door repair: (not yet painted)
Rocker panel:
(sorry I lost the original before picture)
Other imperfections smoothed over:
Future color of the truck when completed:
The bed remains, I need to locate one as the current one that is on there is made of wood and is a flat deck. Although this will serve it's purposes for a work truck it doesn't look all that great. A simple 2wd short bed is all that I am going to be looking for.
Another neat aspect of this project is the accompanying trailer that I am making out of the back half (frame and all) of an extended cab pickup.
The other half (now scrapped)
How it will sit once the height is corrected:
At it's new home:
Shaving the fuel tank door (since the tank is now gone)
Custom mirror mounts that I made using factory Mazda tow mirrors, a true tow-package mirror setup: (I needed to extend them out 3 inches to clear the pillar mirrors)
How they will sit on the doors with the pillar mirrors:
Interior mods:
Subaru SVX seats and mahagony steering wheel:
White face gauges:
repainted pillars:
Concealed glow plug controller:
Aftermarket gauges:
Circuits added to the fuse box:
Rewiring the dash (properly) for the tach cluster:
Dash is currently out as is the carpet as I still have some modifications to do regarding the firewall, heater core, and redying the carpet. I am going for a very dark shade of red and also plan on doing some wood grain door panels and dash pieces.
Modded heater core:
repaired end (collapsed over time/over-tightening)
I hope that I didn't overload anyone here with my entry.