Another cheap rx8...

wvumtnbkr said:

So, I hurt the engine last night.  Poo.

 

I'm not sure what I did, but the engine has a pretty good loud tick sound going on.  Changes with engine rpm.  Seems to quiet down for a second when coasting.

 

Seems either valvetrain related or....  a rod knock.

 

I might get a chance to check it out today.  Gonna pull individual spark plug wires and see if it quiets down.  Also gonna pull valve covers to look for broken spring or rocker.

 

If I popped it, I'll pull it and do some other things "while I'm in there".  

Ah well.  Just some more work on the journey.

What were you doing when you hurt it?

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

LS swap time?

Ported heads, more compression, bigger cam? Oh, and fresh shortblock...

Indy - Guy said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

LS swap time?

He'll no.  That would require redoing everything I have done.  It would also be "not very unique".

It might be the time to put a turbo on the 3.9...

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Ported heads, more compression, bigger cam? Oh, and fresh shortblock...

Lolz.  No.

Junkyard take out and Chinese spooli boi are WAY more likely.

Stampie said:

wvumtnbkr said:

So, I hurt the engine last night.  Poo.

 

I'm not sure what I did, but the engine has a pretty good loud tick sound going on.  Changes with engine rpm.  Seems to quiet down for a second when coasting.

 

Seems either valvetrain related or....  a rod knock.

 

I might get a chance to check it out today.  Gonna pull individual spark plug wires and see if it quiets down.  Also gonna pull valve covers to look for broken spring or rocker.

 

If I popped it, I'll pull it and do some other things "while I'm in there".  

Ah well.  Just some more work on the journey.

What were you doing when you hurt it?

Literally just driving along.

So, confirmed.  Did hurt engine.

I believe I left it get a little low on oil and my driving style with this car is a bit "rowdy".  Whoops.

Current state of engine:

Local shop is gonna grind the crank for $150 and check the rod that had the bad bearing.

Just ordered new head gaskets, new tty bolts, new intake gaskets, new oil pan gasket, new timing cover gasket.

I'll have about $600 into fixing the engine back to how it was.

However, I am also going to redo how the serpentine belt was run and "hopefully" fix the 3k rattle by making a geometry change to the headers.  Might as well "while I'm in there".

Check ring gaps and open them if necessary, while you have the chance.

Opti said:

Check ring gaps and open them if necessary, while you have the chance.

Good idea!

Any info or guidelines for this for turbski applications?

Also, thicker head gasket for turbski application?

wvumtnbkr said:

Opti said:

Check ring gaps and open them if necessary, while you have the chance.

Good idea!

Any info or guidelines for this for turbski applications?

 

Also, thicker head gasket for turbski application?

Nope I'm not the guy to answer turbo size questions. 

As far the head gasket though, I'm assuming it's an LZ9 which would put it at 9.8 to 1 compression, if it was me I would not want to lower the compression any more, I may even be inclined to do a thinner gasket if a higher quality one is available. Low compression and boost is old school, don't be afraid of compression and boost 

Opti said:

wvumtnbkr said:

Opti said:

Check ring gaps and open them if necessary, while you have the chance.

Good idea!

Any info or guidelines for this for turbski applications?

 

Also, thicker head gasket for turbski application?

Nope I'm not the guy to answer turbo size questions. 

As far the head gasket though, I'm assuming it's an LZ9 which would put it at 9.8 to 1 compression, if it was me I would not want to lower the compression any more, I may even be inclined to do a thinner gasket if a higher quality one is available. Low compression and boost is old school, don't be afraid of compression and boost 

I did a little more research today.  There are a few people running 500+ hp through basically junkyard used engines touching nothing.  I might be okay for awhile just #sending it.  

I AM planning on working on turbo exhaust manifolds while I have the engine out of the car.  I *think* I figured out how to get the exhaust to the turbo, just not sure on how to get it back out.  Lots of stuff in the way.  Might need to make some "smooshed" pipes.

Not trying to argue man, do whatever tickles your pickle, you've already got my support for building this thing, but keep in mind 500 in a street car is different that 500 in a car that occasionally gets tracked.

You'll rarely notice too loose rings (maybe some blow by) but you'll always notice too tight rings.

The looser ring gaps give you some extra insurance on a less than ideal tune. I'm assuming this thing has hyper pistons, which makes ring gap even more important. On boost LSs we normally do .006 per inch of bore on the top ring and about .002 bigger on the second ring. We've broke quite a few pistons with stock ring gaps, I'm ashamed to say even two NA setups. We went too big on a mod making about 800, he says his catch can fills up a little faster, but that things hanging in there with a bunch of OEM ford parts.

At a minimum id check and make sure they arent on the tight end of spec. Some of the Gen V LT1 guys are seeing stuff way too tight straight from GM, and it's why people think the LT1 won't take boost well on the stock bottom end compared to its counter parts.

In reply to Opti :

I didn't take it as him arguing.  I took it as a berkeley yeah I'm showing up at the Challenge with 500hp.

Stampie said:

In reply to Opti :

I didn't take it as him arguing.  I took it as a berkeley yeah I'm showing up at the Challenge with 500hp.

Me either. I was saying I'M not trying to start and argument (with my 2nd post) on how he should build his car, just share information

Opti said:

Not trying to argue man, do whatever tickles your pickle, you've already got my support for building this thing, but keep in mind 500 in a street car is different that 500 in a car that occasionally gets tracked.

You'll rarely notice too loose rings (maybe some blow by) but you'll always notice too tight rings.

The looser ring gaps give you some extra insurance on a less than ideal tune. I'm assuming this thing has hyper pistons, which makes ring gap even more important. On boost LSs we normally do .006 per inch of bore on the top ring and about .002 bigger on the second ring. We've broke quite a few pistons with stock ring gaps, I'm ashamed to say even two NA setups. We went too big on a mod making about 800, he says his catch can fills up a little faster, but that things hanging in there with a bunch of OEM ford parts.

At a minimum id check and make sure they arent on the tight end of spec. Some of the Gen V LT1 guys are seeing stuff way too tight straight from GM, and it's why people think the LT1 won't take boost well on the stock bottom end compared to its counter parts.

Oh, I thought this was the argument place!  The ring gap for turbo discussion must be down the hall.  -monte python reference for the humors.

I am hoping to still get some advice on ring gap for turbo applications (which you provided some insight above)!  - I wasn't expecting turbo sizing advice.

My comment about just #sendingit was more about the robustness of the motor, not ring gaps.

Keep sending the advice!  My only turbo experience is with spinning domino's!

I never even thought about ring gaps.  I have seen the carnage from rings "pinching" and popping the tops off pistons.  Much carnage.  No me gusta!

Thank you!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Engine parts on floorboard of truck don't run well. 

Dneikirk everybody!

He is a real car guy!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Who berkeleyed up his suspension

Dneikirk said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Engine parts on floorboard of truck don't run well. 

Those are the old engine bearings from when I took the crank to get polished and maybe ground.  Good point though!

I might take some time to replace the bumpstops in the front struts since they are easily accessible. 

I also got a replacement control arm from Mazda that was part of a recall.  Much easier to install with the entire front end sitting on the ground.

Bumpstops replaced.

Apparently, this chassis is like the NC miata.  Bu.pstops are important.

Do you think these ones were in good shape?

Replaced!

I also gapped my rings.  .024" top ring.  .026" 2nd ring.  I may have ground both sides of the rings without knowing that you should only do 1 side.  Guess I'm about to learn why...

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Youre not the first person to do and it definitely won't be the last. Don't worry about it

Opti said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Youre not the first person to do and it definitely won't be the last. Don't worry about it

You started this rabbit hole.

I am soooo...

...happy!

Thank you for going through my antagonistic bullE36 M3.  I learn through playing devils advocate.   

Thank you.  Sincerely! 

Rob R 

wvumtnbkr said:

Opti said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Youre not the first person to do and it definitely won't be the last. Don't worry about it

You started this rabbit hole.

 

I am soooo...

 

 

...happy!

 

Thank you for going through my antagonistic bullE36 M3.  I learn through playing devils advocate.   

 

Thank you.  Sincerely! 

 

Rob R 

My buddies and I have put together motors by using junk from multiple core motors we disassembled and dropped into buckets that had been sitting in sheds for years, that then proceeded to run fine. My position is there are best practices (like filing only one side of the ring) and critically important things, and unfortunately, most people believe most of the best practices are the super important things, but at the end of the day for a street motor you'd be surprised the kind of "butchery" that will run perfectly fine. 

Ive torn down some older running stuff to find things people on the internet would have you believe couldn't possibly work.

I've done nothing except help Dan replace all suspension front and rear on his 06 330i manual (he's looking to sell).

Still waiting to hear when the crank is finished being ground /polished.