ShadowDrake

Hey all,

My ol' mod motor served me well. Very well, in fact. A couple of weeks ago though, I was out for a little bit of automotive shenanigans. Beat a fairly modded 04 WRX wagon and an audi S4 with k04's... and at the end of the pull, 5900 RPM, the car lost about 150 HP. Got out of it and came down to idle with a misfire.

This wouldn't be the first time, I thought. I've had the same thing happen before and melted a couple of spark plugs. I figured I'd zip them out and be back in business. Got the car home and swapped them and still had a serious misfire. Plugs from cylinders 4 and 8 WERE flat though.

Did a compression test. 0 psi cylinder 4, 40 psi cylinder 3, all others were 190-230. Time to take off the passenger side head! And this is what I was greeted with.



What amazes me, is that the stock clutch has outlasted every other drivetrain component. I swapped to an IRS and had to have it rebuilt. The transmission synchros aren't in the best shape any more (t-56 is waiting to go in, too), and now the motor finally let go. I've still been running the factory clutch this whole time (~100k miles, 40k of which are supercharged, 50k with nitrous). Gotta love that.

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THE REBUILD:

I did a lot of personal debating and deciding on what I wanted to do. I'm maxing out the poor P1, I get belt slip and I'm running a 3.4" pulley. I'm overspeed on the bearings, it just wasn't going to give me much more. I wanted to go turbo, but it seems like a waste on the 2v. I was sleeping one night and woke up with an epiphany - I could get a cheap 4v.

So I guess I'm just gonna share pictures of everything and hope it fires up when I turn the key. Too many untested parts. I'm scared

PARTS ALREADY ORDERED:
-On3Performance forward facing turbo kit - 4v
-UPR k-member
-UPR a-arms
-UPR coil-overs
-2003 Lincoln continental motor - runs 70k miles (head donor)
-2001 Cobra upper and lower intake manifold, throttle body
-Spec stage 3 clutch w/ light pedal feel option

PARTS TO BE ORDERED:
-Short block (Input here? I am looking at the MMR900 but I keep seeing horror stories about how MMR doesn't stand behind their work if something is wrong)
-Wiring harness/ECU - optional but I want to utilize the knock sensors

Gonna cut this short for now, headed out for lunch

ShadowDrake

Taking this post

ShadowDrake

And this one too.

WannaBeGearHead

Sounds like a nice build. Ever thought about going with a Mach 1 upper and lower intake?

MMR has a somewhat mixed reputation. Most people love them and have ZERO problems. Others don't care for them and have had bad experiences. Such is any company, right?

mustangmancp

Yea MMR is definately one of those companies. Id look into DSS racing too...

Sounds like a cool build though! I wanna see how the foward facing turbo works for ya...what size turbo you go with??

97stanger

I have personally never had any problems with MMR, whenever I needed them they were more than helpful and cooperative. As said, with any company you will hear negatives

Sxynerd

I waited 2 months for my engine and every time I talked to their builders (Jose & George) they made me less and less confidant that they knew anything that they were talking about.

On the other hand with my setup, it ran like a raped ape and I never had an issue.

ShadowDrake

AFAIK the manifolds are pretty darn similar. I got lucky and picked one up on SVTP complete for $375 including fuel rails. I was looking at a marauder manifold but I need a different upper (can't just flip it) and the only place I can find one of those is at the Ford dealership for -another- $960.

My only concern is that my continental motor supposedly has a slightly different profile on the intake cam. Not a problem for now but I'd like to see 7000 RPM. Some FGT cams are in my future with the springs and retainers to match, but that's eventually. I just want to get the car back on the road for now. I miss it to death. It's been my DD since I've had it.


I'm going with their basic 70mm turbo for now. A guy around here has their normal rear facing kit on a 2v and the fit is pretty good - I was surprised. So I'm going to give it a shot. I already sold the Procharger so now I've gotta commit

When I outgrow the turbo that it comes with, Bullseye Power Turbos is about 10 miles away and because of who I know in town I can get some of the best turbos in the world for quite a nice price :P. My fuel system is going to have to be upgraded before I can get some good power. I've just got a single 310 lph fuel pump and the big blue injectors. I need to get some 60# or larger injectors, cobra fuel tank, and fuel hat.

In regards to MMR, yeah there's going to be some stories, but there seems to be a lot more about MMR. Like if they send me a motor with the wrong size pistons, or who knows, I'm pretty much going to be out of luck. I'm thinking I'm going to go with MMR but I'm documenting -everything-. I'm checking the bores the moment I get the motor out of the box, and checking compression and valve clearance in every cylinder before I even fire the motor. I'd rather spend the time and have a strong case if it comes down to it.

I'm just excited to get the shortblock ordered

WannaBeGearHead

There are much better choices then FGT cams.

mustangmancp

Awesome man...if i went turbo id prob go w/ that foward facing set up also! Looks like a good kit! Good luck with everything...PIC UPDATES PLEASE!!!