build thread for the blue monster

[gestiva]

ok... been doing a lot of work to the blue car lately,
so i figured i would start a thread showing my progress, and get
help for things i know little about.
as some may know from fm3, i was always in a hurry, and not enough planning
or patiance to complete (safe/good) work to my car...
but now after many lessons and good suggestions, i decided to go at building my car(better/reliable)
will post pix of past and present work as it comes.
at any point in my build, if anyone sees something im missing(not doing right)
let me know. thanks

btw; blue monster was an idea aquired from sparky.



anyways. i finally got my brake master cylinder replaced! now i can stop!

[Sparky]

Yessssssss!!!

[gestiva]

pix of progress so far

bumper

[gestiva]

inside

cleaned and painted

[gestiva]

door pocket installed

only put it on pass side. i dont need one on driver side

[Sparky]

You gonna paint that pocket?

[gestiva]

yea. gonna make new door panels and when i do, im gonna paint them to match

[Festiva_tunner]

looks like its comming along

[batstiva]

So far, so good!! Glad you got the MC sorted out. I heard that one was kind of scary when the brakes were applied.

P.S., don't lose that rear steering wheel, you never know when that'll come in handy.

[gestiva]

rear steering wheel?
brakes work good now. bled them today, and can finally stop with out skidding. lol
getting bp tomorrow! and then will start getting other little things i need for installation.

[gestiva]

picked up my bp yesterday! will take pix in a few.
hopefully saturday i will start installation!
i still need a few more items before i start.

[gestiva]

stripping the motor

trying to figure some things out.
first pic is what it lokked like under valve cover. (is it susposed to look like that)
pic num 2. not sure. goes in right where main water hose does from radiator?

[Flyin4stroke]

Temp sensor no.2 and no.1 that what it looks like in a motor that has a few miles on it thats why we like to keep our oil changed... Just stained can be cleaned up

[gestiva]

thanks.... he told me a long story on the process of getting/selecting motors to sell.
basicly, when a car comes in, if it has less than 100,000 miles, and they hear it running.
they remove it from the car, and stick it on a shelf(after they drain oil)
if no one buys it in 6 months, they throw it on ebay/lower price.
if the car comes in with over 100,000 miles, it dont matter if it runs or not, the leave motor in car and sit it in the lot for buyer to pull engine with no warranty
btw: he has 5 more bps

[Festiva_tunner]

trying to figure some things out.
first pic is what it lokked like under valve cover. (is it susposed to look like that)

Straight out of the B series swap guide:


IV. Tips on buying a good used engine:

Mileage isn't everything when it comes to used engines. Just because an engine has 40k miles on it doesn't mean its a better choice than the 110k mile one across the yard. Of course it is entirely up to you and your budget for an engine, but a good bet is an engine under 120k miles old. B-series engines are pretty damn robust and are built for turbocharging. Their cast iron blocks don't wear fast. The most notable problem with them is their tendency to have the famous "valve tap" issue due to the HLA system Mazda used in their BP models. Burnt valve seals also can cause the engine to burn oil, and there really isn't any way to tell if the engine has this problem without starting it up and revving it.

Here is a quick & short guide on how to choose your engine:

Always pop off the valve cover & inspect inside of the valvetrain:

-If inside of head is SILVER.............the engine has been religiously maintained, including the use of a high-quality oil that didn't varnish the internal parts. This would be a rare find & great candidate to install into your car.
-If inside of head is GOLDEN.............the engine has been maintained properly, it is a good candidate. The golden color is "varnish" caused by years of use of dino oil. Assuming no sludge buildup is present the engine should be a good pick.
-If inside of head is DARK BROWN..............the engine has probably missed its oil change on more than one occasion. Depending on the mileage of the engine, it still could be good. Anything under 60k miles with carbon deposits will likely still be fine to use, but anything over that might have other problems
-If oil inside head is CREAM COLORED.............then water has contaminated the oil. This means blown head gasket & most likely a lot of internal wear & tear has already occurred. Using this engine & ensuring it will work properly may require a thourough rebuild.
-If the inside of head is BONE DRY...............then this motor has been sitting for over a year or two. This can mean the seals & gaskets have lost their "lubrication". This may cause them to leak once you begin using the motor. Depending on the mileage & how the rest of the head looks (golden or brown), the engine is still good, but will require special attention to replacing its seals.
-If the outside of the engine is CRUSTED WITH OIL............then the motor has a gasket leak somewhere. It is usually easy to tell where this is. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but does indicate the previous owner didn't look under the hood all that often. If the head is golden, it shouldn't be a problem, but if the head has carbon deposits, there could be other problems with the engine (like low compression due to wear & tear).