I sold my 420whp wrx late last year and was going to get out of the modified car game for a while, obviously that didnt go to plan as i bought this allready highly modified EVO I. The car has been featured in a few magazines years ago, and was mostly put together by apc back i nthe day. When i checked the car out it had a few obvious problems but i decided to buy it anyway, knowing that the engine may require a freshn up as it was built a while ago. I dont know the full history of the car since it left apc but it has been wrenched on by other mechanics, but its clear the car was in need of attention in a few areas. When i got it home i decided to start fixing it up. Ive only driven the car twice since buying it in Janurary lol. The custom exhaust manifold was cracking all over and just about falling apart, i tried to get it rewelded but the best thing for it was to throw it in the bin and get a proper one made up. When i pulled the turbo and manifold off i was happy to see the turbine wheel on the GT35r was ****ed, which i wasnt aware of
Looked like something had hit it, but more on that later. ..So i got the turbo rebuilt, and a new exhaust manifold made up. I did a comp test previously and it seemed a bit down, was around 120 right through, did a leak down and the result was #3 and 4 had 30% leakage, mostly out the exhaust valves. I decided to pull the head off to see what damage was in there, first suprise was when i took the cam cover off to see one of the intake rockers had completly fallen off the lifter/valve assembly lol! Not sure how it happened but i would guess an over rev or valve bounce would cause this. With the rocker off only one of the intake valves was working and the other just shut all the time, lol no wonder the car felt slightly off. So at this stage i had taken only one part off the head and allready found problems, some great luck i have.
Next i removed the head and all the crap that has to come with it. The piston crowns had a bit of damage, some pieces of the material around the valve recesses had chipped off, this is probably what went thru the turbo and smashed the turbine wheel. Looks like it has copped a bit of det to cause this. I was hoping the bottom end was going to be in good condition as it hadn't dont many k's since built, unfortunatley it had to come apart. Next i pulled the oil pan and took the rods and pistons out. The rod bearings were in pretty good shape considering what they have been through, the pistons were in good condition too besides the damage up top. The little end bush of the Argo rods had a bit of play which shouldnt be there. :confused: At this stage its pretty obvious the entire motor and drivetrain is coming out for a full rebuild, no point half arseing it. So with some help from RUNUTS and his engine crane we removed the block and gearbox :thanks: . I took the motor to JHH for machining and assembly, and thats pretty much where im at at the moment. The pistons are no good and they had too much clearance anyway, so we have new 9:1 wisecos goin in. The rods had to be sent back to Argo to be re bushed. Just found out the ARP head studs arent worth reusing so they will be replaced too. Going to rebuild the gearbox while its out too.
I decided to change to GSC S2 cams as alot of the guys in the US are having success with them. Also probably have to swap the Crower valve springs and retainers to something a bit stiffer to suit the more agressive cams. I got rid of the laggy 1.06 exhaust housing and got a 0.82 instead, should bring boost on a bit earlier than before. Also ordered a Hypertune intake manifold to replace the old one. Looking to replace the wheels with something a bit smaller and lighter, TE37's would be ideal. :yes: So yer, thats it so far. Im doing all the work in my garage, with limited tools and knowledge of evo's but we will get there.
first up some pics of the car after i bought it, hope u like my fulli sik interior.
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- there might be a 12 flat left in her yet
