Done! It's great to have my baby back on the road. It's really fast and everyone that has rode in it to check it out got the adrenaline rush I got. It's so funny to watch people grab the dash or seat when I slam the gas. The seatbelt immediately goes on and then I get the line "I trust your driving" =P. Alot of compliments that I say thank you too. This was alot of work and I'm quite proud of the performance.  It's a big payoff. Since I've gotten used to the power, I want more. Next and final step is turbo. I've got to get all the new photos taken and some new ones of me. Some close friends said I look mean in the photos and It doesn't reflect me. So all that is about to change. I'm going to give this site a major overhaul hopefully this weekend. So stay tuned. 

-Rich 10/07/2003

Front view of the engine completed. Looking good =).

Side view of it. Nice to see everything back together.  

New Update -08/30/03

       Had a great day today working on the car. Everything major has been bolted on the car except the valve cover (which I don't consider major). The cams, cam gears, timing belt, intake manifold, power steering pump, power steering reservoir, passenger side motor mount, all the belts and the under drive pulley have been installed.  Pictures are below.

       Tomorrow, It's going to be pretty easy. The only thing that I'll take my time with is the valve cover. Just to make sure everything is perfectly clean and done correctly. Other than that, I just have to hook up some wiring, coolant hoses, change the oil, put new spark plugs in, fill the coolant, put my cold air intake back on, front strut tower bar and bolt  the catalytic converter pipe back on.  That should do it! I'll be driving by tomorrow night (just in time to go visit my friends apartment complex who are having a Labor Day party).  Check out the pics and check back tomorrow.

-Rich

This is the under drive pulley installed. Should provide much faster acceleration. 

This is the pacesetter header exhaust installed. If you look below you'll see the size difference from the stock one. It will help provide a lot more exhaust flow and horse power.

My intake manifold installed. It's all nice and smooth on the inside now.  From what I've read, it should add about 14 lbs of torque and close to 18 hp. Looking forward to finishing it tomorrow and taking that first drive! 

New update - 08/24/03

   Phew, long weekend of nothing but working on this. I worked about 20 hours on it. I got the new exhaust in, got the head nice and clean, installed the new head gasket, installed the cylinder head, cleaned, polished and painted the intake manifold, cleaned polished and painted the valve cover.  Here's the pictures. Hopefully if I don't have to work too much this week I can get it finished. 

-Rich

 Here's the valve cover. I polished and re-painted it.

Here's the new Pacesetter Header torqued and mounted on the cylinder head.

I took this picture in the middle of smoothing out the Intake Manifold.

  New update. Just wanted to post more pics. Ready for installing new Head Gasket finally. Tomorrow we're no longer tearing down stuff but, putting it back together with the new mods. Will report back soon. Been going through some personal stuff so my time has been limited. 

08/16/03

Cam gears off, valve cover off. 

Cylinder Head removed. Pistons showing with nice grime, I'll clean tomorrow.

Here's my cams and Rocker Arms.

My Cylinder head with the stock exhaust manifold still attached. Cleaning it up and it's time for bringing this baby back to life. Can't wait. Stay Tuned.

-Rich

08/16/03

Got the Under-Drive Pulley off. This is going to have to be a week long project. I'm going to take my time with it and do it right. I'm replacing all the gaskets, head bolts, etc.. Separated the intake manifold. Going to clean it up real good then sand the whole thing down to baby smooth. That'll get a lot more horses. It's funny while I was spraying down the manifold I thought I heard a dog bark but, it came from the canal. I look closer and saw the water had rippled. Then I heard it again and the water rippled again. Then I remembered it's mating season down here for gators. Then I saw the Head of it. It's probably between 5 to 6 feet in length. Check out the pics.

There he is. I've actually seen bigger.

This is it with all the electrical connectors removed and the fuel line removed.

Intake has been removed finally! You'll notice the bottom left bolt hole. That's the 10mm bolt that's going to get you cussing!  You'll have to use a wrench on just that one and you'll only be able to get about 1/8" turn each try! Also notice I taped the intake holes. Don't want any debris getting in there! 

Night all. I'll post again tomorrow night. 

-Rich 07/26/03 

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Here are pictures of the upcoming modifications I will be installing this weekend. I was going to install last weekend but, my new exhaust manifold wasn't due in until today. So, I decided to wait another week and that means tomorrow night I start on the next project of this series. I will be replacing my Head Gasket with the new Multi-Layer Steel head gasket (the old one is leaking like crazy as seen below). I will also be adding the Under-Drive pulley and My new Pace Setter exhaust header manifold. Plus I'll also be porting the head and the Intake Manifold. Gonna be a long weekend and I'll have my camera ready to take a lot of pictures so, tune in shortly and wish me luck. It's going to be an all weekend project. I'm hoping to get it done by Sunday Night. I have a good friends birthday party to go to on Sunday afternoon then I will be meeting my brother and mother for her Birthday. Keep your fingers crossed, I know I will. 

-Rich 7/25/03

  I got my CV driver side axle in tonight. I had to take a torch to the retaining nut to get it off. Got that baby nice and red and it came right off! =P. The main thing that gave me a problem was the bottom ball joint. My book says just disconnect the tie-rod and then disconnect the ball joint using a pry-bar. What a bunch of crap. I disconnected the whole steering knuckle after realizing that the way they say to do it just isn't going to happen. Anyway, It's all fixed as far as the Axle goes. No more poppin! Here's 3 pics I had taken during the process. Tomorrow, I tear down the engine. Check back real soon! 

-Rich 07/18/03

This is the bad one on top. Notice that the boots are fine. Too much torque will ware and tear these things. I'll have to upgrade both axles when I get to installing a Turbo.

As soon as I pulled out the Axle, Here came the gear fluid. Didn't mention that in the freaking book either. LOL.  You got to have a sense of humor about these things. Don't take life too seriously, you'll never make it out alive. -quote from National Lampoons Van Wilder (Great movie, one of my favorites).  Anyways, also notice all the nice oil build up on my tranny due to the very leaky head gasket which, I will be replacing tomorrow.

  I started at 8:30pm and finished at 10:00p.m.. Not too bad for someone working in a hot ass garage and no air tools (man, next tax return I'm getting an air compressor and air tools!). Took it out for a nice drive down US 19, down here in great sunny Florida, everything seems great. Actually it's weird not hearing the Popping =P.

Tune in later this week for the next garage experience!  -Peace

-Rich 07/18/03