I'd love to have a bike but I'd probably kill myself lol. Maybe one day I'll build a cafe racer.
superhead's super-slow wagovan build
- Thread starter superhead91
- Start date
Washed and polished her up on Saturday for Cars & Coffee yesterday. Also, finally ordering a window regulator. It's getting warm and the window is getting to be too much of a pain to handle anymore lol.
Yeah i was just being an ass lolWell there aren't many on here, but thanks
seriously though, sick ride.
Welp. I think the head gasket is finally giving up the ghost and I think the starter is joining it. Looks like I need to order some parts.
Been a while since I've been on here. Wagon was burning coolant really bad, so I finally decided to do the head gasket. Took the head off and sent it to the machine shop. Cam was scored too bad to reuse, so I ordered a new one. Got the head back, put it all back together, and it didn't want to start. We checked the spark and fuel and it was getting both. Did a dry compression test. 25 psi in #1, 115 in #2 and #3, and 50 in #4. Put some oil in and the compression went up. Rings are shot. Managed to get it running somehow, but it was smoking oil.
At this point I had a choice, rebuild the bottom end on the crappy D15B2, or swap. I decided that in the long run a swap would most likely be cheaper, so I ordered a D16ZC SOHC VTEC, a Boomslang OBD0 DPFI to OBD1 MPFI harness, and an ebay header. Hopefully it will be here next week and the swap will get done next weekend.
At this point I had a choice, rebuild the bottom end on the crappy D15B2, or swap. I decided that in the long run a swap would most likely be cheaper, so I ordered a D16ZC SOHC VTEC, a Boomslang OBD0 DPFI to OBD1 MPFI harness, and an ebay header. Hopefully it will be here next week and the swap will get done next weekend.
Damn man, that's shitty... The ZC should be a nice upgrade though. Looking forward to seeing the swap! Love this thing ha
Yeah it's gonna be like a 40 HP difference. Gonna be sweet.
Engine swap is done! :wheee:
Old engine ready to come out
It's out!
Dirty engine bay
New engine with header installed
Clean engine bay
It's done!
Short ram intake is ordered and should be here this week. I used the original cable transmission just to keep the swap easier. Using the hydro transmission would've meant I would have had to convert the car to hydro and it would have just been more money and work. I had to take out the A/C because the header was literally touching the A/C fan and one of the lines. I hardly use it anyway, so not a huge deal. One of the guys helping out with the swap had a lightweight flywheel that fit my motor, so I went ahead and bought it from him and threw it in while we had the transmission off. The clutch that was in the motor was actually a pretty nice carbon ceramic clutch with plenty of life left on it, so I reused it. I'm going to sell the hydro trans and probably use the money to get a custom exhaust made up.
When we first got the motor in and had oil in it, we tried to start it but weren't getting a spark. Ended up just being a ground. We bolted the ground down and it started right up.
Had some problems with the radiator fan not kicking on. Turned out that the D15B2 (old motor) had two temp sensors for the fan, and the new motor only had one. We noticed that the second one didn't have a home, but we didn't think it would affect anything so we just left it unplugged. Turns out as soon as we wired the two prongs on that sensor together the fan kicked on, so we just soldered some wire to it and put some heatshrink over it. The fan now runs whenever the car is on, but better than it not running at all.
The difference driving it is incredible. I went from a 92 HP and 88 ft-lb motor, to a 128 HP and 107 ft-lb motor, plus a header and lightweight flywheel. One downside of the lighter flywheel though is that the car tends to jerk when I'm in gear at really low speeds, like 10 mph or under.
All in all we only had two bigger issues, and they both turned out to be easy fixes. I'm impressed with the conversion harness we used and how easy it made things. Now I've got to figure out if I can get my check engine light to turn off, and try and fix the idle. When I first start it and it's cold, the idle is a little low and it surges a little. Once it warms up it idles fine. It's not a huge issue but I'd like to fix it if possible.
TL;DR - The new motor is in and it's running and it's so much better than the old motor.
Old engine ready to come out
It's out!
Dirty engine bay
New engine with header installed
Clean engine bay
It's done!
Short ram intake is ordered and should be here this week. I used the original cable transmission just to keep the swap easier. Using the hydro transmission would've meant I would have had to convert the car to hydro and it would have just been more money and work. I had to take out the A/C because the header was literally touching the A/C fan and one of the lines. I hardly use it anyway, so not a huge deal. One of the guys helping out with the swap had a lightweight flywheel that fit my motor, so I went ahead and bought it from him and threw it in while we had the transmission off. The clutch that was in the motor was actually a pretty nice carbon ceramic clutch with plenty of life left on it, so I reused it. I'm going to sell the hydro trans and probably use the money to get a custom exhaust made up.
When we first got the motor in and had oil in it, we tried to start it but weren't getting a spark. Ended up just being a ground. We bolted the ground down and it started right up.
Had some problems with the radiator fan not kicking on. Turned out that the D15B2 (old motor) had two temp sensors for the fan, and the new motor only had one. We noticed that the second one didn't have a home, but we didn't think it would affect anything so we just left it unplugged. Turns out as soon as we wired the two prongs on that sensor together the fan kicked on, so we just soldered some wire to it and put some heatshrink over it. The fan now runs whenever the car is on, but better than it not running at all.
The difference driving it is incredible. I went from a 92 HP and 88 ft-lb motor, to a 128 HP and 107 ft-lb motor, plus a header and lightweight flywheel. One downside of the lighter flywheel though is that the car tends to jerk when I'm in gear at really low speeds, like 10 mph or under.
All in all we only had two bigger issues, and they both turned out to be easy fixes. I'm impressed with the conversion harness we used and how easy it made things. Now I've got to figure out if I can get my check engine light to turn off, and try and fix the idle. When I first start it and it's cold, the idle is a little low and it surges a little. Once it warms up it idles fine. It's not a huge issue but I'd like to fix it if possible.
TL;DR - The new motor is in and it's running and it's so much better than the old motor.
The difference is ridiculous lol.
Next step is gonna be replacing all the bushings with hardlines.
Lol glad I can be of serviceGlad to see you still have it! I live my wagon life through you
So on Friday I was driving the wagon to my parents' house to help load up my new motor onto my friend's trailer. I was then going to drive the wagon out to my other friend's house who helped me do the swap. On the way to my parents', I had to brake really hard. I then noticed that my brakes would work, but if I kept pressing, the pedal would slowly go all the way to the floor. I drove it carefully to my parents', and ended up having my friend bring his car hauler and haul it to his house because I didn't want the brakes going out on me. After the swap it was still doing it, but the brakes were working well enough that I felt safe enough to drive it. Drove it to work yesterday and then home. After I got home, I went outside and pressed the brake pedal all the way to the floor a few times, then checked for leaks. Sure enough I found brake fluid on the ground near my front driver's side wheel. Took the wheel off, and found this:
Apparently when I braked hard I burst the hose lol. Went and got a replacement and replaced it and it's all good now. It was a pretty simple fix. Afterwards I washed and cleaned the wagon really good. Don't have any pics because it was dark when I got done. I'll post some up later maybe.
Apparently when I braked hard I burst the hose lol. Went and got a replacement and replaced it and it's all good now. It was a pretty simple fix. Afterwards I washed and cleaned the wagon really good. Don't have any pics because it was dark when I got done. I'll post some up later maybe.
Had that happen in a '76 Jeep I was riding in, s**t was scary, e-brake all the way home
At least it was something as simple as an old line giving out and not something more serious.
At least it was something as simple as an old line giving out and not something more serious.
Lol yeah it was a pretty easy fix. Fortunately my brakes still worked well enough and I could downshift to help slow down.Had that happen in a '76 Jeep I was riding in, s*** was scary, e-brake all the way home
At least it was something as simple as an old line giving out and not something more serious.
It was the "I drive a 23 year old car" mob lol