The Purple People Eater started! Now I need URGENT help!

[Thor06]

Ok, so like the title says, I got all the shit back on today and after fucking around a while, she started. At first it didnt start so I started checking stuff. I found that the plug wires were in wrong, then that I forgot to connect the coil to the wiring harness. Got in, turned it over and she started right the fuck up! So I was extremely happy, I killed it right away though, the valve cover wasnt even bolted on .

Rewind to right after I got the engine mount back on and it was ready for me to crank ir over. After not starting, I did some compression tests, the first time the 2, 3, and 4 cylinders were ok (125-130), but the first cylinder (next to the timing belt) was low, at 75. So after after trying to start it again and not working, I found a couple vac hoses I forgot to plug back in. So I did cranked it over again, nothing. Another compression test. 2, 3, and 4 each seemed to go up a bit, 5 psi maximum. That first hole went up to 85. More monkeying around, found the plug wires were wrong, fixed them, wouldnt start, found that the coil was unplugged, fixed that and bam she started. I did one more compression test, the compression was about 135 on 2, 3, and 4 and the first hole went up to like 90. So whats going on? Before the head rebuild the compression in that hole was decent, like 135 so I doubt its the rings. What is the torque supposed to be on a OEM MLS head gasket? Is it a little more since the headgasket is metal? (oh yeah, I have ARP's) I think I am going to track down another torque wrench and retorque the head bolts and see if it works better. Any insight AS SOON AS POSSIBLE would be amazing, I want this bitch on the road.

[vanilla gorilla]

Purple People Eater huh?....You read super street too? lol. Glad to hear your getting your car together. Can't help you with the prob. though.

[blk_srt]

How tight did you put the studs in? Did you use moly lube?

[Thor06]

Never fuckin mind! Its all gravy. Heres the story.

So I went out tonight to try to see whats up. I tried to start it, it got to 1000rpms and slowly died. After starting it and watching it die 8-10 times while I tried to run around the door to manipulate the throttle (didnt hook up the cable yet), I just hooked up the throttle cable. I started it and played with the gas, it ran like absolute shit... rpms bouncing all over and it not firing all the time. Well, I got out and looked at the engine bay and thought, "What would I tell some newbie on AF with these symptoms?" Boost leak! So I started the boost leak test and guess what I saw? I forgot to put the fuckin BOV dump tube on! So on it went and it idles fine above 1000 rpms! I still need to get the ignition timing set, my dads friend has a timing light that I can probably use. So after it ran for about 2 minutes I went and turned it off then I rechecked the compression. The problem hole was at 135 as were all the others! I am so fuckin stoked right now. IIRC, they were 132, 135, 135, and 138 (not in that order). I guess the gasket just needs to get seated better or some shit. And yes Scott, I did do the studs right, I read Kevin's site a few times. However, I do want to borrow someones torque wrench and retorque the nuts on, just to make sure but all I need to do now before the beeach hits the streets tomorrow night is put on the timing cover, water and crank pulleys, alternator and water pump belts, bleed the front brakes, get a tire patched, tighten the clamps from the MAF to the TB, and tighten down the o2 sensor housing! Man, I cannot wait to drive it. Do you guys understand how long I have been waiting for this? My import car obsession started with F&F and I started liking basically everything. It moved to Cavaliers then bounced around until I started gaining respect for turbo Eclipses. At first I didnt like DSM's at all, as a matter of fact I hated them. Well, after realizing how damn sexy an unfucked with 2gb looks and how ruthlessly fast they are with little mod $$$ I started to like them. I have been reading and learning about these cars for nearly 4 years. Now, tomorrow night I will hopefully actually get to drive a DSM to its potential and not have to worry about a blown HG or keep it under 4 grand because its not my car. Tomorrow I will be free. (Beat the F&F Tokyo Drift!!! )

And no, I dont read Super Street. Is there some article on a "Purple People Eater" in there?

[vanilla gorilla]

Originally Posted by Thor06

Never fuckin mind! Its all gravy. Heres the story.

So I went out tonight to try to see whats up. I tried to start it, it got to 1000rpms and slowly died. After starting it and watching it die 8-10 times while I tried to run around the door to manipulate the throttle (didnt hook up the cable yet), I just hooked up the throttle cable. I started it and played with the gas, it ran like absolute shit... rpms bouncing all over and it not firing all the time. Well, I got out and looked at the engine bay and thought, "What would I tell some newbie on AF with these symptoms?" Boost leak! So I started the boost leak test and guess what I saw? I forgot to put the fuckin BOV dump tube on! So on it went and it idles fine above 1000 rpms! I still need to get the ignition timing set, my dads friend has a timing light that I can probably use. So after it ran for about 2 minutes I went and turned it off then I rechecked the compression. The problem hole was at 135 as were all the others! I am so fuckin stoked right now. IIRC, they were 132, 135, 135, and 138 (not in that order). I guess the gasket just needs to get seated better or some shit. And yes Scott, I did do the studs right, I read Kevin's site a few times. However, I do want to borrow someones torque wrench and retorque the nuts on, just to make sure but all I need to do now before the beeach hits the streets tomorrow night is put on the timing cover, water and crank pulleys, alternator and water pump belts, bleed the front brakes, get a tire patched, tighten the clamps from the MAF to the TB, and tighten down the o2 sensor housing! Man, I cannot wait to drive it. Do you guys understand how long I have been waiting for this? My import car obsession started with F&F and I started liking basically everything. It moved to Cavaliers then bounced around until I started gaining respect for turbo Eclipses. At first I didnt like DSM's at all, as a matter of fact I hated them. Well, after realizing how damn sexy an unfucked with 2gb looks and how ruthlessly fast they are with little mod $$$ I started to like them. I have been reading and learning about these cars for nearly 4 years. Now, tomorrow night I will hopefully actually get to drive a DSM to its potential and not have to worry about a blown HG or keep it under 4 grand because its not my car. Tomorrow I will be free. (Beat the F&F Tokyo Drift!!! )

And no, I dont read Super Street. Is there some article on a "Purple People Eater" in there?

Cool man. Gonna be hittin the streets hard huh?

And yes. In Super Street, one of the editors (Yamz Yamamoto) has a project car dubbed "Purple People Eater". Its a bad ass j-spec 180sx. Fully built SR20DET, Vertex build-in body kit, and its Barney purple. Beautiful car.

I don't know how many times I've told you this but I'm dyin to see some pics of your ride.

[Thor06]

Thanks man. I just took some yesterday but I was so excited about hearing that best running, I left the camera out there again. Hopefully tomorrow she will be street worthy and I will for sure take some pictures of it then, when its not on jackstands and when it has its new rims on.

Damn... well I guess there are just going to have to be two purple people eaters.

[blk_srt]

congrats

[defiancy]

Congrats.

Next week I get my car back from the shop so I am pretty stoked myself.

[Thor06]

Ok, here are the pictures I promised you...

Me torquing the cams


Heres my 2g big brakes


The engine bay, most of the way back together


Heres the car itself, still on jackstands and itching to get rolling!


What do you guys think? I will for sure have lots more pictures when it actually gets out of the garage. I got the brakes bled today but thats it so far. My mom decided we need to have dinner as a family so there goes my dream of running it tonight. I work at 5am tomorrow so I should be off by like noon and I dont work Monday so I will be god-fuckin-damned if I leave the shop in anything but the Talon.

[crunchymilk55]

looking good man, good job

[Thor06]

Thanks. I got the passenger side wheel on, boost leaks fixed, and some other minor shit done today, all I have left to do is: put the timing belt cover back on (only with like 4 bolts, its coming off again very soon anyway), crank pulley, water pump pulley, alternator belt, p/s belt, water pump belt, and figure out where the lines went for the TB coolant passage. Then I gotta figure out where the return line from the TB goes, fill the coolant and fire the bitch up! After I fixed the boost leaks today I started it for my friend. She idled at ~700 RPM without dieing! I am so fuckin stoked! Cams BETTER be here on Monday or Tuesday and they will go on as soon as they get here. Mike should be selling me his 3" exhaust soon if we cant get his Talon running. Then depending on whether I buy a laptop or not I will go more hardcore on this car. If not, I think I will get a FMIC, 190, oil pressure guage, rice (purple underbodies ) and boost guage/MBC. Then all I have left for my speed setup is injectors, DSMlink, and the bigger turbo. If I get the lap top, I think I will just get the FMIC and rice for now, then do the rest as I get money. I am taking it down to the cities on July 20th and I'll be there until the 23rd which is the dsmstyle.com DSM meet. Hopefully with the exhaust, cams, and BCS mod I can squeak out a 12.999 or lower. I am sooooo freakin excited guys. Anyway, I will have pictures up tomorrow when I get this bitch on the road.

[vanilla gorilla]

Looks good. I love the color combination on the car. Also I think those 300zx rims look right on that car. I just like the whole car in general. Good job. Hurry up and get that beast on the road so you can tell us how it drives.

[blk_srt]

sounds good man. On the coolant passages at least on a 2g the tb has an upper and a lower and there is an upper and a lower hoses so I figure the upper goes to the upper and the lower goes to the lower, is that right? I havent hooked mine up yet and I'm sick of it idling at 2k+

[Thor06]

No idea on the 2g's but I got my shit figured out today. On 6 bolts, the top nipple goes to the water neck and the bottom goes about 6-8 inches down and T's into another coolant hose running by.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the complements. At first I thought the 300zx rims were ugly as hell, but now after the backs have been on, they are growing on me like crazy. I will eventually get them repainted black, but I need to take a trip to the cities first. Scott's recommendations of the hull stripper and duplicolor wheel paint arent available up here. I am SO FUCKIN CLOSE to being done now. All I have to do is get the water pump/ UD pulleys on, but on the belts, the driver's side front rim, and bolt down the timing/valve cover. THATS IT. I can remember when the to do list was about 6 pages long, now its only like 4 lines. Man I am fuckin stoked. I am waiting to eat with my family (mmmmm free food ) and my mom is going to drive me out there. I dont work tomorrow so I will be out there until I can drive it home, which hopefully wont be more than 2 hours. Then the testing starts . Hey, I need to make sure the tires dont slip! Hopefully my buddies will be out tonight, but probably not, its kinda shitty out. I've got everything I need now, all the belts, fluids (still need a bit more coolant), a new victory cigar, my camera, and a fresh set of batteries. Pics coming later tonight along with a very hopped up Thor .

[Thor06]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. Thats all I have to say. So right after this previous post I go upstairs, happy as a lark. I go to tell dad what I have left to do and tell him I am driving it home and he tells me I shouldnt drive it. Lunch started so we went to the table. Then I start getting shit for being drirty. I dont know why it bothered me but they were just persistent about how dirty I was all time and it got under my skin. Then out of nowhere dad is like, "You cant drive that car today." So now thoroughly pissed off I left to go out to the shop with absolutely no drive to start putting that got forsaken timing cover on. After working on it from 4 until roughly 8, I pushed all the shit aside, turned on the cars theme song (Ridin Dirty) and start er up. Though I couldnt leave the property, I was going to go drive around the parking lot and give her a good hard launch. Well, I let it warm up a few seconds while I was jammin out and then I started to go. I made it about 10 feet forward and it just died. So I was like what the hell. Only thing I could think to do was comression test. 90 in the first cylinder, and a whopping 0 in the second. Great, just fucking great I thought. I was confused as hell though, there was still tension and there wasnt anything in there to skip it (checked very good before I put the timing cover on). So I put it up in the air and start on the wheel, motor mount, belts, pulleys, and timing cover. Sure enough, the crank sprocket walked forward and the belt slipped off behind! I forgot to put that really thick washer thing on after the sprocket and before the nut. It was un fucked with, no gouges, cracks, scrapes, scratches, etc. So I reset the timing and started another compression test. The first cylinder was good, same as before (~135). Then the second cylinder. 0. So I just left. Freshly done valves and I bent a few of them. Isnt that fucking great? So hopefully by tomorrow afternoon the head will be back off, this time for the last time. I am going to just bite it and have a local guy do it. My dads friend is cheaper (I think he gave me the head work for graduation, he sent it up on my grad party day without a bill) but I cant afford time right now. I want this car on the road and it will be atleast a week until I get it done from him since hes in another town. So yeah, hopfully its just a matter of a few valves and not a rebuilt head. I think that 2 and 3 are the only ones bothered. It was only at like 1500 rpms when it did it, not like I was at 7500 and halfway down a drag track. We'll see tomorrow though, now that I know what I am doing, I should have it off within like 3 hours if everything goes smooth. All I really have to do is disconnect vac hoses and sensors, the turbo and cooling system stuff. Not a big deal. But I am kinda torqued off, I was litterally just reaching for the victory cigar. Now I know its not over until the fat lady sings and thats when I am pulling out of the driveway. If everthing goes well, I could have it done by wednesday night. I have all day tomorrow off so if I head out abotu 8, I shouldnt have much problem having the head off by noon and I bet the guy will have it done by wednesday (stays up on his work, doesnt get behind) and I have wednesday off so hopfully it will be back on and the car will be running by Saturday. While it was idling it sounded SO GOOD though! Way better than before, no more lifter tick or turbo/manifold clatter. Ah well, shit happens right? I just hope I can buy the amount of valves that I need