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New engine in '83


Tim_C.
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Well, I have an '83 DD that has 150K miles on the body. It had a hydraulic head on it so I assume the head or entire engine was replaced at some point. I haven't torn it apart to see. Anyway, it has a bottom end rattle that could be a rod starting to knock. I parked it as soon as I heard it. Still ran fine, but once in a while the oil pressure gauge would go low and then come back up.

 

I pulled it out friday night. I had a fresh short block assembled by the machine shop that did the work. Forged Wisecos. Not sure what rings they put in it. I also had a new casting marnal head with new oversize valves and minor porting, done by the same shop. All new timing set, Schneider 274 hydraulic slip rocker cam with HD springs. New oil pump of course, no balance shafts and all internals balanced.

 

The clutch and flywheel are stock, but worked fine before, so I decided to use it since I want to drive the car daily and really wanted a smooth clutch more than grip. I have a couple of good used stock clutches laying around too, so I have a long time before I need a new one. The engine came with a new fidanza and performance yellow case pressure plate clutch, but the seller couldn't tell me what brand it was. Only that he got it on e-bay, so I didn't trust it to have a good feel. I can put it in another one when I need to.

 

I got the new engine in this weekend, and put the finishing touches on it this afternoon after work. It fired right up, oil pressure came up, and no leaks anywhere so far. Runs very smooth. I haven't revved on it, and won't until the rings break in. I ran it at 2500+ RPM for 15 minutes to break the cam in.

 

I drove it home from the alternator shop where I did the work. All seems very normal, so I feel a bit relieved and hope to get a reliable car out of it. It drove before very well on the highway with lots of passing power. I love the quick spool of the non intercooled, and better power on demand, although not as much top end and overall power as an intercooled car. This engine will be even better than the old one. I can feel quite a power increase.

 

The car is a little rough body wise with a few small dents in line down the passenger fender and on the door. Original clear coat coming off in chunks. A little rust in the wheel wells, but other than that it is fine. Before the engine, I only used parts I had laying around to keep it running. I paid $2000 for the long block, ARP head studs, full gasket set, fidanza, and clutch with engine stand. Bought it all last January. Seems like it is paying off and was everything the PO said it was. I only have about $2000 in the whole car now. The old engine is on the stand to be torn down when I get time. Which might not be until spring the way my job is keeping me busy lately.

 

I thought about just keeping the car for parts for the CBRII, but it was too good for a parts car, so I decided to fix it and drive it.

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Well, Mitsu documented a loss in spool time on the 85.5 intercooled vs. non-IC. It wasn't much, but noticeable. Plus, the non-IC turbos seem to spool faster than the 12A. To me anyway.

Plus, the cars weigh a bit less. Especially this one with no ABS, LSD, or AC, and some interior stripped. The kid who had it before me had stripped the interior out to drift it. He must have done some drifting to get the row of small dents, and loss of all fluid in the passenger rear strut.

 

I have the '84 parts car that I just pulled the rear struts from. They look to be fairly newly replaced aftermarket ones. Probably Autozone specials. I plan to put those in tomorrow. I also pulled the LSD/torque tube and hope to get it in there too tomorrow. The brakes on the parts car were new too. The rotors look new with just a little surface rust. This was a car I paid $75 for with a seized engine. Turns out it was only some water in the cylinders from a cracked head. It had all parts with it, and the clutch and flywheel assembly was a brand spankin' new Luk. Installed but zero miles on it. They must have thought the clutch was seized? Dunno, but they gave up and practically gave it to me. I used a lot of the parts to restore the CBRII.

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Let me add to this , i have here a 87 non intercooled flatty automatic and a 88 intercooled automatic widebody with a 14g and both running very well , let me just say the bone stock flatty is right there with the slightly modded widebody when the light goes green ! :) Edited by scottygibb
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Yes Scotty, that's exactly what I'm talking about! :) Flatty love! :P

 

After driving this one a few days, I noticed a change in it's personality. The stock motor was very quick to respond, but gave up fairly early, although it would top out around 125MPH.

 

This engine is quick to respond but it is due to the compression increase of 8:1. The 274 cam doesn't come on until 2K, but then it comes on very strong and will accellerate through top end just the same. Although I haven't taken it up at all. Haven't needed to. I barely give it gas and the turbo spools. It seems to go on its own after that. I'd have to think it will get decent mileage since it has lots of power with little gas pedal. I'd have to keep it from spooling though, which is hard to do on this one, and less fun. :D

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  • 5 months later...

Just an interesting update: The new engine is still doing well. Hasn't leaked a drop of oil.

 

I tore apart the old engine that was in the '83. I'm pretty sure it is an '88 engine with less than 50K miles on the long block. It was in an '88 before that was rolled at 25K. I got the trans out of it, but the engine was sold to someone else. This engine shows many signs that it is low miles. However, it was run low on oil. The kid who bought it after the guy who swapped the '83 motor out and '88 in, drifted it and ran it low on oil. The head looks very fresh still. Rod 1 bearing was starting to eat itself. I pulled the engine just in time. The crank looks fine. I still need to mic it, but it looks okay. The back sides of all rod bearings has changed color from heat.

 

Another reason we are 99% sure it is the low miles engine out of the rolled '88, is that it has marks on the cylinder walls where you can see it sat for a long time without being run. A little residual moisture was in the oil ring cavities, and you can faintly see the pattern in the cylinder walls. That rolled car sat for many years before the owner finally gave up his thoughts of fixing it and let it go.

 

I should be able to do a bear bones rebuild on it and have it ready to go again.

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Yeah, I looked closer at the crank. It will need a .010 turn put on it, but that's normal. I'm still happy I got molehill pulled before it got damaged beyond repair. I will probably do the block right too and bore it and install new pistons. The old pistons have seen severe detonation. The kid who owned it before must have cranked the boost. The pistons are all scuffed up on one side at the top. They are damaged beyond reusing them. Time for a good set of forged to go in there.

 

At least I have a good builder block, crank, and rods to work with. The head is in great shape too. It had the OEM head gasket, OEM head set-up.

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