Dustin's UltraMarine FR-S (Engine Blew - LS3 Time)

[DustinS]

Friend let me pull the car in his garage and do a quick check of the car. Still Slower than his FBO E85 GTR



Got the manifold off quickly:



I have a little over 6000 miles on the engine and intake ports look disgusting. The intake manifold had a significant amount of oil pooled inside of it. I need a catch can ASAP. Completely my fault as I figured I could wait while I do research on the best option for my situation. Guess I was wrong and just need to throw something on there while I research.



You can see how filthy the car is from having to park in the yard and getting rain. Too cold to wash the car . You can also see the oil pooled at the mouth of the throttle body:



Quick wipe of the intake ports, getting the valley plate off was a nightmare. One of the hex button heads stripped and I had to hammer in a larger hex socket to get it out. Took forever to do it as I didn't want to have to drill it out and retap it.



Pretty sure the shavings are from the bottom of the valley cover and were knocked loose while hammering the socket on. Still weird that there are shaving in the engine this far along I would think.



Paint on the throttle body failed as well. Going to try and tear it down to get it powder coated.



More updates on next oil change and catch can set-up to come.

I was able to get a spare set of stock headlights from a local 86 owner. They have been torn apart and lens/chrome trim sent to the local paint shop to have the lens cleaned/cleared and the chrome paint matched. I think we decided on a quad set-up with matchbox in highbeam spot and trying for a custom mounted OEM (Acura TL?) Projector in the normal low beam spot.

Also looking at doing a possible wrap. Don't want to waste getting everything painted until I have a legit good body kit on the car. Want something different than the V1 Kit.

[DustinS]

I was going to use my catch can I had left over from the FA20, but it's huge. I instead bought a smaller one from Amazon that seems to have good reviews. Should be able to toss some stainless steel scrub pad to help with separating the oil out. Looking at ordering another one for the "Clean" side here soon. Which currently has breathers on it per what TSP recommended. The more I research, the more I see a catch can is a better direction.

Need to get some quality -6an hose and a couple more fitting so I can have a cleaner looking set-up than just rubber hose.

$35 and tossed in a few feet of rubber hose for a few dollars more. See how it does.

[DustinS]

Well I did few things. Oil change and catch can install... Not good news (and possible some possibly good news). First Pictures of wheels I am borrowing for now.

19" Volk TE37s. 19x9.5 et22 up front, 19x11 et22 Rear. They rubbed really bad in the rear. Due to how far back the wheel sits in the wheel well and how low the car is. I had to hammer the body up a bit more.



Need trailing arms to center the wheel. Needed to do it even with the 18's, but much more apparent now.



Can see that the wheel actually popped the rear bumper apart. Had to fix that with a new bolt.



On to destruction pictures.





Everything is coated in a small even layer of very finely ground metallic dust as well.

Posted it up on facebook and instagram and tagged Texas Speed, they finally responded on how it wasn't normal. They should be contacting me today to see what happens. I am assuming they will want me to send my engine to them and if they determine they did something wrong, fix it under warranty. If they don't think it was because of them I will be presented a bill for labor and if I want them to fix it, a parts list/bill for that as well.

I also received the catch can. Built a simple mount for it out of some scrap metal bar.





Funny enough I was looking at it before the local club meeting and had some friends check to make sure the hoses didn't collapse under vacuum... They did instantly... So I put on the good rubber fuel/oil hose that won't collapse under vacuum.

Edit: Texas Speed isn't going to warranty the engine, but still want me to send it back for a tear down. Not worth the time/money to send the engine to them. I'll just either have a friend help tear it down, or have one of the LS guys here tear it down. 417 Motorsports is extremely good and seems to know Texas Speed. Owner is an acquaintance/friend as well.

[DustinS]

New Fog Lights from a friend. I love them





I have ordered the Switch Bezel for the Fog and Trunk button as well as the illuminated trunk button switch. Should have those at the beginning of February. Might be tearing into the heads tonight.

[DustinS]

Well the engine is coming out. Engine is looking like it needs rebuilt. Some slight marring on the cam/lifters. A lot of carbon, and some odd wearing on the cylinder wall (at least to me).

I think I am going to use this time to relocate the ABS Module, Fuse Box, and Battery. I may possibly look at doing a different radiator mount/bash bar, and radiator hose routing.






Difficult to see, but there is some weird wear mark here.

[Sportsguy83]

Sucks man, but I like your attitude, you're not a quitter, keep it up!

[TheBRZsKnees]

I've been running the vented version of that catch can for about eight months. I can vouch that it's worked great so far.

[RavioliG]

Those TE37s look amazing

But that really sucks about the engine.. What's your turnaround time looking?

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by RavioliG

Those TE37s look amazing

But that really sucks about the engine.. What's your turnaround time looking?

Couple months probably :/ I have so much going on right now. I just don't have time. On top of that, I don't have a garage. So I am very Dependant on weather.

I also have to decide if I am going to try and turbo it while everything is apart.

[DustinS]

Well got it torn down to just the short block. Waiting to get an engine hoist/for the snow to melt so I can get it out. I also tested a possible new radiator mounting. Just lay it down further for more room behind it for intake and venting.









Should have plenty room for some ducting.



Had two of the Rocker Arm Bolts almost strip out on me. Cylinder 3 & 4.





Weird finish on oil pump:







Cam Bearing #2 looks not so great.

[Swift]

So strange and not good.

[DustinS]

Got the fog light bezel installed. Super easy, and looks good.



Also began working on the radiator ducting:







I also went ahead and bought a set of Z06 Exhaust Manifolds:

[DustinS]

Well I got someone to buy my Full Blown Radiator, so I ordered up the chase bays 240sx tucked radiator. It's a dual pass with slightly shorter height and -20an inlet/outlet on the same side. Really didn't think I was going to get this deep into it lol

[DustinS]

Stuff for the battery relocation project has been ordered. Hoping to move the fuse box to battery location to clean up the engine bay. I think I spent too much, but I want to do this once and do it right.

ABS module relocation is also going to be started tonight. I need to remove the ABS Module and start getting the wiring de-loomed and split up. Custom lines need measured and ordered. Still trying to decide between trying to bend my own hardline and ordering DOT legal stainless lines.

Warm weather is on its way and I am excited to get this stuff done.

I need to take a caliper and measure the A/C hardlines and see about ordering aluminum tubing in the right size and bending it myself.