Well figured I'd drop a post letting you guys know the specs and progress on my fiji Conquest TSi restoration/daily driver project.

So I've started further disassembly of the engine. This has been a fiasco from the start as of thus far. supposedly an oil pump problem so I decided to do everything I did on my rio Conquest to the Fiji. Well I took all the bolts for the oil pan and the timing chain cover off only to find the previous owner rebuilt the engine not too long ago and decided that he would make those 2 items in particular NEVER leak again. In the process he also essentially super glued the oil pan to the block using black RTV. needless to sayI bent the oil pan (pulled a muscle in my back AND bent a flathead screewdriver in the process as well). So finally that's out of the way and I decide to try the timing chain cover. That came off a little easier (More handholds to grab and yank onnow the oil pan was gone). Amazingly I didn't damage the fairly new head gasket. Look at the back of the TCC to find the back of the bolthole for one of the water pump bolts had shattered off.... Hhhhmmmmm... Problem maybe? Found the loose piece in the oil pan. Need to replace the TCC now too though...

Decided to jump around in the engine a bit and remove the throttle body for cleaning and rebuild. Remove all rubber parts, clean things up, drop various metal parts in the parts cleaner to soak for 2 weeks. Pull them out and polish them no less. BLING BLING baby! Go to rebuild the throttle body and insert new throttle shaft seals. They don't seat right. Destroyed 2 before giving up and buying a used one elsewhere. Back to the cleaning process on THAT one but I'll be leaving the shaft seals and throttle plate in place this time. I just want a clean TB and a shiney outside. Still waiting on the new TB to come in.

So now on to the thermostat housing and thermostat. Why leave something as small and trivial as that to chance right? Remove the housing and then try to remove the thermosensor for cleaning of the housing... BAD idea. Sensor so corroded in place it snapped on me... New housing and used sensor enroute now. GGGGGGRRRRRR....

So go to install a balance shaft elimination kit only to find balance shafter were already eliminated... DAMN more wasted $... So in seeing this I start wondering, now that I have the oil pump off, Since this thing had a BSE done perhaps the guy wasn't bright enough to realize that eliminating the balance shafts WILL produce a lower oil pressure and perhaps there was NOTHING wrong with this engine... UGH... Too late now but I decide to take the oil pump apart anyways and see how it looks inside. Looke decent so I guess I have a functional spare now.

Well last engine I did this to I screwed up and didn't bother touching the bearings or crank. Not this time. I decide to pull the main and rod caps and replace all bearings and get the crank polished or turned as necessary. Well THAT fiasco went just beautifully... not for future reference: Don't remove the main and rod caps before disconnecting the trans from the engine or you'll NEVER be able to turn the crank enough to get all of the flywheel bolts out...

Well at the present moment that's where it sits. Waiting for me to get better and the weather to warm up so I can disconnect the trans and exhaust and pull the entire engine out of the car to get the crank out and rebuild the lower end.

 

Well even though you had some things in your way it sounds like you arent that far from completion.

Anything exterior planned? Anything performance wise planned? New paint job?

 

Paint will be the only thing she'll get exterior wise. She's going to be as close to 100% stock asI can get her. No BOV no mods visible. The BSE is already done and near irreversable so that will stay and the other thing I'll be doing is a jet valve elimination. Mostly for safety reasons. other than that I'm replacing all vac lines with silicon lines and just cleaning her up. It'll be a clean Fiji blue job. And I'm definately FAR from finished with this project. It's not easy yankin an engine with little to no help.

 

I hear ya.

No BOV? I assume it has one stock?

 

Nope no BOV from the factory. No BPV or BOV at all on the car and the boost levels are controlled by a small piece of black vac line going to the WG actuator. Things were rather primitive in the 80's still. turbo technology wasn't what it is today.

 

Isnt it wise though? Even if you want to keep it stock.. surely logic out weighs the benefit of keeping it original

 

att least for the turbos sake I agree

 

Yeah thats what i was getting at

 

Wastegate control works even today. Most internal wastegates use a 10 psi spring though. Your kind of limited in boost to 17psi when using a wastegate as opposed to another form of boost control.

I agree with having a bov too. The whole reason to have a bov or some sort of valve is to relieve the backpressure on the compressor. If anything Sang, mount a bov upside down so that it isn't visible. Get yourself a 1G bov, filter it and call it a day.

Sang, I might be free today, since my wife is sick. I'll give you a call to see if you're free later.

 

My .02 tells me, that this car should be hotat the end.