ZC DOHC 1991 Hatchback Transplant - Epilog

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Now I gotta clean up the wiring to the ECU. The adaptor harness is great for a quick down and dirty get it running interface. But, all the extra harness length and connectors are too much to stuff in there and look right. So, I'm going to cut the car harness ends and ends from the adaptor that interfaces with the car harness and do the butt splice, solder and heat shrink to make the harnes lay in correctly to the ECU. Weather is warming up the end of the week, I may do it then.

Here's a picture of the installation area (P06 laying loose on the floorboard) when I fit checked the original prior to making the new brackets on the P06 ECU. Way to much friggin wire. I'm not looking forward to all the splices, but want it clean and done right. I'll end up taking 8" or so of length out of it altogether. Ughhhhhh......

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Thanks Rammus for the "like" on the Santa Claus picture. Santa is real for me, always was as a kid. The picture embodies the spirit of christmas for the children and I make sure to be responsible for putting a smile on a couple of small faces every year - just like my smile as a child. Our group at work, only about 10 ro 12 of us, got together (in addition to other donations) and passed the hat around. A couple of our guys are avid bicycle riders so the boss sent them on a mission with the money we collected. We had enough for 5 new bicycles and when the store manager found out what they were for, he donated a 6th bicycle. They went to needy families and I feel good right now just thinking about it. There were a few more smiling faces yesterday - they probably rode them today, maybe some right now, who knows! The bicycles were from Santa Claus. Dang, I'm getting choked up thinking about it. :) Gotta take care of the kids.

Speaking of kids, Halloween picture from this year: (Casey is my G. Shep and helps me pass out the candy every year - I finally remembered to take a few pictures this year) I am blessed with these little angels coming to my front porch every Halloween.....

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Sometimes being right isn't all it's cracked up to be. Got in a little rolling side by side with a new Dodge Ram Hemi pickup. He pulled up beside me and took off, pulled it down into 2nd at ~40 and hammered it, banged 3rd, caught and edged past him and shut it down. Didn't sound quite right on the shut down. Drove it home slowly. Parked it. Cranked it up Saturday morning and made a breakfast run, once it warmed up it clattered and such. Took it home, ran a compression test 120-90-105-105. Uh oh.

Told a long time buddy I thought the bottom end was wasted and he argued against it. Having laid waste to a myriad of engines over the past 45 years, the death clatter is very recognizeable.

I was right. :rip_1:

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Head looks ok, no valve collision damage. Haven't pulled the short block apart yet - not sure if I even want to screw with it - now that it's degreased and pressure washed, I'm thinking about just taking it to the machine shop and let them deal with it.
 
well there's your problem... there's little bits of stuff all in your oil... those aren't s'posed to be there



Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.... Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.

;)
 
Rofl!!! I was wondering about those - it just didn't look quite right...
 
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I called this one right

#2 rod bearing. I figured this was the issue, had problems with it during assembly and made a bad judgement call by not replacing the bearing prior to final assembly. Bet I won't do that again. ;)

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I've seen bad. This is a testament to either how long you let a tick go unchecked, or how strong this motor is.
 
It ran pretty good, much stronger than the D16A6, not quite as strong as a Jimmy Prock tuned AA/FC. Depending upon conditions, it would wheel hop a bit in 2nd around 6500-7000 RPM.

I dropped the short block off at the machine shop this afternoon after stripping it down. Hopefully, the bill won't to too absured. But, to venture a guess: crank will need to be ground, cylinders bored, perhaps a rod. I salvaged the crank and rod set from the D16A6.

I'll know by the end of the week after they look it over.

For the next incarnation it will be sporting a new set of ARP head studs and compression ratio of 10.5:1.
 
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i know the saying "if it aint broke, don't fix it"... but did ya have to go and break it to fix it again?! lol
 

i know the saying "if it aint broke, don't fix it"... but did ya have to go and break it to fix it again?! lol
I know, oh woe unto me. The wait for the call from the machine shop is the worst part. "How much is it going to cost?" is the bottom line here.

Not to downplay a screwup - cuz it was a screwup, a bad judgement call on my part during assembly of the bottom end. after the catastrophic failure, a part of me is a little gun shy for the rebuild. I explained it to my boss this morning as I walked him through the pictures of the carnage. As an avid MMA fan it's about the tale of the tape. My win/loss/tie record with engine builds is good. When ya get bucked off and bloody yer nose, ya gotta climb back up on the bull and go for the full 8 second ride - I'll do the short/long block assembly in my shop and get it right this time.

The wait for the phone call sux...... :)
 
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Went down and talked to Steve at the Machine Shop this afternoon, better news than expected. I figured it would be about a grand.

Crank Grind/Re-Finish on rod journals
Hone Rods
Fit Bottom end
Hone Cylinders
Full Bearing set
Piston Ring set
Full Gasket set
<$600

I picked up a set of ARP head studs for ~$93.00 on eBay

Cometic 0.031" MLS Head Gasket ~$95.00 from eBay (changing the 0.051" to bump up compression ratio from 10:1 to 10.5:1)

Total cost on the engine will be ~$800.00.

Will be doing some cleanup under the hood while it's out. Replacing speedometer cable, one of the lower radiator mounts, replace a couple of connectors on the harness (O2 sensor and distributor) and I'm going to re-paint the engine bay. Taking it back in time a bit, just a touch of some Old School - if it looks like crap I'll return to stock monochrome color scheme. Front and wheel houses will be factory Tahitian Green, underside of hood and firewall will be a black from the Honda color line of 1991.

Clutch disc also looks kinda funky for 5000 miles, will probably replace it. Flywheel and pressure plate surfaces are good to go. Pressure plate side of clutch disc is worn - more than I would have thought for a year of service and 5k miles. Will probably replace/upgrade it.

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Oil pan gasket was leaking at the flywheel end, and the tranny bell was dirty. Maybe the oil leakage accelerated the clutch wear? Guessing on that one.
 
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My right foot definitely contributed to the clutch wear. That's a fact. The right foot, the increased torque and the Stage 1 pressure plate all had their part in the show. Given that I now have had a look at it with 5000 miles, I talked to the shop and we're going to fit it out with a little more clutch disc this time - same pressure plate - oh, and a little more torque at the flywheel. :)

What I don't fully understand is the difference in wear on the two sides of the clutch disc. The splines were lubed and still greased, so it should have been able to float on the pilot shaft. :dunno:
 
Check your clutch cable and see if it is a little too tight
You're thinking maybe it was slipping? I never considered that. I don't think it was - seems like it was adjusted correctly. However, after the initial setup, I never readjusted it or checked it. Took a lot more pedal pressure than the OEM.

I'll double check it when it goes back together along with normal break-in maintenance like oil changes and head re-torque.
 
ya know? shit happens... and i always like to think it coulda been worse... coulda grenaded the block and had an accident... good to hear you'll be on the road soon!
 
hey bro, nice to see somebody keeping the zc alive. what part of texas? corpus here
 
It will be Alive and Well in about 2 weeks. And yeah, dc4 it could have been much worse - this just allows for me to do a little cleanup under the hood and step it up another notch.

Fort Worth.
 
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