The Corona Wagon - Just another 2.3 Sami

[arse_sidewards]

Where is your warpage? In the deck, right?

Cam shouldn't give a fuck about a couple of thou. The oil film is more than that thick. Just straighten the head and let the cam live its best life.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I'd say give sanding it a try, but it's not my project and time that might be wasted.

There's a guy on the Youtubes that does it by hand all the time.

What's a reman head worth?

[Joe_the_ice_man]

I got a head from a wrecker for $110 with a 60 day guarantee. I do intend to try and fix this one for a spare, but its more than just decking. Let's just say I've been willfully ignoring how bad it was, as in I've been pretending to blame the starter for it not turning over with anything less than 1000 cranking amps worth of battery...

I wouldnt bother fixing it, but apparently the J23 is not as common as it was when i started the swap. I found exactly one between the 3 wreckers in Edmonton I frequent, rather than the dozen each other was 3 years ago.

I've got a gasket set, rings and rod bearings on the way, looking for a set of crank main bearings still, Rock Auto didn't have standard size. Hopefully I can tear it down and have it back together in a weekend before the snow flys.

Did some more electrical today, seeing what the Sami dash will read from the ECM, and sorting through pinouts to see if the ECM will control my electric fan.

[arse_sidewards]

I'd say give sanding it a try, but it's not my project and time that might be wasted.

When you don't need perfect parallelism getting flatness is super simple if you have time on your hands. They were making lenses for telescopes in the 17th century. Even if you don't have a "perfectly flat" surface you could get three granite counter remnants and make one (three actually).

[Joe_the_ice_man]

I am going to use this method to make sure the block and the new head will fit decent. I don't feel like doing more head gaskets than absolutely needed. I'll do my best to straighten the old head so the cam bores line up better, then probably deck it by hand as well just for a spare.

I have a remain kit in the mail from Rock Auto. It should have been here yesterday, but FedEx is even slower than Canada Post, so I'm not expecting it till late next week.

Unfortunately no one has standard size main bearings, the only shop that could find and order them for me says they are 3 weeks out...

Figured since I've got a bit of time and money I may as well go through the whole thing and make sure it *shouldn't* blow up on me.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Went on a scavenger hunt at the wrecker today, found a Swift dash to pilfer a VSS from, a WJ drag link end, a set of locking hubs, as well as some Audi and Saab parts that may find their way into this build eventually.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Got my VSS in the speedo and working, apparently all you need is the little plastic strip (or metal if you're lucky) that's glued on the bottom there. Had to do some work with a file to get it close enough to the magnet to get a signal, it works on the bench now though.

I guess the little glass vial on the back is just a reed switch and the magnet in the speedo closes the switch 4 times per revolution.

Used a 97 Firefly (swift/geo clone) dash for a donor.
That Firefly also had the DOHC 1.3 ...might have to go back for that...

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Got the engine ripped out of there to do the head gasket and give it a good going through/cleaning/freshening up.

Got some ARP rod bolts on the way to replace the old TTY ones. Why the hell Suzuki thought that was a good idea is beyond me...of all the bolts to be TTY...

Had to spend some time on the phone with ARP to track down something that might fit, as far as the production kits go, it seems 151-6003 is the closest they make. Unfortunately they are a little shorter, by my guestimation I'll loose one thread worth of engagement. We'll see for sure when I have them in hand.

Aside from the TTY rod bolts I am actually somewhat impressed with the design of this engine. The girdle makes pulling the crank a bit of a pain cause it cant be in an engine stand, but it seems very solid.

Stock forged crank and rods were also a pleasant surprise.

Imma try to get some paint to stick, hopefully it stays. Purple seemed like a nice, loud but not obnoxious choice.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Where is your warpage? In the deck, right?

Cam shouldn't give a fuck about a couple of thou. The oil film is more than that thick. Just straighten the head and let the cam live its best life.

With the direction the head is warped, I think you may be right here, the warpage seems to be parallel with the cams, imma have to put them in without the lifters and see how they run in the bores.

Makes me wonder why the engine turned so hard all the time though.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Rod bolts just showed up, they are a little shorter than I'd like, but *should* be ok. I have 8 full turns of engagement, vs stock TTY at 11 with one 1 poking through for a total of 10.

I think I feel better about ARPs that are slightly short than I do about reusing TTY, so imma call it good enough. Maybe if/when I build something faster based on this motor I'll special order something longer from them, but imma be cheap for now and just hope they're fine.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

8 threads... It ain't going anywhere.


At least not until it does.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

It meets the rule of thumb, 8mm engagement for an 8×1.0 thread. I can't remember the redline on this motor, but I dont think it's more than 6500, and that's where rod bolts take the most strain in my limited experience.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

We have a short block.

I gapped the rings a little on the big side, "just in case" I decide to use a power adder of some sort (turbo), so I don't have to open it up again if (when) such a day happens (I totally already have one).

Ring gaps are set to .023 and .028 ish. Should be enough for moderate boost if (when) I so decide.

Probably gonna see about putting the head together and on in the next day or two when I get my valve spring compressor back.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Look at that paint, we've got another SEMA build here.

[Joe_the_ice_man]

Dont worry, it's all gonna fall off I'm sure. And when it does I intend to blame the aluminum rather than my lack of prep.