Well, finally the new engine is all in and wired up. Fluids have been added and everything looks good, until I try to start the car Ran into multiple problems right off the bat. My fuel filter was leaking, so I had to replace that, and I still have a very very small leak on my fuel feed line that I made from SS fuel line and Earls fittings. I will get to that later as it only leaks sometimes. Next problem was my starter was not cranking the engine. The problem was my chassis/engine grounds were not good, I had to wire wheel off some paint at the grounding points to get a good ground connection. Once I did that the starter worked and turned over the car. I thought I was home free at that point…nope. I had, and still have, a problem with all the spark plugs not sparking. I am only getting spark on my #4 spark plug for some reason. That is where I sit at this point, I will take another stab at it tomorrow and hopefully have a running engine soon. A few pictures of the finished engine bay, oh and the new 2000 model Civic front end I had painted.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Well, the engine bay has been re-finished and re-painted, it came out pretty well although I do have some imperfections. After the paint was done I could concentrate on engine work and things like that. I setup the new fuel feed line and filter, along with deleting a lot of parts and brackets that were not needed. Erik helped a ton with the wiring work and tuck part of the job, along with all the other stuff as well. We pulled an all nighter Sunday night and at 6am we finally had the engine back into the car! We still have some work to do, including finishing up the new tucked wire harness, and putting the interior back together, plus some miscellaneous engine parts and pieces. Lots of pics, I’ll post a few here but don’t forget you can see the whole lot in our gallery:

Engine swap
Engine bay paint and wire tuck

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

After trashing my last plane, I finally got around to picking up a new one. This time I got a scale trainer plane, the Hobbyzone Super Cub. Nice little electric setup for $150, includes complete plane, 3 channel radio, and all the electronics to fly. The maiden flight was yesterday and it flew pretty nice, a lot more fun then my old Aerobird. One of these days I’ll get some in flight video! For now some pictures.

Justin R/C Airplanes

Engine swap has started. We got the old engine out today with no hassles or issues. I got the bay stripped as much as I could and tomorrow I can start cleaning it out then get to the sanding and prepping for new paint. Oh, my new Rota Grids came in this afternoon as well, just need some tires!

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Took some time this past weekend to mock up my intercooler and get the new bumper cut to fit it. Everything came out good, the mounts were a little tricky because of the way Treadstone puts the mount holes on their IC’s. I had to cut a good portion of the bumper support out which I expected, I had to do the same on my old Integra for it’s intercooler as well. I should be taking in the 2000 Civic front end pieces I have to get painted this week, so hopefully I’ll have a new front end soon as well. Stay tuned as this weekend I will begin the tear down of the car for the engine swap and wire tuck! After engine is broken in it’s turbo time.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Alright, well after being sick for a few days I got around to working on my freshly built engine. Got the IM installed along with some miscellaneous hoses. Also, got the new oil pickup and oil pan put back on as well, no pics of that though. I got a chance to bolt up all the turbo manifold, turbo, and downpipe to get some test fittings. I got the turbo clocked to where I like and tested out the oil return fitting. I’m hoping it’s steep enough Anyways, I got some time off of work and the engine swap and wire tuck is now scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in just a few weeks! Keep an eye out for the dirty work is about to get started

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

I picked up my engine from the shop yesterday. Bottom end is all built and head installed. Got it up on my engine stand at home and will slowly start to put the rest of the parts on so it’s ready for the swap into the car. I’m hoping to get started on the swap in 2-3 weeks, we’ll see how things go.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Alright, well little update in my turbo project. I switched my setup away from the Vitara pistons and went with forged Wiseco 75.5mm pistons. I also got my Eagle rods in as well. I made the change because it was taking entirely too long to get the custom length rods for the Vitara pistons and I am tired of waiting. So, tomorrow I am taking all my engine parts and pieces into the shop for assembly. Hopefully next week I’ll have the motor on my engine stand so I can start getting it ready for the swap. In other news, I’m just about finished with my trim painting, I just need to polish the clearcoat with rubbing compound and put everything back on the car. Once I get some more paint in I’ll be doing the sideskirts as well to match the rest of the car.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Got around to installing all my new Skunk2 suspension pieces this past weekend, Skunk2 sport shocks, Skunk2 coil overs, and Skunk2 front camber kit. The install went easy, other then a hassle with my SS front brake lines, which I also put on while I had everything apart. Initial ride height was a bit low and had to do some adjustments to get it just a little lower then stock height. I have yet to drive the car because I have it apart for other modifications which I’ll do when I get back from vacation. Erik and I also knocked out the install of my NRG hub and quick release. Topped it off with my new Momo steering wheel. Check out the pics in the gallery by following the images below. When I get back from vacation I’ll be painting up my trim and molding pieces as well as replacing the door window molding on the outside that is faded and crummy.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Got my parts back from the shop last week, LSD is installed in the tranny, and I got my ceramic coated parts back. Looks really nice. I also had them powder coat my bov horn black so I have a little red/black theme going on. Some other parts arrived in the mail as well, including my Tial wastegate, NRG parts, and a bunch of fuel system parts and pieces. Actual work has begun on the car too. This past week I have been installing my alarm slowly but surely when I have time, and I also prepped my suspension before it gets installed this weekend. Should have some installation updates in a few days with some real progress. Enjoy the pictures.

Justin Justin's Hatch Log

Jmetz.net is home to my hobbies and interests. You can find many things I have done over the years as well as current events. Some of my more popular ventures include motorcycle stunt riding and track riding, as well as Honda/Acura import performance and modifications. Some of my others hobbies include flying R/C airplanes, playing paintball, and general computer nerd type of stuff. Check back often or subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up with my latest adventures!