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The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Techincally this story begins about 3 years ago. Shortly after I started school my engine developped a knock on start-up. Only for a second, and ran perfectly fine otherwise. No knocking while running, no smoke, smooth power, better than listed mileage... So I did my best to ignore it and keep on with things as normal. I don't abuse my car, which I suspect contributed to it's longevity in this condition.
Fast forward to last fall. The knock on start up was a little louder and lasted a little longer. The car also developped an irritating habit of stalling if I shifted into reverse while steering (too much load on the engine at idle). I suppose this was due to the extra friction inside the engine. At this point I could occasionally hear a knock at idle through the dash. Signs of impending doom. I parked and covered the car in November since I had picked up a little 240SX as a winter beater. Which was, by the way, an awesome choice. Such a cheap, fun little car. Skip ahead to the spring and the SVX coming back out of storage. It started up perfectly, never a hesitation or missfire and ran beautifully smooth. For about 25km. In a bit of "Wooooo!! I got my car back!!" enthusiasm I stomped on it and poof, no more rod bearing. And I'm about 1000 miles from home, just about finished school. In the end I rented a U-Haul and trailer to tow it home. Fortunately I had friends who needed things moved that helped pay the cost of the thing. Still... Not the most glorious return trip of all time... I dropped the car off at my folks house in Ottawa where it languished all summer, while I moved down to Toronto to start my new job. About a month ago I posted a wanted thread looking for a new engine and Nate got back to me saying he had one available and would be stopping at Dave's place. Two weeks ago my dad and I jumped in the Forester and headed down. A day, two tanks of fuel, and a couple six packs later I've got a 100K mile long block sitting in my garage. This weekend I took the train back up to Ottawa to get to work. Cleared out the garage, pushed the car in, and threw on the radio. Had the broken engine out by noon on Saturday. Load levellers are the shizznit, by the way. All empty... And, by request, the standing in the engine bay shot: Resealing the new engine: Got everything finalized and pushed into the garage for the night. Sunday Started early and got right to dropping the engine in. After quite a lot of effort it wouldn't go. It was clearing rocking on some sort of obstruction. We thought it might have been the dowel pins but some looking seemed to indicate otherwise. Instead of forcing things we yanked the engine back out and discovered this: That, folks, is the alignment shaft from the other car's torque converter welded inside my new crankshaft. What the evidence seems to indicate is that the flexplate of the other car failed and the owner kept trying to make it move. Tried so hard in fact that the friction welded the T/C to the crank and then snapped it off. Our first attempt to remove it was to tap a hole and use a bolt through a large socket to pull it out. Ya... That didn't work. Snapped a 3/8 bolt clean off. Attempt number 2 featured a whole box of assorted drill bits and a lof of patience. After punching it full of small holes and using a big nasty bit to carve out much of the center it only took a few blows from a sharp chisel to break it loose (and a bunch more to crunch it up enough to extract. The crank was badly galled inside and had a number of bumps and weird surfaces. It took a while longer with a grinding bur to smooth it to the right size. So after that 5-6 hour setback the engine went in smoothly. Installed the manifold and connected all the make-it-go bits, unpplugged the injectors and cranked the engine until the oil light went out, plugged them back in and turned the key.. Instant H-6 goodness. I only ran it for a second, as I didn't have the rad, alternator, exhaust, or any other accessories installed, but it fired right up smooth as silk. No scary smoke, no missfires... Couldn't tell about any noise over the roar of open headers. Shut it down and installed the other bits, filled the fluids, cranked the steering a bunch to work out the air, called it a day and went to bed. Monday Called in sick at work to finish things up. A couple lines had leaked overnight and had to be tightened up (Getting kind of tired after the marathon of wrenching). Once we had everything buttoned up, and stole the battery from the Forester (Mine was pooched from sitting all summer with no charge), key went in and she started right up. No check engine light, beatiful idle... All good! Initially there was a LOT of ticking, but it smoothed out as the engine warmed up. After warming it up, burping the coolant and getting the steering smooth we shut it off, put it on the ground and went for a drive around the neighbourhood. You get weird looks when you drive a car with a bright gold intake manifold without a hood. The brakes were hideously noisey from sitting so long, but quickly freed up. Steering's smooth, coilovers are stiff as ****, tires haven't flat-spotted, transmission shifts properly.. All good! The engine's ticking had settled to a quiet, peaceful boxer tick. Threw the hood on, gave her a wash, loaded my stuff, and headed out for a 500km trial by fire. After a quick stop at Wendy's. The drive went absolutely perfect. I kept the speed conservative, about 115-125 km/h the whole way (70-ish mph). No vibrations, no noises... Just smooth cruising. One worry I'd had was the fuel in the tank. It's 10 months old. I put stabilizer into it before storing the car, but I was still a bit concerned. Turned out there was nothing to worry about. Even though I started the trip with just under 3/4 tank when I filled up after 400km I only put in 48L, meaning I had about 1/4 tank left. So it looks like my highway mileage is dead on with the old motor, or possibly slightly better. Arrived in Toronto at 10PM last night, parked, had a shower and went to bed. A owe a huge thank-you to the following people for making this happen: Nate, for selling me the engine Dave, for offering to store it for a few weeks My dad, for wrenching with me all weekend The National Capitol Subaru Club, for providing the engine hoist OT, for his advice with the crankshaft problem Thanks guys, this car means a hell of a lot to me, and to have it with me again is something very special. I owe you all some beer.
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#2
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Time to update your signature! Congratulation, the car looks great too.
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1992 LSL ebony pearl 170k - Thank you Ron Mummert Reading Box of Wine Car ----------------------------------- 1992 SVX LSL 5-Speed Sold at 180K 2019 1995 SVX Lsi Polo Sold at 118K 2007 |
#3
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
wish i could do that to my car! mine doesnt need a engine (thank god!) but it does need a lot of work
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Jared 1992 dark teal SVX LS |
#4
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Great work and write-up Chris!
Mine kinda looks like yours (black and gold STi wheels) so it's really great to see yours running. It gives me hope for my '97 that's also getting an engine transplant. I haven't the skills so it's being done by a mechanic and should be ready any day now. Congrats!!
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Rod. '97 Ebony LSi #426, CDM (1 of 51 in '97), 185k km, rebuilt engine & transfer case; 22mm Bontrager RSB; 4300k HID 9006 bulbs SOLD '92 Ebony LS-L #6851, USDM (sold) '08 Forester (wife's) '06 STi (traded for the Forester) '94 Legacy wagon (sold) |
#5
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
nice work man,
once i get my wiring all sorted we should meet up for a cruise.
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Tranny goes in, tranny comes out, tranny goes in.....AW ****, tranny comes out.... |
#6
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Fantastic story! Thank you for sharing it. Threads like this remind me why I'm a "car guy".
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2009 Volvo C70 T5 2008 Volvo S80 V8 2006 Range Rover Sport 2001 Audi S8 |
#7
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Great revival story!
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Matt Locker Link 2015 BRZ Limited 6MT 92 Ebony LS-L ECUtune Stage2av1, Z32 MAF, 370cc injectors, TomsSVX intake, BontragerWorks 22mm RSB #003, HID Hi and Lo beams, OT endlink and bushing mods, PWR Aluminum radiator, Harvey's QC shift kit, 2.5" flowmaster 80 exhaust, 17" Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, Poly sway bar bushings, Slotted Bradi rotors, AFBeefcake powdercoated calipers, 97 grill, and a huge set of air horns. 300,000 miles and counting 92 Ebony LS-L. ecutune stage1v4, motorsport 1pc pulley. Garage Queen - sold to Dad in upstate NY 155,000 miles 19 Subaru Ascent Premium - -Hers !. 89 DL 4x4 little red wagon - a.k.a. The immortal suby. 275k R.I.P. |
#8
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Thanks guys! And yes, signature is fixed to cover the current status.
I'll be changing the oil again this weekend to make sure any unpleasant contaminants have been flushed out. I'd rather make darn sure the crankcase is clean, instead of risking a second engine swap. I also replaced my broken driver's window regulator last night. Finally I have a working window again!!!!
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#9
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Good job,
nice write up. And thanks for the mention!
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www.svxfiles.com The first SuperCharged SVX, the first 4.44 gears, the first equal length headers, the first phenolic spacers, the first Class Glass fiberglass hood, the first with 4, 4.44s in his driveway Fiberglass Hood thread My locker 4.44 Swap link |
#10
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
Good job,
nice write up. And thanks for the beer!
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Dave - 03 Baja - 92 SVX - 86 Brat - 08 OB 3.0 |
#11
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
We can has beer?!
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www.svxfiles.com The first SuperCharged SVX, the first 4.44 gears, the first equal length headers, the first phenolic spacers, the first Class Glass fiberglass hood, the first with 4, 4.44s in his driveway Fiberglass Hood thread My locker 4.44 Swap link |
#12
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Re: The death and resurrection of an SVX (VERY long and picture heavy)
I second all of these things. Just glad it worked out I could help. Sorry for the issues and as always, my offer stands as discussed
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