I'm new here and haven't met anyone yet. I'll be coming to a meet soon, it's just been hard with the holidays and all.

Anyway, I made an introduction thread about two months ago showing my broken Talon. The engine died in 2006 when the car was shipped from the east coast to San Francisco and it has been in storage since then. So now that I have it with me after not driving it since summer 2005 I've been able to start tearing into it to finally figure out what's wrong. Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking.









So ya, that head is toast. It makes me a little sad because I was hoping to be able to keep the factory head and block mated together, but with the new hole where a valve used to be that's not happening. Oh well. Now the hunt is on for a new head. The block seems fine, it just needs some machine work and new pistons. There is a turbo laser in a local JY with the head already unbolted, but I assume since it is still there that it might be bad too. I'll find out tomorrow.

I don't know how the valves dropped. I drove it onto the flatbed in Maryland and when it arrived in CA it had the exact same mileage (104,500 on the dot.) I would have felt better about it if I had at least been the one to blow the engine, but it happened when it was out of my hands. It will always be a mystery.

So now I have to decide whether to do a full rebuild or try to locate a JDM engine. In the past I've used JDM engines with other DSMs, but that was in 2000 when they were much more plentiful and therefore a lot cheaper. I was able to get a full long block for under 1k then. Now they are all $1800+. For that money I should be able to get a mild rebuild, right? I've actually only done race rebuilds before and not since 2003, so I'm a little out of practice.

So I have some quick questions for those who have been through it.

What machine shops do people here have experience with? I live in the San Fernando Valley and am very close to Sun Valley which seems to have a lot. Are there any that are more DSM friendly and reputable than others? I'm just planning on a mild rebuild, nothing crazy. 2g pistons, stock 91 rods, and probably some upgraded valvetrain parts. I'm going to be taking the Green off and replacing it with either the 14b I got from the JY or a new Evo3 16g. Probably the 14b since I got it super cheap and it's in perfect condition until I get the money together for the 16g.

I will entertain the idea of a JDM engine if I can find a good one for a decent price. Does anyone have any leads on something like that?

Thanks, and looking forward to getting to a meet soon!

If you want to get rid of that green let me know. I got a set of brand new 2g .020 NPR pistons and a set of 1g rods ill trade you and maybe even a good head

Dont know of any good machine shops in the Valley. I know of 1 good shop in Long Beach that I reccomend to everyone, and if you want to make the drive, Millennium Motorsports in Temecula.

Those imported engines are just hit and miss for the the most part, over priced though, for that much I'd rather do a mild refresher.

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind driving to Long Beach for a reputable machine shop. I just want someone who knows the 4G63 and has worked with it before. I know the imported engines are hit and miss. I'd only get one if I could inspect it before buying. I must have been lucky with the last one I bought. The crosshatching on the cylinder walls was flawless and the coating on the turbine housing of the 14b was still shiny (not oxidized). That engine couldn't have had more than 30k miles on it. That was for a different car though. I've decided to go ahead with the rebuild, I just need to find a good head now.

And fmedgsx, thanks for the offer. I think I am going to keep the Green around for a while in case I decide to use it again later. If I do decide to sell it later I'll definitely hit you up. I would be interested in buying a good head though if you have one.

The shop in long beach I wouldn't say know the 4G63, but is a good machinest and does good work. One of the few machine shops that know how to cut a DSM flywheel correctly and get the step height correct. The shop in Temecula though, he knows 4g63s, hes an old school DSM cat and machining/building 4g63s is his bread and butter.

I have a good usable head to rebuilt , make me an offer and its urs. I had it rebuild but when i got it on the timimg was done wrong and bent valves. now it has surface rush but it has no cracks or nothing like that. let me know if you still ooking for a head.

i have a built 1G head with HKS 264/272 cams, BC spring and retainers, HKS Cam gears....Lemme know....

I finally got some free time this weekend to make some progress on the Talon. The goal was to get the engine out and on an engine stand so I could start the teardown. I wanted to start ordering parts for the rebuild, but I need some vital information first, like what size overbore pistons to order, valve guides, etc. So the sooner I can get it all to a machine shop, the sooner I can start spending money.

I ended up renting the largest and most ridiculous engine hoist to get the engine and tranny out of the car. For reference, my Jeep has a 3" lift on 31" tires, and the engine hoist is taller than it while on its side. I had to lift it up inside the garage because it didn't clear the opening. At least it was cheap.





FP Green turbo, still in fantastic shape. I am thinking of using it again after all as long as I can route the dump tube back into the downpipe.




And out of the car!




The cramped workspace. Still beats a parking lot though.




I'm shocked there isn't rust anywhere on the unibody or in the engine bay. This car spent 15 years of its life in Rochester, NY where cars begin to rust before they leave the dealership. Fortunately I am the second owner, and the first owner kept it in a garage and washed it religiously for the first 10 years of its life.




The pressure plate looks like hell after the half dozen tranny and clutch swaps I've performed in parking lots over the years.




This is the 2600 pressure plate after 20k miles and probably several hundred AWD drag strip launches. Time for a new one...




The same goes for the clutch disc (this is the 4th one).




Need to order a new Flywheel too - look at all those cracks! Not too bad considering it's the original flywheel and has been resurfaced twice already. So add flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch disc to the tab. Ugh $$$.




Some more parts pictures: Downpipe with test pipe attached, IC pipes, some more misc stuff.




And finally all buttoned up until next weekend when I start the engine teardown. The engine is on the stand to the right of the car. I had to put everything either under the car or on it so my girlfriend can have her parking space back. I managed to fit a lot of crap in a very small space.




Parts that I know I need to order, excluding engine internals:

- All new engine seals
- ACT 2600 clutch
- RRE OEM Flywheel
- Ball joints all around
- My front sway bar is extremely rusty. I should be able to sand and repaint, but I'd also love to get some new thicker bars.
- All new rubber from motor mounts to suspension bushings.
- New struts and springs. Going to ditch the 8 year old Ground Control "coilovers" and replace with Eibach Pro Kit with new KYB AGX shocks. I just saw on RRE's site that KYB shocks have a lifetime warranty. Maybe I can get them replaced...
- Brake rotors and pads, hopefully with 92+ two pot front calipers.
- DSMlink w/ eprom ecu
- Mitsubishi MLS headgasket
- Timing belt kit and pulley components
- Water pump and oil pump
- Balance shaft eliminator kit
- High flow cat
- Tires
- Tons of fluids

This list will continue to grow...

I think I'm going to drive to RRE next Monday after work to pick up a bunch of this stuff. I've called and emailed them with no word back, so I guess I'll just stop by.

Hah I actually like how it looks with the headlights peering out from under their covers. Johnny 5 would be a perfect reference. There's definitely a resemblance there.

Wonder if there's a way to make it permanent?

I decided while the engine is out of the car that I should try to locate a good body shop to fix some issues that have been bothering me for a long time. I got into an accident in 2002 and didn't have the money at the time to get the radiator support properly repaired, so I paid a shop to pull the radiator support out and straighten the headlights as much as possible. I did the rest of the work to rebuild the car to make it look as good as I could with no money. .

At the accident:


Tearing apart the carnage:


After I rebuilt it (how it looks now)


It ended up looking ok, but it's never really been perfect the way it was when new. The headlight covers stick up a bit over the line of the hood and the driver side headlight motor doesn't reach the headlight assembly anymore.

I'm hoping to find a good and reputable body shop that will be able to work with this. I'm assuming the front end needs to be cut off and a new support welded on to make it right, but I know seriously nothing about body work.

Also the passenger rear quarter panel right behind the door was hit by a neighbor's snow blower in Maryland which made some nasty dents that I want to fix. Not bad ones, but they piss me off I want them gone.

So I guess I am asking if anyone here has first hand experience with a really good body shop that won't cut corners or rip me off. I live in the SFV but I guess I can trailer the car a bit if it's worth the drive. Thanks!

Well I take my cars to a guy names Urbanos. He has done front end collision repair on a previous 92 awd laser we use to own....And he did good. Job way worst than ur car even was from the start... Let me know if u want me to give u his info, n stuff. so you can talk with him. His in san fernado/sylmar area. let me know

Good work so far, keep the thread updated.

what size cupler is that on the turbo outlet