kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[kimokalihi]

I saw that in your thread but since it was JDM and overflow tank I decided not to bother with it. Sourcing JDM parts sucks.

[kimokalihi]

hey when you mated your engine to your transmission did you have the clutch release bearing on your transmission/clutchfork or did you have it mated to the pressure plate? it needs to be mated to the pressure plate. If you need a hand i wouldn't mind coming by

I'm almost positive it was on the clutch fork just as it shows in the pictures I post.

[kimokalihi]

if you take the slave cyl off, push the clutch fork tward the rear of the car as hard as you can and listen for a click... you would feel it too... the throw out bearing prob isnt engaged in the PP. you have a pull type clutch, that refers to the action of the throw out bearing on the pressure plate.

I'll give that a try. I swear I heard it click when I put the engine and trans together but maybe not. I really hope that's all it is. If that's it I just need to get it to pop in and then put my intake, turbo, intercooler and downpipe in. Then coolant, power steering, tranny and rear diff fluid and I can take her for a spin!

[kimokalihi]

I just got insurance on the subaru! I need to evaluate my policy and see what I can do to bring the cost down though. This is ridiculous. The average monthly bill is going to be over $240 for the legacy and the metro. WTF this is with full coverage. I had them price it out without comprehensive on the subaru and that only took it down like $10/month. This is with $500 deductible. The metro is at $250 a month deductible at the moment and with full coverage it's at $140-$150 a month. Same story there maybe $10 a month savings increasing the deductible from $250 to $500.

For a 23 year old guy with one 5mph over ticket 3.5 years ago and no other history whatsoever, this is bullshit.

Any ideas? I was hoping this would only add $50 to my bill not $100. I'm afraid to have less than full coverage and wind up paying somebody's hospital bills. Maybe I'm crazy. I guess I should give CJ's insurance a call.

Alright, I'm going to up the deductible. It will take 2 years to save enough money to balance out the extra deductible though. Maybe I should drop comprehensive too. But if I get robbed I'm shit out of luck. Man insurance sucks.

[evolutionmovement]

Rates tend to go down after 25. Have you tried all those online companies that incessantly barrage everyone with their annoying ads? Mine dropped by about $500. Most insurance wouldn't even count your ticket for: 1. being too old (some limit to 3 years) and 2. they usually let the first minor violation go. As far as the coverage goes, you might want to look into the laws for your state regarding personal judgements in the event of a BI accident beyond the standard amount and see how much possible liability there is in dropping the extra expense and what that risk will be worth to you. Even in such a situation, you can always seek a judgement for dismissal of the damages, especially when you have no assets to take in the first place (like a second house or boat or something), but every state is different. Note: I AM NOT A LAWYER, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

[cj91legss]

hey when you mated your engine to your transmission did you have the clutch release bearing on your transmission/clutchfork or did you have it mated to the pressure plate? it needs to be mated to the pressure plate. If you need a hand i wouldn't mind coming by

I'm almost positive it was on the clutch fork just as it shows in the pictures I post.

yeah see what you can do about getting it on the pressure plate. it HAS to be on the PP and then you have to kind of lift the fork out of the way and mate the engine and transmission together then manuever the fork onto the bearing.

Dod you have any issues mating the engine to the transmission? i remember when i did my first turbo legacy swap i forgot all about the pivot dowel for the clutch fork and i for the life of me couldn't figure out why i couldnt get the engine and transmission to mount together.... finally i called jake and asked him what i was doing wrong and he was able to point me in the right direction asap.

if you can't do it without seperating the fork from the bearing you may have to disconnect your driveline and unbolt your transmission mount and the bellhousing bolts and slide your tranny back a few inches. That should give you enough room to pop the bearing onto the pressure plate.

[kimokalihi]

finally i called jake and asked him what i was doing wrong and he was able to point me in the right direction asap.

That's hilarious. I couldn't figure out how to get my engine and tranny apart when it arrived on the pallet. I'm pretty sure I called Jake up and asked him how the hell to get that dowel thing out.

[kimokalihi]

I bought and downloaded an app for my ipod touch called Clinometer. It allows you to calculate the angle of an object relative to another object. In this case, the camber of my wheels. The program is pretty cool. It's nice and simple and easy to use. No instructions needed really, I figured it out in about 10 seconds.


Front Driver Side -2 degrees with the strut all the way out in the camber plate. I left this one the way it was and checked out the other side.







It's actually pretty accurate it seems. That ipod can sense the slightest change in angle. The red arrows on the sides show you how much of a degree you are to the next degree. You can even lay it on a flat surface and the image changes to an air bubble floating in fluid and gives degrees on 2 axis's.







The front passenger wheel had tons of negative camber. The strut was sitting more towards the inside than the outside of the camber plate and it was at about negative 4.75 degrees.







I pushed the strut all the way out on that side to match the other side and now they're both at -2 degrees. I'll leave the like that for now because I had a more important issue to deal with. The rears were both right about -1 degree.









After that I pulled the boot off the clutch fork. Removed the starter. Removed the plug that covers the dowel that the fork pivots on and removed that too. Then I took a gander inside the clutch fork hole and the release bearing looks like it's as close as it can get to the pressure plate fingers. It's right up against it sitting nice and flush like it should be. But it doesn't snap in place and the fork pulls it right back out with ease. Something is not right. I even used a pry bar and go leverage on that clutch fork and it wouldn't snap that release bearing in. It's as though whatever part of it snaps in place is missing.

So I decided the only way to fix it was to pull the engine or trans. I decided to go with the trans but I'm not sure that was the easiest route. I got the crossmembers off, the driveshaft support bracket and the plate in the rear off. Then I realized the shifter assembly has to be removed from the car so the tranny can actually come back. That sucks really bad. That's a major PITA. The engine doesn't seem any easier because you have to lift it up to clear the motor mount bolts and then towards the front of the car so I'd have to pull the radiator. Also, I wasn't thinking about pulling the engine so I didn't leave enough room in front of the car when I jacked it up so I can't get the hoist in there.

I'm pissed off now and I don't want to even look at that stupid car for a while now. What a buzz kill.

[cj91legss]

Just keep you head up, it'll be worth it in the outcome.

[kimokalihi]

After doing some searching over on NASIOC (it's good for something, mainly parts but sometimes tech info too) I found several threads where the OP was having the same problem as I am and it turned out they had installed the release bearing circular clip wrong or not at all. From what I read I believe it is supposed to be installed from the inside of the pressure plate.

Can anybody tell me whether the circular clip that the release bearing snaps into is installed correctly in this picture or is it on the wrong side or backwards?

[Deride]

It appears to be on there correctly

[kimokalihi]

Well then this just doesn't make any damn sense. One person said that he actually installed the engine and trans together with the release bearing inserted into the clutch and snapped into place and once they were together he looked inside and inserted the clutch fork into the tabs on the release bearing. This sounds like it might be a good idea since that way I will know it's seated properly and not going to come out.

What do you think?

[Deride]

Take the release bearing and snap it into the clip once, it should snap in very easy by hand then when you pull outwards it pulls the clip with it so it doesn't pop off. If you then push it back in and hold the clip to the pressure plate and pull back on the release bearing it should come back off. No way in hell would I try to fish the fork in afterwards, sounds like way too much work and swearing lol.

[Deride]

Oh and do you have the big ring in that clip? The clip needs the ring in it to work properly.

[kimokalihi]

I have no idea. I thought I had the whole thing done right using everything in the clutch kit. But I could easily have been wrong. It's been so long since I put it together I can't really remember.

The circular clip is 2 pieces?

What I plan to do is remove the engine or transmission (haven't decided which is easier yet even though I have the tranny 75% out minus the shift linkage BS) and then see if I can see right away what the problem is. Then fix the problem and put the snap ring in the pressure plate and snap the release bearing in to see if it will come out by hand. If it does, I'll have to figure out why it's not holding it. If not I'll know it's good and then remove the release bearing and put everything back together with the release bearing on the fork again and hopefully it works out.

If it doesn't there will be a good deal of swearing and stress. There already has been. There usually is any time I have to get under the car. Limited space to maneuver, cramps, shoulder pain (tore both rotator cuffs), always get dirt in my eyes and it's cold as hell down there since I work on my car at 2 in the morning most of the time.

[Deride]

Yea the clip has 2 pieces to it, Without the other piece in the clip it won't hold the release bearing.

[kimokalihi]

I really doubt it's not in there. I would have noticed a piece left over in the box. Maybe the piece was missing from the clutch kit I bought?

[Deride]

From your picture it looks like it's on there.

[ericem]

I did a clutch job without pulling the motor or tranny on a wrx. Simply unplugged the rad, fuel lines short wiring harnesses, DP, bell housing bolts, starter, battery, dog bone, undid the bolts on the bottom for the motor. Jacked up the engine above the cross member, then put a jack to hold the tranny. Seperated the engine from the tranny, with a hoist, and pulled it forward with the a/c and powersteering lines still hooked up and I had alot of slack in everything still attached. Gave me enough room to unbolt everything I did have someone hold the front crank bolt with a breaker bar to remove the flywheel bolts, and rotated the motor around to access every bolt by the edge. Otherwise worked out well.

I also applied alot of grease to the shaft on the tranny, and the release bearing wherever it makes contact with something.

[kimokalihi]

Got my battery terminal clamps and side posts yesterday and just got back from installing them and replacing the main power wire from the battery to the fuse box.







Didn't end up using the batter terminals. Probably won't use them but I don't know. My GF needs some. I bought her some but haven't installed them yet. They're just basic ones from autozone but I might put these on if I don't use them. They're really nice, I have them on my metro.







Fuse box unbolted to replace the main power wire here.











All wire loomed, taped, routed and bolted into the fuse box.







Of course, routed through the fender to keep the engine bay uncluttered.







Everything hooked up. Nice and tidy just need to find a rubber boot or something to cover the positive side post and top post.

[Legacy777]

Kimo,

First.....nice job on the wiper resevoir relocation! Looks good.

On your clutch issue....you've definitely got the pull style transmission....and I believe as someone mentioned, the pull/push action is referenced to the action the clutch fork does onto the throw out bearing.

When you install the trans, you definitely need to install the fork into the trans with the throw out bearing on the transmission snout. You can not easily....or at all...get the fork into the tabs of the throw out bearing after the engine and trans are mated together.

How much play/movement do you have at the top of the clutch fork where the slave cylinder hits it? There will be some, maybe 1/2" or so when the throw out bearing is clipped into the pressure plate. If you have a significant amount of play, then there's a good chance the throw out bearing is not clipped into the pressure plate.

At this point your best bet is to separate the motor and trans, and determine if the pressure plate and throw out bearing are snapped together. If they are not, I would then try test fitting the throw out bearing into the pressure plate to ensure it slips in easily and properly.

From your posts and description of the clutch operation, I would suspect the throw out bearing isn't snapped into the pressure plate.

[kimokalihi]

Thanks. Do you know if vacuum hose will suffice for wiper fluid hose? That's all that's holding me back from installing the fender again.

That's my plan exactly. Pull em apart and try to insert it by hand and then pry on it and see how much force it takes to get it apart. I looked into the hole with the boot removed and a light and I can see the release bearing snapping in (there's actually a subtle click and it feels like it snapped in, albeit not a solid snap) and then when I pull on the fork it comes out easily. You can feel it resist for a second but without much force at all it comes free. Very strange

[Legacy777]

Yeah, vacuum hose should work to my knowledge.

If it feels like it's popping out, it shouldn't be doing that....

[kimokalihi]

It feels exactly like it's snapping in but not holding it in. Doesn't make much sense but I'll figure it out as soon as I can get my shift linkage either off the tranny or out of the car and remove the trans. Not fun and I've been procrastinating a bit but I'll have it out by weds night probably.

[kimokalihi]

I was really excited and had decided not to go to bed today and just stay up all day and get my car back together and driving before I have to go back to work tonight. That was going well for a little while until I noticed a major problem with my turbo. The TD04 coolant pipes do not fit this turbo. Not only are they too close together to line up with the bolt holes in the turbo but the bolts are too small for the holes and thus the pipes are also too small. Now I have to try to find coolant pipes, bolts and gasket rings for the TD05 16g. I swear to GOD there's always a set back any time I start to make any progress. This is why it's taking me so long. I forgot to look but I'm guessing the oil line is probably the wrong size as well.

Picture of the TD04 coolant bolt in the bolt hole. It's hard to tell but the bolt is loose and hanging there.







TD05-16g with PTP heat blanket.