CA18DE is home

Myetball · Jul 13th, 2003, 01:31 AM

Got back from San Diego at about 3:30 in the morning on Thursday. Been cleaning up and not getting very far. The CA18DE made it just fine, as did the trailer I built, the towing package I installed, and my Grand Am towing mule.

Here's a pic of the beast still sitting on the trailer. This thing is a friggin' monster. I couldn't believe how heavy it is.

.

Anyway, the B11 upgrade project is on hold until I get my '88 Turbo Grand Am running. Had to leave it in San Diego and bring back the head, cam carrier, and turbo for some work. The stock T25 is toast, blades brushing the sides and it blows smoke like I've never seen before. Also the camshaft is wasted. All the exhaust lobes mic out to 1.360 but the intake lobes are a different story. #1=1.362 #2=1.363 #3=1.363 #4=1.304 .

I was going to go for a regrind with better lift/duration but I can get a complete stock cam/lifter/follower kit for $236. So, I gots to get the cam kit, have the head redone, get a head set, timing belt, head bolts, water pump, turbo (new or rebuilt) and head back out to San Diego to put it all back together.

Of course my B11 is loaned out to my son. After replacing the T25 on his '96 Talon Tsi with a small 16G he developed a bottom end knock. He's taking his down to take out the 7-bolt 4G63T and drop in a 6-bolt 4G63T from a Galant VR-4. I remember hearing somewhere that DSM's spend more time with their hoods up than they do on the road....it's proving to be true.

Sorry for the long post but it's been a long couple of weeks.

Red_Coupe · Jul 13th, 2003, 01:47 AM

damn..... that about took the wind out of me reading it..
well glad and sad to here man....

HuMMerMan · Jul 13th, 2003, 01:50 PM

Glad to hear you got the CA home alright. Sorry to hear about your Grand AM.

BTW, the pic isnt working for me..

Myetball · Jul 13th, 2003, 03:04 PM

For some reason the pic was deleted from server....got it back up.

boost_boy · Jul 13th, 2003, 04:58 PM

Nice ride, huh? Glad you got your prize home..........

Myetball · Jul 15th, 2003, 04:10 PM

It just keeps getting better. Even though the swap is on hold pending the Grand Am repair I couldn't resist cracking open the CA just a little. If I didn't know better I'd say this engine was only a year old or less....not 13 years old.

Red_Coupe · Jul 15th, 2003, 09:36 PM

damn Alan... you struck gold on this one.. how long has it been
at your bro's??

Myetball · Jul 15th, 2003, 10:26 PM

He had it since March I think. The car this came out of must have crashed within the first year or it's alot newer than the guy I bought it from said it was.

I pulled out the coil packs today...they look like they just came out of the box. The cams still have the machine marks, brushed looking, like when they are new. Even the pressure plate barely has any marks from the throwout bearing. Did you notice the exhaust studs are still shiney and gold colored...how often you see that on a 13 year old engine.

So, I'll save a bunch of money since I'm just gonna drop this baby in and run it.

Red_Coupe · Jul 15th, 2003, 11:53 PM

Well just two words.. YOU SUCK... it seems that you are a man with many talants ...one being , you can luck on the damnest thing.. and others can't most of the time..

Crazy-Mart · Jul 16th, 2003, 01:30 AM

Guess you wont have to rebuilt it before installing it !!

better get a compression reading out of it tought..see the interior of the cam cover ??... not even some brown deposit on it !! Geezz you got some luck man !! hey im gonna send you 100$ buy some lottery tickets for me !!

hahaha

BennittoMallito · Jul 16th, 2003, 02:45 AM

Yeah man! I am totally sweating that engine. Mine looks like a bucket of crap in comparison. Two of my coil packs are missing the springs, and have copper pegs in place, none of the cam/engine seals are good. It seems to not mind though.
That throttle body looks spotless as well. It is a shame you have to put that ugly-ass exhaust manifold on such a pretty engine.

Myetball · Jul 16th, 2003, 07:51 AM

Well, the manifold is pretty ugly but the heat shield that goes over it is virtually spotless so hopefully the manifold will be well hidden.

The good thing about the manifold is that it's designed like a header with a 4-1/3-2 crossover and a 4-2-1 setup.

boost_boy · Jul 18th, 2003, 08:07 AM

That motor has less than 30,000kms on it easily! Man, that thing is nearly new! I've seen enough of these motors to know what a fresh engine looks like and this one is fresh and I do mean fresh. What a beaut.................

Myetball · Jul 18th, 2003, 08:14 AM

Actually, I looked at the manifold a little more closely. It only has a very light coat of surface rust...should come off easily.

One thing I didn't know about these engines is they have a 4 to 8 runner intake manifold with the secondary ports controlled by a power valve...very nice.

It looks like this thing still has the factory belts on it, still has the factory NGK platinums. I'll probably pull the timing cover off soon and see what that looks like but I have a feeling it's gonna look like new

.

boost_boy · Jul 18th, 2003, 11:34 AM

Looking at the picture (if I'm not mistaken), the crank angle sensor still has the silver tape on the screw closest to the front of the engine. If it indeed has this screw, I wouldn't even waste the time pulling the cover. But if you want the experience at pulling that cover, it is warranted. I never changed a timing belt on any of my motors until i ran the engine and dogged it a bit and even so, the belts still didn't need changing.