Tower's 88 RT4wd Wagon
TowersWagon
Band Wagon
Hi guys, just made a quick introduction under the new members section. I apologize for the lack of content off the bat - however, I am in the process of organizing pictures and info to help you guys out!
Preface:
88' RT4wd Wagon a.k.a. the "golden nugget". Purchased from a friend, was not running at the time, motor had around 220k, odometer read 130k (we believe it was swapped at one point in time). Body was in great shape, hardly any rust above or below.
So we got to tow her home...
Safe and sound in the driveway
So upon arriving at home, she sat there until the weekend when my buddy and I had time to check out why she wasn't building compression. We were getting 30-15-20-30 readings before doing any work. Both my friend and I were absolutely astounded that we were getting such low readings... and yes, we had the compression tester set up right, no it was not broken, and we had already ruled out fuel and spark issues
We stripped the motor down all the way to the short block, pistons and rings seemed fine, didn't notice any notching or irregularities. Determined that we had to have been losing insane pressure from the head gasket area and from the old spark plugs not sealing correctly.
The night time grind...
So we replaced the head gasket, rebuilt the top end and we ended up with compression results of 50-40-40-50.
Still confused as to why it was so low, we did a leak test on the top end (see below)
DIY Note:
***
If you ever want to see if your losing compression in the top end; take plugs out, pour a teaspoon of oil down each spark plug tube and re-install spark plugs, if you get higher compression results post oil, that means you are losing some pressure on the top end due to the spark plugs not sealing up properly.
***
By doing a leak test on the top end, I was able to rule out exactly where we were losing the majority of our compression. Post leak test results were 90-85-85-90. Still missing a ton of compression (i believe normal is around 150-160).
Our hopes at a simple fix had now turned in to a full motor rebuild.
Prologue:
Not wanting to bore or hone the block myself, i turned to some awesome local machinists to clean and check everything.
If you are in the Orem area of Utah, or Utah in general, you need to go see Rod at C&T Automotive Machine, extremely knowledgable guys at an affordable price.
Within a few days, the motor was down to the basics and I had some relatively bad news. Block was in alright shape, but my crankshaft was toast. I then debated long and hard what my next move should be. Do I source another block and crank and rebuild everything from the top to bottom (knowing I would be doing a turbo build eventually) or do I buy a complete motor and just look at doing a turbo build down the road?
I said my goodbyes to Rod at C&T and to $100... a new chapter was about to begin for the wagon. :hopelessness:
part 2 to come...
Preface:
88' RT4wd Wagon a.k.a. the "golden nugget". Purchased from a friend, was not running at the time, motor had around 220k, odometer read 130k (we believe it was swapped at one point in time). Body was in great shape, hardly any rust above or below.
So we got to tow her home...
Safe and sound in the driveway
So upon arriving at home, she sat there until the weekend when my buddy and I had time to check out why she wasn't building compression. We were getting 30-15-20-30 readings before doing any work. Both my friend and I were absolutely astounded that we were getting such low readings... and yes, we had the compression tester set up right, no it was not broken, and we had already ruled out fuel and spark issues
We stripped the motor down all the way to the short block, pistons and rings seemed fine, didn't notice any notching or irregularities. Determined that we had to have been losing insane pressure from the head gasket area and from the old spark plugs not sealing correctly.
The night time grind...
So we replaced the head gasket, rebuilt the top end and we ended up with compression results of 50-40-40-50.
Still confused as to why it was so low, we did a leak test on the top end (see below)
DIY Note:
***
If you ever want to see if your losing compression in the top end; take plugs out, pour a teaspoon of oil down each spark plug tube and re-install spark plugs, if you get higher compression results post oil, that means you are losing some pressure on the top end due to the spark plugs not sealing up properly.
***
By doing a leak test on the top end, I was able to rule out exactly where we were losing the majority of our compression. Post leak test results were 90-85-85-90. Still missing a ton of compression (i believe normal is around 150-160).
Our hopes at a simple fix had now turned in to a full motor rebuild.
Prologue:
Not wanting to bore or hone the block myself, i turned to some awesome local machinists to clean and check everything.
If you are in the Orem area of Utah, or Utah in general, you need to go see Rod at C&T Automotive Machine, extremely knowledgable guys at an affordable price.
Within a few days, the motor was down to the basics and I had some relatively bad news. Block was in alright shape, but my crankshaft was toast. I then debated long and hard what my next move should be. Do I source another block and crank and rebuild everything from the top to bottom (knowing I would be doing a turbo build eventually) or do I buy a complete motor and just look at doing a turbo build down the road?
I said my goodbyes to Rod at C&T and to $100... a new chapter was about to begin for the wagon. :hopelessness:
part 2 to come...
Comments
So after the news on my old A6 block, i began scouring ksl (a craigslist equivalent for Utah) for the wagons new power plant I came across a fully built, unused, y7 motor with z6 head. The gentleman had several turbo builds going on at the time and needed the money for another project so he let go of the motor for a really really really good price :encouragement:
Complete Build Specs
***
-d16 y7 block
-cp pistons bored .5 over
-eagle rods
-supertech block guard
-z6 head
-supertech valves, springs, and retainers
-arp headstuds
-stage 2 cam
-rc550 injectors
-deatschewerkes DW300 Fuel Pump
-z6 dizzy, throttle body
-stainless steel t3 manifold
-tial bov and waste gate
-garrett gt2860 (disco potato)
-aluminum intercooler
-oem full radiator (might be changing for cx racing tripple core in future, will see how coolant temp does)
-john kerr tuning p28 chipped ecu, ready for crome tuning
-rywire obd0-obd1 harness
-gripforce stage 3 kevlar clutch
-aem afr wideband
*VIP Performance rear diff bushings
Let me know if you have any other questions or if I skimped something, trying to snowball things off the top of my head
***
So without the tools/time to do the remaining build myself, i sourced the work to Turbo Lab in Orem, UT. Joe and Justin absolutely have countless experience of building cars; race cars street cars, and trucks alike.
After dropping the motor in, we realized the half shaft would not bolt up directly to the block... I spent countless hours digging for more info on forums attempting to find a solution - I was confronted with the harsh reality... either make a bracket to mount the half shaft or start all over again with another motor.
***
Based on my primary research, it appeared as though a y7 was a direct swap into the rt4wd, later down the road as we were dropping the motor into the car, it was then that we realized the half shaft would not bolt directly onto the block... this required some "interesting" changes.
***
I should have stayed with Wryanns philosophy of "keep it simple" and use as many original parts as possible, but I was committed to get the wagon running on her own feet with the resources we currently had.
Although somewhat highly debatable, we decided to source mounts from my A6 block and weld them on to the y7 block, in turn "creating a bracket" for the half shaft to mount. Joe is a phenomenal welder and was able to mount the bracket, he got really good penetration on the welds and managed to not tap the oil galley. Knowing that I was shooting for a 250-300whp dd and that I would be doing more roll ons than launching, I was not concerned with our decision and ultimately, if it fails down the road, I have no one to blame but myself :nightmare: haha.
Some pics of the welds
So after all was said an done, we had successfully managed to mount the y7 up to my rt4wd.
Once the motor was in, things slowly started coming together piece by piece; a symphony of car legos being placed in there proper places.
With the build in process and whilst mourning the recent loss of my AC (AC ended up being scrapped in the process, was going to be too costly - so i figured why not, the wagon is already heavy enough, she could lose some weight anyways ) I was pondering my power steering dilema - attempting to get an a6 pump to work on a y7 crank.
I decided to contact Wryann at VIP considering he is the Wagon guru. He gave me some good advice but also turned me on to something that everyone should know about.
Below I want you to look at the clearance between the timing belt and the engine mount.
The mount needs to be filed down about a 1/4", if not done, the belt will slap against the mount and cause problems down the road. Wryann has had several wagons do this and I want to thank him again for this tip, as well as his overall knowledge and willingness to answer any questions I have had during this process. Great guy and great shop, hope to make it out there sometime! :encouragement:
Upon fixing this minor setback, the build resumed.
I decided upon doing a 3" downpipe with a 3" stainless exhaust and magnaflow muffler. This is the byproduct of Justin's work at turbo lab...
Yes... these are tig welds done by hand, absolutely amazing workmanship
While they were finishing up the exhaust and engine bay, I was looking out for a new set of wheels on ksl. I managed to find a set of old school riken mesh wheels, 15" with decent tires for $300. I wanted to get a set of wheels that fit the time period and also lent to the whole "classy sleeper" vibe. They cleaned up nicely, still have some polishing to do.
The final days of the build were in motion. The wagon was about to be reborn!
Stay tuned for part 3 - final build, exterior, and interior pics.
The bay:
VIP Performance rear diff mod, was super easy, took me maybe 30-50 minutes.
Replaced sway bar links/bushings... they were kind in need of replacing
New and installed!
Last monday, i decided to conquer my audio dilema. I currently did not have any deck in the car and the factory wiring harness had been ripped out. So i first started by sourcing an 88 wiring harness from the local junkyard. Re-connected those wires to one another. Purchased an Alpine CDE-143BT deck and a wiring adapter, then wired the adapter to the deck, and began to decide where I would be doing my deck install.
Since I had already installed gauges in place of the normal audio placement, I decide to exploit the units bluetooth capability - to the glovebox it went!
How the center console looks currently:
Side note: I will be repainting the black trim and while I am doing that, the boost gauge dials and plate will be painted along with the aluminum bracket holding both units.
So I picked up a punched steel plate from home depot for about $4, think it was about 3 feet long. Spent a good 30 minutes hammering and bending the metal until I had a bracket that looked like this...
The side of the deck was going to be mounted to the bracket and the remainder of the deck would sit up top of the black filter cover.
I then whipped out my faithful dremel and went to work clearing out plastic from the back of the glovebox to fit the head unit and bracket.
All mounted up!!!
Glovebox closes completely and no one is the wiser. I was quite proud of this project. Its funny to see people look for my deck when they see me controlling volume and songs via my phone.
I also replaced the drivers side cv axle and lower ball joint this current saturday, unfortunately did not take any pictures. Took a note from the CV Axle sticky page and purchased 90 integra cv's. They fit perfectly! I will be doing the passenger side today.
Semi decent picture of how she currently sits...
I will be taking some better pictures when I finally have time to clean things up (once I finish all the random assorted things).
Tuning has not yet begun yet, I am still breaking in the motor and clutch. Also, my turbo is having to be sent in to get rebuilt. I purchased it used (the GT2860) for $650 and it appears as though the seals are leaking b/c I am burning oil out my exhaust. We already propped off the manifold and got on it to see if any smoke was coming out - no dice. Also, coolant has been completely ruled out. So the turbo seems to be the culprit.
I am excited to get you guys final hp specs, tuning pics, and some videos. Hope ya'll have liked this build so far!
-Alex
(214) - two six three - 4121