Well, after suffering from Second degree hemmorhoids after paying for the work done for the Cylinder Head, I was pleasantly surprised when I received my block back, for the mere outlay of £50! Apparently a good 0.3thou had to be removed, so that'll be a nice bump in compression ratio when its all assembled...or so I tell myself.
For the block work, I need to thank Lee, as he really helped me out with it. Due to the fact that I have no working garage light, or money, and its cold, progress is a bit sporadic, but I already assembled the crankshaft in the block and I have cleaned up one of the pistons - as soon as I receive my piston ring compressor I'll be able to get the pistons installed as well, leaving the engine as is for the holiday. 
I also still have a couple of other things soaking, such as the oil feed return and rear crankshaft seal, but I've also finished cleaning the oil filter housing and the oil pump:
I have also left my sump to have the AN8 fitting welded on - once I can afford to, which'll more than likely be in the first week or so of January, I'll order in the remaining parts needed for this 4E-FTE and get the sucker built! I should also be receiving some nice parts if not this week, then by the time I return ;).
I think my titles are getting incrementally worse as I go on...ANYway...
A few updates, namely, I got the cylinder head back!! Unfortunately I've had to sell my left testicle to pay for it leaving me less sexually productive, more on that later. But yes, I've had to pay dearly for having the cylinder head cleaned and skimmed but I guess I'm partly at fault for not disassembling/re-assembling it myself.
I also got the turbocharger back as can be seen above, and unfortunately I could not use my immaculate CT9a housing due to several differences between the housing that would prove prohibitively expensive to modify to suit, oh well! I also had a bit of a result in that I manage to source someone to skim the block assembly, for just £50! Now if only I found him 3 weeks earlier for the cylinder head...
I also took the oppurtunity to get some petrol and soak all the bottom end parts in a big box, to prepare them for assembly (note, I had already soaked and cleaned most parts at this point, just the camshaft caps and connecting rod caps in there):
I will also hopefully get the sump fitting welded onto the oil sump, as well as buying the last remaining items required for the build - as soon as the block is back I'll hope to have the crankshaft loosely assembled, infact, I hope to have the engine nearly fully assembled before I leave on holiday.
The hours of daylight or diminishing, the laziness is increasingly exponentially, and the garage light doesn't work, leaving my window of when I'm actually bothered to do anything at about, 5 minutes.
Anyway, I still haven't heard about my cylinder head, or sent my block to get skimmed, which greatly restrict my expenditure (not that I actually have any money to use), but I did however remove the crankshaft from the 4E-FTE in preparation of the skimming and cleaning to be done:
And that's pretty much it - my financial status, or, rather, lack thereof of any finances, means things are pretty slow, but all thats forthcoming is buying the rest of the items that I'll require to build up the 4E-FTE again, receiving a couple of items for the future build, and a couple of groupbuys I've got underway! Bah...
Well, just a quick one, these last 2 days' updates bullet pointed:
- Received the Sump fitting, will get that welded on soon
- Sent 4E head to AFR for cleaning and skimming
- Sent CT9b turbo and CT9a exhaust housing to AFR to get them to fit together
- Paid for my 18G kit and HRF Camshafts
Any donations for a silly guy in need? :(
Is it, isn't? Nah, it isn't a typo, but a godforsaken pun, hah! Anyway, as can be implied, the braking assembly has some bearing on this post - on the way back from a night out in London, just outside home I had noticed a horrendous sound coming from the brakes, like, truly horrendous, sounded like one of those hooligans scratching those vinyl records at clubs and discotheques. Anyway, I had long known the pads were on their way out but this took me slightly by surprise:
Yeeeeeeah, down to the metal...this time at the front! So, went to Halfrauds, they were useless, so bought these on eBay:
Bedded-in (badly), they seem to have some very strong retardation, actually surprised me at one point. I have also been busy with the new 4E-FTE to go in - I've finally received my new Dremel and set down to cleaning up the piston tops and the block surfaces too, ready for assembly. I was a bit nervous, as I believe using the sanding drum on the pistons and block surface may not have been the smartest move (didn't realise quite how abrasive it was!), but hopefully I managed to dial that back a bit with the sanding disc (and buffer on the pistons). 
I also ground off the stubborn sealent used for the sump on the other side of the block, again with the sanding drum, but that surface is less critical I guess!
Now all that's really left with the 4E-FTE is getting my CT9a housing bored out for the CT9b core, having the cylinder head cleaned and skimmed, buying and welding an 8 AN Fitting on the sump, buy and fit a Braided oil feed/return for the CT9, get some sealant, some headbolts, a PCV valve...and that's the 4E-FTE ready to assemble!!
Well, not really much to report, but I've done a couple of touches here and there to pass the time. Started off wiuth an important one - grinding out the powdercoating from where the lugnuts torque down onto on the wheels; had a severe issue with this with my Watanabes whereby the wheel almost fell off once! So, ground out the powdercoating using a Dremel grinder on a power-drill, worked fine!
Whilst having the wheels off, I also saw it fit to swap the wheels to the orientation I wanted them at originally...
Whilst it doesn't look quite as sexy anymore, I'm hoping turn in will be a bit special-er and more alert! I do really need spacers on those rear wheels though. Whilst I had the wheels off I also wanted to lower the car ever slightly, if not to really lower it, just to at least equalise the ride-heights at each corner! However, after much Plus-Gas'ing (yes, I've moved onto PlusGas), it was all to no avail. However, this did happen though...
...about half a coil had broken off the front right spring and was just lying there! Quite...interesting. Moving onto the 4E-FTE, progress is very sloooooooow...I cleaned out the sump, ready to have the new fitting for the Braided drain hose to be welded on...I just, need to buy said fitting. I also cleaned up the sump and head mating surfaces of the block a bit - still need some more sandpapering, but, nearly there I would think! 
I've just ordered a new Dremel which should hopefully mean I can clean up the piston tops and finally separate turbo from manifold, and which should hopefully mean I'll shortly be re-assembling this engine.
More updates may come shortly...
Well, nothing has happened with the car, but, after receiving a specific (and AWESOME tool), I've managed to remove the cylinder head from the block, and got the 4E-FTE bottom end onto the stand. From there, all I really did was degreased and cleaned the block, ready for a lick of paint. Whilst I was there, I did the same to the sump!
When I removed the head I was slightly shocked though at the state of the gasket and pistons:
...the original plan was to just do a straight swap! Oh well, at least once everything's nice and cleaned it'll be a better running thing anyway!
Well, they're finally on, they are SSR XR-4S Longchamps in a staggered offset (+7 and +27?) and....I don't know. The garage wouldn't install the wider offset wheels at the front as it's apparently illegal to do so (ok...), i'll change that soon. I'll need to have spacers on the wheels and the arch extensions before I'm completely satisfied.
Things to note: Steering is crazy light now for some obscure reason! And ride isn't much worse despite 45 profile tyres. I'll let the tyres bed in a bit more before I conclude on their grip and behaviour.
Well, seeing as I'm kind of ickle, I generally have some issues when I find my perfect seating position...i.e. I have small arms, so, with the fixed bucket seat in place its been very hard for me to liberally twirl the wheel, especially with harnesses in situ'.
And then came this!
The steering wheel is now perfectly to hand! Finally I can easily turn the wheel with the harnesses tightened. And...well, that's it. It's just a spacer! However, a major-ish update is due tomorrow ;)
Damnit, I wanted to use the actual title of the song but seems like I already have a blog entry sharing that title. Nevermind. Anyway, finally in what seemed like a bleak period of doing not a lot, I finally got to install the TRD Front Anti-roll bar, and what was supposed to be a 5min job turned out to be quite a bit more due to several silly annoyances.
Issue 1:
See the scratches on the end of the Anti-roll bar? Those are from my Dremel after I had to chop off a nut that the previous owner had seized, and since no endlink was attached to help stop both ends from spinning, I had to chop the nut off.
Issue 2: 
Seems like the endlinks were bent/stripped from the roll-over crash the car they originated from went through, which made starting the thread nigh on impossible - on this side I had to chop off some of the thread, cut down the underside bushing, and finally got the nut on, not fun.
Issue 3:
Not really an issue, but I had to drop the exhaust, which I didn't want to do, because I'm lazy, so, that irked me.
And here it is installed:
So far I cannot conclude much from the anti-roll bar, I will update shortly after a late night drive with no traffic, but the reduction of roll is slightly perceivable at higher cornering speeds, but not as much as I expected. What this objectively means for handling is difficult to clarify as the grip levels of the car aren't exactly lacking, so, probably track testing will reveal a difference. Saying that, this bar is less than half the weight of stock! So that's a useful weight reduction!
Update: The anti-roll bar has proven to be quite noticeable now, to the point of troubling front-end grip on the Goodyear Eagle's, never an issue before! Corners much flatter, settles quicker into corners. All in all, a good modification in my eyes - I want to try it on wet roads to gauge grip transition and adjustability!
Not: Just wanted to update on the current situation of things! Right - as the car stands, it currently:
- Sucks
- Burns lots of oil
- Sucks
- Blows
Issues are many, but there are a few that'll get immediate attention, particularly the engine. For months now I've noticed a particular harshness through the clutch pedal, that worsens at faster engine speeds, on which presumption I figure the crankshaft may have suffered some oil starvation damage, but there's no main bearing rattle! So, for that, I will get a new engine and swap it straight out, 4e-fte for now. Doing that, I'll also FINALLY install the C56 gearbox, and swap out the decrepid clutch, which started slipping badly about 2 years ago!
I also hope to buy some 15" tyres in order to finally get my SSR Longchamps wheels on the car, regardless of the fact that I have since slightly gone off them. The headunit will finally get fixed, so I'll have music again, I'll probably get the metal bushes transferred onto spare axle too.
What else? Not much really, I guess, get the Blitz K1 rebuilt, and start buying products in order to safely run the K1 (i.e. a Blow-off valve, finally!) including finally getting the HRF ECU on the car and a base map set, as well as buying more and more components for the 5E - I will also be buying and having machining done for the pending brake setup. Beyond that, just little jobs await, like hooking up the Catch tank and not just leaving it there, modifying the Carbing strut brace to fit, stripping down and tidying up the wiring loom and little trinkets like that. I also really really want a respray...
But, anyway, that's the short of it, so hopefully expect updates of that order shortly!
Umm, yeah, dramatic title...but in reality, it just signifies the gloom of coming back from Saudi Arabia to...well, here :(. Hah, anyway, no real updates, other than finally having a passenger seat, and a new driver's seat - necessary for the trawl upto JAE on the day I arrived.
That would be a Pink EastBear Elite FRP Bucket seat as the driver's steed, and a Bride Ergo I as the passenger side. I also got this whilst I was out in Saudi...
Pretty, but, unfortunately, doesn't fit...but, I won't give up, as it's too pretty/expensive not to keep so I'll get it modified, which I don't think will be too drastic. Otherwise, that's it. Erm. Yeah
Oh, also, I got this:
Although, it's the wrong one...organised a groupbuy for 3E-TE flywheels from Aasco, and they sent out some 5E-FE ones by mistake...but, at least its a preview for the correct one!
If you were wondering, the title has no real relation...I just like saying it. Anyway, no real progress on the car itself, more parts ordered, but since I'm now in the land of Arabia, I will not be there to welcome them into my open arms! But, whilst there, I did finally fully dismantle the 5E-FHE!
I do noob up a couple of times, though armed with a plank of wood, I was actually surprised what I could do! Point in case of nubbing up:
That's what happens when you drop a piston from underneath the block...and can't push them back up...so have to force them up, destroying the piston rings...which had to be pulled off...with pliers...yes, it was...terrible.
Good news though, the block has shown itself to be as immaculate as the head, no scoring!
The head was also immaculate, incredibly so - no wear on the camshaft journals or the camshaft carriers, at all! Only the combustion chambers were a bit grungy, obviously as this engine suffered a blown headgasket - it was all swollen and fuzzy, looked like a soiled nappy! I'll let that image sink in...and:
I'm not actually using the head though, so its no use to me! And finally, the Crankshaft goes in sleeping in a polystyrene box, till its needed again:
