Damnation: The Cynos Project

I shall embellish the post when I've stopped gigglroffling

Right, I have now collected myself. So, after the progression that was made after receiving the engine mounts I was elated, as it was a step closer to getting to the crux of the situation - seeing if the car would return to life. As per a previous post, when I tried to start the car the solenoid on the starter would fire but the motor wouldn't turn. I was unperturbed though as I hadn't bolted the two earthing cables from the gearbox and engine yet. So, after sorting those out I returned to starting the engine (albeit with the EFi fuse pulled out to not flood the engine with petrol) and, it cranked!

The two word post obviously a reflection of my excitement at said moment in time. Changing my underwear, I then spent the majority of the day charging the battery and cranking the engine over in order to build some oil pressure and get it running through the turbocharger as an obvious sign of such a case. Once this was achieved (as seen in the preceding post) I halted going further. What?!! You didn't start the car ASAFP?!! Are you insane!! Yes, but only in the membrane. That and seeing as I was missing one measly bolt from the rear engine mount, I figured it'd be wisest to first get that engine mount bolt in place which would then allow me to fit the Anti-roll bar in place, as well as the Tanabe brace and so on, and THEN the exhaust system, so that I wouldn't wake up my cat Sammy who would invariably unleash 7 types of hell on me for disrupting his 23hr nap.

Yes, I know, I don't do wise, but, essentially, I wanted to build up a suspense for myself ^_^.

So, bolt purchased, and installed, and onto the Anti-roll bar. Where are the bolts? *Sigh*. After a few minutes of faffing about I found them on the scuttle and proceeded to installing them...which was an exercise in patience/restraint. Not, as you may presume to save from damaging a component by rushing through the procedure, but rather from stop oneself from starting a genocide. It was just one fiddly annoying thing after another; first lining up the bolts for the anti-roll bar mounts with the silly brackets not willing to conform to your command. Then it was getting the droplinks to sit perpendicular to the lower control arms so they could sit properly once tightened. Pffft, whatever, its on and tightened, I can adjust it later.



Onto that lovely Tanabe 4 Point Lower Control arm brace! Oh this thing weighs nothing, it'll be a breeze to install! Done! Oh no wait, the exhaust actually has to be WITHIN the brace. Damnit, take 2. So, I have to lift the exhaust over my head whilst blindly trying to thread the bolts in, grand. Wait. It doesn't fit. ARGH! Yes, I have figured out why this is an EP91 fitment only then, as the EP82 engine mount carries the exhaust hangers on it, which get in the way of the mounting bolts. Fabulous! So, Dremeltaim. One hanger came off easily enough, but the other required several million cutting discs to get through, and plenty of hammering. And then they were off, and the brace fit (and yes, I'll be weighing those bits of the hanger I removed ^_^)! Now onto attaching it. Again, fiddly but not too difficult, other than the bolts that fix the lower control arms in place, as the anti-roll bar forces them out of alignment. However, one bolt decided to be especially uncooperative, with the flange on the brace JUST covering it slightly. Yargh! Ignore for now >_<

At this point, I suddenly submitted to my excitement and decided to hell with that cat, he's scared of engines anyway, BAH to you. Before I could so much as even fathom to ignite the engine, I obviously had to fit the oil return. Ah...Yeah. It's actually such a terrible decision made by myself to have this far-too-long hose made up. Essentially, it's so long, that you have to compress it a whole lot just to get it to where you think its lining up, only to tighten it and realise it isn't and has stripped some threads. YAY! To hell with that though, I want to start this ish.



So, got the battery in place, leads connected, camera in position, trip over a box (editted out obviously), then...STATTOH! As evidenced in the video, I found it quite hard to contain myself, letting out a little pleasure squeal. For those who claim I'm miserable, you saw me climax, so stfu. However, this pleasure was short lived as it was clear to see there was a leak or two. It sufficed me though, it started, therefore I am a master of wiring kkthx. Anyway, that leak was rather annoying - it seemed the gasket for the turbocharger coolant line flange had expired, and I didn't have anything to replace it with. That and I was missing a coolant line rubber, so used one from a PCV valve. Which was too skinny, and not strong enough, so collapsed and inevitably shot pressures way up. Bah to j00! Not only, but it seemed (inevitably) that the oil return fitting was leaking too. So, off came the turbocharger/manifold (to hell with separating them) and off came the coolant lines, and I applied some silicone sealant in a very crude fashion, re-installed the lines and attempted the next morning. Even worse. BAH again.

At this point, what little neuroelectrical stimuli I had in my cranium managed to light up a tiny eureka LED - I'll just loop the coolant line! Is it safe to do so? *Tap tap tap* People on TGTT have done it with no ill effect, done. I also ghetto-fixed the oil return fitting with a rag and a hose-clip just to stave off leaks for a bit. Yes. I ACTUALLY did that. Look, see!



So, with that out of the way, I ventured forth, looped the lines, topped up the water in the radiator, and restarted the engine. All seemed fine and well - I gave the throttle a bit of a tug and response seemed well, though strangely idle would rise if I raised the engine speed gradually, falling back down if I again quickly jerked the throttle butterfly. Meh. I was pleased with the pressure emanating from the valve cover breather too - Rick informed me that the whistle he heard on the video pointed to good crank pressure, ube - and so I continued letting the engine idle for a good few minutes till I worried about the temperature and shut it off. However, we have sprung more leaks. MOAR?!!

Meh, the engine starts, that's a win for me, so GTFO downer moments. It seems that I didn't affix a hoseclip on the water pump hose onto the thermostat, but upon attaching this the leak continued, so that will warrant a further investigation. I also decided in the meantime to fill the brake master cylinder reservoir with some fluid for, I don't know, something to do. So I did. Now to check that leak. Holy Shart, it's still leaking, and what's this, a leak from the driver's side? Odd. Crawl underneath. Ah. That's brake fluid. And it's in my hair. And face. And in me. Lovely. Why is this leaking. WHY ARE YOU LEAKING. Putrid little fiend of my life. Could this point to my earlier brake issues which largely prompted this Sainosu-based destruction over the last few months? Hmmm. Anyway, I want to do something, so, I cleared off residue from the lower control arm brace, waited for the leaking to stop (*sigh*, new bane of my life >_<), and commenced with that silly Tanabe brace. So, off it came, out came the Dremel, or rather, to my hand came the Dremel as I couldn't be bothered to tidy up previously. Grind my lovely new Tanabes, and, re-assemble. Vittoire! Loosely tighten the nuts, jiggle in those annoying lower control arm bolts, and, torqued!



In the meantime, I also went on a little panic-induced spending spree, starting with two AN8 to barbed fitting and a silly expensive Samco elbow to replace that braided return fitting (worst. purchase. EVRAR), a flexible silicone hose for the coolant lines. Oh, and I put a deposit on an HKS FCon V-PRO ECU. TF?!. Yup ^_^

So what next?
- Hopefully receive my hubs shortly and get those installed
- Affixing all the ball-joints and brakes and so on
- Get the wheels on
- Lower the car, get the muffler on its hangers
- Raise the front end again, get the exhaust system on its hangers, and installed on the downpipe, tighten both
- Lower the local population count of some pigeons and annoying warbling birds that disturb my peace
- Try to cure some leaks by fitting new hosing etc
- Lower car and fill the gearbox with some Royal Purple loveliness
- Hit the car if it leaks again
- Then, I don't know, figure new things out, and new things to waste money on

OHH! And how could I forget - my car is actually a vibrator now. The dirt. The SACRED dirt that is imperative to the cars' notoriety. Was actually being shaken off, by this vibrations. I'm copyrighting this, Ann Summers is only a couple of miles away. HAH!

Also, no more bugs on my window sill (<_<)