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TiGray does a virgin

18K views 127 replies 24 participants last post by  TiGraySpeed6 
#1 ·
The longest forged drop in build ever, and it starts like this-

After assisting my #1 piston to part ways with the rod, and destroying the block with no small amount of authority in the process, the time has come to drop a new mill in there.

I don't want to spend a ton of time & $$ on machine shop labor to bring back a used block that might have issues of it's own, so I'm sourcing a virgin long block from MSM. Along with all the tidbits & what-nots listed below, the total price tag should work out to just over $5K by the time she's back on the road again.

The time line is, give or take, get the engine in over the next month, run it on the stock bottom end as the last few loan payments are made and then the credit cards are paid off from this initial spend, then bank the car payment funds till ~2K is put away. That 2K is to forge the bottom end and all the stuff needed to make that happen

So, that should give me an engine with ~15K miles on it, nicely broken in and stable, a perfect home for a drop in forged build. Broken in but not all clapped out & screwed up.


Where am I at now? So far I've orders are placed for:
SCCA membership purchased
when SCCA card shows up I can join MSM & purchase the long block

JBR 80a Trilogy purchased so the shiny newness has a snug & comfy home

CPe Rear diff mount (yes, it's the wrong end of the car, but mounts :) )
CPe Safe Seals

Luk 10-064 clutch from ebay
Fidenza fw from MAPerformance


I need to pull the injectors and send them off to InjectorRX to be cleaned & tested.
- I'm hoping the #1 injector didn't get trashed, but if it did I'll get a new one and send it with the others so I can be sure they are all flowing evenly.
- I probably will get all new o-rings & such for the injectors since the current set has 75K miles on em.

I need to pick up an engine hoist & stand

I need to PNP my intake mani, then clean it up & probably paint it. Will most likely paint the VC too, but not till the new engine comes in so I can compare the two.

I'm debating if I'm going to do the BSD right away or not. Need to recover the BSD from the old block first.



Fun stuff- At some point I'm going to tear down the old engine. Since #1 went, that means I've got a tired old worn out #3 to look at... I wonder what kind of shape that piston is in, if there are cracked ring lands or how the ring ends look....



New engine break in will most likely mimic phate's process over on MSF- that seems to have generated great results. I'm also going to blackstone the oil & see how the virgin mill evolves.



Lots of pics as stuff arrives and things progress.....
 
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#3 ·
Good plan!

Questions:
  1. How much money do you save by getting a membership and purchasing from MSM?
  2. Pardon my noobness on this, but how does a drop-in build work? Pistons, rods and related parts installed without pulling and disassembling the entire engine?
 
#5 ·
mazdaspeed motorsports
 
#7 ·
Correct- Mazdaspeed Motorsports - Mazda's privateer support group.

I thought you had to have at least two confirmed race results too, but turns out you can join as a builder for up to a year before first race. Requires club membership & pics of car even if it's not in race trim.

Savings will vary but it's safe to ball park around a grand for a long block-
~ $4500 over the parts counter at your local dealer
~ $3500 from MSM

And yup, that's a drop in build- Block stays in the car, head off, oil pan off, rods & pistons out, new in, head back on. Requires a good foundation to build on, or you're just wasting time & effort.
 
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#9 ·
I am indeed!

It helps knowing there's an engine builder with a 450+hp MZR under his belt already, and an excellent machine shop that's rebuilt the head/full valve job on that same engine, both within ten minutes of my driveway. :thumbup:

Add to that my local mazda dealer's shop is filled with enthusiast mazda owners. I was totally amazed at the quality of work they did for my VVT/TC replacement, and have become friends with several of the folks from that dealership.

So, yeah, I'm a good mechanic, but I've got layers of backup if things go horribly sideways....
 
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#10 ·
Very nice. And $7k is still cheaper than a new car. Nice to hear your wife is supportive!

How has you transmission been behaving?
 
#11 ·
The trans is (knocks wood) in good shape.

I'm pretty easy on it compared to many and that helps quite a bit.
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
So, here's what the Speed looks like currently-
I made the hardest decision a Florida boy can make, debated for quite a while before going for it, then decided it was worth the effort and breached the AC system so I could pull the front crash bar for really easy access.





I've pulled the injectors and am sending them off to InjectorRX today for cleaning & testing. All four came out really easily with just a light twist & pull, nothing at all like some of the horror stories you hear about removing injectors. Number 4 was leaking really bad and apparently for quite a while. Number 3 had a nice little leak developing. Number 2 might just have been dirty, or maybe a little leak to the lower left, and number 1 looks best of all.

I'm particularly pleased that 1 didn't get trashed when the piston let go

Number 4-



Number 3-



Number 2-



Number 1-
 
#15 ·
With InjectorRX you get a sheet like this back, showing before & after results. I've seen a few of these now, and the results seem worth it.


 
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#17 ·
Not for this process.
It would be nice, but I'm not aware of an available to normal humans place testing at 1800psi.
 
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#19 ·
Debating if I want to pull the head while still in the car, or get it out on the stand...

Easy enough to bolt the head back on to pull the engine, so it really comes down to if I get around to it or not....
 
#20 ·
Plenty of giggity in this thread! Looking forward to your progress Ti! So much to learn! :thumbup:
 
#22 ·
$80...........SCCM membership
$~3500.....MSM Long Block - not yet purchased
$XXXX......Shipping for engine
$480.........JBR 80a Trilogy mount set
$269.........CPe Rear Diff Mount - backordered, attempting to locate source currently
$199.........CPe Safe Seals
$267.........LuK Clutch Kit - ebay
$335.........Fidenza FW from MAPerformance
$150.........Clean & test injectors including shipping



Still to account for-
This is the 4th vehicle, and the 6th engine pull I've done here, it's about time I actually buy my own engine hoist and stand, so that's about $200.

I'm planning on replacing the o-rings on the injectors since these have 75K miles on them. It's possible that the new ones will be supplied when they get cleaned, but I'm not holding my breath on that, so another $150 or so, haven't looked yet.

This is ~$5500 here, plus some shipping I've not counted above.

Debating on the front rear diff mount and rear sway. Really should, but at some point I need to pay this bill..... At least another $350 if I do those two as well.
 
#23 ·
saw the title and was like "waiiit whaaaaa? erics been married for like ..forever his wife must NOT be okay with that" then read everything. sorry to see things went downhill on your 6 but very happy to see how proactive (as usual) you have been to getting on with things and having a plan to fix things up. I just only hope that my engine never (or not any time soon) comes to this because I ain't half the mechanic you are. Hopefully by that time I'll have either the money for a cp-e build, an m3, or both. Good luck man, sub'd for the ride.
 
#26 ·
you're hillarious
 
#27 ·
just please dont turn into the next dougefresh (no direspect, whatever happened to his beautiful 6???) and leave us all behind after doing something absolutely amazing
 
#28 ·
LuK clutch & Fidenza FW are here
JBR Trilogy is here, but still at the post office- need to go pick em up in the morning
Diff mounts on the way
Fuel injectors are on their way back from injectorRX, should be here tomorrow too
Safeseals should be here today

Gonna pick up the engine hoist & stand tonight or tomorrow

Engine will be at the terminal in Dothan by Monday, waiting for a call from em now to set up delivery to house with a lift gate truck

Shit's gettin real :thumbup:
 
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