Lex's VR4 Build

[gSx-LeX]

Somehow, I always find myself turning a wrench on a DSM (whether I want to or not). Since, I miss being an active part of this community, I decided some time ago to search for a clean vr-4. I wanted to find a STOCK, unmolested, and relatively well maintained car. After months of searching, I finally found the car I was looking for.

Condition:
I was surprised to find a Galant with little/no mods. the owner inherited the car form his dad who bought it from a real estate agent, a couple of years ago. the interior was very well maintained, the exterior paint and still very shiney, and best of all it wasn't modified. The owner was getting some sort of grinding noise, which turned out to be a transfer case. The car also has a dent in the rear quarter panel (no paint damage, just pushed in).

Goals:
I'm a huge fan of the stock look of these cars, so I plan on keeping it stock LOOKING. Under the hood, I want to switch to a Liquid/Air intercooler setup on some sort of 20g turbo. I planning managing this with DSMLink or maybe even try Megasquirt. I've been down the AEM path, 3 times now, and I want to try something else.

My goal is to really enjoys this car at the track. I love to race and love to wrench. I want to be able enjoy this car at the track (the kind with turns), as well as keep it clean. In order to reach my goals, there are several things I need to address. First, will be making it road worthy. I want fix all of the oil leaks, do some needed maintenance, fix the dents, and put a radio in it (currently no radio). Once this is done, I plan on removing the (still functioning) AWS system and replace the rear with a 4bolt rear-end. Once this is done, I will take on the modifications.

Thanks for reading.


-Lex

www.ziptiebandit.com - For more details on the car/build

http://www.ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/GVR4home/fs7.jpg

http://www.ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/GVR4home/fs22.jpg

http://www.ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/GVR4home/fs21.jpg

http://www.ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/GVR4home/fs13.jpg

[4g64fiero]

First post in build thread muahahaha!


Just dont drop the engine on your head haha.

[ApexImprt2nR]

Subscribbled! Good luck on this beautiful car Alex, you are one lucky man to find such a gem. Congratulations. And yes, don't drop the motor on your face.

[gSx-LeX]

Haha! My mangled finger will be a reminder to not keep my head under the object I am prying on. I'm stupid.

[Red1991TSI]

Haha! My mangled finger will be a reminder to not keep my head under the object I am prying on. I'm stupid.

As they say on Jackass, if you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough. Be safe, wished I was still in the area. I'd be happy to turn a wrench with you and crack a few beers.

I <3 lesbians too but I can't seem to find any! :rofl:

[Sebba]

Plenty of lesbians here. Only they are morbidly obese, butch Mexican ones. Not very nice.

[gSx-LeX]

Plenty of lesbians here. Only they are morbidly obese, butch Mexican ones. Not very nice.

That's a realization that I've had to come to terms with. It's hard finding a hot lesbian.

I'd be happy to turn a wrench with you and crack a few beers.


Thanks Red. It really stinks. When I lived in PA, there was a whole network of people that helped each other . Here in MD, I mention that I am looking for a transfercase, and one guy offers me a transfer case for $10 more than he has it going for on Ebay. It's ridiculous.

[gSx-LeX]

Since my finger finally stopped bleeding through the stitches and I'm on tons of pain killers, I decided to crack the old transfer case open and see what the damage is. Here is what I found:
http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/Tcase/tcase1.JPG
http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/Tcase/tcase3.JPG
http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/Tcase/tcase5.JPG

Yummy. I was able to acquire a transfer case from a local (thanks Ron; bluebeast on DSMTalk), and will be going into the GVR4, shortly. Once it is mobile, I can update this thread more and get some more pictures.



Best case scenario, when your tcase locks up (happened to me in my red 2g).
http://ziptiebandit.com/index/23.jpg

[K_Mans_TSI]

I missed the finger incident.

[gSx-LeX]

I missed the finger incident.
I dropped the Transfer case on my middle finger, and crushed it (picture stepping on a ketchup packet). I split the tip of the finger down the middle and broke the tip of the bone. I wasn't wearing a glove (stupid me) so to make matters worse, the finger was covered in transfer case oil/pieces of metal shavings. My finger looks like a mangled mess of stitches and dead skin. Sweet.

[MyBoostedGST]

Picture!!

[Red1991TSI]

Careful swaping parts between VR4's and Eclipses. I believe I heard something about gearing differences. Not sure if the transfer cases are included in that. I know you need to be careful with trannies and rear diffs.

Yeah I missed the finger episode too.

[K_Mans_TSI]

I dropped the Transfer case on my middle finger, and crushed it (picture stepping on a ketchup packet). I split the tip of the finger down the middle and broke the tip of the bone. I wasn't wearing a glove (stupid me) so to make matters worse, the finger was covered in transfer case oil/pieces of metal shavings. My finger looks like a mangled mess of stitches and dead skin. Sweet.

REminds me of the time my finger got caught in a drill while polishing nitrous lines. I WAS wearing gloves and it slung blood up the wall and my finger went numb when it broke, I thought I cut it off I didnt' want to take the glove off.

[Sebba]

AAAAH I did NOT want to read that.

[JuanG]

I missed the finger incident also :D. Ill keep my eye on this build. By the way are you still in Columbia MD?

[Red1991TSI]

Well that'll learn both of you. Kind of like me drilling out the hole in a sheet metal FIAV block off plate when the drill bit stuck, spun around the plate like a Ginsu knife, and then sliced my finger open like a deli slicer. Again, no gloves! Doh!

[Jk's97DSM]

Shit. Working on Seahawks I have done some crazy things. I busted my head on a f18 about a month ago getting a couple of staples. Stabbed myself with a flathead a couple of times. Almost fell off a bunch of times about 15 feet in the air. Crushed my finger in a hatch mechanism first day of a detachment shattering the tip like you Alex. Yeah that was fun. Trying not to go to medical but my hand was shaking so bad they made me. Yeah vicatin.

[gSx-LeX]

I hate making any type of hospital visit. Growing up, we didn't have health insurance, so I've gotten used to the "work through the pain". The problem with this situation was that I hadn't eaten anything yet (planning on getting lunch after the tcase came out), and once I lost all that blood, I nearly fainted. Also, the wound was so dirty, that I had no choice.


Careful swaping parts between VR4's and Eclipses. I believe I heard something about gearing differences. Not sure if the transfer cases are included in that. I know you need to be careful with trannies and rear diffs.


I know little about gearing and transmissions, but from my thinking, I think that the transfer case is an intermediary between that final gear of the trans and the rear diff., so it shouldn't matter and they should all be the same internally. This could be way off. Can anyone chime in on this?

[gSx-LeX]

I missed the finger incident also :D. Ill keep my eye on this build. By the way are you still in Columbia MD?

I am.

[Red1991TSI]

I know little about gearing and transmissions, but from my thinking, I think that the transfer case is an intermediary between that final gear of the trans and the rear diff., so it shouldn't matter and they should all be the same internally. This could be way off. Can anyone chime in on this?

Agreed Lex, that's why I said I wasn't sure about the transfer case. I know there is a difference between the VR4 trannies and rear diffs compared to the TEL's. Just wanted you to be careful before you wreck your hard work. I think you're fine with the T-case.

[Gamble]

Well that'll learn both of you. Kind of like me drilling out the hole in a sheet metal FIAV block off plate when the drill bit stuck, spun around the plate like a Ginsu knife, and then sliced my finger open like a deli slicer. Again, no gloves! Doh!

Well I may have you beat, I cut the tip of my finger right in front of the nail almost down to the first line on your finger WITH a deli slicer. :o Shit hurt so bad.

More pics of vr4. What are the plans?

[gSx-LeX]

Agreed Lex, that's why I said I wasn't sure about the transfer case. I know there is a difference between the VR4 trannies and rear diffs compared to the TEL's. Just wanted you to be careful before you wreck your hard work. I think you're fine with the T-case.

After looking through the Vfaq, it turns out that the secondary, transfer, and rear gearing on a manual 1g AWD DSM and a GVR4 is the same.

second/transfer = rear
3.866/1.090 = 3.545

From what I can tell, there shouldn't be a difference between the gearing on any of the DSM 1g AWD components and a USDM GVR4 (other than the obvious, taller 1st gear in the gvr4), and therefore, they should all be interchangeable (as long as the info on VFAQ is correct).

[frankozz]

Errr... When I worked at home depot I was helping this lady load some stuff in her car when out of nowhere her stupid dog bit me... I didn't think it was a big deal, but my manager sent me to the hospital and said I could have sued her... I had to take a piss test and get some tetanus shots. It was a poodle BTW, after that I got stuck with the nickname "rabies" :P

Let's see some engine pics and some interior pics.

[Black 95 TSI]

Where are the updates!!!.. Or do I have to come over and get this thing running for you. The cut on your finger was just a flesh wound. BE a man Drink a beer and cover it with duck tape.

[gSx-LeX]

Today, I removed the driveshaft, replaced the faulty yoke (which after examining it, was NOT leaking) and put the "Super Special Secret " engine on the stand. All, I have to do now is bolt everything together and she'll be mobile. I hate working on the floor, but most of all i hate not having the right tools. The reason why this is taking so long is because my box in at my house, but the car is at my parents house (30 minutes away).

[T-double]

wow that sucks. Good luck with the project I am working on a GVR4 too. I can't wait to see what you came up with

[gSx-LeX]

The annual “car bug” bit me hard this past week. Friday after work, I decided to go and finish up the car. I bolted the driveshaft back up along with the reconditioned transfer case. It was to late for me to enjoy in on Friday, but I went back Saturday morning to change the oil and take her out for a spin around the neighborhood (no plates yet so I can’t go too far). It’s a good thing that I decided to change the oil, because the the piece that the filter threads into, was only hand tightened it at best. Had I driven it like that, the whole oil filter assembly could have backed it’s way out of the housing. Also, by fixing this, I was able to stop the mysterious oil leak issue in that area of the car! The original owner told me that he was going to keep the door speakers and the aftermarket radio. I also learned that he decided to keep the rear speakers and the optima battery that was there when I originally saw the car. No worries, I still had an optima battery lying around form the red car. I also got rid of the extra speaker wiring. Hopefully I can get her titled early Monday morning and drive her to work!

On to the pictures!!!!!

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr47.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr48.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr41.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr45.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr44.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr43.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr42.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr46.jpg

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr410.jpg

And the abstract artsy shot..........

http://ziptiebandit.com/media/pics/gvr4/090418/gvr49.jpg

[gSx-LeX]

Pictures added.

[Sebba]

Is that a dent by the left tail light?

What are your plans for the exterior? Going to make 'er perfect?

[gSx-LeX]

Appearance is low on my "things to do" list. The paint is awesome, there are no rust spots, and all body panels are the same color. Once I get it close to where I want it, I'll look into getting it;s exterior refreshed. I guess I don't like body work because I can't do it myself, and I don't trust anyone else to do it.

[Sebba]

I totally understand you there. We are kind of in the same boat.

I did some research on rotary buffers. The to do's and not to do's, and I think I have the theory down. I'm going to start practicing soon.

I would give it a shot.

[Got Insulin?]

Lex, sorry for digging this up, bud, but I think I remember that you put an aftermarket wheel in the whip? Could you give me some feedback and some details? Thanks!

[bmxcolorado]

Wait- where is that "1992 galant VR-$ Limited edition 792/1000" Badge located?

[Got Insulin?]

Pretty sure it's inside on the dash.

[hawaiifiveoh]

Wait- where is that "1992 galant VR-$ Limited edition 792/1000" Badge located?

Your sig is huge, make sure it fits all the rules.

[4G63 POWER]

hotness.