92 Ty #1852

[porkchopsandwiches]

So from then until now, it's pretty much sat around while I finished up a project. I took it out a few times:



But as mentioned on the auction, it doesn't quite run right. Under high load / WOT it will cut boost / retard timing or something, and I didn't want to break anything if it was knock related, so I unplugged the boost controller relay so that boost was limited. It was slower but never cut out like it would under higher boost. But once you get the engine warm and the oil this out, it really starts to leak quite badly, leaving a series of puddles anywhere you parked it. So I quit driving it until I went to take it apart.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

I had to finish this project I bought as a flip to pay for the Ty repairs. 1991 Mitsubishi Delica L300 I bought with a blown motor and also a brand new Hyundai Turbo Diesel crate motor (clone of the original Mitsubishi diesel). It needed 50 other things other than a motor, but I eventually finished this up and got it sold. They're neat little vans!

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Step 1: Clean out the damn garage so I have somewhere nice to work.

The Buick on the left is a supercharged Regal GS with a few upgrades. Capable of embarrassing WRX owners!



The stains in the center of the floor are all from the Typhoon:

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

My overall goals for this Ty are to make it run properly, not leak fluids, and just generally run real strong while being pretty much stock, with upgrades only where it makes sense and doesn't change the truck aesthetically. I have a gut feeling that the value of these trucks is going to steadily climb over the next few years, and while I'm not in it to make money, keeping the resale value strong is a plus for me. I wasn't entirely sold on pulling the motor when I got started, so I did a compression test, cold engine, WOT. Bear in mind I'm about 5,200 feet altitude where I'm at so these numbers are only about 85% of what they would be at sea level.



Not great, not terrible. It's within spec, but the spread was a bit much for my liking, so I decided to pull it.

The compression test is when I figured out the "Typhoon Service Position" of removing the front wheel wells, ft. new Bilsteins the PO installed:

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Just some reference photos of the original, stock setup for when I forget how it all goes back together in 2 months:

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Just for fun I pulled the heads in the truck, because I had nothing better to do what with the lockdown and snow outside:





Snow was about 2.5 beers deep (there's 3 cans in the photo):



Had to heat up the NOS bottle to cook some steaks, cause why not grill in a foot of snow?

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Found a number of suspects for the running issues the truck had. First was this strange corrosion on only one of the terminals on the cap:



I believe the PO replaced this cap and rotor, and the wires and plugs as well. Not sure what would have caused this, but could have been causing some ignition issues.

Then there's the corrosion inside the distributor:



Might not be an issue, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get a reman dist. since I hear these trucks are hard on ignition components.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Both heads off, figured out the smoke on startup! Valve stem seals / possibly guides.



Aaaand motor's out. Those bellhousing bolts are not fun! Might have had my Snap-On guy get me a couple of special wrenches to make putting them back on easier.



First thing I noticed was the motor mounts that fell right off as soon as I lifted the motor. Hard as a rock and compressed as hell, possibly original!

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

These collapsed mounts were causing the exhaust crossover pipe (drivers side bank to turbo pipe, whatever it's called) to rub on the steering idler arm quite badly. I think I recall reading at one point that this can cause the knock sensor to pick up this vibration as knock, which could definitely cause it to not run right at WOT!



Also I think this turbo oil return line was the worst leak of them all. I doubt this AN fitting setup is stock, but I figured I'd just replace the AN fittings / hose with new ones, maybe these ones were cheap and the internal fitting O rings / hose material didn't like the heat of the turbo return oil. Also didn't help that the AN fitting to the turbo adapter fitting was finger-loose.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Disassembled the engine, I love how quickly pushrod motors come apart! Hadn't had one apart since the Bronco I had in high school.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

None of the internals looked all that bad. Cylinder walls were a bit shiny but still had some visible crosshatching. There was no ridge on the top of any of the cylinders. Piston skirts looked fine, I'm hoping I can get away with a hone and new rings, cause I know these pistons are specific to the SyTys and wasn't sure if you could find new stock size or oversize ones. Main / rod bearings had some scratches on them but nothing too crazy. Cam bearings looked fine. The oil that came out of the main cap bolt holes stank! Smelled like crude oil!



Parts loaded up in the ol German diesel pickup and off to Area Automotive Machine in Denver, CO to be hot tanked and clearances measured, new rings and bearings, and whatever else they deem necessary.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Odds and ends / other to-do items:

-I ordered all new steering links / joints, as well as the Sportmachines upgraded column because the steering is loosey goosey but none of the play is in the gearbox itself. You rack this truck and shake the wheels and every joint is just worn out. Probably all original components. Probably won't do this until it's mobile again and I can do it at the shop because that would be much more pleasant to do on a lift.
-Ordered new window motors and regulators as the ones in it were pretty slow, especially the passenger side, wouldn't go all the way down. Not really that interesting. Naturally every door card plastic clip exploded upon removal. ACDelco motors and VDO regulators as the ACDelco regulators were out of stock on RockAuto.



There's a rack of aftermarket wiring, seems to be mostly stereo related, that I want to remove. I'd love to get the stock Delco head unit if anyone has one lying around that I could buy. It does appear to have the converter lockup / unlock switch that someone wired, haven't seen if it works or not.



While I have the door cards off, I wanted to replace these trim pieces because they're cracked, the rubber pieces on the inside and outside of the window edge. The outside one I think I can get easily as it's its own part, but the inner one seems like it might be a part of the door card and I'm not sure if I can get it by itself. The outside ones are in far worse shape though so it wouldn't kill me if I can't do the inside ones. I'd appreciate any input!




Parts that didn't need to go away for the rebuild:



I got a new Melling high-flow oil pump, new cam, lifters, pushrods, rockers, timing set. The turbo oil feed line seemed to be leaking as well so I got one from Sportmachines. I ordered a new knock sensor just preventatively, as well as a pigtail because the connector exploded when I removed it. As you can see, I separated the balancer when removing it, but I wasn't too upset since I read these trucks can spin them and screw up your timing marks, so I ordered a new one of those too. I'll be cutting the crimps and replacing the rubber parts of the coolant feed / return lines to the turbo, and I ordered new braided hose and AN fittings for the turbo oil return. The turbo I sent to Sportmachines to get the "batmowheel," porting, rebuild, and ceramic coating.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Power steering pump was starting to leak, so I got a reman pump and new lines just so I won't have to mess with it later.



I'm going to use the parts washer at work to clean all this stuff. I can't tell if the valve covers need paint cause they're so covered in grime, but if they need paint I'll do it. I think I will sandblast and paint the aluminum parts like the intake mani and accessory brackets. Manifolds, crossover pipe, and downpipe I will get ceramic coated to keep engine bay temps down. I was curious about the "Syclone" text on the intake plenum - were some of these not painted red? I've seen in photos that the letters were painted red sometimes, wasn't sure if they came that way or if people painted them. Injectors I sent off to a local guy for flow testing and cleaning. I also ordered copper manifold and turbo gaskets as I wasn't comfortable with reassembling this without gaskets like they are stock.




Hoping a local wheel place can help with this broken off center cap bolt / poorly drilled and tapped new hole. I ordered new center cap O rings too as one of them was jingling due to no O ring. One of the wheels is bent too, I think I can get that taken care of easily though.



I also got the factory style oil cooler lines for the cooler / remote filter housing. I know people say they leak and that's why they do the block conversion, but having a turbo vehicle with no oil cooler bugs me, and I don't like the location of the block oil filter and the fact that the filter is smaller than stock. We will see how much time I get out of those new lines before they start leaking! Also got a new OEM radiator and a higher capacity water pump. I ordered a new starter due to the occasional no-crank but you hear a click. I was told it might be the purple wire, which was in pretty bad shape due to heat, but it consistently got voltage when cranking over, so starter it was. Still going to repair the purple wire though.


That's about it for now. I ordered a bunch of other misc. stuff like rear glass hatch struts, wiper blades, a cheap oil pressure gauge just to make sure it has good psi when starting the rebuilt motor, interior door handle spring, trans input shaft seal, and some other small odds and ends to keep me occupied while waiting on the motor (shop said they're backlogged). Probably next week I'll push her outside and hit the engine bay with some degreaser, although it might be smart to start with a scraper! Will keep this updated as I make notable progress.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

Dude. Love the updates, and super stoked about everything you're doing to it. I can definitely say my old truck went to the right person.

Once it's done I'd love to check it out if you're ever down my way or if I head up north.

 

[tomster]

I'm hopping on here as well, because I'm just about to start that exact thing! Bought my Ty 4 weeks ago and was eagerly reading up the forums since (never worked on an US car either). Quite some knowledge and "avoid-thats" that I found around here. Thanx guys, for sure spared me quite some change! The more so because I'm located in good ole Germany and US parts (let alone SyTy parts) are quite hard to come by. Sending stuff back'n'forth across da pond is not only time consuming but also frustrating moneywise to some extent...

Please keep up your updates (and pics)!
Greetings,
Tom

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Dude. Love the updates, and super stoked about everything you're doing to it. I can definitely say my old truck went to the right person.

Once it's done I'd love to check it out if you're ever down my way or if I head up north.

For sure! Once we're allowed to do things again it'll be at cars & coffee Lafayette (at the Flatirons mega church) which is the first Saturday of every month.

I'm hopping on here as well, because I'm just about to start that exact thing! Bought my Ty 4 weeks ago and was eagerly reading up the forums since (never worked on an US car either). Quite some knowledge and "avoid-thats" that I found around here. Thanx guys, for sure spared me quite some change! The more so because I'm located in good ole Germany and US parts (let alone SyTy parts) are quite hard to come by. Sending stuff back'n'forth across da pond is not only time consuming but also frustrating moneywise to some extent...

Please keep up your updates (and pics)!
Greetings,
Tom

Awesome! How the hell can you afford to keep the gas tank full in a Typhoon in Germany?!

PM me with a list of parts you need. I'm curious if I could get them here and ship them to you for cheaper than you could get them there. A lot of parts for these engines are literally in stock on the shelves at auto parts stores here.

 

[tomster]

Thank god I didn't think about the tank issue yet. I guess my family's everyday dishes will most probably be downsized by some degree in the future.
Jus' kidding ;-)

And thank you very much for your offer on parts. I do gladly appreciate!
It's not so much that I'd need assistance in the technical shipment rather than which parts actually to order. rockauto is pretty quick in terms of shipping stuff. I receive their parts usually 3-4 days after I ordered. Quite impressive. Don't ask about shipping cost/customs duty though...

Anyway, I bet I'll be getting back to you as soon as I started to take the engine apart.
Stay safe & healthy y'all,
Tom

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Thank god I didn't think about the tank issue yet. I guess my family's everyday dishes will most probably be downsized by some degree in the future.
Jus' kidding ;-)

And thank you very much for your offer on parts. I do gladly appreciate!
It's not so much that I'd need assistance in the technical shipment rather than which parts actually to order. rockauto is pretty quick in terms of shipping stuff. I receive their parts usually 3-4 days after I ordered. Quite impressive. Don't ask about shipping cost/customs duty though...

Anyway, I bet I'll be getting back to you as soon as I started to take the engine apart.
Stay safe & healthy y'all,
Tom

Had no idea they'd ship internationally, that's awesome, and more surprising it arrives that quickly! I guess probably best for you to order as one big lot then. Though they do have a lot of different warehouses and at least when ordering in the US, an order can be shipped in 5-10 different shipments. Wasn't sure if they combined this before sending overseas or not. But feel free to PM with questions about parts, as I'll probably start engine reassembly in 2-3 weeks.

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Went crazy with the parts washer yesterday! Decided mid-parts wash to get a sandblasting cabinet from harbor freight. I'd had one before that I built and it's useful for projects like this, and the cabinet / media was only around $200 shipped. I / my peers have a number of other projects that this would be useful for too. Only problem is I'll probably need a bigger compressor now...

 

[porkchopsandwiches]

Pretty much everything could use a blast / coat of paint, so I'll probably just start an assembly line to do this once the blasting cabinet shows up. Just really wanted to get the grime off everything before doing this so I don't clog up the sandblasting gun with all the crap that was on these parts!