I recently got a 98 RS 5 speed with 120k miles on it for a great price and I now want to turn it into a project car. It seems to have two small oil leaks and isn't exactly running smoothly. I want to gradually build up the engine, adding performance parts and eventually working my way to a turbo and possibly nos.

I am looking to spend no more than 2 grand right now and will be donig the labor myself. What suggestions does anyone have on what I can do when I take my engine apart in two weeks? What are good gaskets...or if anyone could recommend a good performance rebuild kit or somethin?

Well...I had to dissamble and reassamble my truck engine a couple times, but this is my first step into performance tuning, upgrades, etc

...everything I'd done before was just for maintainance purposes.

you could just buy a motor already done.. hehe

Was thinking about that...but I'll learn a lot more if I do it myself.

If you want to do it up right, you should get the rebuild kit (but only if you have sufficient internals experience or have done a lot of research). Find a reputable machine shop with good prices for things like cleaning/boring/honing etc., and get as much out of your money as you can. Sounds like you might need some basic tune up stuff too. What did you mean by "not running smoothly" and where is the oil leaking from? It could be as simple as the gasket on the CMP or as fun as the HG.

Welcome to town no0b.

Thanx for the welcome. Good to be here with people who know what they are talking about and like what they do. Hope to be around for a while.

Shifting is a little rough in low gears and it is running tough at idle (not to meantion the horrible squealing sound of my drive belt) with an occasional drop in idle speed to the point it almost dies. One oil leak is from the cam sensor (I believe) and another appears to be caused by the head gasket.

I've spent the past 3 hours reading through any threads that might be relevant to what I want to do and looking at part sites.

...no, I really have nothing better to do at work.


I'm guessing from all the recommendation that howellautomotive.com is a good place to get what I need. So far I have this much in mind:

- 2.0 Performance Bottom End Kit or the Bottom End Long Rod Kit
are there other things I would have to do to my engine if I got the long rod kit? What will be the difference between 8.6 and 10.5 compression, espically if I want to get a turbo down the road? I want to go with a .020 over-bore...how much will it cost to get that done and what else, if anything, would I need to change do if I over-bored?
- GS-T exhaust
- AFX UDP
- ARP Head Stud Kit
- Iceman CAI

...could that be done under 2 grand including any machining? The CAI and exhaust can wait a paycheck or 3.

All in all, is this a step in the right direction? Am I missing anything important that should be done before something else?

ARP head studs are 149.00 at Howell's. If you buy those you don't have to trim the threads down. You could also get the Mopar head bolts(OEM) which are 30 bucks(it is wise to buy new ones). There are four short bolts that are used in the corners of the head. Trim about 3 threads off of ONE of those short bolts and use it in the rear, driver's side corner of the head.

At my machine shop, a bore and hone cost 60.00. The shop will need the pistons you are using to do this. Cleaning for the block cost 25.00.

As far as head work, cleaning, resurfacing, and valve job cost me 150.00.

Here is a link from Dino's sig:

http://www.nochoads.org/files/

I downloaded the 420A Overhaul manual, printed it and put it in a three ring binder.

Hope this helps.

Tony

Ebay intake/Pacesetter header/OBX catback/PT lifters/PT clutch
AF/X UDP/crankscraper/Symborski shift kit/ shortened shifter
3KGT 16X8s

USe the ARP's. Well worth the insurance! This is a very old thread, lets let it go back to the archives. I do appreciate you searching though.