Finally, we are getting to the fun stuff. Fidanza aluminum flywheel went in. Of course, the stock bolts were too short (only engaged 2 threads). That was a surprise to me, but fairly well known/debated in the 4G63 world. I had to buy longer bolts from one car and combine that with a spacer ring from an automatic car (because the bolts were then too long).




Then a Spec stage 3+ went in. That is a full face ferramic disk, which I loved on the 420A. I hope it works just as well here.




I sent the existing transmission to Jacks for a rebuild. Of course, while I was tearing apart the rest of the car, they obsoleted the rebuild package I wanted (the cheapest one with 4-spider upgrade). Now, I'm in for several hundred more dollars. While I'm swallowing that one, I figure, why not throw another thousand at it to get a Quaife front LSD. Of course, you need additional parts to make that happen. Then, the inspection found that I had a crack in the end case, trashed second gear, and several things that needed "detailing". In the end, my transmission rebuild cost more than the purchase price of the car. It looks good though.




Upon receipt of the rebuilt transmission, I notice that two bolt holes in the case have funny looking threads. It turns out that the previous owner had stripped them and installed heli-coils (poorly). I torqued the bracket down and the bolts immediately stripped out. I drilled that out and tapped to M16 thread (stock is M12). I threaded in solid steel locking inserts with the correct M12 internal thread. They feel great and torqued up without complaint. I have a transmission jack (great considering the weight of the AWD trans). It was still a colossal pain to line up the input splines to the clutch. I think I blew an hour and a half just fiddling with the engine height and trans angle to get the splines to line up. I installed the transfer case and wouldn't you know, the threads on one bolt hole in the transmission looks funny. I feel the threads give nearing the correct torque and I call it a day. I'll install an insert there when the trans comes out this fall for the new engine. Meanwhile, I install the full front suspension without any trouble.




I'm using Moog adjustable upper A-arm mounts. Those should work out better than the SPC adjustable upper ball joints that I had before (they bent on the first use). Then I moved on to the exhaust.




Essentially nothing from my 2GNT exhaust fits the AWD. I reused the muffler, but even the hangers had to be adjusted to get it to hang low enough to get the pipe under the rear subframe (I went through the 2GNT subframe). The cat converter is also in a completely different place, but I can reuse the cat itself. I was able to cut and reuse some straight pipe, but everything else was new. I fitted it up and tacked it over the fourth of July weekend. I'll finish welding over the next couple weeks. Everything is 3" mandrel bent tubing made from 0.065" 304 SS. I'm using 304 SS V-band connections everywhere (I love these). I'll make a temporary downpipe to connect the stock T25 with 2" tubing to the 3" cat. I'll run that until I build the new engine and turbo system. That should be in the fall, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took a few months longer.


Corbin
'95 ESI-T

Now with more power and fewer leaks



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