Project 98' "SC-R"

[morgansonsc2]

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1998 Saturn SC2
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Goal: N/A Daily driver (hoping for turbo later but not betting on it), get the most HP out of the stock engine as possible. Maybe swap to a MP3.

Start Date: August 23, 2007
Planned End Date: When the Car breaks (like, boom man)

Current Parts:
98' block and head (ported and polished)
98' Crank
New rods
Stock Pistons

Tranny:
MP7 Automatic Transmission

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Current Parts List:
New Alternator- 37.88 (with core)
Main Bearing Set- 53.39
Crankshaft Kit- 104.00 (New 98' Crankshaft)
Crankshaft Front Seal set-11.49
Piston Ring Set (Molly Steel Top Ring) or (1.2 mm Chrome Steel Top Ring CP Series)- 87.88
Piston w/ Pin- 38.99
Cylinder Head Gasket Set- 209.00
Lower Engine Gasket Set - 82.49
Timing Kit- 224.00
Serpentine Belt-24.00
Timing Cover Seal- 5.99
Front Motor Mount- 44.49
Port and Polish (Head- Exhaust and Intake, Manifold- Exhaust and Intake)- 0.00
New Headlight Assemblies (3rd Gen)- ???
New Hood (3rd gen)- ???
Wheels (something modest but effective)- 400+
Tires (Kuhmo)- Alot
Dynomax muffler
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That is all to just get the engine going.
I am doing the work myself so it wont hurt that bad.

History...
Well I bought the car in hopes of having a nice car that has more go than a 20 year old Volvo, that wont break my bank. So a friend of the family told my father about an old Saturn that has been sitting behind his house. He said he paid about 3,000 for the car but he was tired of looking at it and wanted it gone so he and my father struck a deal. Ironically i ended up paying for it. So we go to pick the car up and lone behold... the damn thing wont start. The battery is dead. So, we run to the local Advanced Auto and we pick up a new battery, we also picked up a new hydraulic jack and 2 ton stands (which came in handy pulling the engine.) And we put it in. So the car starts, sounds horrible (clack, clack, clack) and he drives it home. It gets parked and it sits there....for 3 months. Then we moved so the first thing to get shipped off is the car. We move in, yada yada yada, and to make a long story short we bought a engine stand, and a hoist. 2 weeks ago the engine finally got pulled. We began disassembling the engine and found the shattered piston, the spun bearing, and the scored rod, and crank. So I began shopping for the parts and compiling a parts list to see how far this would drive me. The aforementioned list is posted above and you can see for yourself.
There is also some minor body work that is required, most of which I have already completed. Now, we are on the verge of being ready to reassemble the engine...as soon as we get the money to buy the parts of course.
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The car, as it looked before moved...



The start of the disassembly...



Starting to clean out the engine bay...


The engine pull...



On the stand...





Cleaning #1...


Disassembly...





Cleaning #2



Ceramic Coated Down Pipe...


The Final Cleaning (Purple Power Rules!)...






So that is the car for now. It wont be much but it sure will feel nice.[/img]

[morgansonsc2]

Got new parts on order today. Received the Timing Kit, belt, motor mount, and a valve. The valve is not right though. It is to heavy. Does anybody have a pic of the stock valves? The valve tops on mine are like a deep dish, and they are really thin, and light. This thing is heavy, thick, and almost a flat top dish. Any way, i still need to order a new alternator, ring set (NAPA aparently doesn't carry ring sets), and a new rod.

I am looking forward to getting this thing back together. The intake is now ported and polished and the exhaust is about to be.

[morgansonsc2]

So i finally got a ring set and a rod, ended up at a saturn dealership where they looked at me like i had two heads when i said SC2. Killer is, i snapped a con rod cap bolt while installing one of the old rods. The wrench was set at 33 so it was not a mistake on my part, it just could not handle the stress. Anyway, so i am going to get 3 new rods next week, in the mean time i have to sit on my thumbs and wait. But here are some update pics from what is in so far and new things in general.

This is the brand spanking new crankshaft. In and waiting for its rods.


Original camshafts just put back in after porting and polishing also new valve guide seals.


Exhaust side ports...i think.


Intake port job, also has one new valve in. Weight is a little off so i will tell you f the engine blows up...


Here is a little experiment i did, did it just to see if i could do it. This cost me $0. I did it all myself, with stuff i found lying around. The grill is a ss wire mesh, it is held on with thermal silicon adhesive (hot glue). It does really well as long as you clean the area first. I used acetone.


I even got to the little vents...All of them. Overall it took roughly two days.


Did some repairs on the busted head light. Just temp. want to get this thing on the road.


Here is the rod that snapped the bolt. Took the bolts out in hopes of finding a con rod bolt set. But i just got laughed at.


Here is the bolt that snapped.


Well that is all i have for a while, if all goes according to plan then the engine should be done next week, and prepped to drop in the week after.[/img]

[morgansonsc2]

I have finished the build! The 98' Saturn is up and running, running very well in fact. This thing roars. The port and polish did wonders on the engine. Now i just have to get wheels and tires, register it, and insure the car and i will b e running! I am going to try to take care of all of that next week.

[morgansonsc2]

Re: Project 98' "SC-R"

The car is leagally on the road now. I got some tires and a set of wheels a couple of weeks ago. I am going to revamp the exhaust in the upcomeing week (then i have to pay a $130 ticket) I was looking at cutting out the resonator and installing a glasspack or something and then a muffler on the end. Dont know what kind yet (any tips). Well that is it for now i guess i am looking at getting a loan to build up credit i was going to use it to finish the car for now, just some miscilanious stuff.
This is some of the things i want to get in the car soon...
New bucket seats (black leather)
New radio head unit (maybe even some speakers and a 10" duo in the back)
Cold air or ram air intake
Larger throttle body (and hopefully stiffer)
Wide mouth front end.
New head lights (going to experament with the 3rd gen lights)
New hood (carbon or not havent decided)
Brake system (rear disk conversion)
Fuel system (just renewing the stock sht)
clean up the engine bay
OBX headers (or any header better than stock 2nd gen)
A different diffuser in the rear.( i want to visually raise the rear up)

That is all i can really think of for now i will get back to you if anything comes up.
Drop me a line if any of you have any suggestions.

[morgansonsc2]

Re: Project 98' "SC-R"

Well i went and got a Specter cold air intake kit from o reileys the other day. Then i got my new muffler put on, it a dynomax super turbo muffler. The piping is still all stock though. Then I spent the week playing with paint untill i found what i am calling "Nismo Grey" then i painted the valve cover, battery strap and fuse box.


Who knows what will be next, but it aint happening this weekend. So stay tuned.lol
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[morgansonsc2]

Re: Project 98' "SC-R"

Well i got the lowes catch can for the pcv fabed up and installed last night. I didnt put a filter on the in line like i initially planed but that can be done at any point in time. I used 8 in of 2 in pvc for the body. A cap for the bottom and a matanance cap for the top. I used 6 in of 3/4 in pvc for the core and a cap to mate the brass 90 to the 3/4. For the filter body for the exiting air i used a 1 1/4 coupling filled with stainless steel scouring pad. This created enough resistance that securing the filter body was not nessesary. I used a straight brass nipple for the exiting air. At the bottom i fitted a second nipple, placed a short hose (temp) and fit a screw valve to the end. This was ment to add volume to the can, and to allow the can to be drained at oil changes rather than pulling the can out completely.
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None of the parts are melting, or rather, heating up enough to melt. I used a high pressure, hi temp, 3/4 hose. The can is placed in the far right hand corner of the engine bay, next to the power steering.
So far everything is in working order, I am replacing the pcv valve today. However the best i can say as of now is that it does not hinder the airflow between the pcv and the manifold. It will take more time to tell if it is actually filtering out the oil from the air.
Right now ,astheticly, the can is pvc white. It will be taken out and painted nismo grey to tie into the rest of the engine.
Pics coming soon...

[morgansonsc2]

Re: Project 98' "SC-R"

If anyone has any ideas where i can put the breathe can at i would be very apreciative. It feels out of place sitting there. But it did fix the smoke billowing out of the hood problem.