Saving a VR4

[D.I.P.]

So it has been approximately 4.5 years since I sold my 1st and only 3/S. I owned a mint condition 95 VR4 for about 4 years and went through a lot with it. Ran everything from a 9b/13G combo to an adapter plate (remember those days? Lol) E16G setup. Anyway long story short I sold it to a kid in Virginia who from what I can tell blew the trans within 3 or 4 months and parted it out…

I can honestly say that I have missed that car every day since I sold it and I always planned on getting another one at some point. Now is that time… Late last year I bought a good condition rust free 93 VR4 rolling chassis saving it from the crusher and I’ve had it just sitting in the garage since. The plan is to restore the car over some time. For now I just want to do the proper maintenance to get the car running and setup a nice base of supporting mods for the future. This is never going to be a high HP monster, those days are long gone for me. I just want to build a clean, reliable (LOL) & fun street car that I can DD if I want to. My goal is to run 400awhp on 93 pump never gonna push it much further than that. As i mentioned the shell itself is in great condition and most importantly for a North East car is rust free. The interior panels are all bubbled pretty badly so i am replacing them with some better condition units. I bought a JDM Engine and 6sp. Trans that appear to be in very good shape (good compression) and have already started to do the basic maintenance.

Here is what the to-do list looks like:

120K Maintenance
SS TD04 Manifolds & O2 Housings
CX-Racing Oil Cooler
Ninja Performance SS-Braided Oil feed and return lines
Modified T-stat housing w/ SS-Braided coolant lines (TB bypass)
XTD Stage 3 Clutch w/Chromoly Flywheel
6sp. DS front section
Stock SMIC with CX Racing Hard Pipe kit
3” Downpipe
3” Cat-back exhaust
Clone2 Flash ECU
EVO 482 MAF
560cc EVO injectors
IPS Fuel Hat 250
DeatschWerks DW200 255 LPH Fuel Pump (hotwired)
STM -6AN tank to rail Fuel line kit
Fuel Lab 818 Fuel Filter
Fuel Lab FPR
Fuel Rail Loop
Aluminum Radiator (unsure of brand, came with the car)
Mishimoto Radiator fan shroud kit
Mishimoto Radiator hoses
STM ABS delete
Vac Reduction
Prosport Premium 52mm Boost, Oil Pressure, Water temp gauge
Replace all interior trim panels/plastics
Stockinteriors.com plush Carpet (Charcoal)
New Sound deadening/heat insulation (dynamat)
New Leather seat covers/trim kit
Custom Firewall insulator

Future mods:
15G Turbos
Pampena AWS Delete
99 Sail panels
2nd Gen sideskirts

First thing’s first while doing the full 120K service on the engine i will also be replacing the rear main seal just in case. I don’t really know how many miles are on this engine so I am going to take every precaution that I can. Other than the 120K is there anything else you guys recommend I do while the engine is still out of the car?

Phase 1 as i call it is maintenance and upgrading/cleaning up the engine bay as much as possible. I want to remove as much "stuff" as i can without affecting creature comforts and drivability. I want to keep the A/C and power steering that said i am doing the ABS delete and new Coolant/Oil/Fuel lines and full vac reduction.

Side note: Can anybody recommend the preferred boost control solenoid to use with the Flash ECU setup and maybe explain what the need is if any for a MAP sensor with the Flash ECU?

I will update this thread periodically with pictures as the work is getting done. I will be doing all the work myself and mostly on weekends so I’m sure it will be slow going.

[D.I.P.]

let it begin...

[D.I.P.]

[mb3000]

As far as what you should do with the engine out I would go ahead and toss in some new bearings, rings, OEM gaskets for everything, polish up the crank etc... There's nothing like peace of mind.

[sergechronos]

Other than the 120K is there anything else you guys recommend I do while the engine is still out of the car?

Side note: Can anybody recommend the preferred boost control solenoid to use with the Flash ECU setup and maybe explain what the need is if any for a MAP sensor with the Flash ECU?

Things to do while it's all out? Trade me the JDM 6 speed > Of course painting the block and transmission (and clearing them) are great ways to keep them looking good and easy to clean. I would drain the trans fluid out and replace it with Redline or similar, get an idea of what kind of shape it's in.

Any idea what kind of shape the engine is in? Does it actually turn over? May not be a bad idea to pull the valve cover off and see what the inside of the heads look like (signs of going a long time without oil changes or the oil being cooked or similar.) May not be a bad idea to switch to 99 lifters (don't see it on your list) keeps the engine quiet and also, no telling what kind of shape the current lifters are in after sitting for so long.

edit: Mb3000 beat me to the rest of the list of what I would suggest. Honestly, I'd pull the heads off and check the cylinder walls for signs of damage, or blown head gaskets, do new bearings and such on the bottom end just to know it's all good to go.

Not knocking on the CX Racing oil cooler, but the Setrab is really where it's at for great cooling capacity in a SMOC. If you're staying SMIC, then go FMOC honestly. And if you are going to stay SMIC, why not go with DSMs?

Not sure about the solenoid, they were having decent results with the fuel pressure solenoid as I recall, but wasn't an officially supported thing. Greg or Adam should be able to tell you. As far as the MAP, believe that's just for logging boost, makes the logs that much more useful when you're tuning.

[CoopKill]

Sweet! Another build in the making. Pics are a must!

[D.I.P.]

At this time i don't plan on doing any work on the bottom end. Just going to do the basic maintenance aka 120K, rear main seal, new oil pick up all new fluids. I want to run this stock bottom end as is for a while or until it pops (at which point ill just pick up a Pampena Built 3.1L) hopefully not for a long time. I did pull a bearing just to have a peek and it looks pretty good so i'm not going to worry about it for now. I do plan on swapping in some 99 lifters but not for the time being it is my understanding that these can be done without taking the timing belt off?. I also plan on adding a FMIC but not until I upgrade the turbos. I will be taking the valve covers off and having a look around since i'll be cleaning them up and doing a wrinkle finish paint anyway...

[Unlogic]

Creds for saving a VR-4!

Subscribed.

[J-Groove]

In for more progress, great work so far.

-John

[Ange]

Nice! Sounds like a solid plan.

Why not upgrade over stock smics though? cx dualcore kit or oohnoos. Both eliminate surge. Personally I kind of regret i didn't go cx's dualcore because it looks abit cleaner in the bay.