the chad build

INDEX:

ENGINE:
Putting the engine on the harbor freight stand
Trick for removing broken exhaust mani studs
Removing direct injectors
Head Teardown
Cleaning the Valves

Well, I decided to sink some money into this poopy platform, I've always wanted to own and build a fast car so I've decided to take the plunge into doing it top to bottom myself. I'll be posting here and indexing it similar to how ya boy JohnnyTightlips did and hopefully, people can pick out some useful information from it. Should be getting super busy on this over the next couple of months, I'm taking my time as I don't rely on this car and it's currently just sitting in the garage for winter.

Getting started I scooped up a running/driving Mazdaspeed 6 for extra parts, I was mainly interested in the engine and parting out the rest to essentially get a spare long block for free, which thus far, has turned out good. Got it pulled and lightly cleaned up. My powerwasher caught on fire when I tried starting it so, I ended up doing as best as I could by hand with the hose, some degreaser, and brushes.




Some goodies that came in recently.

S/O DTPFab for the v-band downpipe.


Pulsar GTX3076r Gen2 (inspired by JT)


Corksport Intake & Exhaust manifold (+PI rail), thanks Derrick@CS


Dammond street TMM & PMM (already have the RMM on my car)

 

Dayum CS intake AND exhaust manis?! Feel like getting your hands on one of those is a miracle let alone both lol - looking forward to watching your journey bro!

 

Got the engine on the stand today. I am using the 1000lb harbor freight 75$ special stand.
Unfortunately, there is only one t-case bolt that will work to affix the stand to the block but you'll need a washer for it.

The regular t-case bolt that is not long enough.

The one singular long enough t-case bolt (not sure if the 3 has it, this came from a 6)

I went to the homeless death spot and got some m10x1.5 shoulder bolts and a metric fuck load of washers. They still threaded into the block about 2" so I think it'll be safe. As for torquing them in, I kinda just went by feel with my 3/8th ratchet, tight but not kill yourself tight.
For one of the mounting points @JohnnyTightlips said he had to get a thinner bolt, but I disagree, I used an m10 bolt for it from my OEM exhaust (or something) and a washer. I think this boils down to small differences stand to stand so your mileage may vary.


Now we have our engine on the horror fright engine stand!

EDIT: I had posted images with the bottom right arm 1 hole too low, has since been corrected.

 

sir, this is a wendy's

 

Got the outside of the engine entirely stripped besides the injectors today, took a lot longer than I thought it would. Although this particular engine has the world's rustiest bolts and quite a few of them needed vice grips and heat to remove. Currently waiting on an impact screwdriver to be delivered so I don't strip all the Torx bolts. Also took the valve cover off to take a peek, and apparently, this has relatively new timing components, the engine is at TDC and the chain is tight af.



Dealt with a couple of broken studs getting the OEM exhaust mani off, no big deal.

For anyone who doesn't know the trick to getting them off here it is:

 

Looks good! Did you put the lower mounting bolts through the oil pan to get it secured to the stand adapter?

 

Good catch, yes originally when I had it on the hoist I had put that last bolt 1 hole low on accident, since then I put it up 1, let me update the thread.

 

Took out the injectors today, I tried an impact screwdriver since they seemed stubborn to my 3/8" impact gun. It didn't really work so I just took a breaker bar and went nice and slow with a quality T40 socket.




For getting the actual injectors out of their holes I used the tried and true method.... 8mm wrench, 14mm wrench, and a pad lock, worked like a charm.


Surprisingly for this beat-ass motor, only 1 injector was DOITY, and it had a weird-ass seal I've never seen in my life on it. It was like orange silicone with a thin piece of metal on it. Anyone?


The next step is to take the head off. I'm currently running the ultrasonic cleaner 24/7 to clean up various engine mounting brackets & literally every bolt that's re-usable.

 

Took the head & oil pan off today. Discovered this 2006 speed 6 engine has a gen 2 valve cover, but a cartridge oil filter housing for some reason, not complaining, I wanted the 2nd gen VC anyway.

The only notable thing is it might be helpful if you have an extra person to hold your engine stand still while you're removing the head bolts (12 points, 12mm) cause they take some effort, definitely gotta hit it with your purse.

It's killing me to know that all the timing components are very fresh and I'm going to end up buying brand new ones anyway just to err on the side of caution. From a quick visual inspection, everything looked fine to proceed.







If anyone knows the approximate weight of the block with rods, pistons, and the crank (-BSD) please let me know, I want to attempt (with a couple friends) to carry this bad boy into my basement as its cold outside & I'm not going to insulate my garage. Also because the basement can be kept way cleaner than my garage for assembly.

 

dude, great thread! ps, how did you learn all these tricks like the lock/wrench one and the broken stud one? a newb like me would like to know more

 

If you're having an issue with the stand moving while loosening or tightening stuff. Get a few sand bags or even weights to keep the stand in position. Just drop them on the ends where the wheels are or block the wheels so they can't turn.

 

I had the neighbor come over, he's a big boy.

 

Well, I got bored so I put on an extra pair of panties and went back out to finish taking it apart.

*I regret not taking the rear main off before putting it on the engine stand lmao*

The crank girdle did not want to move by hand so I took my rubber mallet and tapped the bottom of the crank gently in an upward direction until it popped loose, then I lifted it out with my hands. I made sure all the bearings were left in the girdle because when I took the crank out it gave me something that I could rest it on without worrying about damaging the smooth area.


Unfortunately my boi had the stockies in it :/


Everything looked pgud, the cylinder walls were unremarkable, so I say she's ready to go to the machine shop, if anyone has a recommendation in SE Michigan please let me know.

 

New tool day wooo.
I highly recommend wearing glasses & gloves while working with one of these. Probably a mask is a good idea too cause of all the dust.


Used the brass coated wire wheel on bolt heads & some random brackets that I want to repaint, worked really well. I have a brass wire wheel coming in the mail for rebuilding the head with. Stay tuned for that coming soon.

 

Started tearing into the head today got the tapets, retainers, springs, and valves removed. 100% going to have the machine shop clean up the head before I lap the valves, she's a nasty girl and I don't feel like dealing with it.


I used the lisle tool like everyone else here keeps recommending, I used it by hand for removal instead of smacking it with a mallet, worked fine, one thing I noticed though is that it's a tight fit so don't fuck up or you'll burr the edge of where your cam rides. I actually may have done that on one of these and fucked up this head but IDK I guess we'll see?


Valves surprisingly weren't as gross as I thought they'd be for 115k miles with no maintenance. None looked bent or significantly worn out.


Yay organized shit!*
*I only organized the tapets, valves, and retainers.


I know I'm going to do the valve seals but I have no idea if it's really necessary to do the guides and I can't find much information online about replacing the guides myself so I would likely have to have the machine shop do it I suppose? If anyone has knowledge on this please let me know.

 

You'll probably need the machine shop to replace the guides if they really need it. They will have to be pressed out and pressed in then made sure they are at a certain height. You could do it yourself if you have access to a press and an adapter of some kind to press on the guide. I doubt the guides are bad if it only has 115k miles on it.

 

Cleaned up the valves today, I used my new cryobi bench grinder (full brass wire wheel), my makita impact driver (and dewalt chuck adapter), and a lot of painters tape (scotch brand lol)

Ok so one thing I found super useful to make sure you don't go high on and hit where the stem meets guide is to use what I'd call a "starter strip" after you've put your main tape on to protect that area from the drill chuck. When you get near it with the wheel you will hear the pitch of the wire hitting the valve change to a very high pitch.

This particular valve actually flew out of the chuck because I didn't tighten it enough and hit the ground. Thankfully it doesn't look like literally any part of it got fucked up so I'm going to SEND IT and use it.


I actually ordered this drill chuck adapter at like 2pm lol
Drill Chuck
Wire Wheel
THEM CROCS BOI


Before / After


After I wire wheeled them all off I threw them in the ultrasonic cleaner for 10 minutes to get the little it off the stem that I couldn't hit with the grinder (I didn't wanna get to close to that one area). I took them out and IMMEDIATELY DRIED THEM with a microfiber, then back thru the grinder very quickly (with my hand, not the drill this time). Then I wiped them down with WD-40 cause they will probably sit for a hot minute (hence why they look a little dirty)


Ultrasonic cleaner
Cleaning solution

 

They probably aren't worn, although they could be because whoever owned this prior definitely did not change the oil as much as they should have lol, we'll see.

 

I've been absent from my build for a hot minute because I've been sick but I did manage to drop the head & block off to a machine shop.
In the meantime I used some high. temp spray paint for my valve & timing covers.

If you're lazy like me don't forget to sand for your cam position sensor, the area for the crank seal, and the area for the VVT solenoid seal.

 

Well cause of some life events I've decided to sell my car and all the brand new parts + the machined block and refinished head over on fb. Don't DM here or reply about it as I'm not allowed to sell on the forum.