List of what I have done to the VR-4 recently. A list of parts and prices are included at the bottom.

Engine Internals

• Rebuilt head (stock specifications) then exhaust side ported
  • Was rebuilt a year ago during the ill-fated long block rebuild. New valves, guides and seats.
• Rebuilt and balanced short block with new crankshaft (stock specifications)
  • When the engine seized, it was the number 1 cylinder. It spun the rod bearing on the crankshaft and locked up. This damaged the crank and bent the rod. So #1 got a new crankshaft and piston rod. At the same time I had all four cylinders honed and the block milled. Then, of course, had all new bearings, rings and seals put in.
• Removed balance shafts using Buschur kit
  • This really seems like very little for $100. If you carefully press out the old bearings and press them back in… Take a hack saw and saw the oil pump stub off of the balance shaft… Well, BR’s got to make a living somehow :-)

Engine Misc.

• Repainted the engine
  • Block, oil pan and intake pipes are stove black (stove black is really cool hi-temp paint that has a kind of sparkle to it).
  • Valve cover red like stock.
  • Brushed the aluminum on theintake plenum, water neck and fuel rail.
• Replaced all vacuum hoses with silicon hose
  • Miles of bright red hose in the engine bay :-)
• Walbro Hi-flow in-tank fuel pump
  • Don’t really need this much fuel flow, yet…
• K&N air filter in the infamous ‘swiss cheese’ air canister
• Removed air conditioning
  • Is this what is meant by a ‘hot’ car?
• 1990 oil filter housing with remote oil cooling
  • Oil cooler pictures
  • Got rid of the silly (and dangerous) water-cooled oil filter housing. In it’s place I put a stock 1990 T/E/L unit with AN-6 fittings to an external oil cooler. I used a finned cooler up front between the I/C and the radiator. The braided steel oil lines and nice Aeroquip fittings look very stylish.

Turbo/Exhaust

Porting pictures
• New 14b ported
  • O.K., stop sputtering. I had to buy a new turbo a year ago and Satan got me for a factory 14b. I’ll replace this with a 7cm 16g during Phase II. Did the porting myself for practice. The worse case was that I messed it up and had to upgrade now.
• New 1G exhaust housing ported and tapped for EGT
  • See the comment for the 14b.
• O2 housing ported w/new O2 sensor
• Hallman boost controller
  • They should just call this the ‘Fun knob’.
• Starion front mounted intercooler with 2.25 in/out ports
  • Intercooler pictures
  • Andre Santoso gave me this intercooler for free. It had a leak and a few damaged runners. Took this down to a show and had the leaks fixed for about $75 bucks. That’s pretty cheap for something that looks that cool under the bumper. Gave me just the excuse I needed to really lighten the bumper by removing most of the center metal to make room.
• 1g T/E/L intake plumbing
  • Intake pictures
  • Moving the battery to the trunk made room for T/E/L intake plumbing. It is much shorter and a straight shot from the MAS to the turbo. The stock VR-4 plumbing is twice as long and has four tight 90 degree bends in it.

Transmission

• Replaced all of the seals
  • Axles
  • Transfer case
• Did the short shifter mod
  • Shortened shifter pictures
  • About half way from the old pin to the bend in the shifter. The throw is just about perfect, but there's just no way to get a DSM tranny to sift well.

Clutch

• ACT street clutch
  • ACT Clutch pictures
  • I have the ACT copper metallic 4-button clutch. It would be killer to put that baby in. Literally! Can’t imagine using that thing on the streets. Street clutch for now but maybe later…
• ACT 2100 pressure plate
  • I wimped out. I just really don’t think I needed the 2600.
• 11lb ACT lightened flywheel
  • Woohoo! Talk about quick revving.

Electrical and Gauges

• Battery relocation
  • Battery relocation pictures
  • Moved to welded bracket in trunk. Better weight distribution and more space up front.
  • Power cable routed through interior to engine compartment
• VDO 30-25 Boost gauge
• Westach 700-1700 deg. EGT
• Jumptronix digital A/F and voltmeter
  • This is a really nice digital A/F gauge. About 1.5 inches wide and backlite for night use. Very fast responding and doubles as a volt meter which is a absolute requirement for running big driving lights.

Interior

• Lotek A-piller dual gauge pod
• Although not a perfect match, a very close one. Material and texture are real close to the stock trim. Gauges fit perfectly, but the boost gauge brass hose fitting was a bit too long. I carefully measured where the fitting would be and bent it about 20 degrees. This worked perfectly.