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Atroph's Build Thread

48K views 205 replies 23 participants last post by  titan2782 
#1 · (Edited)
Soooo. Just finished up with my engine build and thought I would share the events that I have went through.

Car was purchased from a local (a member here as well) back in March of 2011. I had watched the car appear on Craigslist in mid-2010 from a person in Suffolk who looked like he needed to dump the car quickly. Sadly it disappeared and I thought that my search for a CE was lost. The body looked ok other than it needed a side mirror like it was barely hit on that side?? Definitely fixable. It supposedly had mod x and mod z and had piqued my interest. Low and behold it appears again in late 2010 with a pricetag of $14K. I knew that the car sold for around $6-7K and probably less since the person in Suffolk seemed desperate. I watched the car fiercely hoping that the price would drop. I believe that the new owner wanted to quickly flip the car for almost twice for what he paid. Good strategy if you know what you are getting in to....

Problem 1: http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f189/new-meth-589406/

Ok not so bad...

Problem 2:
From:http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f25/rebuilt-motor-now-i-have-issues-593069/index5.html

Damn i read this whole thread hoping to find an answer...My srt just started doing the same exact thing. I havnt had much time to mess with it like you have due to fact that it started 2 days ago..However, I took VC off, looked around in there and found nothing, but I swear the noise is coming from the head. It makes no sense to me..But, I did some more research and some people came up with the same noise, and it was a cracked flywheel, or like when you checked with the bolts on the flex plate...Have you checked your flywheel? i will be checking everything hopefully on tuesday or by next weekend. I will let you guy's know if I happen to figure anything out.
i really think mine is just lifter nosie, it sounds more of a rattle more than knocking...However, it still has me nervous lol. Luckily I have a daily I can drive until then.
Damn this problem, I am trying to sell my commemorative and it started making this noise. I can't figure it out for the life of me..A few buddies of mine think it is wrist pin.. I really dont have the time or money to be spending on it though, I wish I could just sell it as is!
Hmmmmm.

Problem 3:
From: http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f347/fs-engine-transmission-mopar-plug-wires-594727/index2.html

700 shipped for short block
Ruh roh. Looking for a shortblock isn't good. Noted....

Here is the history as far as I can trace it.

the pic is kinda blurry....looks like #153
im thinking about buying this one, talked to the guy who owns it. he says it has like 500hp?
and what looks rough about it?
Well according to ebay it already sold, if it was sold for $7700 that's a pretty good buy, even just parts alone, IMHO it's tough to buy a built car without knowing the history of it, the car I got although not built is big turbo, but i've been friends w/ the original owner for almost 2 years and he babied this car, and it's well built and done right, again just my two cents....it's tough to buy someone elses headache ie: accident on carfax, rebuilt trans etc...
the one that you guys saw on ebay for 7700 is still available, im here in virginia beach and i offered the guy 6700 and he said he would take it, I am going to head over tomorrow and take a look at it. Any suggestions on what i should look for in any problems, or something that could evenutally be a problem?
Date: 12-04-2010
Car Hauls some serious ass, just bought it today for only 6700 bucks. few scratches here and there...but TOTALLY worth it.
I'll have to try and get some pictures soon, weather has been pretty bad lately, plus by the time i get off work its dark outside.
Date: 03-26-2011
Just purchased #153.

If anyone knows the history of if please shoot me a pm.
i just sold #153 to a local guy here in virginia beach, VA.
This one is hilarious! Posted after the car was in my hands for about 2 months. We'll see why later on.

Date 05-03-2011
my ce made almost 600whp on the dyno, never got a chance to take it to the track before selling however...Fully built with garrett gt35r, crane cams, eagle rods, wiseco pistons,1000cc's, and aem ems
Now there is a reason that I posted the dates for those two quotes as something happened when the PO purchased the vehicle and when I did as it appears that it was in the hands of the PO for approximately 3 months. Sad state of affairs.

Now here is the ad that I made contact on from Craigslist:

2005 srt-4
Date: 2011-02-12, 11:06PM

i have a FULLY BUILT 2005 commemorative edition srt-4 only 200 were made...I have number 153 of 200 Car has 43k miles on it, motor has been rebuilt by brian cox from virginia speed 8k miles ago.. Car hasnt been tuned in a while so it needs a good tune right now car puts down around 350 whp, thats without any meth and stock aem ems base map tune. with a new tune and meth car will put down around 450WHP (or more until you max out injectors)...with bigger injectors..Car can handle over 600 WHP..Just inspected as of 12/5/10 and brand new tires were just put on as well as an altinator belt and power steering belt ..mods are as follows

Motor:
Wiseco 9:1 pistons
Eagle Rods
Clevite 77 bearing
Machine block
Polished and balance crank
ARP Head studs
Crower cams
stage III ACT clutch and flywheel
Port and polished head.
AEM Engine Management System (brand new)
880cc Injectors
AEM fuel rail
225 fuel pump
Garrett GT35r dual ball bearing turbo
Tubular EX manifold
3" downpipe
3" exhaust
2 1/2 hotpipe
alc injection kit
AEM boost cont
SOLID notormounts
D2 fully adjustible coilovers
New Starter
New Rebuilt transmission.
the Bad: The car has a rattle coming from the block, I have taken the car to 3 shops, it is not a rod or anything because the rattle is too inconsistent plus it wont do it at idle and it only starts above 2k rpms.... 2 out of the 3 shops said it is a broken wrist pin, along with a bunch of my budddies. The car drives fine besides the rattle
also have a DC strut bar i will throw in.
$7000 or best offer
the car has ALOT of money put in to it...I just need some money..

So I go and see it. 2-15-2011

I edited the previous owners screenname to xxx.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
We talk back and forth working on price and details. For the first meet I brought tools and a friend with a really nice borescope to look inside the engine and see what is up. Plugs 2-3-4 came out no problem and looked inside the bores. Saw aftermarket pistons and relatively smooth bores. Unfortunately plug 1 would not come out and I thought I needed a narrower socket to take it out so I left it alone as I did not want to strip the plug out any worse that it already was. Up top everything seemed ok to a couple of educated, but untrained eyes.

Started the car and it sounded fine. Ran a little rich but I figured as much as the ad said "it needed a tune." Revved it a bit and the noise was definately there. I unloaded cylinder #2 and it disappeared. I thought that if there was a problem it was in that cylinder and I may have to fix just that one hole.
 
#6 ·
Needless to say in the months time from the first look and the second look I had educated myself and saw many many things wrong.... I did drive it that day and was not impressed. It moved but was so pig rich that it backfired and ran like shit. The fuel map that I will post later will show you why.

My main reason for driving it is that I was not going to purchase a car that was undrivable period!!! I had no idea on the condition of the drivetrain and would not drop the coin if the drivetrain was toast.

We negotiated for a while, I lowballed expecting to replace the entire engine. He countered and I accepted. Took cash over the next day and towed it home.

3-25-2011

 
#7 ·
Internally gated 35R? What manifold is that?
 
#8 ·
Yes. It is internally gated. I am not sure how well it will work, and I don't plan on changing it for the time being. I am not looking to max this setup out. Reliable fun is all I am shooting for. The WG is a Garrett standard 7psi model. Currently it is connected just below the TIP sensor, and will eventually be connected to the EMS boost solenoid. From what I can tell this turbo kit came from ATP as they are the only place that offers a 35R in a 5 bolt configuration internally gated.

The mani is a custom tubular one from what I can tell. The design isn't the best for flow, but I figure worst case it will flow like a log manifold. As you can tell it was leaking profusely above the flange and the PO tired to seal it with high temp RTV. I removed it, blasted it, and took it to a local welding shop who fixed it up nicely. Hopefully it holds up this time.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Preliminary inspection time. Read a TSB about the cam caps possibly causing the noise that I was hearing. Loosened and checked the caps. They had the factory bevel. Reinstalled the caps. Problem still persisted. Obviously a bottom end problem.

Father (Master Dodge Mechanic)



Upgraded springs and retainers along with ARP studs



BC Stage 2 Cams



Casting flaw within one of the cam caps



Rest look fine with a normal wear pattern. Looks rough but is smooth to fingernail.



Pressure washed and quick photo shoot after doing some landscaping work around the house.

 
#19 · (Edited)
To be continued with the rebuild.

Checked the crank. Looked fine with the exception of #3 rod journal that had a spot on it that was about 1 thou off. It was near the oil hole and probably would have worked. Decided to replace it anyways. See below.

Sourced a block from the local pick n pull. $135 for a complete short block with an extra wire harness and other misc parts. Not bad. Car was a N/A 04 Stratus. Hoping for a good crank and block I went for it. Turns out that the engine I had pulled had #4 rod bearing spun to hell and back. Was actually fused to the rod journal. I'll post a pic of it later. That crank will be the core that I turn in. Block was in good shape and an excellent candidate for a bore and hone.

The Eagle rods that came with the SRT were in good shape. Most of the damage was localized to the rod bearings which thankfully did not spin. Damn close though. #3 was showing copper. No heat damage, and no warping. IMO the rods were the only thing to survive.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Quick note. I am on a tight budget so some may agree or disagree with the parts that I have chosen. I am trying to get this thing operational with the most amount of research and the least amount of money. I am no genius and I have never built an engine from the bottom up like this before. I would like to believe that I did my homework. If anything fails it will solely be my fault and I accept that responsibility. I outsourced 3 jobs; the bore/hone, the cleaning up/decking of the head, and the machining of the bedplate. The rest was done with my own two hands.

Any comments or questions either positive or negative are welcome so that I and others that may come across here can learn.

Parts time.

Ordered a set of crank straps from MAP. Spoke with Bob about the kit and he stood behind it as it was his original design. Those are some heavy ass Jenga blocks...lol

Picked up a crankshaft from Advance Auto. Had a coupon for 20% off so the total price was about $180 with matching bearings. It is a remanufactured crankshaft that was cut first undersize. The quality was real nice, and the journals were spot on with each other. Just needed a little final cleaning before it was ready to install. A little Dawn dish soap, a pressure washer, and some pipe cleaners took care of it.







 
#22 ·
Oh forgot to mention that once I had it home I loaded the factory cal for the SRT on the EMS and rescaled for the current fuel pressure and injectors. Wouldn't start.

Copied over the base timing and starting parameters from the old cal and it fired right up. Connected the AEM UEGO to the EMS and had a bitch of a time getting the numbers to match between the gauge and the EMS. I tried everything I could and it would not jive at all. Went with it anyways since it was only 0.2-0.3 off. Annoying but not a deal breaker at this point.

Looked at the O2 feedback table and it looked good to me. Switched on O2 feedback and it ran like a champ. Drove it around the cul de sac and that is about it. Don't think I exceeded 3k RPMS. Glad I didn't as I could have made the damage worse.
 
#23 ·
Next part was the rods. They were thoroughly cleaned and inspected. The bores were all alike and within specs. The rod bolts were also alike with no signs of wear or stretching. Weighed them all mixing and matching bearing halves and rod bolts so that the measurements were equal. I think I measured them about 5 times each and below is the results.



 
#24 · (Edited)
Next on to the pistons. I chose Arias pistons from previous users results. Since I had a set of Wiseco's that had a chipping issue (user induced or not) I decided that they were off the list period. Poor design IMO. I have seen used Arias pistons and they have always looked excellent.

It appears that JE had redesigned their piston lineup to rid of the thin and sharp spots that you can see on the Wiseco's. IIRC the price for the JE's were around $580 from modern including ringset. I eyeballed the Realtune pistons but decided against them in case something were to happen I would have to wait for a custom piston. I shopped around and nobody had a decent deal with the Arias lineup.

Stumbled upon THMotorsports and they had them listed for about $516. I inquired about the ring set and they said the rings were included. Sweet. Bundled in a military discount code and I ended up paying $500. It appears that THMotorsports didn't actually have the pistons on hand and they were drop shipped from Titan Motorsports in Orlando, FL. Either way I got them within 5 days or so, and my conversations with Luke from THMotorsports were pleasant and professional. Good pistons, good service, and good price. Score!























All measurements were spot on with the card along with the weights. I think that I was 0.0001 off from the advertized skirt diameter. One tenth is nothing to worry about.

I must admit that these pistons were not drop in ready out of the box. All of the edges looked like they were smoothed. The problem was where the oil holes were drilled in the oil ring area. Those holes had tiny barbs around the circumference of the hole where the drill bit had conducted its business. I took a flat jewelers file and flattened those areas gingerly so that the oil rings would not snag. It took about 10 minutes per piston to have it all done. I wouldn't call this a fatal flaw, just something to look for if anyone gets a set of these.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Now on to the measurements.

I opened a thread here http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f169/engine-build-measurements-machinist-advice-requested-643096/ because I found a problem with my bores. It appeared that the cylinders had a "funnel" shape being larger at the top and then tapering in about 1 thou at the bottom.

For reference measurement A is 12-6 o'clock as you are looking at the firewall with the engine installed. Measurement B is 3-9 o'clock looking at the firewall with the engine installed. All measurements were taken 3 times to make sure I was getting correct readings.

Initial

#1



#2



#3



#4



I called the shop and asked if this was normal. Keep in mind that I am using e-bay/amazon budget measuring tools so I initially figured that they were suspect. Either that or I am not doing it correctly as I have found that using these tools takes a certain "feel" so to speak. The more practice I got the better I was able to get accurate and repeatable results.





The shop measured the bores and they were indeed tapered. He said by about 0.0008-0.0009" which is very close to my 0.001" which verified that I was doing it correctly and they were out. The FSM states that 0.002" taper is acceptable but on a freshly bored and honed block it is not. Especially to me.

The shop did admit that they had issues with the machine some time ago and agreed to fix it at no cost. Sadly I had the bores done a year ago and now just got around to getting things measured and assembled.

Here are the specs after I got it back.

Final

#1



#2



#3



#4



They reduced the taper, and I found myself worrying about 0.0002" and such when I should just STFU and build the thing. Here is a little perspective on how small these things are.

A sheet of printer paper is 0.004"
One of my hairs is 0.002"
Some of the numbers that I am worried about are 100 times less than the thickness of a human hair.


Next are the Crankshaft Measurements



IMO those were on the loose side, but I took a few things into consideration:

1. I spoke with a few engine builders and machine shops and they said that they tend to build on the loose end of the factory specs 0.0024" and will run looser if need be. Too tight is impossible. A little loose is ok.

2. I had to be real easy with my measuring tools as it appeared that I was lightly scratching the surface with my bore gauge. A nice bore gauge will have a grip at the top of the device so that you can drop the tool in the bore and release the clamp shortening your sweep area. The tool I had needed to be put in at an angle and fully swept the entire length of the bearing until the smallest reading was attained.

3. The advice I received was generally "it is a little loose" but nothing like OMFGWTFBBQ!!! It'll work.

4. I am still running the 2.4T oil pump. I have deleted the balance shafts, and oil jets. I have a little extra oil to go around.

5. I plan on bumping up to a slightly heavier oil so that I can establish a pressure base line and adjust from there accordingly.
 
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