Journal

6-17-02: Purchased basic tools and supplies to get going including jack stands and an engine stand.

6-20-02: Located a used 4G64 engine in town. Went to Mitsubishi dealer to order parts.

6-22-02: Rented a truck to pickup engine and engine hoist, and stripped used engine down to the block.

6-24-02: Visited Frontier Machine Shop to drop off block and order custom pistons and rods. Unofficial estimate is about one month to receive the custom parts.

7-14-02: Bought 1G (manual tranny) cams from a person on DSMTrader.com

7-20-02: Purchased a 95 Tsi AWD A/T that I've chosen to put the new engine into.

7-27-02: Performed most pre-removal steps as described in shop manual for engine removal. Removed hood, drained oil, coolant, and tranny fluid, removed radiator, intake and hoses, and under covers. No problems yet.

7-28-02: Removed more items, canister, most sensors and hoses. Mess is getting bigger. Parts everywhere. Plan is to remove engine without removing tranny.

8-5-02: Translab shift kit and Alto end clutch ordered from AT DSM Member.

8-9-02: Bought 1G head on DSMTrader. Ordered upper gasket kit to rebuild head with.

8-10-02: Decided to remove transmission also to make life easier. Also plan is to install shift kit and upgraded end clutch while tranny is out (although these can be installed without removing tranny). Having difficulty removing some bolts with hand tools. Decided to purchase air compressor and air tools to help.

8-11-02: Still having a hell of a time removing lower lateral arm on passenger side - can't get impact wrench square on the bolt. Only thing left is removing drive shafts from transmission and removing a/c compressor.

8-18-02 With the help of Mike Hanna, the engine is now removed! Crankshaft pulley and vehicle speed sensor damaged in the process.

8-25-02: Removed transmission from car completely, disassembled block completely. Bought Boost and EGT gauges.

8-26-02: Ordered parts for 1G head swap from dealer, and bought others from posters on DSMTrader.com.

9-1-02: Started installing gauges, detailing engine bay, Mike H brought by the parts he ported for me. Still waiting on parts to get that head rebuilt.

11-12-02: Finally got the engine! Frontier did the valve job and assembled the entire long block. Since the last update I've been doing minor work on the car. I ordered new axles from Raxles nad I wired the car for the new audio system and installed all of the gauges.

11-17-02: Thought I was going to get it installed but there was a day's worth of work just getting the short block in shape.

12-1-02: First attempt to install. Found torque converter would not mount up to engine because the crank hole is much shallower on the 4G64 crank. Need to get TC machined down a bit (see pictures).

12-15-02: Engine is installed on second attempt! Most items are hooked up, still waiting on a few minor parts. We should have it running in a few days now.

12-26-02: The complete setup is installed and ready to go. Cranks and starts on first attempt! No CEL! But oil is leaking like crazy. Inspection reveals a couple minor engine oil leaks, and a huge tranny oil leak. Looks like the plug for the tranny didn't hold. Out it comes! Didn't really get to drive it. It didn't move very well because of what I did to the TC.

1-18-03: Finally got a chance to pull the tranny. Machining and plugging the torque converter was a bad idea. That space is needed for a shaft to operate. Going to explore options for a performance or replacement TC!

1-26-03: I have decided on a Pro Torque TC. I have to send them my old one, they will upgrade it and fix what I did to it and send it back. It will be a few weeks.

11-26-06: UPDATE!!!! The reason why I let this page essentially die is that I have been plagued with problem after problem, and most of it started with the machine shop that I assembled and did the long block. DO NOT USE Frontier Machine Shop in Phoenix, AZ. I have encountered nothing but problems and have since had everything re-worked, but is seems that bad luck is plaguing this car. I DO NOT think it has anything to do with what I've done, just pure bad lack. I don't have journal entries, but since the last entry I've added an FMIC, DSM Link, different turbo, new fuel pump, and probably more. I think this thing is fully modded now. I'm not ready to sell it... yet... but I'm getting close!

Notes

I ended up with a 9.1:1 compression ratio with my setup.

The J&E Pistons are part number 201673 with a bore of 3.415, clearance of .0040, invdome depth of .245, comp dist of 1.385, and the pistons mass 344 grams.  These figures are from the spec sheet I was given.

Frontier Machine shop will turn around heads and long blocks in just a few weeks. The reason it took so long on mine is I had them do a lot of custom stuff for the 1G head swap and there was a 6 week or more wait time for the custom pistons.

1G Head Swap issues not mentioned in RRE instructions:

• Plan to extend 3 wires going to coil pack because of 1G location vs. 2G location.
• You'll have to find a place to mount the 1G Transistor if you don't want to extend all of those wires.
• There's a bracket with a bunch of small vacuum lines on the back of the 2G intake manifold/throttle body that will not mount to the 1G setup.
• I fabricated a bracket to hold the 1G intake manifold, I do not know if the 1G bracket would have worked. Be sure to acquire the bracket with the manifold, I think it will work.
• If I remember right, you'll have to grind a bit of the intake or engine mounting bracket to get the rear engine mounting bracket to mount up nicely.
• You'll have to plug one of the large holes and one of the small holes on the 1G water neck. I used old sensors from the Galant engine I bought.
• You will need the threaded nipple on the rear of the water neck to connect the water line going to the heater.

When pulling and installing the engine, it's easiest to do it with both the engine and tranny together.

The bushing inside of the crank is replaceable. It's hard to get out, but it must be done. Then your tranny will just bolt right into place.

Expenses & Parts

About Prices:

• List price is the vendor's list price or quoted price without discounts.
• Total cost is the cost of an item that is not optional to perform the conversion. Total cost is the cost I paid including any discounts, but does not include tax or shipping.
• Optional costs: This is the price I paid for items including any discounts. Optional costs are for things that someone else may or may not have to buy - like tools or optional parts. Tax and shipping not included.
• Recoverable Costs are expenses that are recoverable, usually by selling parts or pieces when I am done or not using.