Project Evo VIII Update 3 – The Rebuild

Spending thousands of dollars on upgrades only to have the engine fail was pretty frustrating for me. I was nearly ready to give up on the car. I left it at English Racing and they told me that they would tear into the engine and find out what was going on.

When I got the call a few days later from Lucas English, I was pretty heartbroken. He told me that the cylinder number four connecting rod had bent (most likely weakened from abuse from a previous owner). He then told me that I was extremely lucky. I didn’t see how I was lucky but he went on to explain that because of the way the 4G63 is positioned in the car most people throw the rod through the back of the block taking out the transfer case and causing all sorts of damage. He told me that I was one of only a handful of people that was fortunate enough to not have this happen. Since I only bent the rod the block was salvageable and would only need to be machined.

Rather just rebuild the engine with stock parts, I took the plunge and ordered these parts for English to rebuild the engine:

Wiseco HD pistons
K1 Rods
ACL bearings
ARP head studs
Head gasket, main gasket kit, coolant, oil, etc.
ETS 3.5″ FMIC with piping (mine was damaged from the Washington State Ferries)

I estimated that these parts would put me well over 400whp.

The whole time that the car was being rebuilt was very stressful for me. It was also hard to not bug Myles every day asking for updates. Somehow I managed to keep my mind occupied with other things which prevented me from bothering the guys at English Racing. When I finally got the message from Myles telling me that the car was done and that they just finished running it on the dyno I was stoked. I asked him how much it made and I was expecting a little over 400whp and high 300’s for torque. I was blown away when he said 420whp and 402 ft/lbs!

As you can imagine, I was pretty excited with these numbers. He then asked when I wanted to pick it up. I told him my weekend was free to which he replied “Lucas can pick you up tomorrow”.

The timing of everything was perfect. My ride dropped me off at the airfield and I looked up just in time to see Lucas landing.

Him and Joe (another tech at English) hopped out and greeted me. We loaded up my bag and hopped in. The flight was great. It was a clear day, so I could see everything. One thing you never get to appreciate when taking off from Sea-Tac is how beautiful the Pacific Northwest landscape really is. The island formation up here looks like a golf course surrounded by water.

The flight was short and sweet. We landed in a little over an hour. Once we landed, Lucas taxied to the fueling station and refueled the plane. Here’s Mr. English himself:

After he fueled the plane we pushed it into the hangar and loaded up to head to the shop. The shop was less than 5 min from the airfield and again, perfect timing, we pulled into the driveway as Aaron was pulling my car around front. It was a sight for sore eyes. I had missed her so much and had forgotten that it had almost been 2 months since I had seen her. Myles came out of the office along with the rest of the guys with smiles and high fives. Aaron tossed me the keys and told me I couldn’t rip on it for 80 miles. I wasn’t too worried about this—I just wanted to drive her. So I said goodbye and headed off. It was like hugging your girlfriend/wife after not seeing her for a month. The feel of the shift knob and steering wheel, the hug from the seats, the resistance of the clutch, the lights and sounds—it was sensory overload. I putted along until I reached Chehalis and the exact same gas station that I filled up at before….right before I blew her up the first time.

As you can imagine, I was pretty nervous. I called Lucas and he gave me the green light for takeoff. Once I had just about finished fueling the car I look over to the pump next to me where a guy with a Honda Prelude was pumping. The conversation went something like this:

Him: Nice car.
Me: Thanks man.
Him: That thing tuned for E85?
Me: *Pale look on my face as I freak out* Oh shit, man! What am I doing?!?!?!?!
Him: *Mouth drops open and he starts to freak out*
Me: *Laughing hysterically* Nah man it’s cool. It’s tuned on E85.
Him: *Now laughing also* Dude, I was genuinely worried for you…

I thought it was a pretty fun prank. We talked for a minute and he told me how he couldn’t wait to boost his car. I told him that turbos are lots of fun and decided that breaking traction in the Evo when I pulled out on the street in front of him would be a testament to that fact.

Then I came to the widow maker onramp. This was the place that I blew up the car. Under normal circumstances, most people would probably be responsible and tell themselves that it wouldn’t be a good idea to rip it here or some other superstitious mumbo-jumbo. I’m not a normal person and I had to bury the hatchet. The light turned green and I ripped it onto the freeway.

The car instantly slammed me in my seat like Macho Man Randy Savage and I gave a Tiger Woods fist pump as I ripped through 1st…2nd…3rd – the car just kept pulling and I was doing all I could to hold on….4th….then put it in 5th and slowed down. The rush was so intense I was near tears. The external dump added to the O2 dump was absolutely insane. I had to do another one. BAM!! I grab 3rd and rocket ahead again. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I slowed down and came back to the middle lane and began my journey home. The weather was great, music was awesome, and I was with the thing I loved the most aside from my wife, kids, and dog.

Luckily, I missed pretty much all the traffic. I didn’t hit Olympia traffic. Tacoma got a little congested but everyone continued to do 70. Seattle had construction signs and I got a little disheartened, but when I passed through, the construction trucks were still on the side of the road so I got straight to the express lanes. The tunnels of the express lanes with the external O2 dump were pretty absurd. I would’ve taken a video but it was practically impossible to drive the car without both hands occupied. It was now a whole new animal. I made it home to a smiling wife who was happy that I made it in one piece. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the car and the craftsmanship of the fine gentlemen at English Racing. I’m a customer for life – officially.