Re: Varnell's '99 J32 6MT Coupe EX-L
Dont you have your 5spd Sedan?
Unfortunately the sedan was totaled a week before I bought the i4 coupe.
For anyone that doesn't know, I busted open my oil pan in some road construction. My phone was dead and my car was too low to tow so I drove home. This tore up the bearings pretty bad. I changed the oil pan and got the metal shavings out of the oil pickup screen. The metallic specks persisted to show after flushing the oil multiple times. The car was still driveable; just took a few years off it's life span. I planned to order some motor mount spacers and prep for an eventual rebuild.
I didn't expect to hit half a pallet while doing 85mph on the highway while driving home from school at night...less than a week after putting the brand new oil pan on. Once again, phone dead and 20 miles from home with no way to tow my car I continued on, cursing under my breath every second of the way. Spent the night ripping off the exhaust and prepping for
another oil pan ($400 in oil pans in less than a week) instead of studying for my Differential Equations test the next morning.
The engine was still alive, though the low oil pressure light would come on at idle, or whenever the engine was under 1,000 RPMs. The bearings were dying. I went ahead and ordered a replacement engine for $750 (engine was rated an 'A' on car-part.com by Carguts). Two days later my rear windshield was shot out while driving down the highway on the way to class ($300 to replace immediately since it rained all week). Not long after, the low oil pressure light began flashing continuously. The 60,000 mile engine was expedited and a about a week later the swap was complete. The engine came from a vehicle that had caught on fire. Problem is, the previous owner must have set their car on fire once they heard the engine knocking harder than a landlord you haven't paid in months. Well, they got their insurance money while I got screwed out of $1450 (engine and install).
With little option, since I work or go to school seven days a week I sold my misfiring i4 coupe for $600 and bought a '91 Miata for $1300. After speaking with the sellers of the engine, they expected me to take the engine out, return it, then replace it with an
identical J32 with 150,000 miles. If that one has issues, then they'll refund my initial $750.
So this is where I'm sitting right now. Hopefully one day I'll look back at this post after forgetting the tribulations I've been through with this car and laugh at my luck. I've got an engine in my Accord that is worse than the one I had in it to start with. The engine I took out is sitting in a machine shop waiting for a diagnosis. The question now is whether I want to replace it with all new J32 internals or follow in Paul's footsteps:
J32A2 long block
-J37 bottom end internals
-2008 TL-S hollow cams
-2008 TL-S valve springs
-Timing Belt/ Waterpump/Tensioner/Cam & Crank Seals/Valve Cover Gasket
-Unorthodox Racing Crank Pulley (Underdrive)
-P&P heads
-P&P intake Manifold
-Aluminum Plenum spacers
-Throttle Body bore by King Motorsports (new TPS from Blox)
-P2R thermo spacers (intake manifold & throttle body)
Some other little things I may be missing
Dynojet @ ISP in MD pulled 300whp/280wtq with this engine, CAI, Headers, 2.5" exhaust.
I had plans of putting RDX injectors, P2R fuel rail, Walbro Fuel Pump, cams, and tune with AEM EMS2 to put it close to max potential (~325-350whp). I have the P2R fuel rails (not installed) that I will include with the motor.
If anyone knows how I can contact Paul for more information regarding this build I'd appreciate it greatly.
