I haven't posted for a long long time. A lot happened over the past year and one of the unfortunate things was a rod bearing failure on my '97 STi - EJ20k. I had just finished a new engine for my BMW ti project and I was pressed to get this done so I purchased a shortblock from OUTFRONT. It showed up and I was very pleased with the quality of the assembly. Not inexpensive but worth it to me. I went to work to start prepping the shortblock. I added a Killer B Oil pickup and baffle. I also added a Killer B baffled pan. I used the high-volume STi pump (12mm). New water pump, etc. Then I figured out that there was bearing chunks all through it so I had to find another one somewhere.
I found the last one in North America at a dealer in Virginia Beach. I got the heads machined for bronze guides and had the pockets smoothed out a bit. More $$ down the drain. Then I went about working on getting the intake mocked up. I decided to install a rigid Killer B turbo inlet. This proved to be a massive undertaking as it didn't fit without some major changes to how the hardlines under the intake were routed. I also had to modify the mount because it doesn't line up with the mount on the EJ20K intake boss. I got everything to wedge in there though. It was a significant challenge... The mount I made works but is sorta ugly. I'll have to work on this more in the future. I next got to work on mounting the headers. I fabricated a heatshield from steel and painted it with High-temp silicone. I figure I can refabricate this out of stainless sheet in the future. I wrapped the up-pipe and sprayed it down with more of the silicone high-temp paint. Weird **** BTW. It stays tacky until it's baked cured at around 400º F. Smoked a bunch for the first few trips... I got the backside of the inlet setup with the silicone connector tube thing. This needed some tweaking because the turbo inlet is actually sorta behind the intake runner on this JDM intake. Got it all assembled and installed on the top of the engine. I've built about 5 engines. This one was really interesting to work on. Turned out pretty well but challenging to visualize. Fun.
Here's a pic of it fully assembled. And some of my mess while I was assembling it. The volume of tubes that run back and forth under this intake is crazy to me. Put the clutch on and put it back in the engine bay. FINALLY! Whew. Got all the parts put back on. I fabricated a remote reservoir for the power steering using a spare BMW reservoir I had laying around. Turned out pretty cool. I'll post some pix of that when I get to it. OH yeah, I also had to fabricate an idle intake port on the flexible inlet. That was fun. I added a cool Japanese 'World is Flat' decal and drove it around. Runs great. So glad I did this.
For now it's just the stock STi setup. I built the engine to be pretty stout so I wouldn't need to worry about it when in the future I get weird and try to amp up the power. (or build an 818 project) BUT for now I've got bigger fish to fry with this car. I was in process of getting it legal to exist in the US when the rod bearing failed. Now that I've got the engine finished I can finally go drive up over the US/CA border to start my paperwork. It's a mess. I don't suggest this to anyone who might deal with anxiety. The bureaucracy around this car and importing any car is ridiculous. The fact that I have to drive up across the border to do paperwork on it is simply a waste of time for everyone. When you cut right down to it, the point of this process is to get money from me, right? I've got no problem with that part. I just wish we could skip to the part where I just give the gov't the money and they give me a piece of paper. It's weird.
Technically, the 25-year rule and the associated headache was to stop people from importing Mercedes-Benz cars directly from Germany. They just wrote it to apply to all imports so as not to point out the bill's funding source.
Interesting. Is there a wild story behind this that a quick Google can provide? Curious to hear more.
It's pretty simple. During the 80's, the US dollar was strong and the deutschmark was weak, so buying MB cars directly from Germany and shipping them across the Atlantic was cheaper than buying from a US MB dealer. Add on top of that that the euro-spec cars had more attractive bumpers (no 5mph crash standards) and typically more power/better overall performance, and the grey market was thriving. At one point during this time, it's estimated that around 20% of all imported cars were Benzes. So, to combat the loss of revenue, MB (along with the help of other auto makers and dealer networks) petitioned via campaign donations and lobbying to implement some rules that would curtail the gray market. That's where the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act was born. Under the premise that "imported cars don't meet the EPA and crash standards of the US", it was passed to prevent the easy importation of cars less than 25 years old (1988). Mercedes Benz is the reason you can't import cars less than 25 years old without massive hoops to jump through.
Reading materials: https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th... National,conform to Federal safety standards. https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1707441/who-really-benefits-25-year-import-rule/ https://jalopnik.com/the-25-year-import-rules-history-is-more-complicated-th-1848322467
