kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

PhyrraM · Post by **PhyrraM** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 4:21 pm

That looks like a purge soliniod, but make sure it's between the same components as the EJ22T. It's possible it could be between the gas tank and the trottlebody, or the charcoal canister. However, in all likelyhood, they are going to be 100% functionally the same.

Seeing as you need to lengthen the wires anyway, you can use the EJ20K valve and connector if it's easier for you. Personally, I would at least try to use the Legacy stuff because an uncut EJ20K manifold harness can be sold off to recoup a few dollars.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 4:59 pm

That's what I was thinking. I'll check it out and see what condition it's in.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:52 am

Quick little update.

I got some wiring to lengthen the wires on that harness. I've decided to just cut off the blue connector and put a slot in it so it fits over the black connector on the puge solenoid and use the blue connector instead of cutting up the EJ20G/K harness.

I'll be working on that later tonight.

Today I got 1/4" longer bolts for the throttle body and bolted it on with the new spacer I made along with both gaskets.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:58 am

I wire brushed the shit out of that throttle body. That's the best I could do with that crappy brush I had. I also sprayed some thie lithium on those springs. Should have gotten a before picture. Actually I have one somewhere....

This is the best picture I have of it before. EJ22T is on the left.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:53 pm

Got some more work done on the car. Sort of done. Turns out I had more customizing to do to the EJ22T harness than I thought. I was also wrong about lengthening that blue connector for the purge solenoid. It actually was way too long. So I shortened it. Then I found out that the water temp wires needed to be lengthened a lot and the TPS wires had to be seperated from the coil wires and the IAC wires because it couldn't reach going that way over the top of the manifold since I used the EJ22T throttle body mounted upside down. It had to be routed underneath and then it was a bit long but it works.

Basically when I'm done with this harness it's going to be completely redone and it should look pretty good compared to the way it looked before. I'm not sure what went on with it when Jake15 had it but it's been cut apart before and resoldered together again and retaped.

There was 2 or 3 connectors where the wire jackets were broken and missing right at the connector and I was worried they would eventually break off so I hot glued them to give them support and to seal up the wiring from more corrosion.

Hopefully this harness works when I'm done with it....

I had to stop after soldering everything together because I couldn't find my step dad's heat gun to shrink the shrink tubing so I could retape it all and then reloom it and tape it again.

Bummed me out because I could have finished it and had the manifold back on and maybe even the alternator and timing covers back on. But I couldn't get it because it was 4am and he's asleep.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:55 pm

Looks like a terrible soldering job but I fixed it after that.

kleinkid · Post by **kleinkid** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:34 pm

You will be glad you took the time to repair, and seal up the wiring at this point when you have it accessable. I will be doing similar wire work when I finally get around to putting the ej257/ej20k heads/manifold in my car. May end up doing the throttle body like you did. I appreciate all the documentaion and photos.

dropdfocus · Post by **dropdfocus** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:54 pm

kleinkid wrote:I appreciate all the documentaion and photos.

Most definitely! Thanks!!!!

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:10 pm

No problem, I love build threads. Sometimes I think I might take too many pictures.

I just hope some people learn something either from my mistakes in the process or from something I do to my car because it takes quite a while to post up all the pictures in an organized manner.

To make matters worse, my camera was ran over the other night coming home from working on my engine. It fell in the driveway in it's case and I didn't notice it was gone til I got inside and then I though it was still at my parents so I drove there to look for it. When I came home without it I found it in the driveway but my girlfriend's dad had gone to work and I think he ran it over because was all smashed and has a few blue spots on the screen now. The worst part of that is that now the feature that would flip the images around depending on the orientation of the camera (sideways or straight) is messed up I think. I keep uploading pictures on photobucket and they get uploaded sideways and upside down for no reason? It's a pain in the ass to change them on photobucket.

It's quite the process though.

1. Take pictures
2. Remove memory card and upload to PC
3. Resize and flip them on PC
4. Upload them to photobucket (stupid wireless connection often cuts out here resulting in frozen window and having to redo the whole thing)
5. Flipping pictures again when photobucket uploads them upside down or sideways
6. Pasting code into forum
7. Going through the code and organizing photos and adding descriptions

Takes me anywhere from 15-45 mins depending on how many pictures and how much writing I have to do.

That being said, it's all worth it. Hope it helps someone. I've learned a lot from other build threads.

There's a lot more to come!

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:07 pm

Stupid camera/photobucket is flipping my pictures sideways and upside down. I'm not sure which it is but it's pissing me off. I kind of think it's my camera since it has the sensor inside it that knows which way it's oriented when you're using it and when reviewing pictures it automatically flips them the right way when you turn it sideways. It got ran over the other day and now the sensor is messed up and doesn't always know which way you're holding it. While I was taking these pictures yesterday it was stuck one way and no matter how much I turned the camera it wouldn't flip the image.

I'm not sure if it's the camera or photobucket. Before I ran it over I can't remember ever having this problem. But then again when I upload them to my pc they're not flipped the wrong way. It's only after I resize them and then upload them to photobucket that they get flipped.

Needless to say I just uploaded these and every one of them except maybe 2 were sideways or upside down. Took like 30 mins to edit them in photobucket. GRRRRRR!!!!!

Anyways...

Yesterday I got the wiring harness finished. I decided that blue connector wasn't going far enough onto the purge solenoid. I tried using the EJ22T solenoid but the vacuum connections were different and the hoses would just slide right off. Plus it was all corroded so I didn't trust it. I decided "fuck it!" and cut off the black connector from the EJ20G/K harness and soldered it to the EJ22T harness.

Had to to all sorts of customizing to this harness but it's finished and on the motor now! I haven't decided whether to run the end of the harness through the two intake tubes on the driver side or around the back like the original EJ20G/K harness was. It fits better between as far as reaching all the sensors but it's in the way of the bolts and the intake manifold is sitting on top of it kind of squishing it onto a pipe under the manifold.

I put the bolts in but didn't tighten them at all. Just to hold it all in place until I decide if it's the way I want or not.

I also changed the oil in my metro for the first time since last winter.....whoops! Not sure how many miles that was but it was a lot. I promise not to do that on my subaru!

While doing that I also replaced my PCV valve. That thing was clogged and wasn't working. The whole hose was full of orange foamy oil. Nice. Hopefully it works now.

brand · Post by **brand** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:24 pm

Looking good! I'm scared to the do the harness for my intake. Won't be fun. Yours looks great.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:40 pm

Thanks!

What motor/harness are you using? It looks much better than it did before from whoever messed with it last. I could have done a better job with the lengths but it was so time consuming that after I got it to fit I just finished it and one of the wires is quite a bit longer than it needs to be but oh well.

It wasn't hard at all, I wouldn't be worried about it. You know how to solder? I've seen people try to melt the solder onto a wire and that is not the correct way to do it!

Don't forget to slide the heat shrink on the wire before you solder or you won't be able to get it over the connector.

1. Put a bit of solder on the tip to promote heat transfer
2. Place the wire on the tip on top of the solder
3. Touch the solder to the wire on the opposite side that the tip of the gun is on. When the wire gets hot enough, it'll melt the solder and the wire will soak the solder right up. The solder goes to the heat so it'll go right through the wire.
4. Do that until most of the exposed wire is full of solder but try not to get excess solder on the wire. No drips. Makes for more resistence and makes it a bitch to get your heat shrink over it. Try not to get it too hot or you'll melt the jacket on the wire.
5. Once the wire cools down, slide the heat shrink down over the whole area and make sure it's long enough to overlap the jacket of the wire on both ends.
6. Fire up your heat gun or lighter and shrink the shrink tube down snug on the wire. Again, try to avoid prolonged exposure to heat to the point where you melt the jacket or overheat the shrink tube and deform it.

All done! Now tape it up with good quality electrical tape. Wire loom it and tape up the wire loom for a nice finish.

The other night when I started working on the harness I couldn't find the heat gun so I actually managed to shrink a bunch of the shrink tubes by holding the wire up to my 800 watt halogen light! lol What can I say, it worked.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:48 pm

As FYI, black underground cable (like cable TV) sheathing is perfect as car wiring loom. Might even be the same stuff. Also, hot glue doesn't last too long as a sealer as it breaks away from the connectors. Though you can keep touching it up with the gun (like I used to do every few months when I used it to secure plastic teeth to the grille of my GL), butyl for outdoor communications connector sealing is the best stuff as it remains flexible and you just have to wrap it in tape of shrink wrap. Not sure where you get it as far as supply houses, though—maybe electrical supply? One roll would probably do a whole car. It's black and a little like Silly Putty in feel, comes wrapped in wax paper rolled like thick Fruit Roll-ups.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:59 pm

Interesting. I guess we'll see how it holds up.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:03 pm

Tip of the day:

Get one of those extendable magnet sticks. It's saved me so much frustration from hard/impossible to reach spaces to lost bolts. Yesterday when I was working on my PCV valve on the Metro I dropped this stupid plate that holds the PCV valve on down below the intake plenum. Somewhere you CANNOT get your hand down into. Not to mention I couldn't see down there at all. Couldn't even see where it was. Luckily I had my trust magnet thing and stuck it down there and pulled it out with the plate attatched to it. Saved me quite the headache.

brand · Post by **brand** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:25 pm

I've got early EJ20G heads and an EJ20G manifold that will be going on my EJ22T block in my 91.

I'm decent at soldering, but not awesome. Thanks for the tips. I'm going to practice a bit before I start in on mine, but I've still got a few parts to buy before I can finalize my plan. My intake manifold is not totally complete.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:34 pm

So you're probably gonna have to do the throttle body spacer with the EJ22T throttle body too?

If there's one thing I've learned from this engine swap is no matter how much you think you've got it planned out there's always a shit load more stuff you will miss that you have to do and/or buy to get it to work.

I don't have much money right now either. I wish I could sell all my spare parts and that other engine but I'm waiting to make sure I don't need any of them for my car. It would be pretty lame to sell something and then find out later that I need it and have to buy it again for a major loss on shipping both ways.

dropdfocus · Post by **dropdfocus** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:26 pm

In the words of Bill & Ted: "Most excellent buildup documentation!"

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:40 pm

dropdfocus · Post by **dropdfocus** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:25 pm

Are you serious?????? Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure or Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey...?????!!!!!!!! It featured Alex Winters, George Carlin & Keanu Reeves in his very first film. Ringing a bell yet??
*sigh* The youth of this nation is already forgetting the past. So sad really.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:29 pm

I 'm glad they forget it. If people are going to remind me that I look like Keanu Reeves, I'd rather it be The Matrix instead of Bill & Ted's.

dropdfocus · Post by **dropdfocus** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:32 pm

You get told you look like Keanu Reeves? I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:22 pm

Funny you mentioned the Keanu thing. Lady at my work kept calling me Keanu Reeves after I started rockin the faux hawk. She seemed to think I looked like Keanu but I strongly disagree. She's the only one who told me that so I think it's just her.

Besides, I don't remember him ever having a faux hawk.

And no, I have no idea what bill and ted is. George Carlin was funny as hell though.

You gotta keep in mind I didn't have television until I was 12 years old and by then I didn't really want to watch it anyways. Now I hate TV. Only time I watch TV is at work on my breaks to pass the time and most of the time I don't enjoy it. If I lived by myself there wouldn't be a TV subscription at my address.

TV = SATAN

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:45 pm

see the sticky and fix this the right way and save yourself the trouble
[img]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa16 ... 1%20Legacy%[/img]

covering it wqith goop is not fixing it

kimokalihi · Post by **kimokalihi** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:41 pm

I found said sticky and I will do that. Don't want to because it's all "done" already but I will since it's peace of mind.

Thanks for the suggestion.

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap