The Project Pad

AngryTaco wrote:Never said it was all good. I wrote this before they got in touch with me FINALLY.

And then at the end... I basically got told...oh btw were out of stock on the other parts you need.

I NEVER said the part was out of stock. I said I thought I had to order the part, which is normal procedure for most of the engine valves. They are usually one day away.

After you replied asking whether we had them (I did not see your e-mail immediately) and I finished putting out other fires (one of the many hats I wear here), I went into the shipping department and put my hands on the parts to verify we have them so that I could correct my mistake (regarding the e-mail I sent). We are shipping your parts out on Monday.

We are not perfect and some of the systems need improvement, but we are working on making things better and finding ways to better assist everyone as best as possible.

Not trying to keep the fire burning, just an observation really. If you dont have a part on your shelf that your business sells, isnt that part technically out of stock? In stock...you have it on the shelf ready to sell, out of stock...you dont have it on the shelf ready to sell. Right? Atleast that how the toyota dealer that I worked at for 11 years saw it. Stock is considered what you have available on the shelf.

Got to at least give the guy credit for posting on here trying to clarify the situation...

I hope it works out and everyone gets what they need in the end.

Sam's always done right by me. Even when he's trying to convince me to go to 034IIC
Everybody is only human.

Yes, huge props to Sam for keeping his cool when on the forums. It really takes a lot of self control and preservation to do that when dealing with irrate customers. That cant be said for a certain co-worker of his though.

40v4kq wrote:Yes, huge props to Sam for keeping his cool when on the forums. It really takes a lot of self control and preservation to do that when dealing with irrate customers. That cant be said for a certain co-worker of his though.

2nd on irate customers. Im sure 034 plays a juggling act daily with many people in regards to small issues with products, so a little patience by the consumer is always needed. Having been in customer service for a while I know this first hand, as to the agents I work directly with. A little patience and keeping cool can go a long way. That being said I wasnt aware of any issue with their motor mounts, but know that they would make it right. I plan on inspecting my exhaust hangers I got from them and if they arent holding up you get I'll get ahold of them to see if anything can be done.

40v4kq wrote:Not trying to keep the fire burning, just an observation really. If you don't have a part on your shelf that your business sells, isn't that part technically out of stock? In stock...you have it on the shelf ready to sell, out of stock...you don't have it on the shelf ready to sell. Right? At least that's how the Toyota dealer that I worked at for 11 years saw it. Stock is considered what you have available on the shelf.

You are 100% correct on in-stock versus something that has to be ordered.

My mistake was that I did not check on the shelf first and made the assumption I would have to order the part. I sent an e-mail that was vague and led the customer to believe the parts needed to be ordered. After re-reading my e-mail, I will try to be more careful and clear to avoid future confusion.

Thank you for clarifying Sam. Notice I did not start to rant and rave over the invoice mistake and chose to wait for your response which was fast this time around. I honestly thought about not saying anything and waiting to see if indeed the wrong parts were being sent. Hell would have been released had that been the case. But I decided that I need the car up and running asap so I inquired about the mistake. Im glad everything has been smoothed out at this point in time.

Cleaning up the engine bay. Finally mounted the WGFV on the firewall where it belongs. I used 1/4" fuel line as dampeners. I used a stud to mount it to the firewall. Where it came from I have no idea.


My wall of shame




Looking like the car should be back up and running this weekend....hopefully

I think this summer I am going to invest in some painting equipment and repaint my 4kq. I want to do the original LY3D but add a SMALL amount of flake for a metallic effect

Update. Car is 90% back together. All that is left is timing belt, covers and crap, add coolant, and fire it up. Inspected the broken motor mount and all I have to say is what an absolute horrible design. I was able to beat it back in with a hammer. So I'm going to have someone weld it and I'm gonna sell it or just keep it as a spare

This is all good news. Did you end up with oversozed valves?

How did the new crank sprocket feel on the crank? Any play?

New sprocket was very tight and secure. Had my buddy hold the brakes and I cranked down on that bolt as much as I could with my 2ft breaker bar

Ended up getting the correct 34mm valves from 034. So pretty much just going to church today and then off to complete the car.

I managed to get the lights mounted up too but am unsure where to route wiring. Thinking of going through sunroof but IDK

That may not be enough to get the crank tight enough, and may be the unfortunate reason it failed in the first place. I can only guess that you are only able to get it to a max of 100ish ft lbs before the engine overpowers the brakes. Its just not enough to get it tight enough. You must jam the crank totally. You can weld, i know you can. Make a crank tool you can prop against the frame or ground and use blue thread lock. While my engine was on the stand, i used two flywheel bolts and my big prybar to jam it against the stand. It worked well that way while I also used blue threadlock.

Im not trying to be critical, just that i dont want to see this happen again.

I agree with Dave......at almost 300ft/lbs one needs to be able to get some leverage. This is how I approached it with an engine still on the stand. Usually I just use the homemade tool from the crank pulley up against the snub mount bracket while it is in the car, but still try to get some leverage going. This worked really well as the tool pointing almost straight down, kept the stand from wanting to tip, but still held the engine from rotating.

That is awesome John

My biggest problem was that I had almost more leverage on the breaker bar than I had clean garage to work with.

How does the tool attach to the crank pulley? Through 2 of the cog bolts? Im a little lost on how it mounts.

I pretty much stood on the bar with the car in 4th and friend on brakes.


On a good note, after a few strange problems, and a fuel pump later, the car runs absolutely incredible. The first time I cranked it over, it fired up IMMEDIATELY. I couldnt believe it. Then the electrical gremlins started. Thinking the fuel pump was finally dieing, which it was, I towed it back to the garage, AGAIN, a whole .5 miles after putting it together. It was doing the whole screw you dance by randomly running then dieing then coming back to life and so on and so on. All signs pointed towards fuel as I had spark. So I change the pump tonight, $100 later and the problem is still here. Now Im pissed because I cant exactly return the pump. Then for some weird reason I was compelled to start wiggling wires.......hmmmmmmmmm guess I forgot to tighten the ecm ground. Once again I win stupid of the month award.

But it turns out a new pump was needed regardless. Can you say full powah!!! Cant wait till the rings are fully seated now

Ohhhh now I see how that tool works. Im gonna have to make one for sure

Make the handle long enough to jam against the frame. U think u got powa now? Wait till you install the ...du du duuuu...TURBO.

quattro87 wrote:

LOL, that is my laundry basket from when I was a kid. First time I have ever seen it empty.

Yeah now I cant wait for that Volvo k24 and VEMS + W/M

Oh wow, I didn't realize you are you going 7400 k24! Right on, I can't wait to see how a 20v likes that turbo.