So things have happened.
I got the motor and trans together and muscled the motor in the car by myself. My friends were either out of town or sick with this plague that has been going around.
Ended the night with it looking like this
After a few last minute bits came in I had it complete a few days later
I decided to redo my pcv setup. Before, I was unaware that the pcv valve on these motors notoriously leaked. I had replaced it with a new one thinking I was doing the right thing, then ran the pcv and the valve cover to a vented catch can. I decided to change to a more appropriate setup. I ended up installing an SR pcv, then ran the two lines to the catch can like I had previously. I capped the vented end(pointing towards the outside of the car) and put a barb fitting on the other end which was previously capped. I ran that around the back of the head to the pre turbo intake with a small air/oil separator in line. Hopefully this setup works better. I don't think I blew my rings out due to an improper setup, but I'm sure it didn't help.
The time came for the first start. That's when things got interesting.
I had the ecu unplugged and started turning it over to prime the oil pump. After about 6 revolutions I noticed smoke. Thinking it was the starter, I walked around to take a look and found a damn fire coming up from beneath the intake manifold. I put it out and checked over everything. I couldn't find anything out of place, so I turned it over some more. No more smoke. Thinking it was a fluke, i plugged the ecu in and went to turn the key. This time there was a huge spark that shot up from the same area. I started feeling around and found that the oil feed line was extremely hot and was sitting against the starter housing.
It turns out that the line was somehow shorting out against the starter. Seriously the most random thing I have encountered. I reclocked the sandwich plate to get the line away from it and the issue was resolved. Turned the key and the car fired right up! Unfortunately, the fire had burned a hole in the line, so it immediately started spitting out oil. On the bright side, I knew I had good oil pressure. So I remade the line and all was well.
I let the car run for 30 minutes while I bled the coolant system. I drained the oil and the next day I took it for it's first drive.
The car felt great. It's got an exhaust leak but that's it. I did a bunch of light throttle pulls to help seat the rings and then drove it around town all day. The temps were solid at around 160F and the AFR's were spot on. Unfortunately I noticed during the first few light pulls that the clutch was slipping. I'm completely lost because it had plenty of life left and never showed a single sign of slipping before it blew. I'm currently in the process of dropping the trans to see if something is out of place, but I'm most likely going to be ordering a new clutch disc later this week. The flywheel looks good and the pressure plate surface looks almost new, so no need for a full new setup.
Still felt good to stretch its legs again though
Does anyone know why my pictures look straight potato quality once I upload them to imgur? This has never been an issue before and the original files look significantly better on my computer.