check your top and bottom radiator hoses after one of your runs. do they look bloated and feel hard when you press them?

more power will not always mean more heat. higher compression will. I've seen several high compression engines here with sub optimal tuning [excessively advanced ignition timing] overheat and overwhelm the stock cooling system. a friend of mine is running a B16 swap and using the D series radiator a...

007 I can imagine the difficulty of turning the car with all fluid pressure within the rack and no belt, after looping it what sort of percentage of ease did you notice when turning was it like 40% easier on stand still/low speed? at a standstill, I *guess* around 70% as hard as that with just the ...

the rack is not connected to the crank pulley and thus the engine in any way. all the effort required to turn it is manual. I fail to see how it will load the engine or the AC compressor in any way at all if there is no reservoir, hoses, belt or power steering pump left. the only thing left is the s...

umm... what does PS have to do with the AC or the alternator? agreed that they all run off the crank pulley but that's about it. I have a perfectly working AC and alternator. the exercise happens when I have to turn the steering when the car is standing absolutely still. get her rolling a little and...

yes I did consider that but wanted the engine bay to be neat, so decided to skip the headache of a can and more lines. some day though, I will give it a shot and see.

for now I am enjoying exercising my arms.

bubbles when topping up coolant is alright. those are usually slow, big bubbles as a result of coolant displacing the air in the system and stops after a little while when all the air is out. a blown gasket will cause a string of non stop tiny bubbles in quick succession.

the D16 has a 5 mm taller block than the D15. you could probably put the rod on a piece of paper, trace out the big end and small end circles, mark the centers and measure the distance between the centers to arrive at rod length.
my guess is that the rods in that engine will be 137 mm long.

yes Pardoe. I mean the actual thermostat. did you use an OEM thermostat or a replacement one? it is not uncommon for a replacement to be faulty right out of the box. when the engine is hot, it is normal for some coolant to be pushed into the overflow. that is what the container is meant for. when th...

compression / leakdown test should be your first order of business. it is always advisable to perform proper diagnosis before deciding to replace / dismantle anything. it would really suck if you changed your water pump or took the head off and replaced it and the problem still persisted because the...