The Alpha 9 Rebirth
Starting off from scratch with a whole A to Z rebuild! After trying, for a year, to repair certain parts over & over again I gave up in October 2022. I decided to have the car fully stripped down from the engine to the rear diff, bolt by bolt, and finding out all the issues. Shockingly, the only solution was to go with a full overhaul. Meaning all the time, effort, and money spent on building my Alpha 9 + various damage repairs…down the trash!
The Rebuild Breakdown
Many of the previous upgraded parts had to be replaced again, including new parts below:
The Engine
– Engine Gasket Kit & seals
– Head Gaskets (T1 Race)
– Engine Oil Pump
– Main bearings
– Connector rod bearings
– Engine Timing Chain & Tensioner
– All seals &O-rings
– Camshaft (GSC S1) & Crank sensors
– OEM crank pulley
– Air filters (K&N)
– Spark Plugs (HKS)
– Crankshaft Sensors
– Camshaft Sensors
– Machining the heads
– All Engine fluids
The Drivetrain
– Rear Differential
– Shift Forks 2/4 (Dodson)
– Gear Synchro set (Dodson)
– Clutches (Dodson)
– All GR6 fluids
Present Day – (as of March 22, 2023)
[ 0 km into the break-in]
Almost gave up and just left it at the shop while I research for better answers. Nothing, except a full rebuild all over again. So did it bit by bit. The car remained at the shop for 5 months+ on an off until it was done. Got it back in March 21, 2023 (typing this a day later).
A new fresh engine, transmission & clutch components, and a rear differential. Now, the break-in begins for 1,000km. The current mileage was 39,736 miles and will have to continue until I reach 40,350 miles before sending it back for a full check-up, and full synthetic fluid replacement.
After day 1, smoother shifting and normal driving. The new Engine tensioner/belt is squeaking annoyingly, but should fade with more driving or just needs to be tighter, not alarming. Gear & clutch touchpoints are on minuses, so a little heavy when creeping, especially on reverse and might need some adjustments later on. One thing I’m noticing, is random single *bang/crank* gear or clutch noises in the mid-section, underneath me.. keeping an eye on that. For now.. hoping for the best, but my god I’m paranoid.
[First 100 KMs]
Smooth shifting, much better and keeping it all under 3000rpms. The Clutch Capacity has been set to -2, -2 and the Touchpoints +2, +2 so it’s a little heavy on creeps, reverse clunks, but butter shifting, which is what is needed to break-in the gears/clutch and later adjust the CC/TP accordingly.
There is a weird “one bang” noise that happens often, from underneath the driver seat when coming out of corners and accelerating, and slowing down into 2nd. Can’t tell if it’s from the Rear Diff (which was replaced with a used one) or from axles.
[~210 KMs]
Daily driven so far, no boost, and rpms still under 3K. Been driving in auto and manual with different “shift/downshift” styles until I got the first CEL.. 4 codes this time. These codes usually pop-up together, so it seems like a tune issue, and not mechanical as the car drives normally out of limp once the codes are cleared.
ECM:
–P0101 (Mass or Volume Air Flow “A” circuit)
–P010B (Mass or Volume Air Flow “B” circuit)
TCM:
–P2637-00 (Torque mgmt feedback signal “A”)
–P2641-00 (Torque mgmt feedback signal “B”)
I had that code pop up again for a 2nd time and noticed it happening when I was shifting in a certain way. So cleared codes, and tried to trigger it again (video below). The codes are triggered when the following happened-> Manual mode, quick upshifts in the 2700-2900 rpms range into 6th is where it goes on limp. So it’s definitely tune related, and will have to adjust later once the break-in is done.
Cleared and driving the car normally on auto and manual with normal shifting… no CELs.
Here’s the video
[~264 *Just hit the 40,000 miles]
Technically 40,000 on the chassis not engine haha (get it…nvm). I do feel the gear shifts getting smoother by the day, but still need to adjust 1st, 2nd and R that feel a bit heavy and jerky.
[~1,000 KMs]
Reached the 1K break-in, had all the fluids replaced and a retune, since I got the 4 codes (in the post above) and to fix a previous negative timing issue. I also replaced the worn out engine mounts, which kept making banging noise on every corner during my break-in drives.
The car drives so much better, thank god, especially the gear shifts “smoothness” improving. 2nd gear and R have also improved, I barely get that heavy/jerky feel I mentioned before. So now, it was time for my first big pull post break-in…
On my EcuTek, I have 2 maps (pump gas & C16). On the pump map, I can control the boost setting from 18psi to 24psi. For my first pull, I set the boost at 20psi, traction off, and pedal to the metal. “Mashallah” the RUSH! I forgot that feeling! I ran a log during the pull just to make sure everything seems fine, which it did…with minor advanced timing peaking at 2, but nothing worrying according to the tuner.
Although I set the boost at 20psi, it was hitting 22psi with a peak of 23-24psi… I wonder what it’d hit if I set the boost to 24psi. We’ll see..
[~To be continued in this section: HERE]
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MAJJ GARAGE 
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