If anyone does not know my history here it is:

300zx-experience-t489909.html
post6198486.html?hilit=man%20upstairs%2 ... a#p6198486

I was deciding to hold off until I have the money to do an entire engine rebuild with forged internals and bigger turbo's and go the whole 9 yards, but I have a limited budget at this time and was able to refinance a loan to get an extra 2g's to fix the car. I have decided to keep the stock internals on this car since I am still only running stock turbo's at 16lbs. Turbo's are still fine and I will be rebuilding them just to make sure they last a little longer.

Here is a list of parts I already have:
Water Pump
Timing Belt
Timing Belt Pulleys
2 TT Engines 128,000 and 178,000, both have very low compression so I am going to mix and match parts
example: 178,000 already has full egr delete.

New parts just ordered:
2 turbo rebuild kits with 360 degree thrust bearing
OEM motor mounts
COMPLETE Engine gasket rebuild kit
ARP Main and Head Studs w/nuts
Oil pump

May end up sending heads and block off to have cleaned.

Parts I may end up ordering: (depends on condition of either block, hoping 128,000 lower end is good, never had problems with it)
Rod and Main bearings
Piston rings
ARP connecting rod bolts
2.5" intercooler piping
Larger throttle bodies
Dual intake

These are my plans for now until I get a better paying job to do a major over haul. I will be taking pictures to keep everyone up to date. Another reason why I decided to change plans and do a minor one now is that It will give me time to really polish the spare motor up and make one hell of a solid car with it.

Well thats all for now, will keep everyone updated as I go.

How do you know your heads aren't shot? I don't see any indication in your posts, or this posts, that you've fully diagnosed the compression issue?

At the very least I'd have the heads decked and new OEM valves installed, lifters cleaned and reinstall them with new HG.

The 2.5" IC, piping and TBs runs close to $2K, so I'd hold off on that. I'd focus on getting a TT with great compression, refreshed turbos and maybe a Selin Dual MAF setup, then you'd have a really fun street car.

MSP manifolds while the engine is out is a great lag-killer as well.

One of the first things that I did was to check for fuel pressure (fine), spark (fine), then I checked pressure on the first cylinder on each bank and found one had 30psi and the other had 60psi, at this point I find it pointless to do a compression test on the other cylinders because the motor isn't going to run right with low psi in two cylinders. At this point I am planning on tearing down to determine if it is the head gasket, valves, piston rings, or worse. I also checked the oil and no coolant and the motor was not overheating when it finally gave out and no smoke either. I didn't hear any internals giving way or knocking, it did backfire a couple of times before it died. Its had a hard life anyway because when I first got it they were running stock injectors with boost jets and n/a auto ecu.

I was thinking that the head gasket gave way in between some of the cylinders, but not sure on that. I was also thinking I may have some bad valves.

So let the fun begin!

Anyone have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know.

WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO REBUILD:

178,000 mile motor, bone stock car, low compression
128,000 mile motor, not stock, heavily modified, ran hard, low compression

IMHO, it doesn't matter because to me, a rebuild means new bearings, new valves etc, so the block and crank are all that matter. In that case, I guess I'd chose the stock motor. If you're reusing the pistons, definitely the stock motor, because I'm surprised the car ran at all with an NA auto ECU

It ran with the N/a ECU but was very hesitant at first, didn't know it had it in until I started doing research and found its number listed under the 1990 N/A ECU list. Talk about a moment.

I understand that I have only reach the tip of the iceberg on what could be wrong with the motor. Low compression is low compression to me and with my experience I can't diagnose any further without ripping into it.

One other thing, it gave me a detonation sensor code on the ecu, that was the only code. Good thing I have a spare motor.

What would you recommend using to clean lifters and any other parts?

Clean the exhaust turbine wheel and splines?

worldisgrand wrote:What would you recommend using to clean lifters and any other parts?

Clean the exhaust turbine wheel and splines?

I'd leave the turbo rebuilding to an expert, unless you're just swapping in new CHRAs, which is relatively simple.

I'm currently searching for an article Ash made when he rebuilt his lifters. Found it

Pictures with broken links rehosted here: Photo rehost

Thanks for the links, they will definitely come in handy. I think I will go ahead take apart and clean the heads as long as they are not cracked. Might as well be safe than sorry on this.

I've rebuilt turbo's before, I'm no professional, but they are fairly simple to rebuild. There aren't that many moving parts in a turbo compared to an engine. Question is do people go and get them rebalanced? Its just the same with tires, you wouldn't have a tire remounted and not balance it.

If a new CHRA, no need for rebalancing, as it comes balanced from Garrett. If DIY rebuilding with new thrust bearings etc, then yes, it will need to be rebalanced. Evergreen Turbo has had some good reviews on LGT sites.

I got the parts I ordered in. I keep forgetting to take pictures of everything. I took out the engine in the 300 and have both the black and white cars engines side by side right now. Ive been taking parts off of both to use so I am having to almost take down both to the bare block when its all said and done.

I'm sending two of the heads off to Terry Cummins Racing shop to have the heads rebuild, tanked and milled. I am also having them tank the oil pan as well. I know alot of people like to have there cars done as quickly as possible, but its is better to take your time and do it right the first time around.

I'm also in the process of deleting a little more from the car and to try and clean up the engine bay some. Everything is actually going as planned so far. I am also planning on redoing some of the exhaust so I have less turns in it and using 2.5 all the way back to the mufflers. This thing has way too many welded connections for my taste.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, they are on the way.

I am finally giving an update to my rebuild, I am including pictures now as well so here they are:

I actually have two engines sitting side by side and taking good parts off of both so its nice to be able to choose the better or newer part.




















So far so good!
Its been taking a little longer than I thought it would but I am trying to go slow and do it right the first time.

So far to this point I have done:

tanked engine block and cleaned
tanked heads and had cleaned along with new seals
decked the heads
three angled valve seat cleaning
oil pan tanked and cleaned
new piston rings
new rod bearings
new main bearings
all new seals including valves seals
new timing belt
new timing belt pulleys
painted block
complete egr delete
pcv delete
turbo's rebuilt
cleaned everything
painted valve covers
painted timing covers
painted oil pan

I also had everything miked to see if all was in tolerance and even after 178,000 miles everything was still in factory specs, it is a very amazing engine. If you have the facilities to do something like this I recommend doing it, good education about the car.

Next I am going to work on the exhaust manifolds and get them ready and installed along with turbo's. I recommend to anyone doing a rebuild or a build for that matter to go ahead and buy a bunch of lunch baggies or zip lock bags and put each components nuts and bolts together and keep them labeled. Has made my life a whole lot simpler and faster.

I am also planning on spraying bedliner in the engine bay since I already spray as a contractor and have the engine out. The bedliner is called scorpion and is very resistant to almost anything. Plus it will take a lot more abuse than a paint job will.

I am wanting the engine to really stand out against the matte black engine bay and to amaze people as they open the hood.

Hope you like!

worldisgrand wrote:If you have the facilities to do something like this I recommend doing it, good education about the car.

I agree. And even still after once you get the engine running it's just continual learning experience.

Looks clean. I look forward to hearing more of your progress.

Very clean, Like!

Thanks for the compliments. Today I was able to finish installing the exhaust manifolds and turbos. Working on grinding the water pipes coming out the front of the motor and polishing them. Getting closer to completing!

Interesting color choice. Excited to see how it turns out!

Bedliner could be an awesome choice for the engine bay as far as keeping it clean goes and contrasting with the yellow, definitely an interesting color choice for the motah. I like your flat black sceme too on the shell

I don't know how well bedliner will hold up with two very hot turbo's sitting inches away from it though, is it resistant to high heat? Turbo blankets and downpipe heat wrap would eliminate the issue as much as possible, while also providing the benefit of cooler under hood temps. (IDK about the stock turbos, but if you're running a rich mixture, turbo's can reach as high as 2000 degreees fahreinheit with 1000 + degrees sustained)

*Edit* The bed lining could possibly add a lot more unwanted weight though, being 1/4 inch thick on average and be a lot harder to torque bolts down in tight spots. To get the same effect, you could use DHT wrinkle black which has high heat tolerance. I used it on my miata valve cover.

Can't wait to see finished product

Looks good! keep up the work!

TTkickedin wrote:Bedliner could be an awesome choice for the engine bay as far as keeping it clean goes and contrasting with the yellow, definitely an interesting color choice for the motah. I like your flat black sceme too on the shell

I don't know how well bedliner will hold up with two very hot turbo's sitting inches away from it though, is it resistant to high heat? Turbo blankets and downpipe heat wrap would eliminate the issue as much as possible, while also providing the benefit of cooler under hood temps. (IDK about the stock turbos, but if you're running a rich mixture, turbo's can reach as high as 2000 degreees fahreinheit with 1000 + degrees sustained)

*Edit* The bed lining could possibly add a lot more unwanted weight though, being 1/4 inch thick on average and be a lot harder to torque bolts down in tight spots. To get the same effect, you could use DHT wrinkle black which has high heat tolerance. I used it on my miata valve cover.

The bedliner can be applied paper thin or any thickness you want. If the paint job can handle the heat of the engine bay and turbo's the bedliner will handle just as well. I plan on having about an 1/16th thick throughout with a hardener added into it so it will be a lot stronger. I also have the option of applying it with any finish I want, from a glossy finish all the way to a very textured finish. I am going to have it black, I figured yellow would stand out rather well compared to a black engine bay.

I'm also doing research into swapping to a v mount intercooler system instead of front mount which I currently have. Be a lot less piping and different. A guy named marc did one on his z31 named streetfighter, he has it mounted with a 2jz motor. Good setup.

I still don't know how we are gonna get that v-mount to work with the dual everything the car has. I cant find a single person who has actually done it to a VG motor.

http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/782136- ... d-2jz-z32/

Maybe this will help? 2jz but whatever. And you're right, I haven't seen anyone complete a v mount on a vg motor yet. I'll keep looking.

^^^^ car is cool but the 2jz swapped car does not have a V-mount the Radiator is slanted a lot but the intercooler is standing straigt up in front of it.

Here are a couple more updates for you all:

Bedliner is in the engine bay
Engine and Transmission went back in










Next step is get the upper plenum tanked and powder coated and the intercooler piping sprayed.

Dont know how I feel about that bedliner, but looks good overall, really pops.

Yea Idk how much I like the bedliner but the rest looks good.. Also looks like you did a good job painting that bedliner down.

The bedliner looks very heavy..

I did a pretty thick coat and used about a gallon worth of it to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about rips and tears. Pictures don't do it justice, it looks a lot better in person.

If you wouldn't mind try and get a good high quality picture i would like to see how it looks

I am going to be painting my engine bay the same color as my car, pearl white.

The last pictures were taken with a picture phone, so I'll definitely have to get some better quality pics.

worldisgrand wrote:The last pictures were taken with a picture phone, so I'll definitely have to get some better quality pics.

worldisgrand wrote:I did a pretty thick coat and used about a gallon worth of it

+11 pounds, Time for some more upgrades!!

P.s. Read, hopefully this doesn't happen to you, but it likely will unfortunately due to the compactness of the z's bay:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/liner ... nt-701503/

After reading that,I think wrinkle black would've been a better idea man. if you still want to risk it, I hope it works!