About to start my RB26 engine assembly (alot of pics and long story about it)

[Phat_Optimo]

Its about time. I made this post.hahaha I would have liked to make a web page about it but the free pages never turnout right (bandwidth problems). Heres a peek into my engine build. I have been working on it for about 5 months now. It seems that I have been through alot of differnt trials with my build. I started with a early model r32 Rb26. Its an early 93 to be exact. Got the engine from http://www.midwest-engine.com/. through e-bay. Noone bid on it so I contacted him and got it shipped for 3080. It included engine, awd trans, ecu, charge piping, bovs, all under hood wiring... fuse boxes (everything), rear driveshaft, and gtr oem radiator. Not a bad deal IMO. Heres how it looked once it arrived

Sooo... First step for me being a mechanic was to inspect its condition. Just by looking at it, it had been sprayed with some type of clear coat to make it appear shiny. That doesn't fool me. So as I do with all JDM engines I pulled the valve cover to inspect for caked up oil. Well it was pretty bad. It had good amount of caked up oil in the top of the valve covers. It was pretty clear that it had a rough life and being 12 yrs old it was in my best intrest to investigate furter. Onto the turbos... I got them removed and was spinning the shafts. This was not a pleasant feel on either. One shaft spun maybe 3 times then stopped the other would spin but would not spin without force. It was obvious there were problems. So I do what I do best... Fix them here a pic of the bad shaft looks worse than it really was. I hit them with some 1500 grit sand paper and removed 95% of the scratches. It looked alot better when I was finished. I cleand both out with carb cleaner and put fresh dab of oil on the shafts and reassembled them. 100% better. They both spin their *** off (nothing like a BB turbo, but 100x better than before). Now I am getting a good idea of whats going on inside and its not too pretty. So I put it on the engine stand and surgery is performed. I removed all of its guts and took a visit to see my machinest. Just by looking at the pistons and bearings it was easy to see they need to be replaced. Major thrust wear on the piston skirts. I gave him the service manual and all the major parts so he could check all the specs. I needed new pistons, main and rod bearings, valve seals, and the exhaust valves stems were out of spec. So I had to get new exhaust valves. This took several months to get eveything together. The exhaust valves had to be made by Ferrea. Now he did all my machine work and I get everything back and I am really sweating the crank snout oil pump drive issue. Incase you didn't know the early r32s crank snout was very short and has poblems not engaging the oil pump gear but maybe 1/3 of the way. Major problems have happend due to this. Theres 2 options to solve this problem. 1 was to buy the Jun crank collar for $200 then have the cranks snout machined and have the collar fitted. About $300 total going that route or take the crank to a local shop called Crankshaft Speciality and see what they could do for me. Well it turns out that they can weld more metal onto my crank and extend the oil pump flats. So I am all for that. I picked it up today and they did a killer job for $150. The pumps drive gear fits snug now and its been extended so it fits in the gear all the way. So all my issuse with the engine internals have been resolved and I am going to put this beast back together probably next week . Heres some more pics of the engine goodies. Not pictured is the Power Enterprise timing belt, Cometic MLS (multi layered steel) headgasket 1.3mm, ported intake manifold, ported post throttle body piece that holds the injectors, water pump, other stuff I forget it all. I will post updats as the build goes along. All head work (porting) was done by myself. Hand worked 87mm Wisecos.[imgL]http://nissaninfiniticlub.net/photopost ... 28-med.JPG[/img]Internally polished block

Thats about if for now. Time to go out.....


Modified by Phat_Optimo at 9:45 PM 1/23/2005

[technorb26]

Everything looks really good So you keeping stock turbos?

[gawdzilla]

crank collar and PE bearings look good

[Yellow4g63]

you missed one

[Phat_Optimo]

Thanks fellas, we are keeping the stock turbos for a little while atleast until the engine break-in is done. It will probably end up with a pair of gt28r turbines. I don't suspect the stock turbos will be on there for too long. BTW this is not going to be my daily driver. Heres a pic of my chassis

[fito]

looks awsome man! by the way may, may I ask were did you get the bearings and how much? Thanks

[ruthless_S13]

What part of TN are you in? If you wouldn't mind I would like to check it out.

[Phat_Optimo]

looks awsome man! by the way may, may I ask were did you get the bearings and how much? Thanks

Thanks man, I like your car too... I ordered the main and rod bearings from ProjectNissan.com. I paid $575 for them total with shipoping from overseas. I was origionally quoted $380 but when they got my order they only had half of what I wanted. On project nissans site it says that the price they give is 2 pieces which make a circle, but its not. That price is only for half a bearing. So since I got jipped Robert a projectnissan cut me a great deal. The price was supposed to be over 700$. Got lucky on that one.

What part of TN are you in? If you wouldn't mind I would like to check it out.

I'm outside of Memphis in Lakeland. Hybrid240tt on aim.

[PurpleGodzilla]

very nice..do you happen to have the phone number to the crankshaft specialty? I need that exact same thing done to my rb26.

[Phat_Optimo]

very nice..do you happen to have the phone number to the crankshaft specialty? I need that exact same thing done to my rb26.

Yea I got the number for you. Its 901-425-6663. Talk to Doug Rowe he is the owner and a very nice guy. He will know what your talking about and mention my name Jason in Lakeland. You will need to ship him your oil pump too. The job is awesome and the pump fits purfect (no play like OEM). I was very very happy with their service. They will take good care of you. Let me know how it goes. http://crankshaftspecialist.net/

[PurpleGodzilla]

thanks for the reply. does that include polishing the crank and balancing it ? Won't adding that extra weight throw the crank out of balance?

[Phat_Optimo]

Yes that price included balancing and polishing.

[fito]

how did you work the wisecos?

[Phat_Optimo]

As you can see in the pics the pistons from wiseco have come straight off a CNC machine. They have sharp edges all over them especially on the dome. Before pic. (out of the box)Worked pic.

You can clearly see the difference mainly around the domes edges. Why mess with a perfectly good pistons all shiny and pretty you may ask... When you polish the tops of the pistons (like they come off the cnc machine) it takes longer for the base carbon to build up on the polished surface. Its been proven that an engine will make its best power when the base carbon is completely built up on the piston tops and the head. By sanding the pistons you give the carbon something to grip to and the base carbon will build faster. As far as cutting down the edges on the dome it has to do with the flame front in the combustion process. The flame front will travel better around the curves and create a better burn around the dome. It also greatly decreases the chances of hot spots.*Running a bottle of gumout regane every oil change or 2 will strip the built-up carbon but will leave the base carbon*

To work my pistons I started out with a 3M stickit longboard/fileboard. Its used for sanding large spots of bondo when doing bodywork. I started on the top of the dome with 80grit sanding in a x pattern with the valve reliefs horizontal to me. Basicly going from opposite edges of the valve reliefs. To do the radius on the dome at the valve reliefs (straight lines on the dome) just hit thoes straight on at an angle with the longboard. The tricky part was the sides of the dome. I used 1/4" cartridge rolls 80 grit (look like sandpaper rolled up tight) on a 4" mandrell (porting rod) on a drill motor. You can see the cartride rolls in the pic of my polished block. Theres a bunch of them in that plastic box. Thoes are 1/2" though. These are the same things I used to port the head. Doing the sides is kinda tricky and takes a steady hand. Just get your drill going and zing that edge off there. I like to keep the rpms medium-low when doing this. I also used the 1/4" rolls on the lower edge of the dome at the valve reliefs and along the lower sides. As you can see all cnc lines are gone. I then finish them by buffing them with red scotchbrite. Remember your gonna have to weigh the pistons after they have been worked. I have been told to get the pistons to balanced remove material above the piston pin boss on the underside of the piston. I get alot of tips from a highly respected engine builder. I believe he is working a member of this forums rb26 head. It will be nice to see it when he is done. BTW heres his site where you can learn alot about engine building and ask the man questions.... http://www.theoldone.comThe forum is...http://www.theoldone.com/forum/ I think you have to register to see the posts. Mainly honda stuff but building tips appily to all engines. I have learned alot over there. I have been a member for about 5yrs. I don't post that much though. I mainly read, learn, and apply.

[tpeezy]

hey phat_optimo. i have a website of my own with plenty of space and bandwidth that you could use to document your buildup. i myself will be purchasing a 240 soon and will be doing an engine swap, so it'd be a place i could refer too aswell. anyway, if you'd like a domain at my website, or if anyone else would, just instant message me; aim: hollahshorties. i website i currently have is to keep track of a school project (www.teamaw.com) and i'll have it til the end of the school year, so if anyone would like a domain or ftp to host their images or videos just contact me.

tom

[Phat_Optimo]

I have been working on the build this past week. The build has gone pretty smoothe. I am going to install the IM, tbs, exhaust manifold, turbos and oil/water lines. I'll post up some more pics when I am done. BLING!!!

hey phat_optimo. i have a website of my own with plenty of space and bandwidth that you could use to document your buildup.

Tom, I'd like to get a spot where I can put all my pics of the build. I'll aim you about that. Thanks

-Jason

[74260zt]

looks nice, what oil pump is that?

[AmoebAssassin]

How did you get that chromallusion effect on the valve covers? Is that a powdercoat or just a chromalusion and high temp clear?

[Phat_Optimo]

looks nice, what oil pump is that?

Thanks, I like your engine too. I am using the OE oil pump. I'm keeping the engine stock for a little while.

How did you get that chromallusion effect on the valve covers? Is that a powdercoat or just a chromalusion and high temp clear?

Its a BC/CC with Dupont ChromaPremier Chromalusion - Perfect JadePrizm. Had it left over from a pannel repair I did on a friends Prelude. My honda vc has bc/cc and its held up very well. It looks better with the front belt cover and the plug cover on there.

[tpeezy]

hey phat, i got your IM but i was downstairs watching desperate housewives lol. when i got back you weren't on. so if you'd shoot me a email @ [email protected] i'll email your ftp info so you can start using it.

[fito]

your engine is coming up just awsome!

[AmoebAssassin]

Its a BC/CC with Dupont ChromaPremier Chromalusion - Perfect JadePrizm. Had it left over from a pannel repair I did on a friends Prelude. My honda vc has bc/cc and its held up very well. It looks better with the front belt cover and the plug cover on there.

Got any pics of it?

[Phat_Optimo]

Still a little work to be done...

[74260zt]

That looks simply badass....

[AmoebAssassin]

Straight up engine p0rn right there. Wow.

[JustinStrife]

Still a little work to be done...

Straight up engine p0rn right there. Wow.

Damn nice man! I had to wash my shorts after those pictures... God it makes me want to get that engine even more so now. Just gotta figure if i wanna do it to my S14, or get an S13 coupe like you did(I love the S14 as a daily so I might follow your path)

[skylndrftr]

does anyone know if the part number still exists in the nissan parts system for the block and head castings for the RB26?

[atticus]

what exhaust manifold gasket are you running, hmm now that i think about it you probably got the gasket set...

I need an exhaust gasket for my RB20, cant seem to find one.

[DETurbine]

how much was the set of Power Enterprise conrod and main bearings for the whole set?

[BoostFab]

damn that motor is hardcore sexy