Doing a VG30DE rebuild, advice/parts list?

[kthxbai]

Hey everyone, I just bought a 1990 300zx 2+2 NA earlier this month and will be restoring this car as much as I can. (Full story in the 300zx forum: zer...tions)

Long story short, the engine and transmission are in rough but drivable shape. I was originally looking for some JDM swap advice, and most of the advice I got was to not to - work with what I have and do a rebuild. I live in Nova Scotia and despite not being so backwater anymore, it's still expensive to ship stuff up here. A heavy JDM lump with an unknown history could prove to be an expensive headache.

I've done a bit of looking into this engine forum and was very impressed to see the level of knowledge, especially from our genuine guru Mr. mtcookson!

I know enough about engines to change the oil and plugs, but that's about it. I don't have the tools/setup/patience to attempt a rebuild myself, so I'm more than happy to pay someone else for their time.

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I'll try and explain in as much detail as I can what's going on and what I would like to end up with, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Here's a list of things that I know is wrong:

The engine starts ok, but it does smoke a bit when you start. After it's warm and driving, you can still smell oil in the exhaust but the smoke problem is not so bad anymore.

It idles fine, as in it doesn't stall, but it idles anywhere from 1500 - 2000 rpm, which from what I read a while ago is not a good sign. No problem when driving either; doesn't run rough or anything, just loud because the exhaust is pretty much gone. It’s tired but it’s still faster than our mini!

There is a decent tick coming from the engine, and I don't know really what to listen to, but I’m pretty sure it's not supposed to be that loud.

I think that's about it, other than the throttle cable sticking when idling, have to jab the gas to free it up when starting from a stop. WD-40 only works for a few minutes.

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So that's the list of engine problems, it's obviously in rough shape but certainly it can be salvaged. I'm not a hard driver of cars and I want this Z to be a nice comfortable GT cruiser, nothing more, nothing less.

This is where the community comes in - what do I need to get and what can people recommend? The more stuff that can come from one place, the better!

- Rebuild kits come with pistons, rings, con rods, ..... what else? I'd like to find as complete a kit as possible, whatever is available short of just buying a new engine :P - Will definitely need a full gasket set, right? - I don't know what sort of shape the injectors are in, can they just be cleaned up and reused or, considering the work needed, would it be best to just get a new set? - Doesn't appear to be any problem with wiring or electrics as far as I know, can I just clean up and reuse the existing harness? - The guy I bought it from didn't know the timing belt had to be changed, probably still the stock one, with almost 100,000 miles on it... - Same with alternator, oil pump, water pump, etc, so I will need to replace all of those as well? Oil pressure seems to come and go as it pleases while driving, but I don’t really know enough to know if it’s a bad gauge, sender, or if the pump is really just dead! Don’t know if the car has had regular oil changes, probably, but who knows…

I don't really care so much big performance upgrades, and don't want to to a TT upgrade, but I think I'll install the 'easy' ones. Since the engine is going to be out I have seen that many people buy lighter pulleys/flywheel, and a set of performance headers would be cool since I'm going to have to replace the whole exhaust anyway. Gotta have those pop filters too!

I think that's about it, like I said it's pretty much a standard rebuild plus a few bolt-on goodies, shouldn't be too hard to get the right parts?

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As for the transmission, well, it is definitely in rough shape. Clutch is going to have to be replaced and I've got the infamous 4th gear grind. I know that transmission rebuilds are expensive, would it be easier to just try and track down a decent used one instead of tearing the whole thing apart?

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So that's my story, I hear the name Z1 motorsport mentioned a lot and their site looks pretty thorough - what do you guys think, should I just copy and paste this all into an e-mail for them?

Thanks in advance! If you need any other info I'll do my best to tell/show.

~John