Hoffman5982's Super Awesome Driveway Swap- Finally Running

[SX APPEAL]

300zx MC...

Lookin sexy man

[Hoffman5982]

Its actually Duplicolor wheel paint. We'll see how it holds up with the heat.

And the brake lines are all bent up, I know. I'm going to save up and get a brake line relocation kit to get them out of sight.

[Raz007]

Welcome back man! Nico just wasn't the same without your updates........ glad that it seems to be an easier fix than you anticipated....

[Hoffman5982]

Lol, looks like you jinxed me on that one man.

Drove the car about 150 miles and it started bucking. I pulled over and popped the hood. I saw the vac line going to the wastegate had burned through. I don't think it ever spiked because I never got on the gas enough for it to even hit 7lbs. But I had enough hose still to route it a different way and connect. I cranked the car and it idled horribly. I drive it a mile to the next exit and parked at an autozone. While accelerating it bucks really bad now. If you light press the throttle it breaks up really bad. I you give it a little more it will actually go, but if you give it a little too much it acts as if it is hitting a speed cut. My mom was behind me and said she could smell nothing but gas, and I also burned through half a tank in about 40 miles. The oil on the dip stick smells pretty gassy also. I'm about to go out and mess with it now

[Hoffman5982]

Did another compression test. 150-145-150-60. F***. Still cylinder 4. Did a wet test and it jumped to 90, so I'm sure it's the rings. I guess I didn't put enough oil in on the original wet test before I replaced the valve seals. So now I either have to replace the rings or buy a long block. Does anyone know of a place/person that sells longblocks? whether its s13 or s14 sr

[Raz007]

Ouch. damn my bad. If its any consolation my recent upgrades have been giving me nothing but problems as well, haven't driven my car in over two weeks.

[Hoffman5982]

Yea I'll be going on 2 months here shortly. Sometime in the next 2 weeks I should be able to rent a hoist and pull the motor, take it to a shop, and have the rings replaced. While I'm at it I'll be pulling the upper oil pan off to replace that gasket. When that motor goes back in it WILL run and it WILL NOT leak sh**. If it does, even a tiny drop, I will soak a rag in gasoline, stick it in the gas tank filler nozzle, and light that bi*** on fire.

[StryfeS13]

Yea I'll be going on 2 months here shortly. Sometime in the next 2 weeks I should be able to rent a hoist and pull the motor, take it to a shop, and have the rings replaced. While I'm at it I'll be pulling the upper oil pan off to replace that gasket. When that motor goes back in it WILL run and it WILL NOT leak sh**. If it does, even a tiny drop, I will soak a rag in gasoline, stick it in the gas tank filler nozzle, and light that bi*** on fire.

Haha. That's what I said too when I built my KA24. Guess what, it leaks. It leaked from where the upper front timing cover bolts to the head, fixed that. It leaked where the dizzy goes into the timing cover, cause of a bad o-ring, fixed that. Was leak free for a while. Now it leaks from the pan. I'm sure when I fix that the leaks will be gone.

It's hard to just get it perfect and not have any leaks...you usually have to fix them as you go. Good luck!

[Razi]

It's hard to just get it perfect and not have any leaks...you usually have to fix them as you go. Good luck!

My front mail seal was the last piece of the puzzle.
Finally no leaks on this stupid thing.

Now it's the interior rattle and creaks that get on my nerves.

[StryfeS13]

Your interior rattles and creaks?

I thought I was the only one!

[Hoffman5982]

The rattling used to drive me crazy. Whenever I stripped my interior year before last I tightened everything I could, and that helped a bit. Now the main rattling is from my windows hitting their tracks when it's rolled down. Dynamatting the doors helped a little also. Whenever I replace my carpet I will be laying down more sound deadening and whenever I put everything back together I'll put locktite on all of the bolts to keep stuff from coming loose.

Also, just talked to my neighbor who is also a gear head. Since he's from the area I wanted to see if he knew of a place I could take my block and have them replace the rings and bearings and hone the cylinders(hopefully they don't need to be bored) because in dothan most places require you to bring them the car and have them do all of the tearing. So actually said that he wouldn't trust the few import shops in town, but he has a guy that has done all kinds of work like that for him. So he gave me his number to call him and also said I could borrow his engine hoist. He also knows the guy who runs the local car quest and he could get his some deals on parts if I need them from him. Really cool guy overall. Not like the redneck tobacco spitting people you find in the town Im from. Overall, I'm happy my car did this in Florida. Now it's all about when I can get time off work to do all of this

[homeslicej2]

Man, i feel for you on all of these issues. If you want to make sure that the oil pan won't leak, use either OEM Nissan RTV (the orange stuff), Permatex Ultra Grey (not the black), or Toyota's OEM RTV (good stuff) and let it cure for at least 24 hours. Also, use OEM seals and gaskets. If you do need an overbore (you shouldn't though) and don't want to spend the $$ on aftermarket pistons, i know thenismoshop sells .020 over (86.5mm iirc) OEM pistons for $160 a set + shipping, and the rings for just under a $100. My 240 rattles too, but hey a 21 yr old car with 214k miles is bound to rattle some

[GrilledCheese33]

Thats horrible man. Get the bottom end fixed and hope all is well!

P.s. my interior rattles as well, its a 240 thing lol.

[Hoffman5982]

As of right now I'm going under the assumption that the pistons and piston wall are fine, so I'm replacing piston rings and main and rod bearings, because that is all I can afford at the moment. IF the cylinders end up having to be bored, then I guess I'll get those .20 nissan pistons. I wish I could go all out but I just can't right now. I just need to get my car back on the road

[amolao]

Patience, my friend.....
Go with your current plan and take every cover in your engine off, after you get your pistons and rings (if needed) assembled. Replace all questionables gaskets, clean all contact areas with surgical precision, and use a good quality sealant. Go a little heavy than specified by the manual, if you use a good one and let it cure properly there will no be issues. This will take care of your leaks and you will identify any other poblems while the engine is exposed. Double check the wiring while waiting for the mechanic.

I just installed my remote oil filter this weekend and end up with a gas and coolant leak when done...... Is all resolved now. Is just part of working on older cars.

[Hoffman5982]

Alright guys, time for some progress.

I finally had a couple of days to get down here and mess with the car some. The first night I didn't have the hoist so I just installed my Circuit Sports entended lug nuts that finally came in from Enjuku. Turns out, even with my slip on spacers they were longer than I needed making them too long for my factory lug nuts. No problem, I wanted to order some red lug nuts to add some bling to my wheels

While up under there I found this on my front driver side coilover


Should I be worried?

After that was done, I had nothing to do. After looking around I decided that my bay was a little crowded, so I started relocating my fuse box down into the fender/front bumper area. Wasn't hard at all. I routed the harness through my oversized cold pipe hole(the initial hole that I cut was a good 7 inches from where it needed to be) and all I had to extend was the 2 plugs that connect to the lower harness. Since I mounted the box upside down, I drilled some holes in the lid





The next day I got a hoist and removed the engine. This was a lot easier than expected. Didn't take any pictures during, but I do have some of the motor completely torn down



Since that took no time at all, I started scrubbing the bay with the help of my awesome mother. We cleaned it as best as we could

I wish you could see how bad it is scratched. I'll be repainting most of the bay on my next visit

I decided to repaint my valve cover because I scratched it pretty good. This time I put a few coats of clear on it also


Here is where I ended the night



Tomorrow I will be dropping the block off at the machine shop with my OEM piston rings and ACL Duraglide main and rod bearings that I ordered. Hopefully I can pick it up on Monday and get the motor put back together within the next week.

Also, to give you guys an idea of how bad my oil problem was, here is a picture of my rear end after some scrubbing( ) and also one of my downpipe that is stained with burnt oil



In the next few paycheck I'll be ordering some turbo goodies as my turbo seals are about done. My intake has a sh** ton of oil in it. It still boosts fine, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last. Unfortunately I don't have the time or cash flow for a bigger turbo, injectors, and tune. I'll be buying the ISIS T28 replacement turbo from Enjuku along with a new turbo elbow and some SS lines to make installation easier. Until then.....

[Raz007]

Glad to see the progress Hoffman, you'll have it back on the road in no time I'm sure.

[Hoffman5982]

Yea it's been driving me crazy not being to work on it for a week and a half. The guy at the machine shop said it could be up to a week, so we'll see

[Hoffman5982]

Just thought Id bump this and let ya'll know that the piston on cylinder 4 had a cracked ringland. I guess that explains a lot. New piston is on order and I should have the block back soon

[S13AL]

Aftermarket piston cracked? (Sorry haven't been following the build.)

[Hoffman5982]

No its an OEM piston

[FlipCoupe]

135-135-135-60.

Thats the compression test results.


F*** this car

i feel your pain compression wise, this is pretty much where I am.

[Hoffman5982]

Have you done a leak down test to see what your problem is?

[Hoffman5982]

UPDATE

Alright guys it's been about a month since my last update, and I've gotten quite a bit done. While my block was at the machine shop getting the rings, bearings, and piston replaced, I cleaned up the bay a good bit. The only thing I'm not happy about is the brake lines, but it still looks 100% better than before. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.























So yeah that's basically everything up until now. Those last pics were taken right before I washed her for the first time this year. I got the motor back together and back in the car, and yesterday I fired her up. She starts up fine but isn't firing on cylinders 2&4(Unplugged the coilpacks and nothing changed). I'm thinking it's because my CAS plug is demolished, so if anyone has a pigtail or knows where to order one let me know. I'm extremely happy with how the bay turned out. It's much cleaner now and you can actually see the ground on the passenger side. Before it was a jumbled up mess of wires and hoses. So that's all for now. Once I get the spark problem fixed I post a video of it running and driving

[Hoffman5982]

And it's also good to note, after taking it down the street, there is no oil or coolant leaking!

[Speckid4]

Make sure your spark plug wires are all in good shape, no tears, breaks, or cracks in the boots or along the rubber outside. I had my plugs grounding out inside the spark plug holes (in the head) causing the cylinder not to fire. If you have new spark plug wires disregard everything I just said lol Good luck, wish I could turn my rebuild around as fast as you did.

[J14cm7]

awesome...

[Hoffman5982]

Make sure your spark plug wires are all in good shape, no tears, breaks, or cracks in the boots or along the rubber outside. I had my plugs grounding out inside the spark plug holes (in the head) causing the cylinder not to fire. If you have new spark plug wires disregard everything I just said lol Good luck, wish I could turn my rebuild around as fast as you did.

Lol I wouldn't call 3 months fast but I do appreciate it. And I will definitely check that out when I go back down there

[Hoffman5982]

I just went back and found a picture of how my bay looked right after I first swapped it in. HUGE difference

[krash]

Nice job man. Make sure you drill holes in the fuse box cover so that water can escape.