Motor rebuild

[airmanhoward]

Picking up a vq35de for $80 knocks at medium to high revs. This will but my 1st attempt at a rebuild and im not in a rush. I would like to take my time with this build. Question what should be the 1st thing I should do. There are alot of YouTube videos showing how to dismantle the motor for. Top to bottom I'm planning to use.

[Ilya]

I'd just make sure nothing is cracked, buy all new gaskets, etc. Start with the absolute basics...but I've only worked on small engines.

[steve_c]

An $80.00 knocking engine could be nothing more useful than a boat anchor, so be careful!
Before buying any parts, even basic things like gaskets, you need to start with a tear down & careful inspection of your main components to be sure they are usable/rebuildable, & not trashed.
How is the crankshaft & camshaft journals? what is knocking, is there crankshaft damage from a spun bearing? Maybe knock is piston slap, how are the cylinder walls? Are you installing new piston rings? (yes), the walls need to be honed, will they still be in spec afterwards? How many miles on the engine? Did it ever overheat? Are the engine block & heads warped?
What about the camshaft & lifters? Are they wiped? How was the engine oil pressure? Are you going to rebuild the oil pressure pump? Are you going to rebuild the heads? how much $$$ would it cost to replace all worn parts you come across? You see what I am getting at. This could end up costing far more then it is worth.
The very first step is a tear down, clean up & inspection. Then you can proceed to put your grocery list of parts together & get estimates on what they will cost. You may need a few specialty tools along the way, or a good machine shop depending upon the scope of the rebuild.

[airmanhoward]

This will be my 1st tear-down. I'm not expecting a lot for $80. We are actually going to start renovating my house Monday so this will be on the back burner for at least 6 weeks. I want to pull it apart all the way to the block. I will be taking it to a local machine shop to have it looked at once apart. It came out of a manual 350z the owner said he drove it with a knock for a couple days and just swapped it from a running m35. I don't have any knowledge of motors im 100% a noob. Hopefully with this motor dud or not i will be able to familiarize myself with the VQ motors.

[amc49]

I would be careful. Some engines now have plated blocks and they don't rebuild well depending on what that coating process is (Nikasil or other). Sometimes honing can screw things up and there is no boring on some of them and no oversize pistons either.

I would find that out pretty quick. I say that having rebuilt a LOT of engines of various types. How many TTY parts are in there figures pretty big nowadays as well.

[airmanhoward]

Do any of the vq35de motors have plated blocks?

[amc49]

I personally do not know if you are asking me. It's just something to know before one gets started.

[airmanhoward]

I have a lot to learn not in a rush. Luckily I have a great group of guys in the Tampa Bay area that are willing to assist me when I need them. I want to document as much as I can to make this an easy build.

[EniGmA1987]

There are plenty of places that can do work like boring and/or honing cylinders on VQ35DEs, so I wouldnt expect any issues with the block. The DE's are pretty "old" in tech these days.

[amc49]

There you go...........