preparing for turbo

[ca240]

hey guys whats up...i'm hopin to have my ka24e turbo by about next summer, hopefully before that...right now i'm just workin on gettin this engine back in running condition...it use to overheat...just dropped the head off at the machine shop(actually about a week ago) but now i have paid them to start doing the work...this is what all they're doing to the head...dont know if all the terms are qute perfect but i'm tryin:

Complete Valve Job, Surface Valves, Straighten Head, Face Valves and Butt Ends, Surface Head, Check Stem Height, Mic Guides and replace as needed, Install new seals, Clean and Glass bead and Reassemble...it's $292 with tax...that's mainly all i wanna do with the head before going turbo...i was gonna put in the PDM mild cam but didnt have the money...arghh...also thinkin about havin the glass bead or hot tank the intake manifold (is the intake aluminum, if so i'll go with the glass bead)

For the block i'm gonna have it honed and put in new rings...and probably have the pistons & rods balanced and cleaned, then have it hot tanked too

does all that sound pretty good to you guys as long as i've got good compression once it's done?...thanks for the help and sorry for such a long post

[Nathan]

Sounds pretty good! One thing you might want to consider (I dont know your budget for this) would be a good set of pistons, they'll come with rings and you could get them in a stock size so that they wouldn't need an overbore. Yeah it'll cost more but if your going to have the motor all apart and are looking for more boost down the road that removes one of the weakest links Oh, the intake manifold IS aluminum, is yours really dirty or something inside that you want it cleaned out that much?

[ca240]

well i've already got the 8.6:1 comp in my car so i'm not too worried...peope run like 350 on stock internals...who makes good pistons for the ka?..thanks

[Nathan]

Ross does...I only mentioned it because I have a tendency to worry a lot and dont particularly care for the stock pistons (they just look so ugly!) you are right though, they've proven to hold up as long as there is no detonation, thats what kills em'. That is a nice low compression ratio though, I forget about you E's out there.

[ca240]

yeah that's one main reason i'm stickin with the e...the low compression, also cams are 1/2 as much or should i say cam...and it's already in my car, no ecu changes or PS changes...who cares if the stock pistons are ugly? no one but me will be pullin my head off so...dont matter to me...i think i'm gonna buy everything for my turbo project and do it except for the SDS ECU and the injectors and just run like 4 psi or somethin really low...maybe throw on an fuel pressure regulator just to have a little fun until i can really turn up the boost and do some good tuning with the SDS...hehe...thanks for the help...i was thinkin bout gettin those nismo pistons til i saw you gotta get new rod too, but i might go with the billet unground cam...thanks again

[Nathan]

Aren't those nismo pistons off the hook expensive?

[andrave]

not cheap, the info is in a thread somewhere near.

[ca240]

i think they were like 98/pc that's what nissan motorsports(i think) said on their site...maybe i'm wrong

would it be smart to bore it over a little and put in new pistons so i can rev a little higher with a little more ease of mind?...how much can i over bore?..thanks

[s86d]

well i've already got the 8.6:1 comp in my car so i'm not too worried...peope run like 350 on stock internals...who makes good pistons for the ka?..thanks

sadly im nearing the worse than broke marker, but my mechanic knowlege is very strong and tools and time is plentiful. So what I am asking is can the E pistons be used in the DE? If so that would be cool since im poor for at least a yr.

[andrave]

yes, but they result in a very high compression ratio. Search, that info is out there.

[IvoryJ30t]

i think they were like 98/pc that's what nissan motorsports(i think) said on their site...maybe i'm wrong

would it be smart to bore it over a little and put in new pistons so i can rev a little higher with a little more ease of mind?...how much can i over bore?..thanks

increasing the bore slightly wont affect your ablility to rev.

will be not be more or less safe.

the ability to rev comes from the stroke, rod length, and valvetrain. [shorter stroke, relatively long rod, solid/light vavetrain components increase your redline]

[ca240]

thanks for that info man...i was a little confused on the subject

[ca240]

alright...the head's come back from the shop...it looks soooo beautiful and pretty much brand new...

my auto to manual swap should be comin here tomorrow...or most of it...still gotta get the driveshaft for it(which i've found), puttin in a nismo clutchline and transmission mount, and an ACT heavy duty PP and organic street disk...that's another 1000 bucks

now for the block work...i've pretty much decided i wanna do it myself...it'll save me a couple hundred...i'm gonna have the maching shop do the following work...+Hot Tank…..$60+Bore .o2o in. over…..$75+Align Hone…..$125+Grind Crank…..$110+Recondition and Grind Out Rods…..$20/pc+Surface…..$70 Total...$520

do i really need to do the hot tank?...could i just use some heavy duty engine cleaner and put in some elbow grease on my own?.

Then i'm throwin the block on an engine hoist and gettin started...my plans are...+New Front & Rear Oil Seals…..$30.00 ??+New Oil Seal Retainers…..$30??+Check All Specifications+Top Line Re-Ring Kit including TOGA High Performance Main and Rod Bearings…..$219.00 -Main and Rod Bearings .010 over -Rings .o2o in. over+TOGA High Perf. Oil Pump…..$99.00+Water Pump WPD28…..$33.00(IPP.net)+Cam Gear 13024-40F00.….$20.00(ImpPerPar.net)

Total...$433

New Piston Pins and Snap Rings...$??New Connecting Rod and Main Bearing Bolts...$??

do i really need to get these?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post..

[andrave]

I think new pins might not be a bad idea, rods should be fine, bolts, unless yours are in bad shape I think you can reuse them. btw I think you need an engine STAND not an engine HOIST, the stand is what holds the engine while you put it together, a hoist is the big crane apparatus that bolts to the top of the engine and lets you drop it in.

[Nathan]

Get the machine shop to mic the crank after they grind it and the bores of the main girdle so you know what size bearings to get, same for the rods. You might want to invest in a ring filing tool from summit racing or something, get one of those tools that has all different thickness sheets of metal so you can actually DO the file-fitting on the rings.

[ca240]

woops...meant to say stand...how hard is it gonna be to pull my engine w/o the head on it?...what should i attach the chains from the hoist to to pull it out?...i'm thinkin bout just usin some heavy duty engine cleaner to clean my block instead of havin it hot tanked and also usin that to clean my rods and pistons...would this work pretty well compared to the hot tanking as long as i did a good job?...on removing the piston pins, the FSM says to use a piston heater to heat it to 50 or 60 degrees...what could i use to disassemble it since i dont have a piston heater?..what does the hone align do and how do they do it?...they advised i do it at the machine shop...if i could drop it that'd be nice since that's the most expensive thing...one more thing, do most people not change out the rod bolts and main bearing bolts when rebuilding their engine?...i might just have the machine shop custom make me some since i cant find em anywhere...thanks for the help again guys

[ca240]

bump...

got any suggestions on pulling the engine w/o the head?

also i've decided to drop the overbore and just do the hone so i've got a nice smooth surface to start over...sound good guys?...thanks

[Nathan]

Here's how I pulled it without the head on: wrap a rope around it twice, tie it to two 4x4 posts set on the fenders (have the hood off), get 3 friends and lift it out that way. The transmission has to be dropped for that to work though.

I would go ahead and hot tank it just because it will get more of the sludge out of the oil galleys and stuff. I have no idea about the piston pins...I'd probably just put the pistons on the stove on low or something knowing my ghetto tactics, or I'd heat oil up on the stove and do it that way. That temperature measurement is in Celsius btw so it's a bit higher than what your thinking. I opted not to align hone it, if it was a 350 small block I would, but not a little 4 cylinder...those japanese have some TIGHT tolerances when they machine stuff. I personally changed am changing all my bolts in the important parts of the engine to new factory bolts.

[WDRacing]

Use a set of head bolts to hook the engine sling/chain to. Then just hoist it out, transmission and all if thats the way you want to do it. Remeber to drain the transmission first though, very messy otherwise.

If your cylinder walls aren't scratched then you can use a simple ball hone to clean the old ring glaze from the block.

Hope this helps...

WD

[ca240]

yeah it does help alot, both of you...i had seen those ball hone things at my machine shop. Are they very hard to use or easy to mess things up with? How do you use it?

Where's the drain bolt on my auto transmission, the FSM doesn't show that good overview of the transmission case for it like it does on the manual transmission?

and could somebody please go more in depth about the ring filling tool?

thanks for all the help guys...later

[Nathan]

WD always has the more elegant answer to the problem I can't help you on the transmission thing...but as for the ring filing thing, check out http://www.summitracing.com they have one that's about 30 bucks...the whole goal is just to file the rings uniformly and properly. While I have no experience with one it can't be too hard, just time consuming.

[WDRacing]

The cylinder hone is simple to use, if you use the ball hone type. Its the one with a bunch on tiny balls sticking out of a rod. You just insert the rod into the cylinder, its attached to a drill and is self centering, and spray WD40 or an equivilent into the cylder while you engage the drill slowly. The move the hone up and down in the cylinder. Moving at about a 3'' per second speed up and down. The WD40 just keeps the walls lubed up so they don't scorch or wear unevenly.

Just look at the bottom of the transmission, you'll see the pan area, the plug should be in view. If there isn't a plug, then Nissan didn't include one and you have to drop the pan itself. I'm also not sure if there is a filter to be changed during this process.

WD

[andrave]

don't worry about the transmission, put a bucket under it when you unbolt and remove the driveshaft. You'll get the fluid, especially when you tilt the engine forward (after you unbolt the transmission mounts).

[WDRacing]

You should have seen the mess I made on the hobby shops floor when I pulled mine engine/transmission combo out. I never drained it and didn't even think about the fluid leaking out. After fighting with the motor and whatnot for like 25 mins, I realized the floor was awful slippery. Nasty spent transmission fluid everywhere...heh. You live and learn.

WD

[ca240]

well thanks for the suggestions on self honing with the ball hone...but i've decided to just pay my machine shop 125 to do it and do it right...i dont want the piston rings to end up seating improperly and blowing an engine or somethin bad...should be pullin out my engine this comin up week..i'm gettin excited..and i'm also getting the driveshaft soon...thanks for all the help and please give me any more suggestions as to what i should do while i have my engine out...thanks alot