My car has been done for a little over a week and I didn't post sooner because it takes way too much time to put posts like this together. I apologize for the quality of the pics. Since I'm too lazy to upload all the pics onto a hosting site I'm hosting everything from home. To make things download faster I chose 600x450 as the resolution at 50% JPEG compression.IPP Stage 1 Block. Thanks Kyle!!
... with ceramic coated Wiseco pistons
I needed to get new dowel pins. Those getting a built short block might want to remember ordering these beforehand so you aren't left with a weekend of nothing to do.
ARP head studs
Valves recut
All new lifters
I love the look of a new timing belt
Blocked PCV ports on the left side exhaust valve cover
Mike Smith manifolds: an original work of art
Z1 GT510 turbos - they say they are JWT Sport 500 equivalents. At the price of a-couple-hundred below Sport 500s and the statement of better spoolup and more power than Sport 500s, I couldn't pass up on the offer. Thanks Russell!
Both turbos had to be clocked. No big deal... it's just a PAIN unbolting the turbos from our motors: do I torque this coolant line down before I put the turbo on? do I leave it loose? do I torque that oil line or do I leave it loose? how about this bracket? AHHH!!! I should have setup a chair next to the motor and a little work bench with all the bolting, unbolting, tightening, loosening, test fitting that had to be done. Also, I probably had to clock the turbos even if I was using stock exhaust manifolds but only by a little. The clocking was exacerbated by the use of MS manifolds.
As a little note for those that are installing turbos that need to be test fitted and clocked, test fit everything that bolts onto the turbo. I forgot to test fit the compressor inlet piping which required the XX-th unbolting of a turbo and the notching of a motor mount. Long block sans upper plenum ready to be dropped in.
I thought this was cool: it looks like the timing belt can be removed/installed without removing the ATI Damper completely. The only problem is seeing the timing mark on the crank gear. This would be useful so you don't have to break loose the crank pulley bolt by: (1) removing the radiator and using an impact gun or (2) using a breaker bar and tool to hold the flywheel in place.
Motor dropped in after a couple hours of wrestling with it... stupid AC compressor getting in the way.
Chromoly pivot ball
Fidanzy flywheel
Southbend DXD FEX full face feramic clutch
I lost some transmission oil during removal. So in goes more.
I forgot who I learned this trick from but it was definitely someone from TT.net. If you do this be prepared to sit around for a while. Clear tubing or a light shining behind the oil bottle will tell you that it is working. The rubber piece on my center shaft bearing broke so I decided to go with a 1-piece.
Z1 1-piece driveshaft. Since I have an 2+2, NA transmission, and NA rear-end I was able to get the cheaper, no-need-for-a-core-exchange driveshaft so going this route was much better than buying a replacement CSB. The PCV breather on the accordian host broke so rather than buy a new or used one...
I cut, drilled, and tapped the accordian hose and used a brass fitting adapter.
Unpainted plenum. Notice the scratches from an unfinished polish job I did a while back.
Spray painted plenum - one can of high temp aluminum
Which to choose:
740cc?
615cc?
And the choice is...
...a slightly-maybe-it-is-noticeable idle. 300 Degree fuel rails
Those red bushings should be put on with a dab of RTV. I failed to do this until after I lost one to the abyss of the knock sensor dungeon (Thank God it didn't fall into the lower plenum. I know this because I "almost" snagged it before I pushed it into no-man's land.)
I had to grind down this part of the plenum. Too bad I discovered this AFTER I painted the darned thing. Hence the pink plastic trash bag and tape.
With the 300 Degree fuel rails and OEM fuel line kit, you can connect the fuel lines in such a way that the fuel lines don't have to be disconnected when removing the upper plenum.
Plenum on, fit and tighten all the fuel lines. Pull lines out of the way.
Plenum removed with no fuel spilled.
Here's what I do to check for fuel leaks with freshly installed injectors: connect and tighten all fuel lines, turn IGN on (don't start the car), open up Nissan Data Scan, and turn the fuel pump ON. Believe it or not, these are pictures with the fuel pump on and fuel pressure in the lines.
When there's an o-ring leak, you will see fuel spilling down into the head and fuel pooling up on the valves (I've seen it before).
Snow performance water pump
Dual intakes, dual MAFs, PTU relocate, Snow Performance water injection modules, removed auxiliary fan.
I need to redo the intake flower pot baffles. All put together and running.
I removed the hard plastic covers for the EFI harness. I hate those things. It looks much cleaner without them and all of the tabs associated them. Also, I haven't cut any of the zip tie ends yet in case I change my mind: I can remove and reuse them when they aren't cut.
I ran the water temp electrical lines over the hard pipes since the bolt holes for the tie-downs on the timing cover were stripped.
Impressions: -I forgot how much it sucks to break-in a motor. I'm getting cut off and tail-gated by everybody. And yes, I do drive in the slow lane... I despise slow people in the fast lane and I don't want to be a hypocrite. -Even though I have yet to reach positive boost pressure, I can really hear the turbos spooling. It's amazing. -The Southbend DXD clutch was very grabby at first but after about 500 miles it is much more reasonable. The pedal isn't stiff at all and feels like stock (note: I have a non-vacuum-assisted NA clutch master cylinder). -There are no problems with the 1-piece driveshaft so far. -NIStune has been amazing and easy to use. I modified the binary from my old ECU to work with the 615cc injectors. As stated in my previous post, I used Eric's rom rescaling tool to change the injector K-value and TP tables. I was having issues with the car stalling after a warm start and the idle would ramp up and down between 800RPM and 700RPM. I modified the injector latency to 2000us (stock is 1500us) and it fixed the problem. I can still fine tune this value but I'll do that after I install the AEM UEGO wideband. Not yet done: So maybe I'm not done yet. I still have to break-in the motor, install the wideband and other sensors (fuel and oil), and get it tuned. Maybe then it will finally be done. Thanks goes out to the usual suspects: -Coz -Kyle@IPP -Z1 -Bernie -NIStune -Nissan ECU Tuning Forum And much thanks goes out to everybody on TT.net. I would not be where I am today (read: mechanically inclined) if it weren't for this site, the people on here, and all the knowledge (and bitching) that gets thrown around. Thanks for looking!
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