desertdatsuns.net

Back on the engine rebuild i.e. Part 2.

I got the head on my bench, and after some amount of bleeding and colorful language removed the valves, valve springs, retainers. Marked items for refitting and to keep track of them. The valve stem retainers on this engine are tricky to get to, as there is quite a bit of structure surrounding and above the valves. The sharp machined surfaces are not friendly to your hands.

The valves on this engine were in good condition. There had been minimal carbon build up, and no sign of pitting or damage. I went ahead and cleaned them and lapped to the valve seats. Reassembly went smoothly.



I used a Tomei head gasket and ARP studs to attach the head to the engine. The torque when using the ARP studs is 90 foot pounds. I ended up using my old 1/2" drive "click" torque wrench for this as I just couldn't pull 90 on my 3/8" drive digital wrench. I suspect that a younger mechanic could have done 90 pounds easily, as the wrench is rated up to 200. Oh well.....

The bolts that attach the cam sprockets are torqued to 93 foot pounds. Didn't bother trying the digital wrench just grabbed the long handled 1/2" drive wrench. Happily, my timing marks were all in the correct position when done, so I installed the chain tensioner and finally the CAS. Will torque that bolt for the crank pulley after I have installed the flywheel.

Since I am running dual electric fans and upgraded lights, I went to a 90 amp alternator from a Nissan 240SX.

Really looking good! Can't wait to see your car on the road Guy.

Randalla wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 8:51 am Really looking good! Can't wait to see your car on the road Guy.

Me too. It looks like its going to be super nice.

So, I would really like to see the car a bit further on myself, but I am really happy to have a project to keep me busy.

I am continuing to finish up the motor assembly. There are several items that need be attached to the engine, then I want to return it to the engine bay so that I can start work on wiring, finish the radiator and intercooler, and fabricate the brackets to support the AFM and air filter. I decided to post this now, and I will just add to it until I have moved the motor back to the engine bay.

On the exhaust side of the engine I installed the water outlet and a new NOS oil level tube and dip stick. Replaced the manifold and the original turbo. This is a T28 journal bearing turbo. My long term plans are to replace it with a GT2871R



Intake side of the car. Replaced the VVL solenoid, water inlet and thermostat housings, the oil filter boss, and finally the intake manifold and plenum. The manifold and plenum are just temporary fit, as I need to remove them one more time to fabricate the injector harness and re-do a couple of the fuel line fittings.


Replaced the flywheel and attached transmission to the engine. Ready to go back in the car for additional fitment issues.

When I picked up my SR20det, it came with an attractive valve cover. The cover had been stripped, prepared and powder coated with a metalic gold, the letters had been scuffed to bare metal for relief, and then a clear powder coat to finish it off. Later, when I started preparing for the rebuild I noticed a problem with the cover, They had not masked off the screw holes before coating.

This should not have been a huge problem. A person could have drilled them out and cleaned up the threads with a bottoming tap. As you may have guessed this did not happen. Instead, the previous owner had decided to force screws into the fouled holes, and managed to break off an M5 screw for one of the coil pack retainers. The broken screw was just below the surface in a recessed opening. This would be a trick to extract, but opened me up to choosing a different direction.

I decided to lose the problem valve cover and replace it with a cover from an S15 motor. The two motors are very similar, the major differences being a turbo upgrade from T-28 journal bearing to T-28 ball bearing, and replacing the S13/S14 coil packs with "smart" coil packs. The S15 smart coil packs eliminate the need for a separate ignitor chip, which cleans up the wiring harness. The S15 coil packs are also a bit more robust, and less prone to spark extinction at higher boost. I just needed to find an S15 valve cover....

I finally located an S15 valve cover, it was ugly, but I got a really good price on it and it suited the requirements for my plan. Hence the valve cover saga began.


This valve cover turned out to be much uglier than I expected. First thing, it was not an S15 cover. It was from an an S14. Nissan made the coil pack holes on the S15 quite a bit smaller than the S14 (probably to prevent you from using the wrong part). Next thing was the finish. It appeared that an angle grinder had been used to "clean" the cover before coating. This left many deep scratches on the surface. Then, apparently in an attempt to cover up these nasty scratches, a VERY thick powder coat was done (close to 1/8" thick in places). Finally to add to the overall nastiness, at some point someone had run a bead of calking under the rubber gasket for some reason.

I decided to restore the valve cover instead of returning it. I can make a sleeve to fit S15 injectors in the cover, and the S15 covers are so darn rare, I might be a long time finding one. I embarked on many hours of work, chemical stripping, wire brushing, sanding, and am closing in on another decision point.

My last pass sanding was at 400 grit. If I am going to prime/paint, this is a good point to stop. However, I could also continue up to 2000 grit and go for a polished look.... Hmmmm, guess I will make that decision later.

That's a ton of work with all those nooks and crannies to get into. I've done similar things before and actually wore my fingernails down in the process!

It is a pretty satisfying to breathe some life into an old piece of hardware, but you do have to put in the time to get things right on them.

I am going to set this aside for now and work on getting the engine back into the car again. I want to start working on the engine harness. I have a plan (on paper at least) to get all of the engine management and front end power distribution into the same distribution box. Will see how that goes.
- Guy

Been a while since my last update. I will do this one in a few parts as I did with the motor rebuild.

I am hoping that this is the last time the engine goes in before bringing the car over to be media blasted. For me this is the hardest part of the project, as you have to face all of those "this should fit" issues and actually make them fit.

Putting the engine into the car is pretty straight forward. I attach the transmission, set the engine and tranny on a roll around cart, then lift the front of the car up and slide it under. This method works on most cars, and there is minimal risk of snagging something and causing damage when installing the engine.


The bar across the front is what I use to lift the front of the car with. In the second picture I have mounted the intercooler on a couple of Lord mounts, This seemed like a good idea, but I found that I needed about 1/2 inch additional clearance for the fans. The Lord mounts are 1/4" thick, so they are first to go.


I attached the lower valence panel after removing the Lord mounts, and the intercooler was touching the panel in four places. I trimmed a couple of areas, and did some hammer/dolly work around the lower openings, and now it is lining up okay. I attached the front lights, as I will be fabricating harnesses at this time as well.


I am using a Z32 MAF. It allows more air flow than the original SR20 MAF. The HKS intake kit with the mushroom filter is quite short making an easy fit. I will just need to fabricate a support bracket. On the passenger side of the engine, the ducting drops down to the intercooler, and this is a problem.


Here you can see the issue with the duct location. The radiator hose would like to use the same space as the duct and blow off valve. I am still waiting on the radiator hose and lower elbow for that air duct, so will fix this when I have all the parts on hand. At the rear of the engine I have over an inch of clearance, so I will grab another 1/4" needed for fan clearance by modifying the engine mounts and moving the engine back some.


On the firewall I have mounted a "Littlefuse" distribution box. I have it configured to hold four 35 amp relays, four 20 amp relays, and 10 fuses. It will handle all of the engine bay power, including the EFI requirements. Last picture, I had to remove the stock water outlet, as it was just not going to work with my radiator. I ordered a side exit water outlet from Mad Dat in Australia. They have modified it to work with my S14 engine (added a bung for the turbo cooling water).

Looking really nice.

Guy, it is easy to appreciate the fine work that you do! Wish I had 1/10 of your ability and creativity! Looking great!