Restoration Project

Here's my last update for a while, so nearly finished it as well, but Nissan let me down on two oil gallery bungs! Oh well..

So since the last update of the shell pretty much finished I started on the engine.  Stripped the thing down with the intention of only doing the head but once removing the head and discovering a spare shim balanced on the oil gallery return of the block! Intrigued I decided to strip the whole lot down, then the ocd cleaning started, acid dipped parts and zinc plating again



I always did regular oil changes and was happy to discover no burnt on oil, and generally in very good order.

Stripped the head down, kept everything in order, measured cams, valve stems and anything else that was worth measuring.  Give the head a soak in a Screwfix special degreaser.  Can't believe how good the stuff is, only £7.99 bargain better than gunk in my opinion.





Boom



Said it was good stuff

I kept a storage heater element from an old storage heater I stripped out in work to heat it up in a bucket, worked a treat.  So after cleaning the head and happy with the condition of the block face I moved onto grinding in the valves, in all honesty it's the best valve seat I've seen in all the engines I've ever striped down, very little pitting and the valves also in good shape, cleaned the valves up on the lathe before lapping them in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Cf9dhckcA

Once all lapped in the head was built back up including reshiming the head with a modified Sealey hole punch and using high quality blades.  Used assembly Lube over everything and packed away in a airtight bag, well nearly air tight



And yes before anyone comments, I built it up on the kitchen table while she was in work

So then my attention moved onto the block, again heated the degreaser up and dumped the block in a under bed storage contain from B&M fitted perfect, got all the crud off then jet washed it fully, oiled the bores to stop rust. Didn't have a bag big enough so put it back onto the engine stand covered over.

I deglazed the cylinders just before assembly commenced, mainly due to any light surface rust that had built up over the 3 months would be removed.  Once deglazed another full wash to remove any tiny particles of metal.  I’m no expert in deglazing and only ever done two blocks before, somehow this one made me very nervous!  I won’t go into the method of how I did it, but it looked pretty spot on after, if the rings don’t seat right after then so be it, but I set out to do the whole build on my own so hopefully it works out that way and I don’t get a lot of egg on my mush!

When removing the crank, I put it into a rubble sack (without rubble), and covered it in oil to stop rusting, should have measured it before doing this, became a very messy job! But got it all measured and was within spec, then had the dilemma of what bearings to order, you may recall the thread I started of the part numbers I needed but what was stamped on the shell was different!  

http://www.gtir-motorsport-club.com/t6294-selecting-big-end-bearings

Turns out when I got the new bearings they had different part number on to what I ordered and were the same as the ones removed… It took Nissan an age to get the big end bearings in, think it was around 8 weeks in the end.

Moved onto checking the oil pump, again all clearances measured in spec, very slight pitting in the pump but very minor, should get a few more miles out of it.  

Something that’s always bothered me was a high idle that slowly came about a few years back.  Had the throttle bodies off about 5 years ago to replace the hoses with Samco before they split etc.  Noticed the butterflies had daylight around them when shut, thought that can’t be right, but at the time didn’t know how to cure it.  This time I’d already done loads of research and put a new seal around the edge of the butterflies using Molykote 321.  For once I should be able to actually use the idle screw!  Before I took it off the road the idle screw couldn’t go in any further but still idled around 2k rpm.  All vacuum hoses replaced, pcv valve removed and blanked etc etc etc, but still couldn’t cure it.

When stripping the throttle bodies down and looking at how they work and how the IACV works it made so much sense that the butterflies letting air past when supposedly shut will of course increase the rpm.  The original grey seal on the butterflies over time wears away, which mine did, from the photos I took 5 years ago to the ones now even more had worn away.  With the application of Molykote, no light can be seen through them, each throttle body has its own air hole between butterfly and cylinder fed via the IACV so will have the correct amount of air fed into each cylinder for idling.







Turbo was the next job, originally I wanted to go with a New Hybrid CHRA from Turbo Rebuild, but with finances getting tight I decided to rebuild it myself, got a 360 rebuild kit of achem ebay, sent the shaft off to turbo rebuild for balancing.  Once back rebuilt it up.  I only need the turbo to last a year or so, then hopefully once finances get a bit easier I can go with the hybrid turbo. I used this guide for stripping the turbo and assembling it:

http://www.sr20forum.com/turbo-guides/254779-how-rebuild-t25-t28-turbo.html



Something I toyed with for a while was whether to paint the engine or not, we all know aluminium gets a white powder over its surface over time as it oxidizes, and looks a bit pants or paint it but paint doesn’t last forever and can mark peel then look even worse..  Clearcoat would be best of both worlds but I went for paint ali colour.  Problem is once I did the block and head I found I couldn’t stop!! everything started to get stripped and painted including the alternator, I knew things were getting bad when I opened the brand new Nissan water pump and painted that too all ancillary water pipes, power steering pump, oil cooler, starter motor, dizzy…. You name it, it got a coat of black or ali paint

Finally parts turned up from Nissan, I already had a lot of gaskets from previous rebuild kits, but likes of bearings and some O rings I had to order.



With the baby’s due date only a few weeks off, I booked a few days of work and hammered the rebuild, I wanted to get the engine built back up before I get banned from the garage for a few months.

So here’s how far I’ve got with the rebuild:







More lube









Set all ring gaps up to what the manual showed, time consuming mind (photo doesn't show the correct ring position)..



Last one to go in



Set to TDC ready for head



I was in two minds of how to do the chain, do I leave the chain cover off until the heads on to make sure the chain doesn’t slip off the bottom sprocket, but then have a mare trying to get the cover on??  I ended up putting the chain cover on first, but put and mark on the chain and gear tooth, so once heads on I could spin it over and check the paint marks lined up still, I can say this worked a treat!!





Time for a bit of head….. torqueing down, think I need to go the gym I bit more often , certainly takes it out of ya tightening head bolts!



More lube



Cams in, just need to check the chain hasn’t skipped a tooth

Hard to see the white mark in the photo, but was spot on.

The sump cover, I ended up using POR 15 after soaking it in hydrochloric acid to remove all the rust, can’t fault the stuff on the running gear of the car, so might as well use it on that with the amount of punishment they get



Getting somewhere now



Painted pulleys of course and applied new markings for the timing, and zinc plated the bolt with the kit I got off ebay



Water pipes all cleaned and painted ready for fitting



Easiest filter change ever





Zinc plated the alt pulley, just so it looks a bit different from the rest





Before putting the rocker cover on for the last time I poured running in oil over everything, leave it in for 500 miles, drain flush and replace with proper oil







Starting to look like a built engine again



Time for a sunny photo shoot







Aircon pump back on after paint etc



Expecting to get the engine in imminently I wanted to replace a few of the dodgy looking power steering hoses that have bugged me for a while now



While waiting for the turbo to come back I turned my attention to the gear box, full clean and paint later

Before:



After a wash with screwfix degreaser and a brass wire wheel







Time for paint





Replaced boot on the striker rod, ball ache to get the yoke off



Got the turbo back and built up just in time for fitting with Bogdans elbow, that’s when it went slightly wrong



Elbows designed not to have aircon doh, as I like aircon it’s not an option to remove for me, so back to the standard elbow while I modify the Bogdan one!



So nearly done, thankfully I’ve taken 1000’s of photos of the whole build, some to look back on if I’ve done something correct and to remind me of something I need to change, thankfully this paid off the other day!!  I fitted the turbo and forgot to take the masking tape off the oil return on the block! Yep I pushed the rubber pipe on from turbo and noticed a photo later and thought shit there’s masking tape on that still  

So from today it now sits like this

7

Baby due date is today and the oil gallery bungs that I need before fitting the cheapest clutch kit aren’t due into Nissan until this Thursday, so I’ve admitted defeat that I wont get the engine in and fired up until later in the year, boooo!!

I’ll leave this update here for now, hopefully next update will have a video of and engine explosion or something along them lines

Gaz

Fitted the standard wheels today as well





I like em

I also refurbed the brakes last week too, one siezed rear caliper



Bit of screwfix degreaser and brass wire wheel again







Cleaned the discs up just for bleeding purposes, oh and painted them with high temp paint, new pads all round



Home made rewind tool





Could of done with another coat of paint, but they'll do for now



Braided hoses all round



Bought this as well last week for a local cheap motor bits n bobs shop



Easiest thing ever for bleeding brakes, connect to airline, place clear hose onto nipple on caliper, fill master cylinder to max then place other contain in reservoir with brake fluid in open tap, go back to caliper press trigger and it pulls the fluid through!  the container in the reservoir fills the master cylinder back up!! bearing in mind my system was completely dry, with all new copper lines from master cylinder to caliper. Got in car after doing all calipers, 3 pumps on pedal and rock solid

Gaz

Great update gaz .... shes looking super clean better than factory

Well done that's amazing work. Credit to you. Good luck with the birth.

Cracking job mate

Great work mate

Cheers chaps, good to see it nearly in one piece again. Shell needs a full buffing, managed to get a few tiny marks on the paint.

Actually dreading getting her dirty now it's there to be used, so think I need to grow a pair

Really impressed with how clean and fresh everything looks, it takes alot of time. I really like the standard wheels, dont see as many with them these days.

Got a slight bit of curbing on them, quick sand and paint they'll look really fresh. Am thinking of spraying them a darker shade of grey to see how they'll look?

There's a company somewhere making 17" or 18" replicas of Escort cosworth wheels wonder if our wheels could be done?

Ive always preferred darker colour wheels on a black car. However being original wheels maybe the best suited colour is original

So I took a gamble today!!  Nissan emailed on Wednesday to say the bungs I’ve been waiting for were in, the wife popped down yesterday to pick them up.  She wasn’t showing any signs of labour so thought here goes let’s get the engine in

Got home from work yesterday, straight into the garage, she even brought my dinner out to the garage  Got the best hoist ever made assembled, engine off stand and started to get the fly wheel & the £26 clutch on

So first job was to replace the spigot bearing in crank, popped old one out and carefully tapped new one in


Cleaned fly wheel up, I think it should have been skimmed, a few gouge marks.  I know it may seem weird but I plan on removing the engine in a few years again once finances get better to forge it, so things like the flywheel can be addressed then.  Never planned on stripping the engine fully this time!





Bolted that up, then it was time to see if my bargain clutch was right!



Thankfully its right, woohoo!!







^don’t ask I like taking photo’s!!

So at this point the observant amongst you will be thinking, why the hell has he gone to the trouble of fitting the fly wheel, clutch plate and cover but not put the engine to gearbox spacer plate on??  Well fellow forum friends I err… forgot  A lot of shouting and swearing later I decided to fit it in an unorthodox way, yes shall we say the fly wheel remained on!

Clutch fork fitted, and when Nomad pointed out last night why I hadn’t welded it, well I forgot and by that point was already fitted




Time to get the box bolted up.  For some reason unknown to me I decided to fit it with the transfer box on, after much swearing trying to line it up I was about to throw in the towel at 8pm, but all of a sudden it just slipped on, great I thought, started getting the bolts things going well until I got to the bolt by the speed sensor, Could I hell of like get that in and when I finally did the speed sensor just pissed me off.  Gave up at 9:30pm, leave it until tomorrow I thought.

Got back in the garage at 07:17 this morning and thought rights lets ave it!  Still couldn’t get the bolt in so ended up pulling the transfer box off, easy now



Bolt in question



Scraped old sealant off and stuck some new on, bolted transfer back on and all good





Slacked fill points off as well, unscrewed very easy...

Time to get one last sunny photo shoot before installing it:



I’m going to regret showing the next photo, ready for the onslaught of wtf you put that on for



Yep I dug it out of the loft painted it up and slapped it on don’t know why myself really not had it on for years, decided I needed the space in the loft



Already to go now:



But had a little problem just before this photo!  On my list of things to do before putting engine in was check chain tensioner.  When I built the engine back up, I had a metal gasket for the tensioner but not an O ring, scoured FAST and no part number, didn’t think much of it, but I found a huge tub of assorted O rings in the loft.  So I got another gasket from Nissan and thought before I put the engine in I’ll replace that O ring.  Turns out I haven’t got an O ring as thin to what’s on that! Oh well put tensioner back in and mover crank back a bit to spring tensioner out but the crank locked after about a inch of moving! Err wtf I thought went the other way  and same thing.

Straight away I thought somethings wrong with the clutch its jamming etc somehow.  Pissed off at the thought of removing the box and the Y bracket I took a breath and a few minutes out to think what could be happening.  Removed rocker cover and noticed the chain wasn’t taught! Rotated engine slowly and could see the tensioner moving in and out, ratchet not locking properly, grrrr, but relief that I don’t need to remove the box!!  Bit of a fiddle and go it locked and engine rotates fully again, so yeah a new tensioner on order!  Yes I know I should have put a new one in, but we all make stupid calls at the time!

Checked on the wife again, no sign love? Nope all normal, cool let’s do it! <--- put the engine in I mean!



Hoisted car up, engine already level on the dolly, once high enough push it in.



Slammed look









Luckily the car was high enough to roll the engine in, carefully calculated as I like to say!


Yep wouldn’t get much higher

Once in, just a case of putting the hoist on a slow lowering thingy and watch it all line up as it came down, oh and take the left engine mount off first!! Took the front wheels off and it lowered down a treat, no pissing about with trolley jacks lifting one side up to get it to line up etc





Mounts on, time to connect gear linkage and prop, couldn’t resist taking a few photos underneath, don’t think I’ll ever take this out in the wet again





Moved onto bleeding the clutch and make sure it works right, I didn’t show this in my last update, but the bleed kit I got is ace, only cost me £18





Connect it to the air supply and off you go!  Pedal feels really light and smooth, think having braided lines help over the 25 year old rubber shite that was on it.

Took her out for lunch to keep her happy and moving, came back and started routing cables and connecting crap













So thanks to the wife for going a week over due, ive managed to get the lump back in, hopefully will get some time to tie up the loose bits n bobs, maybe get chance to fire her up late summer all going well!

So this really is the last update for a while now, doubt she’ll be so understanding the more over she goes

Gaz

Well done mate and just offer to do night feeds n nip in the garage take the baby monitor with u and crack on lol. Tell the truth tho it's so clean you don't want to use it. Cars looking great well done and good luck with little one

Great to see the engine back in now, good work mate

johnny gtir wrote:Well done mate and just offer to do night feeds n nip in the garage take the baby monitor with u and crack on lol. Tell the truth tho it's so clean you don't want to use it. Cars looking great well done and good luck with little one

Sounds like a plan mate, think she'll be wise to that though

gtir_woody wrote:Great to see the engine back in now, good work mate

Always good to get the engine back in, end is in sight now finally!

Did you decide on a colour for the wheels?

Not yet but probably keep them orginal factory colour or as near too!

I could always spray one darker and see how it looks, and do the rest.

looks impeccable .
You going need build a new fancy rotisserie so can wash & detail the underside .
Think you also need carpet your garage & add dust filters :-)
Your first upgrade will be a baby seat lol . have wrenching fun while you can bud :-) good luck ...

So first job was to replace the spigot bearing in crank, popped old one out and carefully tapped new one in


I thought spigot bearing wasn't needed? I didnt fit this in mine, should i be worried?

Yeah mate, your input shaft goes into this, acts as support for the shaft under load..

Correct me if I'm wrong someone. That's what I read somewhere.

Think your right Cosmic, our input shaft doesn't fit in it, well that was a wasted 3 minutes of fitting

Sneeked into the garage for a few hours today

Modified Bogdans 3" elbow with a BFH!





It now fits around the aircon pump, and should still flow a lot better than the standard one.  In all fairness it hasnt made a massive difference when looking inside.



Another thing ticked off the list, painted the heat shields, although I need to mount the elbow one.



Also got the front drive shafts installed and the gearbox and transfer box filled with oil.  I rigged up a funnel and pipe and just poured it in, couldnt be arsed with them small tubes that come with the 1 litre bottles for filling the gear box.





For the transfer box I did use the crappy tube on the bottle, the pipe I attached onto the funnel wasnt long enough  



Also got the garage all tidy as well, very roomy again!! At this rate I might get it started soon

Gaz

Great progress Gaz.
lOving this project thread

Nice progress mate, dump fits nicely now