ongoing build

Well long story short fitted new turbo and something in the engine shit itself and began smoking heavily, whipped the turbo off and had oil in the head of cylinder no2 , so back in July I decided I'd start removing the engine.....Only I didn't quite pull my finger out, until now.




Going to take the head off and see what the damage is and then go from there. While it's out going to tidy the engine bay and get the lower arms and arb all powder coated

The joys of pulsar ownership as always
What turbo did you fit mark?

All good fun mark. Hope you find the issue

Kept my standard unit Pete but had a bigger billet wheel , 360 bearing and new exhaust housing as mine has cracked.

Cheers James been following yours for a while so might have a few questions coming your way.

Ordered a new oil pump last night from Nissan and going to start ordering all new standard gaskets but certain bitsi have to wait for until I can see the damage.

Well been a busy boy stripping the block this week, got the head off tonight and glad to see the cams and sleeves have no scores on them what so ever . So at least I haven't got to bore the block and can order my pistons.

Still not sure what has caused the problem but the valves don't look pretty, but coukd still be oil pushing past a ringland

You won't know anything for certain until Pistons are removed and examined Mark, could be seized oil control rings or ringlands failed could also be badly worn valve guides / seals

One things for certain though.........would ditch the head studs in favour of stock nissan bolts

Hopefully getting the pistons out this week if I'm home early enough from work. Will be getting the head rebuilt (any local recommendations Bob?) And replacing with forged piston and new rings.

They are the standard bolts, I've just put them back in place and laid the gasket back on top so I've not got lose bolts laying around everywhere. Mines all completely standard inside and never been apart.

I will be getting my head looked at and probably new valve seats fitted when my engine is pulled out. Also thinking of getting bottom end lightened and balanced. The place I will be using is near me but that may be a bit far from you Mark?

Where abouts mate, won't hurt to give them a call.

Especially as I've removed the sump and taken the piston out today
And all the rings appear in good working order. So need to get the head tested and rebuilt

The company is Thurstons Engineering and they are based at Ongar. Ive used them through my company many times for crack testing, skimming and overhaul of various heads and never had a problem.

http://www.thurstonengineering.co.uk/

To me by the looks of it I would say the oil control rings are seized to the piston which is more than likely what's giving you your smoke problems

Well now you say that I did wonder if it should have any movement in the bottom ring or was pressed in pretty tight so took another piston out to check it that was the same and it was... So assumed all was well. So maybe it is the rings

Yeah if no visible cracks on the Pistons between rings and bottom rings are seized that will be the issue as they should be free.

Look through inlet and exhaust ports on the head to see if you can see where oil has run down from the valve stems and if so the stem seals could be at fault also as well as possible excessive wear to guides

Just looked at that pic again close up (beauty of iPads lol)
Is it my eyeballs or is there a lump cracked or missing just above the gudgeon pin?

Just gone and checked the piston and there is a gap on the top ring of the oil control,  but also the same on the bottom ring further round.  Couldn't see another other visible cracks but will have the rings removed

With nurburgring now around the corner thought I'd start pulling my finger out with the car beginning with the engine bay and 20 years of oil and dirt (drivers side was covered.





Drivers side all cleaned and steering rack inspected


Done passenger side but forgot pics

Then moved onto the inlet manifold and after a through decrease I've given it a dusting of high temp silver paint and given the fuel rail a coat of black to contrast.

Also update with the engine, the head has been in to gard auto engineering at rayleigh and pressure test has come back fine, so he's now going to rebuild and 're-shim for me. I'm also going to run the block down so he can measure the crank and inspect the cylinders for me before I fit my CP pistons (hope the liners are good as bought them already ha)

Also had my oil and water pumps delivered so most of the big purchases have been made, just have a £900 parts list from Nissan to buy my way through consisting of engine mounts to gaskets and sensors.

Inlet manifold looks good. Did you get 86mm cp pistons then mark?

Yeah mate went with the 86mm but turns out I had somehow ovalled cyclinder 2 and that was allowing the oil to blow through.  So after some machine work and another set of pistons from the state's (still have the86mm cp ones if any use) the engine is finally rebuilt  and now have some bits to get cracking on with ready for the ring.

Spec now is:
Rebuilt head
Cosworth head gasket (1.1mm)
Cp 86.5mm pistons
Standard rods
Arp rod bolts
New Nissan oil pump
New Nissan water pump
New Nissan main and big end bearing
New Nissan detornation sensor
New Nissan water temp sensor
New Nissan oil temp sensor
New Nissan thermostat
New .Nissan head bolts
New Nissan timing chain and tensioner


Rebuilt the inlet manifold (Nissan gaskets) and just got to piece it all together and fit it in

Good work Mark, I shall be visiting Nissan at some point and probably with a similar list.

I used Mike @ mjp to get all my bits saved talking the wally in the Renault parts department, cost just shy of 800 quid

Spent the last few weeks rushing around trying to get this engine sorted and picking up some last minute bits.  Sent my catch tank, engine mount brackets, alternator brackets and my front arb off to be powder coated and all look the bollox.



And finished up the engine last night thank to few bits from Bob, so just the clutch to fit and gearbox today and we should be good to refit tomorrow

Powder coated bits do look good, might have to go down that route myself

They come out like new and for the price to get them done I would have spent as much in paint and sand paper and not got Anywhere near the finish.

After seeing the pics of robs gearbox and how cleanI've got the engine I couldn't really let this go back in as was with 24 years of dirt and oil leaks



A lot a brake cleaner, some scrubbing and a lick of paint it came out pretty well

Not only does it look good when it's clean it gives a little feeling inside ...


Also helps if it develops any leaks .. makes it allot easier to find leaks if it's clean