djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 THIS IS MY BUILD THREAD LIFTED FROM THE OTHER 350Z FORUM FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED LOL.... After a long time think of what i wanted to do with the zed tossing between supercharging and turbo's i've finally taken the plunge!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!! I have been looking at kits made in the USA for LHD cars but i came across this deal and could not say no. Its the full (old grarrett turbo's not the new crap chinese copy's) APS TT kit. It come with the full APS fuel system and hydra nemisis ECU thrown in. The kit was still fitted to a VQ35DE with 34k miles on it when i picked it up. So i now have a second block to play with if after ive stripped it down it checks out ok. The engine looks to have a blown head gasket or broken ring land on cylinder 6. the compression test was great across 1-5 but cylinder 6 was down on pressure. Its been a fun few days last week because i managed to drag a mate down to essex with me in a merc 208d van! 80 mph top speed and no radio!!! 476 miles round trip and over 8 hours driving and i had my engine back in the garage!! Ill keep this thread up dated when i get things done but ill post a few pics of what's happened so far... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. So far the Plenum (upper and lower) has been removed, fuel rails and injectors, sump, driver and passenger turbo's, manifold's, oil and coolant lines, oil pump, front belts, both belt tensioner's, and the passenger side Cam cover, coil packs and spark plugs. Im having a little trouble getting the crank pulley off because the engine wants to turn?? I think im gonna need an impact gun! LOL.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Im not so sure as what to do now? I was going to remove the APS kit of the damaged engine and then clean it up and refit it to my original engine. Then may be build the damaged engine up with new aftermarket rods,pistons ect.. and if/when my stock block failed then swap over the engines. I may just build the full engine on the stand and then swap over the whole motor and go for big power straight away???? I will look at a koyo rad and a large oil cooler down the road for sure.. Im also looking at evan's NGP supercoolant too if any one has used it before. (it turns the stock coolant system into a pressure less system and helps stop hot spots so i beleave??) Yeah mate 400bhp should knock a few seconds off!! Just a few more pic's (sorry about the quality just off my iphone) of whats happened today. I managed to get the crank pulley off (huge braker bar and lots of grunting!! haha..) this allowed me to take the front timing cover off, ready to get the heads off next. I also whipped the lower block oil pan off just for some more access to things. Not long till im spooling my self silly!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Little update guys... Spent a few hours this afternoon doing a bit more work on the engine. Few more pic's. I managed to get the timing chain off which took me a while to work out how to get off! After the timing chain was off that allowed me to remove the Cam timing gears. Its very smart how the Cam timing is changed on the intake side using an oil solanoid and the lager Cam gears. Ill get a few pic' next time im working on the engine. Exhaust Cam removed. Passenger side head removed. So far so good. I cant see a crack in the block on cylinder 6 so im hoping that when i pull the crank and rods out the ring land has gone?? The pistons look in good nick for a boosted engine too! The head gasket was a little damaged taking the head off but the is no sign's of scoring of and leaks which is another good thing. So far guys its going well. ill strip the driver side head down on monday i think and maybe pull the crank out so ill keep you posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Todays Update Made some more good progress guys. Second head removed today along with the AC compressor, rear half of the timing cover. Alot of mine time is spent screwing the bolts back into where they came from after parts have been removed! I went down to Dyno demon (my local tuner/engine shop) and had a look over and EVO 6 engine that was having crank case pressure problems (blowing the dip stick out ect.) when the block was stripped down there were two small cracks in the ring line on cylinder 4. Once the piston ring had been removed a chunk of the ring land fell out! This would be the ideal situation for my engine as this ring land failed and did not damage the bore at all! All will be revealed when i get the pistons/rods out some time this week. Few more pic's.... Not long guys!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Today's fun.... For a few hours work i got alot done this afternoon! Few item's that were removed today, Windage tray, block girdle, crank caps, crank, oil pump, all rod's and piston's and finally i pulled the engine mounts off. Some more pic's.. Windage tray removed. And block girdle removed. Crank cap's removed. Starting to removed some of the rod's and piston's. All rod's and Piston's remove now!! Oil pump and crank removed. Holly crap the crank is heavy! It must weigh 20kg at least! Close up of the under piston oil spray's. Rebuilt the bottom of the crank cap's and windage tray just to keep them out the way and clean. Final shot of the fully stripped down block. It's really light! Crank,rod's and piston's removed. More under piston's oil spray's. Now for the diagnosis!!!!! 5 out of the 6 piston's have cracked ring lands!!!!!! Some look ok and some are only held together with the rings!!!! Cylinder 1 (the front driver side) is the only one that looks in good nick. The pistons have no sign's of detonation on the flame face but to crack 5 out of the 6 ring land's it may have been a very bad tune or the engine has been over rev'ed?? All the bearings look in ok condition and non of the rod's "look" bent. The main thing is there is no damage as far as i can see to the block!! Ill get some close up pic's of the broken piston's when i've cleaned them up. Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Few pic's of when i was cleaning the block today. Broken piston rings! Most of the broken ones look just like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Presumably they are the weakest link and being on the upstroke, when premature detonation happens,therebye incurring multiple times the force they should be subject to (when they are at the top and almost 'static') ???? The way it was explained to me mate was when Det. occurs due to lean conditions the flame face on the piston can go from its normal operating temp (400c approx) and the underside of the piston and skirt around 100c. to around 900c. this temp differential cause's irregular expansion on the piston and makes the flame face piston to wall clearance far to small and cause's the ring lands to touch to cylinder wall. The cast piston is very brittle and as soon as the ring land catches the wall it can and will snap off!! Just a little update on the build too.... Finally got my block down to DRB engineering where my mate works and got it into the parts washers. First wash was degreaser in boiling water. 15mins cycle. Then the block was chemical washed in solivent at around 50c. for 15mins Then a finally water wash to remove the solvent. The block is nice now and ready for machine work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Update. Got a call today to say my covers were done! (i dropped them off yesterday at 4pm!) Good job for a tenner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Just a few pic's! The pic's dont do the finish and colour justice! Its called Graphite metallic.. I just need to stop messing around now and get the machine work done and get this thing assembled!! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 A big box came today Sorry for the amount of pic's but i want a few good ones as ill never (hopfully ) see these parts again when the engine is built! Pic's. 1. 2. 3. Just a bit stronger than the stock ones! Eagle rods are rated to 150HP per rod, the stock ones tend to fail at anything over 70HP per rod!! 4. 5. A little bit of an arty B&W one! LOL.. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. The CP piston's are a work of art. They look far to nice to be deep inside the motor! 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Big day today guys. 512 mile round trip down to Abbey to drop off the motor and turbo's etc etc. I managed to get all the gear in the back of the VXR8! My mate who came with me had been on nights last night and not slept and is back on nights tonight so it was a quick drop off so we could get back on the road! It's all in the capable hands of Mark and the Abbey motorsport team now I need to have a good chat over the phone to sort out the final details but its gonna be quicker progress from now on! While i was down there i had a few min's to look at MrSteve's (lizardmotorsports) 350z race car and John Bradshaws project GTST! I would have loved to spend a few hours down their with the guys at abbey but we had to get back on the road! LOL. A few pic's from the road trip down there. Amazing how big the boot is on this thing! It swallowed 6 big boxes, lots of intercooler pipes, and the huge APS intercooler! The block, and timing covers had to go on the back seat along with cylinder head boxes behind each seat And this is what not sleeping for 48 hours does to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Just a small update. The block is at the machine shop still as they were waiting for new stones for doing the hone. Tony has sent though some pic's of him redoing the cylinder heads. The valve seats and valves have been re-cut because some of the valves had pitting on them so a fresh cut and lap will have them sealing better than new! Few pic's The build should getting going once the shop has the block re-honed! Ill keep you updated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Another little update people! Tony thanks for the pic's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 So Far the block has been bored out its being honed as we speak and the crank has been polished. The rods and pistons are being balanced too! Its nice to see the block being bored with a stress plate as this gives better accuracy on the tolerances than boring and honing with out! Starting to get a bit exited now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Update! More pic's sent through from Tony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Some more pic's Tony's sent through! Motor is coming on quick now! All the shine parts are next to go on and the red crinkle Cam covers! WooHoo! Yes starting to get exited now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Update! The big day is getting closer guys! Some more pic's Tony has sent through! Im taking a trip down to Abbey tomorrow to see big Tony so im sure ill have a few more pic's to share tomorrow night Modified APS sump with AN fittings for custom oil returns. Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Had a nice little trip down to Abbey today. Had a good chat with Mark and Tony about whats going on and snapped a few cheaky pic's. Upper intake runners now fitted and HKS 2 step colder plugs in! Also the lower oil pan and sump have gone on too! And a few sneaky shots! Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 I remember this build very well Tim and the resulting video's awesome work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Great read. Is this in progress or did you write it a while back? Awesome attention to detail and great build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Looking awesome and loving all the pictures of the work in progress. One thing ~ shouldn't this be in the "members build threads" rather than the "general 350Z area". Either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Thanks guys! Ill pop the rest up tomorrow The build was completed in 2010 and has done over 9000 VERY fun miles since! Just got my car back out of storage today so though I would throw this up on here as my build was one of the first full builds in the UK back in 2009 Love the car just as much now as i did then! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Not long now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djtimo Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 Small update!! LOL.. Few more pic's and some bad news that turned out good! And about the bad stuff, Mark rang me to tell me the car was running ok for over 1 hour but then started to burn coil packs?? Abbey tracked the problem down to this little sucker. The grounding clip for the wire harness was not making a good connection. As far as i know this has solved the problem. Again soon going for its break in map!! Ill update soon guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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