Co0ke

I'm going to start with the stock for now and depending on funds I will upgrade. Actually trying to do some research on just getting efi working in the 260z hopefully with the 260z tank and an external fuel pump.

Got most of the engine assembled aside from all the hoses and vacuum lines. About time to pull in the 260 and get the L24 out. I think ill start that this coming weekend.

Thought I should list the parts I used in case anyone is interested and to keep record. Hastings Piston Rings Clevette Main bearings and rod bearings ARP rod bolts DNJ valve stem seals Felpro head gasket Used valve lapping compound from Advanced auto. Everything was assembled using Engine assembly lube from advanced auto. Studs were installed to spec using ARP fastener lube I ran into two problems in the process. one was the rear main crank bearing. It didn't want to crank down straight and seemed like it preferred to be crooked.....pretty sure it's lined up now but I dont like how difficult it was ...used a brass punch and a large screw driver to try and keep it straight while i torqed it. the other was cam towers. two of the shorter bolts started to feel "soft" before I could get them to spec. I was shooting for 30ft-lbs left them alone. I may go back with some thread locker but was suprised that they were potentially starting to strip the holes when I hadnt even reach 30ft-lbs....spec calls for 25-33....lame

Got the head on this weekend New crank bearings, rod bearings, Piston rings and a fresh deglazing. Head got cleaned up, lapped the valves....actually went back and used a drill and a fuel hose to re lap after they didnt pass a leak down test. I must say i looks pretty

Finally, I'm back at it after two months of down time:/ the HOA in my community found out the car under the cover in my driveway had no motor and sent me a nice get that pos out of here letter. So, I reluctantly pushed it into my garage and started to rip everything off I could think I might want/need/could sell. Took me a few weekends to do that then I was told by the nice man at the scrap yard he could come pull the car, with no wheels or suspension, out of my garage and to the yard for me. For$35 I was thrilled. Unfortunately he was insanely busy and after back and forth calling and waiting for over a month I finally got a coworker to come get it for just a bit more. So with my garage back, I rolled the engine over to the bench last night a pulled the pistons out, took a look at the bearings and ordered a new set of main bearing, con rod bearings and some ARP rod bolts. The bottom end will great a nice refresh this week as well as the valves then ill get to start to reassemble! I'm super excited to start putting my engine back together and get this thing in the car. On a side note my brother just bought a 93 rx7 so now my car must be finished and it must be faster than his! Kenbooty, thanks for the encouragement and I dig the avatar

Went ahead and measured the crank pins 1.9675in within spec:). cant measure the journals yet. I'll order the ARP bolts. Thanks for the advice

I'm sure it's been discussed but I can't seem to find the info I'm looking for. I'm doing a turbo build and need to buy new connecting rod bolts, it's my understanding that they are torque to yield and can't be reused. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm trying to decide on a few options Buy con rod bolts from motorsportauto...3.02 a piece. Pretty cheap not sure if I need to get new nuts as well? Buy ARP con rod bolts off eBay looking at 70-80 buck for bolts and nuts. Guessing these aren't torque to yield and can be reused? First time engine builder just want to be educated. My hp goals for this engine are around 250rwhp. I ordered clevette perfect circle bearings for the crank and rods. Got the standard size. I read somewhere that as long as there was no machine work done on the crank to go with standard size. Makes sense in theory....correct me if I'm wrong here as well.

Build is looking great! I'm glad you're ahead of mine, reading through this and some other turbo builds has definitely been a big help for a first timer. Good luck on finding the 5 speed. Can't wait to see that engine in the car!

It's been a few weeks, so a quick update. I changed my mind on doing the piston rings since it would be real pain after the engine is in the car. So Just sitting here waiting for them to come in. Went with Hastings rings. Everything is sitting in the garage painted and waiting to go together and I have nothing but free time as im on Christmas break

yeah that was my first experience with spray can clear. Definitely below my standards....it did cure a bit nicer, but still milky....scratching my head as to why this is a marketable product?

Update: Not making progress as fast as I would have hoped, With the holiday season people keep pulling away from my garage. Got almost all the parts cleaned, polished or painted. Just a few left. Should be able to start assembling the engine next weekend Baking the High temp paint on the manifold: Really pleased with the valve cover so far still need to get the paint off of the lettering, love that polished aluminum: BTW the black finish is PlastiDip it has a nice textured look and is removable if I decide to polish up the cover in the future. Thought I would give it a try...hopefully it holds up to the heat, no idea what it's limits are. Shiny! So this is what the clear coat looked like when I sprayed it on the fan pully? followed instructions to the tee. 66 degrees outside and everything....weird...maybe it will cure clear? And some parts I have left to do..

So my DNJ gasket set came in frame rock auto, I'm planning on buying a felpro head gasket but using DNJ gaskets for the rest of the engine. However, the bag was labeled DNJ and Fel pro? The head gasket part numbers are felpro but the kit is DNJ? I tried to look up photos, but can't b 100% sure it's a felpro. Any thoughts before I drive to autozone and have them pull one for me to compare?

Update: over the weekend I got the engine mostly apart. Had my neighbor (retired automotive teacher/corvette street racer/had a shop for several year/best neighbor ever) look at it and he said it looked really clean for 180k miles. Gonna check rod bearings, valve seals and a few other things, clutch looks pretty new. PO said it was and a racing clutch....doesn't look special, ill take a pic of that maybe someone can tell if its somehow better then the original. Got the tranny cleaned up nice And even got a little over excited to see what the Chevy orange would look like before I was done cleaning the block ...here's the one side I hit this afternoon. Pretty much it for now the new gaskets should come in Wednesday and I'm sending a box full of parts to the dealership for my brother to put in the parts washer. Gonna finish the block and start on the head this week.

Ok, spent a good part of my day reading stickies and searching the threads. Still a few gaps for a newbie me. Think I need: Z31 MAF maxima/infinity ECU (with connector?) use wiring harness from 280zxt I believe I saw that I will need a different O2 sensor? This is where I will start, NIStune looks expensive and it almost seems like a couple hundred more and I could just get MS 2 or something similar. Again, I just want a pretty much stock turbo set up that I can upgrade slowly as funds permit. A lot of cleaning and looking over still needs to be done on the engine, as well as prepping the 260. Thanks for all the help.

I teach at Hopewell. Quick question: Do I need the turbo ECU from a 300zx or will an NA ECU work? On the sticky it says turbo but reading through some other posts I'm certain i've seen people use an NA ECU in their turbo build. This would open up the door for many more avaible choices from the yard.

I'm sold....time to search for a vg30 ecu/Maf.

NewZed: I'm really a math teacher, high school level. But just this year was recruited to teach for PLTW (Project Lead The Way). I'm only trained to teach Principles of Engineering at the moment, but I love it. Looking to teach Digital Electronics and/or Computer Integrated Management next year. cgsheen: I'm assuming I can locate the ECU and AFM at a local yard for cheap? <-- this area I am scared, I think I was going with stock because I felt it would be easier to swap the wiring...

yeah....I underestimated the weight of the engine for sure. laid a 4x4 across the rafters and used 1700lb ratchet straps but definitely did not work as I imagined. going to pick up an engine stand today. I will be buying or renting a hoist whenI go to swap it in.

Alright first post is modified with smaller pics...those were wAY TOO huge!

So i've had a 260z for about 2 years now. Have just been doing maintanance and keeping it running. I had originally planning on an NA build with my goal set around 200rwhp. But after alot of thought I decided the turbo build was way more cost effective. The other day I located a donor car and went to pick it up. The guy who sold it to me was able to start it, the turbo spooled and the only problem was getting it in gear, hopefully just needed to bleed the lines better as he had just replaced the master and slave cylinders. Some may be upset that this car is restorable but it's been sitting for several years with a broken window letting rain in and the unibody underneath is pretty rotten. This weekend my three brothers and I were able to get the engine out of the donor. Took about 7 hours, learned that it would be much easier with a cherry picker and the tranny removed. We definitely spend way too much time fighting with it. hoping to find a good hoist and a stand soon. How do you like the ratchet straps hanging from the rafters? Haha This is my first big project. I'm an engineering teacher and not a mechanic, my neighbor has is a retired mechanic and my brother is fresh out of UTI so I'm certain they will be helpful. however, neither of them have worked specifically on the Z's and I don't know how much help they will be with switching everything over to fuel injection, so I will have many questions. Oh and my goals for this build at the moment are almost a stock transfer. I want to get the Engines swapped and get the car driving then do one upgrade at a time and record the results of each upgrade. Any suggestions for cleaning up the donor engine before dropping it in? also the intake is so ugly with all that crap on the top seen alot of people go to an N42 intake on here and plug every hole on the top. I will probably stcik with the one I have, just not sure what I need to keep and what I can plug up. Hope to keep ya updated on a weekly basis

Lol....In reading other forums I always assumed the butt dyno was literally how the car felt in your butt as you stomped on it. *feels stupid. Definitely showing how much of a newb i am. At any rate, I will look into the timing, gotta borrow a light. I just had a friend help me and he just set it to what he thought was stock and left it. I'd like to find out what the total advance is and try to get the optimal setting. What are my options for measuring AFR and such? Can tuning up the carbs if they are working properly be as simple as adjusting screws? Or will i need to do jetting and/or replace parts? I really know almost nothing about carbs and am somewhat intimidated. I don't want to start messing around then get them to a point where i can't get them back in order to keep my car running. I'm simply looking to get the best preformance from what I have atm before doing any bolt ons.

Here's what I have: 260z with E88 head, Mild Cam 460 lift 280/280 duration Guessing the block is stock or from a 240 PO was unhelpful when i bought it last year. And i dont know how to check Dual downdraft webers 32/36 2.5" pipe from downpipe back and some big ugly muffler Everything else stock I have been just fixing problems, brakes, bushings, rust, gaskets, hoses, etc, ... most recently I reground the cam due to a wiped lobe from a broken oiler bar. Went with the grinders suggestions and got the max for stock springs, resurfaced the rockers and got new lashpads. I feel now like im ready to tackle the lack of power problem. Butt dyno is telling me it has less than 100 hp Here's what i've done so far... Checked compression...150 across all cylinders Cleaned points on dizzy...smoothed out nice after that New plugs Timing is at 10 deg advanced Havn't touched the carbs yet other than to set the idle screw to get me to 850....maybe to high. I have no experience with carbs whatsoever and am not a mechanic either I just enjoy doing everything myself and learning as I go. Guess I'm just asking for some guidance. What to do next? Should I mess with advancing the timing? Dive into the webers? Try to locate some round tops since i've read only bad stuff about the webers I have? Engine doesnt really pull until 3500 and at 5500 sounds like WHAAAAAAA!!!! till redline....actually sounds awesome, not sure if there's more power just sounds awesome

Was told that those specs were close to a stock C cam. going with a 280/280 with .460 lift regrind.

So if im able to do a regrind (sounds very tempting given my limited budget), what kind of power band could i expect with say .470 lift? or will the duration determine that? combination of both? I have just noticed the higher lift and higher duration cams help out later in the rpm range. The only thing not stock on my engine are dual webers. Can I expect much of a performance difference regrinding what i have?

The oiling bar on my L24 was broken off at one end when I went to do the lashes and as a result one of the lobes on my cam is f'd up. I'm very inexperienced when it comes to engine work. I was looking on ebay for a new one and came across a schneider with .495 lift and 290 duration. I like the idea of a more agressive cam but don't really know what else is involved. Pretty sure i need new lash pads...which means new rockers right? Would i also need new springs? I've been reading up in the forums about cams and think I like the specs for this cam if it will wok like i think it does. Any help is greatly appeciated.