Tempered

First, thanks for the help guys. Ok.. here goes. I bough the short block from the local pick n' pull. I did it because someone had taken the head and I was able to see all of the pistons appeared fine and the cylinders still had the hatch marks from a re-hone. It was an f54 block in an S30 which led me to believe someone had rebuilt it. once I got the block home the crank spun great, pretty easy even with the pistons in it. The bearings had some wear. I took the bearings to the machine shop and they measured them for the new set. At no time did I drop or bang the crank. I stored it on its side in my garage on some cardboard. My buddy ( a well rounded mechanic) inspected it and said it (the crank) looked great. I spoke to my local machinist who said the oil is fine and is probably thicker due to cold weather. He said my issue may be that i needed to torque all of the caps down and that would eliminate the issue. I just did that and it was still hard to spin. It takes about 70-80% strength with one hand (pulling or pushing) to move it a 1/4 rotation. Pulling all the caps off the crank spins freely when seated with lower bearings. The last two caps to take off were the main and the rear. With the rear off it spun easier. Could it have been I put the rear main seal in to soon and should have the crank torqued in first? (not sure if that matters). I took the crank back off and all the bearings were on correctly. Now.... what I did do when I first installed it was put the rear cap on first and then the rest. The second time around i'm gonna start with the main first and work outward, then tighten. Sooo... my buddy said try to use motor oil see if it aids the spinning. I bought new pre-assembly lube which is just as thick as the old stuff. So now I have to re-clean everything and will have results tomorrow, in lieu of new replies and maybe taking it to the machine shop for them to check. Also, Just to confirm correct bearing placement, the main bearings have the lips, the two widest sets bearings go on the front and rear and all of the rest in between. *Note, I can't find my Z shop manuals due to a recent move, I'm using the "how to modifiy your Z" as a reference book, not much but helps.

hello all, I am in the process of rebuilding an L6. I just installed the new main bearings and put the crank in. Now its sitting in there with the caps on but it's not bolted in. Now the crank spins freely but it takes a lot of force to move it. I have to use quite a bit of strength to get it to spin. Once its moving its smooth. Now I used Mell-lub pre assembly lube. Its a rather old bottle and the lube is a little thicker than it had been new. I've never rebuilt an L6 or any other engine for that matter but I feel as though it should spin a little easier, especially with no pistons attached. Any suggestions? Is this typical? Thanks.

I'd like to see the 52 F-1, i've got a 50.

Nice find from Modesto! never saw that one driving around. There is a secret Z community running around our county, I just know it. I have yet to meet any of them though.

the turbo's look like eyeballs and the radiator seal is it's mustache!

ahhhh that makes since, so that is what the honda/acura crowd are hanging from the back, always wondered. THanks for the insight.

My 260..

well now i'm getting cold feet on the Z conversion. Everyone and their brother are telling me to put the 327 in the 50 Ford. I would love too but I want to do it nice and slow on that car, eventually give it to my son. I am almost tempted since I really love the L6 and the twice pipes sound. I just found some triple webers real cheap so that must be a sign that I should keep it nissan. Any one have any thoughts?

haha I am pretty sure I found some cigarette butts from the 70's

what the heck is that chingaderra hanging off the back??

wow, they offer them as a package??? I should have shopped better, I bought nismo studs (expensive) and then got aluminum stock machined into solid spacers, spend about $200 total and I don't even have a Z31 any more.

What he said.

Yeah, if the actual narrative of the report doesn't give an opinion of who is at fault you can find the actual report sheet, usually the person listed as P1 (party one) or D1 (driver one) is the at fault party. That is if only one party is at is fault. That is how it works in CA on the CHP 555.

nice project start.

looks like fun, my favorite part is the first clean up, thats where you find the good stuff.

Yes, and I also thought I'd score with the 83 T-5 bell housing mated to a Z31 T-5. They don't work, a couple of inches in length difference, causing the Z31 Input shaft to stick wayyy out.

whatever you do, don't rush it. I made that mistake, seem to make it all the time. A better Z always pops up, and for cheaper (in my case). Don't be hasty and good luck

well I think it is available for a price through this place. I was able to buy the DGV linkages to elimate the cable set up. I would assume they have what you need but don't quote me. http://www.redlineweber.com/

beautiful car. I am still kicking myself in the rear for not shopping that smart.

First update in a while. I just moved to a new place and its great. I went from this........ To this. The previous owners coated the floor and its very spacious. I recently shot a quick video of my car running to show the carbs in working order before I try to sell em. here it is. See if you can tell how bad the head sounds. For some reason it sounded like a diesel even after several correct valve adjustments. http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb294/Tempered117/?action=view&current=116.flv The second I pulled the Z into the garage I started to disassemble it, pulled the cowl, hood, carbs, radiator and other goodies. This is her current state. Just waiting on a cherry picker to pull the whole thing out. I'll update soon.

Very nice looking set up.

I haven't seen anyone mention it, but the police cars, Interceptor crown vics are also 4.6 liters. Having driven many, some with over 100k miles, these things take the most abuse I've ever seen and they still run good. I imagine they'd be pretty powerful in a light car. These crown vics go cheap at auctions all the time. I want to put one of these in my 50 Ford F-1 one day.

It's the input shaft I think, different lengths. The reason I have the T-5 Bell housing for an 83 T-5 is because I have unlimited access to 84-89 300zx T-5's. Once I grabbed the bell housing, mounted it on the 84-89 T-5, the input shaft stuck out a lot farther, 2-3 inches maybe. So I assume different motor = different input shaft. From what I have read you can't change them out with out loads of work. By all means, I am no expert though but this seems to be what i've gathered off the net.

Ok I couldn't resist seeing all of these beautiful motors. It's inspired me to move on with my conversion. Just a basic 327 with all the bells and whistles.... and yes after scrolling through this thread I bought myself an alan grove alternator bracket set. Cheers:burnout: