inline6

So, the rods in this motor are Toyota 3SGTE (89 and later Celica All-trac, 91-97 MR2 Turbo) with 3/8" ARP 2000 Bolts. Haven't mentioned this fact yet: The rod bearings are those of a Toyota Camry 2VZ-FE 2.5 V6... they are narrower than the 4 cyl rod big ends. They are centered as in this pic (not my motor): Less friction supposedly frees up power - I wonder if it is more than 1 hp! Both mains and rods are Clevite 77 with Calico coatings. Orig Post containing the pic above: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/100748-rod-bearing-question/page__p__944414__fromsearch__1#entry944414

I thought it was 8 quarts, but you already have more in it than that!

I considered them, but I recall my machinist being surprised by how low the torque setting was on them... and he didn't feel the ARP would provide any improvement. So, we reused the stock main bolts. He said that when he final torqued them, there was no stretch. No stretch translates to no need to replace for the most part... unless you want to get crazy and think about how much wear they had from being installed and removed several times during mock-up/pre-assembly. Evidently, he can easily detect stretch when torquing typical "stretch" bolts to spec. If I recall correctly, they are only like 40 lb-ft. or is it ft-lb?

I picked up the engine yesterday. Here are some assembly pics:

I looked back through emails going back and forth with him... The aluminum slug we started with -- the dish was .148 deep. If memory serves correctly, JE pretty much ignored that dimension and we decided to cut the dishes further ourselves after we had them in hand from JE. Then, we had to cut the intake another .065 (probably at the angle the of the valve) and another .038 on the exhaust. So, that is going to be ballpark. But, obviously, you'll want to measure your engine to account for your unique situation.

Comp oil pan from Design Products has come in. Also, the pistons were modified in yet another round as the PTV wasn't sufficient on mock-up. The note from Bryan was: "After cutting the valve pockets deeper; the pocket edges were radiused with 100 and 120 grit cartridge rolls. I then re-polished the whole dish area with the 120 grit rolls. After this the pistons were masked with duct tape except for the tops and then the tops glass beaded at very low pressure. Then the tops were soda blasted." Looking sweet, I must say It's crunch time now... I go to pick up the motor on Sunday. Looking forward to it.

The diff is in GA now. 30115 is the zip. Let me know if you still have interest. Garrett

Not together yet. Hopefully not too much longer.

I'll check with my engine builder. As recent as a week ago, final assembly hadn't been started, so I may still be able to use it. Garrett

Well, this engine build thread has been going on a long time, so it is fitting that we take a short ""vacation" to France before getting back to work. Thanks for the info.

Looks like there are a couple available: Page 14: http://www.nissanusa.com/nismo-web/Nismo-Motorsports-Catalog-2010.pdf 11044-E4620 ALL 1 NISMO composite head gasket for L-Series. 85mm bore, 1.2mm compressed thickness. 11044-E4621 ALL 1 Head gasket for use with O-ring type head sealing above. L-Series 6-cylinder. 11044-E4623 ALL 1 NISMO head gasket for L-Series 91mm bore, 0.6mm compressed thickness I've got the E4623 version. G

Very cool. I see you are in Paris, France. Can't help but think your 240z is extremely rare there. I bet you have some interesting stories to tell... about how you got possession/delivery of the car, about Parisians reaction to it, etc. Yes?

Thanks for the compliment. Almost every last bit of credit goes to Bryan, my engine builder. I do research... decide what I want, and then pay the bills. He has been the one to point out several of the mods and the one making everything fit together. From swapping around engine bearing shells to achieve optimal bearing clearances, to further machining the pistons to achieve the correct, desired compression ratio and to provide adequate PTV (taking into consideration the adjustment available via the adjustable cam gear), to determining how much the pistons stick up out of the bores when "rocking" them, and oil flow modifications, cooling flow modifications, the additional coolant holes above exhaust ports #5 and #6, machining the vent hole in the block for a fitting, etc. etc. etc. He is doing a stellar job. I wish I could have been present in his shop to learn even more than I have via phone calls from working with him.

Some more progress to report... My head gasket has a 91mm bore on it if I recall correctly. The cylinder head mods I did brought the chamber edge to the bore edge of the gasket. However, the bore size ended up being 88mm instead of 89mm, as the sonic testing indicated we shouldn't go that big. So, here, the top edge of the bores is being modded to get rid of the "shelf" or lip that would otherwise be present and obstructing intake charge flow. As part of the documentation that came with the tensioner, they said that it could be modded to increase the mounting bolt size and get a bit more adjustment if desired. Doing that here. The holes in the head were drilled and tapped for 8mm bolts. And, some mods to the front cover to make the diesel water pump work well and to increase flow for both cooling and oil:

Kind of bizarre and interesting. An L-28 on an engine stand with various sections removed... you can see crank turning, cam turning, valves operating.

Yep, those are the ones I bought and they will be at the engine builder's tomorrow. They have to be turned in a lathe a touch for the springs I am using with the cam. Here's hoping that it all works and I get a bunch more hp than I otherwise would have as a result (of the light spring pressure).

Thanks John. I picked one up off of ebay. Appreciate your input. Garrett

Ancient thread... but I'm trying to track down titanium retainers for an L series. Can't find anything online about Dell Engineering... Are they defunct?

I've been researching through the forums and elsewhere and came across a post where someone said the Clifford Research header interferes with the Nissan Comp oil pan. If true, I'll need to find another header to use, because I plan on using the comp oil pan with my new motor. I'm not wanting to build myself one from a Stahl kit. So, I'm thinking about trying to track down a Nissan Motorsport header with 1.75 primaries. The application is an L28 bored to 88mm - 2.933L running 11.1 to 1 comp ratio. The cam is a Kinetic Sunbelt unit with the following specs: Intake Seat duration 320 degrees .050" duration 290 degrees Net valve lift .550" Exhaust Seat duration 315 degrees .050" duration 274.8 degrees Net valve lift =.550" Redline on the cam/valve train is 7700 RPM. I have a tripple Mikuni 44PHH set up with 37mm chokes in it right now, but will be switching over to a 45mm TWM fuel injection set-up a down the road a bit. The car is mainly a track day car at this point, but I still drive the car to and from - because I don't want to buy a truck and a trailer. I've been running the Clifford header and true dual 2" pipes for several years... I have 2 4" round Magnaflow's in the tunnel and two 5X7" oval Magnaflow's in the rear to keep things quiet. The main question is, are these primaries too big? If so, is what is my best header alternative?

I got the cam from Kinetic Sunbelt in GA. With the springs they supplied (single - not double) they said not to run it higher than 7700 RPM, but that is close to 8k... The seat pressure (installed) was checked and found to be only 56 lbf. At ~.550" lift, the springs were only supplying 190 lbf. Because the spring pressure is so light, my engine builder is strongly recommending the use of titanium retainers. The receipts just keep adding up. Here are pictures of the work just now done to add PTV for the intake valves. Garrett

Let me know if you have 12 for sale (to fit L series) and the price. Thanks.

Ohhh... yeah, I could see that one tripping people up. Thanks for the head's up.

Another update... I am just about out of tensioner travel due to surfacing what I calculate to be .107" off of cylinder head since it was virgin. The bolt washers are hiding the remaining slot clearance - about .080" to .100". Also, I had to use up almost all cam gear adjustment to get the cam to 100.5 Intake Center Line. Cam degreed in/checked out as: Intake- 281* @ .050 valve lift (Cam/follower lash .010) .549 net lift at valve 100.5* Intake centerline Exhaust- 267* @.050 valve lift (Cam/follower lash .010) .542 net lift at valve 108.5* Exhaust centerline Cam measures 104.5* Lobe seperation. Cam is advanced 4* from "straight up". PTV on the exhaust is only .082"... and on the intake is only .002" More machining of pistons to add PTV is necessary!

Do you still need one? I have some extras. Question for you: What is the intended use, street or racing? The reason I ask is, I have one body that I had to remove some burrs from the bores... The previous owner managed to forceably shut the butterflies hard enough (beat on them?) so that the throttle plates dug into the aluminum bores and left some ridges. I carefully removed the ridges and then spun some fine sandpaper strip on a die grinder to polish the bores. Basically, the bores are probably a few thousands oversize right where the throttle plates shut. If racing - then you'll mainly be at full throttle operation, and I doubt seriously it a few thousandths bigger bore only where the plates are would matter one bit. For steet, achieving smooth idle adjustment could be an issue. If interested in that one, obviously it'd be cheap. If not, I could sell you one of the others. They are in great shape. Let me know.

I have 4, 12" long, 2.5 ID Eibach springs in almost new condition. 2 are 200 lbs and the other 2 are 175 lbs. I don't recall what stock rates are, but these are a lot stiffer. I ran Suspension Techniques springs (popular kit from Motorsport Auto) back in the day for many years. These are stiffer than those too. Then, when I put in ground control coil over kits, I went to the 2.5 ID springs. I ran the 175, 200 combo for a short period of time, but that was when I was transitioning the car to mainly autocross and little street driving. So, I went even stiffer. I'm running 250 lbs front and 275 lbs rear. My car has pretty much been an autocross and track car for like 10 years now. PM me if interested in the springs.