heavy85 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 You may have seen my engine woes on previous posts. Well this time it's the block. Just looked at the freshly 'honed' cylinders and geuss what (those who've read the crank story probably can guess) - that's right there are still old grooves visible about 5 mm down from the top of the bore that didn't hone out Yes same machine shop that said the crank was OK. The grooves are only on the sides and not all the way around but still I know they shouldn't be there. I let the crank polish slide but I'm going to have to get my money back on this one. Enough complaining and on to my question and maybe I'm ignorant but I couldn't find a clear answer by searching - most of the relateds posts were in reference to forged turbo or way overbored stuff like using the 240 sx pistons. I'm guessing it'll now have to be bored over which means I'll need new pistons - double So where can I get pistons that are reliable yet low cost. I wasn't figuring the cost of boring and new pistons (let alone the grinding the crank) so this is killing me. It's N/A with moderate (F54 / shaved P79) compression so I don't need anything really more than factory stregth I dont think. Thanks Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I think vic. british caries oversized piston/ring kits; standard, .020", .030" and .040" oversize. They come in a "set" (pistons and all required rings) and from what I'm reading, (04' fall edition cataloge) your're looking at around $229 tops.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Anyone know anything about these VB pistons - I'm assuming their generic knock-off given the price? Is there any other sources for quality pistons or should I just pony up the $300 for a set of Nissan ones from courtesy nissan? Also, Nissan rings ($120), Hastings rings (standard - $74), or Hastings w/ Chrome top ring ($120)? In reading old posts it seems Chrome rings are preferred but in reading the Hastings site (http://www.hastingsmfg.com/Service%20Tips/ring_set_composition_recommendat.htm) I'm not so sure it really gets you anything? Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Is there something special about this engine? Have you considered just getting a different engine? Probably a hell of a lot cheaper then what you're setting yourself up for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I'm getting my engine re-built, but am lucky in that my pistons are good, as well as the bores. My builder is going to buy new rings and hone the block. I have to call him tomorrow and see if he got pricing yet, and I can ask him where and how much he's getting the stuf from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Is there something special about this engine? Have you considered just getting a different engine? Probably a hell of a lot cheaper then what you're setting yourself up for. I had no intentions of even touching the motor - there's nothing special about it - F54 / P79 w/ mild cam, shaved head, etc. I really wanted a turbo someday but this would due for now as I didn't want to spend significant money on the engine right now (big sigh). It started as 'needing a tune-up' so I rebuild the carbs (tripple Mikuni's) in which I realized I needed new jets so ~$250 (going from memory here) later the carbs were done. It still wasn't right and I could see a lot of carbon build-up on top of the intake valves ... so I'll just do the head which was ~$120 for machine work and valve seals (excluding the die grinder and porting kit). Well I knew even though the compression was good that there was a lot of blowby around the rings ... so while the head was off I would hone it and put new rings - hoping to be done for ~$500. Well in taking the pistons out I discovered that the rings were all broken and the bearings were trashed ... so $266 in half-assed worthless machine work later I discovered that the crank was undersized and the bores were oversized / out of round. So now the crank is being ground under this week for another $120 (at a different machine shop) and the block has been riding around in my car all week because I have not had time to go back to the first machine shop and ask for my money back for their crappy work. So another ~$90 for gaskets, I'm guessing ~$100 for bearings, $74-120 for rings = I'm sunk for $1066 not including boring and new pistons which would be another ~$430. So assuming that I can find another block locally that I know doesn't need bored out (big assumption around here) it would still take ~$100 to clean / hone it. So the question begs can I find an engine locally for less than $300 that I somehow know is good or do I just continue on down the crappy irritating depressing path I'm already on? This sucks! Moral of the story boys and girls - before you do anything first decide what exactly you want because things spiral real fast. In the end it looks I will be down $1500 (most of my car budget for the year) just to get the stupid friggin engine right - and that's not even upgrading anything or adding air filters which I need to do. I could have had a turbo swap complete and been happy for much less had I realized up front what I was getting into. This is suppose to be my toy but right now I'm just completely fed up! Sorry for the rant. Thanks datsunlover - let me know what he says. Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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