New Engine Build - Death to 10:1

[Blackmount]

subbed

[CoreyB]

Yeah, trying to stay on a decent budget with this build, hence no forged pistons. Probably just shoot for low - mid 400hp and be happy. Just got to figure out which TD04 turbo I want to use. I want to find something that would be a good match for my goals and not break my wallet "No Billet's"

You have the same goal as me pretty much. Right now I am just making sure the whole car, suspension, Engine and drive line is solid. Then I will start adding supporting mods, then get turbos. I want ~450 AWHP eventually. On my short list is 15Gs, 13Ts, 19Ts and DR650s.

[DrGonzo]

Just finished install of Gates Kevlar belt and BLE solid tensioner. Engine still on stand, waiting for some final bits and pieces. How do you plan to set the tension on the timing belt? I set it to 3/16" deflection of the belt in the middle of the run from the tensioner pulley to the front bank exhaust cam sprocket. Reason I ask is I can't find anything from BLE.

I have no clue at this point. I was just going to get a hold of Chris when that time comes. He has been helping me out a lot with this as I have never done a bottom end build before.

You have the same goal as me pretty much. Right now I am just making sure the whole car, suspension, Engine and drive line is solid. Then I will start adding supporting mods, then get turbos. I want ~450 AWHP eventually. On my short list is 15Gs, 13Ts, 19Ts and DR650s.

Yeah I have a few suspension things to address and need to get the transfer case looked at also. Once the engine is built I will run it with my 9b's to break it in and save up for the bigger turbo's.

[DrGonzo]

I got the heads back from the machine shop today. No work done to them really just cleaning and checking. This weekend I'll be lapping the valves and getting the heads re-assembled. OEM parts I ordered from Ninja Performance should be here tomorrow which are the last small pieces that I need before doing the lower assembly. Going to be a busy weekend!!!

[DrGonzo]

I got parts in on Friday/Saturday!!

Picked up a new oil pan from 3sx as I couldn't pass it up for $20.00. This is one of the pans that may have issues with the holes no drilled right or the seam leaking. Nothing about 20 min can't check and fix. Saving of $140.00, I think so!



I also got my parts in from Ninja Performance. New Oil Squirters for the block along with new oil galley plugs.



Went out and got the new oil squirters pressed in and the crank fully installed. Now I can work on getting the pistons/rods installed.



I also got new Sealed Power brass freeze plugs installed too!! Brass looks good against the blue block "Sorry no good photos"

Then I now wanted to double check the calculated oil clearances on the journals with the plasti gauge. I went and checked all of the pistons and they were right at .002" or a tad lower ".0019".



I then went on to gapping the rings. I got a set of Sealed Power rings from Rock Auto. For the most part they were all in spec and only a couple had to be filed down.



With everything else done I was finally able to start installing the pistons. The ring compressor I got was a pain in the ass to use. It kept slipping and I had a hard time keeping it level with the block so a ring did not slip out. The first piston took me about 20 min to get it in.....



After that I figured out some tricks on holding and positioning the compressor that made it go much smoother.

Front Bank:



All installed and torqued:



All pistons installed and torqued down:




Now after all that I went over the manual and the Sealed power ring docs and found that I mis-read the damn Sealed power ring document!! The doc made it look as though the oil ring gaps needed to be right in line with each other, not opposite sides like I was used to. Reading over it again it made sense and the image they had was just drawn really badly. So I had to pull all of the pistons out to get the grooves all correct.

Now that the lower end is complete for now. I started working on the heads. Last night I started lapping the valves. Now these heads have been apart for over a year now sitting wrapped up in my shed. I started to lap an exhaust valve and it just wasn't coming out right. so I'm thinking I got the valves out of order so I tried the opposite valve on the valve holding rack..... Nope same thing! Scratching my head for a couple min I realized what the problem was! I was trying to lap an exhaust valve into the intake side.....LMAO Luckily I was correctable! I got the first piston side valve bank done last night and will be working on the rest this week. I'm going old school using the hand lapping tool so it will take a little time. This is my first time doing this so I don't want to mess anything up "More than I almost did already!"

[CoreyB]

Thanks for the progress report, looking great!!!

[green-lantern]

Pretty cool Greg, you are saving a bunch more than I did with the engine. I was like you when I did my AWD conversion though. I gathered parts for about 2 years. I didn't have much money in that at all. Lots of freaking work though.

I hope to see it at BRG and NG this year.

[Bloodlust182]

Your block color combination reminds me of http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...tramarines.jpg

[DrGonzo]

So couple more updates on the project. Things are starting to slow down bit. Not too much to work on now as I need to save up to get parts like head gaskets, oil pump and timing components. Plus there are a bunch of small odd parts I am having to track down. since this was not a full engine when I got it, just a block, I have to track down all of the odds and ends to get it back to a full long block.

The block for the most part is complete now and wrapped up until I get the head gaskets. I'm going to use the Felpro Permatorque MLS head gaskets. I have used them before and they are just as good as OEM. Their sealing bead I believe is much better than the OEM one at preventing leaks and they seem to be more resilient at sealing imperfections unlike OEM which need a perfect finish.

I sprayed the heads with a fresh coat of engine paint to clean them up. I love how the silver came out!!



Started to reassemble the heads. When lapping the valves on the other head I found that two intake valves were bent and that I was missing 4 valve keepers...... IDK how I mis-placed them! I had everything bagged up when disassembled. I got ahold of Chris with Ninja Performance and a couple days later had all the parts I needed to finish the assembly!!

I hate this home-made install tool but it gets the job done. I built this things years ago and it has yet to fail me!!



Heads with valves all installed. I have a set of 3rd gen lifters that will be going into them later on down the road. For now the heads are complete just waiting to be mated up to the block.




I made my first mistake the other day regarding the rear main. I got a used housing for $5.00, ordered the Felpro seal kit, went to test fit the rear main housing to find out it was the wrong one. I didn't know the 1st gens had a different housing then the 2nd gen TT's..... I thought they would be different for the 4 bolt blocks but seems they are different for the 2 bolt blocks also... So I got Hans with GZP hooking me up with a used housing I can swap my seal kit into.

I have some more used parts on the way and should be here by this Friday.

I'll probably work on getting the 3sx oil pan ready to be mounted. I need to check/re-drill holes and make sure the pan is sealed completely.

So this may be the last of the updates for a little bit till I can get parts back into finish things up. First week of next month I should have the Head gaskets on order and possibly the rest of the parts to button up the lower end. I want to get the pan installed ASAP to keep the contaminates out of the lower end.

[DrGonzo]

ok Lots of updates for this project:

I got the gasket set in from RockAuto. Complete Felpro Upper gasket set for $165 shipped including head gaskets.




Here are the headgaskets Felpro Permatorque MLS. Yes they are not OEM, get over it!




New OEM Oil pump, strainer and gaskets from Chris @ ninjaperformance.com



Heads finally being mated to the block!


Front Head Installed


Gates water pump and New OEM oil pump installed. Ignore the tensioner, it is just there for reference and bolt placement. I'm going with a Ninja Solid tensioner and Gates Kevlar belt as soon as they get back in stock.


Brand new Knock sensor installed and rear head gettign ready to be attached.


Both heads no in place, this engine is getting big on me fast. the room I am working in is only about 6x6 and about 2' of that is my tool box on one side, and the parts shelving on the other. I just hope I can get the thing out the door.....


Another shot of the knock sensor and the new water pump and water pipe.


Oil pump and strainer installed.


Rear main installed. Big shout out to Hans for helping me track down the correct housing. I got a used rear main housing as I was going to press in a new seal. the housing I got was the wrong one. So I got a hold of Hans to send me the correct one, Well I ended up telling him to send me the one I already had..... He was great in letting me send it back for the correct one.



At this point I am working on getting about 50lbs of bolts and spare parts cleaned and blasted to be sent off for plating. It is a long process but I'm getting there. Hopefully next weekend I will have the cams installed then just waiting on the timing components to get into stock.