Senior Project.

[theianmonster]

I'm a senior in high school this year and I have to do a project to graduate. I was going to buy some beater and do body work, but they said it has to be something new, and I already did the bodywork on my 240. So, I was looking at the possibility rebuilding a motor. How "easy" is it to rebuild and upgrade an L-series? Or do you guys have any other suggestions for a car-related project.

Thanks,

Ian.

[jmanz6]

Custom EFI, turbo and supercharged, custom intake, hand built stainless turbo header, polished everything. That would get a passing grade. Now to get sponsors to pay for it...

[theianmonster]

I wish. *drool*.

[zack_280]

It depends on what you want to do. But the basics are pretty easy. I have a 2.8L block with an E31 head. You could do the something similar and add a few power increasing items without having to spend too much money. You could port and polish the head, modify your SUs and intake to breathe better and enlarge the valves on the E31 (or E88). Just be careful as the valves can interfere with the block. If you can do most of the assembly yourself, you could get by fairly cheap.

[theianmonster]

Alright, thanks zack.

[Pir0San]

rebuilding an engine isn't too hard to do. You just have to be careful and do everything right the first time. Parts are cheap, I'm looking at around $241 for all of my parts, but of course I'm reusing my crank, pistons, and rods. The $241 includes main bearings, rod bearings, piston rings, all gaskets, and freeze plugs.

The machine work will probably be the most important, because if it is not done correctly, the engine will have low compression and burn oil. Make sure that you get the cylinders honed by the machine shop, don't try using a ball hone. The ball hones just follow the already made "grooves" in the cylinder walls, so therefore would not truly seat and seal the rings like new. If you choose to go with chrome rings over the standard iron, make sure that the machine shop is aware, and uses the correct honing technique for said rings. You may also want to have your crank micropolished as well, to get rid of any impurities or oil deposits on the crank.

Make sure you also measure all clearances for wear, such as your "big end gap" (I believe it is called) on your crankshaft, piston ring clearances, and the gap between each of the end caps on the crank and the crank itself.

As for redoing your head, expect a competent machine shop to charge somewhere around the $300 range for most machine work, and that usually doesn't include cost of valves and such.

Good luck!

[Go240Zags]

I'm a senior in high school this year and I have to do a project to graduate. I was going to buy some beater and do body work, but they said it has to be something new, and I already did the bodywork on my 240. So, I was looking at the possibility rebuilding a motor. How "easy" is it to rebuild and upgrade an L-series? Or do you guys have any other suggestions for a car-related project.

Thanks,

Ian.

Ian, I have an L28 out of a 280Z someone gave me that you are welcome to have. It is just taking up space in my garage right now. However, I am in Eastern Wash. I might be heading to Seattle around Halloween (if tradition holds) and could get it to you that way if that's not too late to start your project. I have no idea about what shape the engine is in -- it is pretty much bare -- no efi or carbs. It looks like it could definately use rebuilding.