A little secret to installing rear side seals. Don't install them till the rear bearing cap is one inch from bottoming out. Then, install the side seals......push them all the way down till they bottom out, then torque the rear cap down.....it'll really pull the side seals all the way down so there is none sticking up to interfere with the oil pan installation.

It would be interesting to know know more about the ss valves.

Love the red.

looks great - you beat me to the punch on the red, as i have a can of POR classic ford red block paint waiting for my block to come back from the machine shop. we'll have to come up w/a secret handshake or something

this is all super info, as i'm literally on your heels by about a week so it's great to get these tips. so selfishly speaking, keep asking questions!

Well blue just don't cut it in a red engine compartment. Black is kind of dumb, especially when you start trying to find oil leaks. Red off the shelf actually matched really well to my car, so there it is.

 

The side seals; Guy, appreciate the tip, but the rear main is already bolted down and I don't own a puller, so it's a pain to pull back out. I've read numerous posts regarding these damn things and I have read no rtv, yes rtv, cap in place, cap not in place. I don't own the how to rebuild book, but i'm ordering it tonight!

 

I have time to sort this out because my head is on B.O. I guess.

Blue; I had SS valves in there before and I guess the machinist ordered SI valves to replace my old ones.

Just looked in the Rebuild Book and there is a section on placing the seals.  But it's part of the whole process of installing the crankshaft and caps.  So you won't be able to follow it precisely but it may give some ideas.

Well haven't much got further. Did have a very interesting talk/argument /verbal fight with my machinist. There shouldn't be this much drama in an engine build. Without detail I will say that I guestioned his work and business skills and his lack of effort to learn about this motor. He admitted to not swiping the valve side of the rocker during initial build of my motor. I am 99% sure he overbored my engine and probably didn't get the guide seals right either.

Lesson learned, if going with a performance build , find a knowledgeable builder. Also, read up and ask questions .moving on....

Went with genuine Nissan valves for the intakes. These are getting harder to come by and Courtesy went back order. Valves are not here yet , so making Zcon is looking dim.

I did order the rebuild book and it is a good reference. I think I will redo my side seals . I guess it's time to make a puller . I also found it interesting what the book said about polishing the crank in the area of the rear main seal- don't do it or it will leak. Had my crank polished , but don't know if the rear was polished or not. Now I will worry about it now. Never read about anyone else dealing with that issue.

Just not a good year for the Z

I just bought Nissan side seals last week, p/n 12289-W0400.  They were $3

The rear main is p/n 12279-2B500.  It was $28.

Local Nissan dealership got them both in a couple of days.

Tom Monroe's book tells how to get those rear caps off pretty easily with a bolt, a piece of wood and something to pry with.  When mine was on the engine stand it was simple, is your's in your car? 

 

I feel like pulling my hair out with my guy too but I've decided to drive my Camry to Memphis and take my time with the rebuild.  He's getting my block done and back to me "ess week sumtime" he says but the head is going to be awhile.  So I'll leave him alone, he seems kinda weird anyway.

seems kinda weird anyway.

 

 

 

Well that sums it up for me too

i made a puller to get rear caps off: grab a piece of steel angle, drill a hole in the middle, put wood blocks on either side and crank a bolt down into the cap - done in 10 min.

I like that idea - simple and fast.

Thanks

Some progress! I did wind up making a puller using an old main cap and some head bolts. Nothing fancy but it worked. I studied the "how to.." book and read some posts and redid the rear main seal. Thanks Jeff(dizeased) for all your helpful hints. I realize that previous installs were not quite right , so maybe thats why I was always fighting rear main leak. One thing that didn't done right before was getting the stakes all the way down. I made sure that happened this time.

 

My head should be done today, so this last week i have been prepping for it. I realized that I wasn't as organized as I thought. I started going thru all my hardware and next thing I know its 8 hours later . I want the head install to go smoothly and not stopped every hour to find a particular bolt.

I now have all accounted for and cleaned. I have my loctite standing by and my torque wrench. Everything is assembled as far as I can go with many bolts just screwed in place until final assembly. I am running out of time. 

 

The intake valves came from Courtesy. MSA also had them but almost 50% more expensive. But 14$ a valve for Nissan is still not bad. I will say MSA got some valves to me in 2 days to Indiana!  MSA didn't even realize they had the valves until I called. The guy went to the warehouse to check since the web site said they were out. They infact had 25 valves on hand. Strange to run a business that way.

The machinist is supposedly fitting the intakes and should have lash pad numbers for me to order-ASAP. I will at least get the head back to start assembly-I hope.

 

I assembled my Mikuni's and mounted them on my spare L28 motor. I plan to assemble the motor as complete as possible and then drop it in. I think I'm going to set the trans in place on a trans jack and just drop the motor by itself. I would really like to mount everything on this motor without leaning over a fender, that's the plan-subject to change