Av8ferg

So, I measured my ring gaps yesterday and they are a little bigger than the FSM published. Book recommends .0098 to .0157 with a wear limit of .0394. The How to Rebuild books recommends .012 to .017. These are for the compression ring. See pics of pages in pubs. My ring gap at the top, 3/4” down the bore was .019 on two rings and .018 on the rest. I the grabbed my old rings to see where they were. .021 to .022. So my ring gap is bigger than the FSM and rebuild book. Is this a concern? I think no, but I thought I get a consensus. Questions: 1. Is my Ring gap okay? 2. the rebuild book says to look for a “pip” or dot marking on the ring and make sure it’s facing up. I don’t have a dot but have and “S” on mine. I’m assuming this is a “pip” Mark. Even the instruction that came with the stock Nissan standard rings mention a dot mark but it’s not on the rings. See pics. 3. Back to crankshaft bearings. When reading the FSM last night about ring install I saw this paragraph about crank bearings. It says bearing #4 is different (plainly obvious, it’s flanged) and all the rest are the same and then the next sentence says 1 and 7 are the same. Are they same as 2,3,5,6 too? I did notice that when I installed my bearings #1 seemed a more little narrow compared to the flange it lays in. I’m wondering if I mixed up #1 with another 2,3,5 or 6 bearing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting. Thanks for looking that up. I blasted the assemblies with carb cleaner after to remove all the purple power so hopefully that’s sufficient to purge it all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Purple Power is bad a$$ stuff. Finally all the pistons are totally clean, and all look immaculate. Got my scale and started weighing each whole assembly minus the rings and bearings. The lowest is 1273.6g and the heaviest is 1279.3g (off of memory). All the others are between those. I’ll post the weights when I get back to the garage later tonight. I also weighed the rod ends alone (without bolts). It appears Nissan has already tried to match the lighter rods with heavier ends. Average rod end is around 173.3g. One is 179.2 grams and it’s already on the lightest assembly. The bottom line is I have a 5g delta between my heaviest and lightest assembly. That is equivalent to 2 pennies. Not sure is the worth trying to match them up. It’s a stock motor and it was good enough for Nissan. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My rings grooves are looking good now. Needed a light brush up with a brass brush to get the hardened stuff totally out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, as you guys know I’ve been cleaning pistons all week. Like many of you, I have a case of OCD and I cannot let things not just okay. I know it’s not necessary to clean the underside of the pistons immaculately but I couldn’t leave them nasty looking. It would bother me to leave them like that. Like when Steve Jobs asked his engineers when looking at the iPhone prototype he asked what the screws were made of. When they told him normal steel he wasn’t happy and wanted them to be stainless steel. They said “no one will ever know and it would be more expensive”. He responded “ I don’t care...I will know” That’s the story I was told not sure if it factual but it makes my point. So I’ve been cleaning the inside of the pistons...if you think the top is hard it’s worse under due to tight crannies and grooves. I’ve experimented with a lot of products this week. Here’s my rating on their ability to remove carbon residue. Scale is 1-10. 10 is best (this isn’t Asia where #1 is best) WD-40 = 5/10 Acetone = 6/10 Mineral Spirits = 2/10 Sea foam 2/10 Carb Cleaner 8/10 Purple Power 9/10 I had a bottle of purple power on my shelf already. Said, what the heck let me try it. Sprayed it on the underside of the piston and walked away for 10 mins. Came back and there was a black puddle under the piston. This stuff is amazing. No scrubbing, no wire brush or scotch brite. Wipe clean with a shop towel and hit with a blast of carb cleaner and....boom spotless!!! Check it out below. 10 min soak and 5 min to wipe clean and hit with carb cleaner . Unbelievable!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just ordered a scale with a .1g accuracy on Amazon for $16.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07MP1Y746?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image Don’t think I’ll be able to trim the skinny end of the rods while attached so whatever differences I find will come off the caps I guess. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, now I feel compelled to weigh my assemblies and see where they are. Ordering a scale from Amazon now that is accurate within .5 grams. Home Built By Jeff posted a video of him balancing his pistons assemblies. He did it with pistons connected to rods. Down the rabbit hole I go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks guys. Moving forward! So, I’ve read about people weighing the piston assemblies but don’t have the details or what the benefits are. Smother running engine? I guess you find the lightest assembly and find a place to remove material from the others the get close to the lightest? I don’t want to remove the rod from the piston because I don’t have the tools to properly set the pin back in, so not sure if you have to do that. Didn’t really follow railroad tie process you mentioned Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey, spent most to the morning yesterday cleaning the carbon off my pistons so I could get them installed this week. Technique was to use WD-40 and a scotch brite pad. Also let them soak in and acetone ATF brew for about an hour each. Final clean up with brake cleaner. Used the old rings to lightly scrape out carbon from ring grooves. So during cleaning and with my 8x googles on I notice a few pistons with very minor nicks. Not sure the mechanism other than I know at least 2 feel out of the block when I removed them. Anyway, I think they’re cosmetic and don’t think they compromise the integrity of the piston but I thought I’d post and see what you guys think. See my video below. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pull the oil pump and get the spindle in correctly. It’s a little of a pain the the butt but I agree that you are probably off one tooth. Fix the known problems first and let’s work from there. Get that set up right and then let’s pick this problem up from there. Also you can buy inexpensive Cam sprocket on interweb for about $20. I need to look back on our previous discussion we had a few weeks back but I think ITM has the V-Notch. Do you have your old sprocket? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We have created a generation of kids that are addicted to social media, have no real skills and expect everything to be both easy and free. We will pay as a society for this. My kids don’t have phones but all their friends do. I don’t know who said this but I like it. “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” We are creating weak men in my opinion. When I was a kid both my Grandfather and Father could fix and build anything and worked their tails off to provide for their families. People today are generally helpless, lazy and at the same time arrogant. Sorry for the rant! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So the machinist said he likes to see .005”. The indicator worked great. I caught my 12 yr old son treating it like a pogo stick and gave him an earful. He was the cameraman on the video. He has zero interest in cars. I’m tying to get him to be interested in something other that anything attached to a screen. He thinks the Datsun is really cool but he has no interest in helping me fix it up. I told him when I’m pushing up daisies it will be your car. When I first showed him the car It time he asked where the infotainment system was. Oh....geez! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We dumped Amazon but our planes are still packed to the seams. Once they started their own airline they became a competitor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Books says .002” to .007”. I don’t understand the second part where is says limit is .012”. I guess normal is .002-.007. After .012 you have a problem? Mine is .003”, on the tighter side but in the limit. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay, I finally got around to measuring the endplay of my crankshaft. Work has been crazy busy but I got sometime today in the garage. This is the first time doing this so I hope I did it correctly. I’m measuring .003” of endplay on this crank. After that I pushed the crank as forward as possible and then torqued the main caps down to 35 ft/lbs. I made a video measuring the endplay. If you see something wrong let me know. I’m hoping to get the pistons installed next week. Goal is to have the motor finished before Santa arrives. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dave, what made you dig into this issue.? Were you experiencing and rough idle post warm up? I know a guy that frequents JYs I’m sure he can acquire a few of them for the team. I’m headed to one this weekend to pick up a ZX distributor for $30. I’ll be on the look out for a 90’s Pathfinder. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perfect, I was hoping he wasn’t like this guy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You guys will be humming down the road and with my luck my engine will blow up 1/2 way there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep! I’m in debt at ZCON for an undisclosed amount of beer though. I’m hoping he’s a lightweight Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not yet, but I will before I move forward. I’ve been gone a lot for work lately. Dial Indicator on it way thanks to one of our favorite members CO who offered me one of his extras.

P-series are Tri-metal bearings. They have a steel backing, copper middle and aluminum surface. They are capable of handling a higher RPM than the A-series and are better on performance engines I’ve read. The A series are all aluminum. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dave, I put the old sprocket on and spun the cam about a 1/2 turn to try and stop any of valves from protruding past the deck. Good idea with the sprocket but I could also check the timing position using the old sprocket and then once set put the new one on in the same hole. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Head is finally in my garage and looks pretty good. $300 for all the work. Cleaned, replaced valve seat, and complete valve job. I just wish I had time to put this engine back together. Side notes. This is double confirmation that the OSK timing chain kit doesn’t have the V-notch on the sprocket. Was $68 on EBay. Nice kit IMHO. Rod bearings arrived too. I purchased tri-metal standard bearings made by Taiho $38. Tried to buy the Clevite 77 P- series but they are no longer available anywhere in STD sizes for Rods. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow 32 yrs like a prison sentence. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Cliff....it was a honor to serve but don’t what to go back! 24 yrs was enough. I’m enjoying my new found freedom being a civilian. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk