My Engine Build

[Ben's Z]

More bad news: Got my empty head from some guy in San Antonio. Called the machine shop, it was warped something fierce. They shaved it some but said it needs as much as .040 taken off. They were going to heat it up and bolt it down over the weekend to try to straighten it. Not sure what this would do to my C.R. trying to add boost with the stock Tandy 1000 ECU? Going to paint my block this week.

Got rings, bearings, gaskets and seals and some other ancillaries on the way for the short block.

The set backs are wearing me down financially but more so mentally.

[grannyknot]

Ben, hope you didn't pay too much for it. I know you're down now but it will get better. I have never re-built a Z engine yet but have done lots of other sixes and v8's. When you build your own you take on all the jobs, stress and ripoffs that the engine builder normally takes on. You are still saving lots of money as long as you truly know what you are getting into !

Think of yourself as a private contractor, you are jobbing out the stuff that you can't do, valve guides, honing, boring,

shaving. BUT you must know what needs to be done, no one else is seeing the engine through to the end product but you.

Starting the engine up for the first time is an exciting experience but you have to have done your homework.

Good luck, I'm looking forward to this build!

Chris

[240260280z]

Use ospho or any other phosphoric acid on the external block rust, wash off after 24hrs with a mild solvent then paint with engine block paint.

it is good to get an off-the shelf paint so that you can tough-up years down the road. Do not por the block

[Ben's Z]

Called the machine shop, head has been true'd. Looking for 1 intake valve that was bad (interesting). Picking up my rings, bearings, and gasket kit on Thursday hopefully. ZCurves loaned me his "How to Rebuild your Nissan & Datsun OHC Engine" book, have been skimming through that. I am sure it is in there but can anyone tell me of the little notches on the tops of the piston go towards the front or the rear of the engine?

[Ben's Z]

Use ospho or any other phosphoric acid on the external block rust, wash off after 24hrs with a mild solvent then paint with engine block paint.

it is good to get an off-the shelf paint so that you can tough-up years down the road. Do not por the block

I have a little flash rust on the casting. A friend gave me some two part epoxy primer that I am going to lay down with the gun first and then paint with VHT satin black engine paint. I will post some before and after shots.

[EuroDat]

If you are thinking of going original colour, you might want to investigate http://www.datsunparts.com/1255

Good luck with the rebuild. We all go through hard patches when restoring:cry:

I bought a maxima tranny and it was worse then what i already had. 5th gear was stuffed. Im afraid thats the risks you take.

Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

[Ben's Z]

Did one final degrease wipe down, epoxy primed and painted the block tonight. I did tear off my tape after I took these pictures, and did miss one little spot on the casting because of tape application error. (DAMN!) I used a PPG epoxy primer, hopefully this will bond well with the multi substrate, i.e. old paint and bare metal. I used VHT engine paint in GM satin black. I think this will look very subtle with the cast aluminum head and when I refinish the turbo valve cover with the wrinkle paint. Sort of wish the engine shop would have put in brass freeze plugs, but such is life. I have not made up my mind up yet on whether to paint the intake or media blast it clean and maybe just clear coat the bare aluminum. The VHT can said to paint below 60% humidity (!) Good luck with that Mr. Paint Manufacturer in Houston between April and ? Well enough with the BS, here is the Intro of a 25 chapter book.

[Ben's Z]

No turning back now.:stupid: If I can get done doing crap around the house I am going to start scuffing the engine bay, removing rust where I can, and POR 15'ing where I can't.

I want to have the car running again by Thanksgiving, one can only hope.

[ZCurves]

You missed a spot...right ...there..

Looks like licorice. It will look great inside the clean, repainted engine compartment.

[ZCurves]

Ben, get out of the habit of laying parts/tools on the fender! You're making dings, dents and waves that will have to be dealt with as part of your paint project!!

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Man, you read my mind! I was just looking in horror at those sockets on the fender.

If a hummingbird feather lands on fender it can dent.

[madkaw]

Black looks good on an engine and I did the por-15 paint-no regrets-EXCEPT, when you have any oil leaks, it's much harder to see them or where they originate with a black engine. But you won't have any leaks;)

Looking good!