swapping / replacing engine - a checklist?

[dmoffitt]

I cross-posted this in the general Drivetrain forum:

swapping / replacing engine - a checklist?

OK so long story short my local dealer, Dorschel Nissan of Rochester NY is "sponsoring" my race efforts (going to be doing NASA PT / TT) and is helping me by swapping my blown engine out for the one I picked up from an SCCA T2 race team (not sure if they want attention but needless to say, great guys!).

So anyhow I asked the dealer to thoroughly check over both everything in/on my car as well as the engine but they ARE "just" a dealer, used to standard / factory parts and not the extreme level of detail needed to prep a race car. I told them to do the water pump and replace all of the accessory belts and to check/replace any sensors that came off my engine, as well as to thoroughly flush out and clean my oil cooler and lines to prevent any debris or blockage etc that resulted from the failure from damaging the new engine. Last but not least they're putting on the Rev-Up "lower air collector" or whatever it was called that differs from the 03 DE to that engine as the one I got has the RevUp cams (so that meant we're replacing all of the intake related gaskets).

So other than giving them a box of redline oil and some Water Wetter, is there anything ELSE that I should be telling them to do while we're at it??

[racerbob4]

You may want to do the oil cooler and lines yourself as you will probably do a more thorough job. You really dont want all those little metal filings in the new bearings. I suggest running thru a can or three of brake cleaner and hang it up to drain and dry. When you start running the engine put in regular oil so you can run it for 100 to 200 miles, and then put in the Red Line Oil. Pour the old oil out of the drain pan and see if there are any metal filings in the bottom. Good luck. BTW you saw the stock engine we have and its still for sale. Bob

[Rob Hines]

Not to contradict my dad, but I would throw away the oil lines/coolers rather than risking putting metal shards into the motor. The cost of the motor is too high compared with the cost of new oil lines and coolers. Also, the rings are seated, so you can go with synthetic right off the bat.

-Rob

[dmoffitt]

yeah I'd thought about tossing it (ebay with a "disclaimer") and getting the "t2" setup from Nissan Motorsports but this is practically the same thing AND the engine was shut off IMMEDIATELY (like within 25 feet of when it went / half a second maybe?)

I might just tell them to not hook it up for now and see how well I can clean it out.

[GrandAm350]

Dad is right. Sorry Rob. ;-) I found a place in LA that ultrasonicly cleans the radiator and pressure tests it for something like $125. Let me know if you want the name and I'll dig it up. They're the company all the west coast pro race teams use to clean out the radiators. A simple flush WILL NOT get all the metal out. You need to find a place that does ultrasonic cleaning.

[dmoffitt]

hm, I can probably re-sell it for 2-300 on ebay, get the new one at cost, not worth fighting with for a few hundred bucks tops you guys are killing me lol

[dmoffitt]

ok ... we're not hooking up the old cooler, I asked the tech to just remove it from the car, I'll decided later if I'm going to clean it or sell it - I just want to get this thing RUNNING before dicking around with those details, it's not that hard to add / do later...

EDIT: so should I also be super worried about my radiator?? I'd think it would be a LOT harder for metal to be suspended in coolant vs in oil, especially in THAT short of a time?

[dnguyent]

I also heard that you should throw away the cooler and lines if you blow your engine. A Mocal cooler and SS lines are relatively inexpensive if you buy them from BAT, Inc. (http://www.batinc.net/main.htm). I would think you can reuse the fittings (which are pretty expensive), and the sandwich plate.

BTW, dmoffitt...I see your posts on rennlist :-) They have quite a clique there, don't they? :-)

[mpowers]

All you need is cooler and lines, pic it up from summit racing, reuse the old fitting as they are not bad and you might be out 150 bucks at most.

[GrandAm350]

If the coolers are that cheap, replace them. When you go to the $1100 dual pass CR radiator with integrated heat exchanger, you ultrasonically clean it after the connecting rod bolt comes loose during qualifying!!!!

Rich

[dmoffitt]

^ yeah I'm a bigger fan of clean/fix/update than "toss and re-buy" if possible... I don't like being wasteful both environmentally (race cars are bad enough LOL) and fiscally.

I found a local guy who said his work will let him do it for me (all I gotta pay for is some of the fluid used) so we'll see how that goes.

[fcar]

imho, you should consider replacing the oil pump if nothing else. Personally, even tho I hate spending money, I really hate spending even more money redoing things because I or someone else tried to save some money by using used or possibly questionable parts. The really bad thing is that you won't find out until you're on the track--for some reason parts failure etc rarely occurs in the shop!

[dmoffitt]

its a whole long block, we aren't moving over parts like the oil pump ...

[dmoffitt]

its getting there, old engine is out, stuff is being / has been swapped over, new one should be in Wed: