e30cabrio

iTrader: (30)

Very nice build! Have fun!

THIRZTY

The FSM pretty much shows you everything... some other engine assembly knowledge is helpful. When you put different rods and pistons in an engine, the rotating assembly needs to be balanced again... especially if you go for big power. Work with a local machine shop that knows nissan engines. I know how to assemble a bottom end... but I let the machine shop do it on my build. When adding non-stock parts sometimes tolerances need adjustments and you'll save yourself multiple assemble/dis-assemble and trips back to the machine shop. Which is exactly what happened with my engine... my rods needed some extra machine work to have proper bearing tolerances.

Cracka350

iTrader: (1)

Looks great! Wondering what your budget looked like for the project.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

agreed - a good understanding of the factory service manual and some essential engine building knowledge. I appreciate that the OP did a ball-hone and new rings? If I had my rebuild over, I'd done this just to freshen things up - it means going through an engine break-in period but it's not the end of the world.

after I spun my bearing, I re-balanced my (replacement) crank with the new bearings, same pistons, and big-end honed/bored same rods (I had them bored out to the top of Nissan's spec for extra oil clearance). I think it's pretty standard to rebalance if you replace any components.

My bottom end reassembly wasn't bad - I used a stain-gauge to torque my rod-bolts, lube everything really well, check, double check, don't be in a hurry...

another general lesson (I picked up on) is have everything hot-bathed and/or cleaned (especially after a spun bearing!)…



probably in the $2.5k to $3k range … Z1 makes the engine rebuild kits which are perfect for a home/shop rebuild. Me, personally, not a fan of Eagle rods for big/bigger FI builds but you can swap those out!