I will update after some miles.
I have poly mounts on my GTI and NVH isnt bad so street driving should still be pretty tolerable.
Good info on that trans mount, Im sure Ill do that at some point. So far the shifter has felt pretty good though so havnt felt the need quite yet.
Ill find myself after asking "why didnt I do this sooner?!"

 

its been a bit of a waiting game lately but I did get a call from the machine shop last Friday. he said they should be done this week!
in the mean times Ive just been cleaning up all the little bits and bobs.
red scuff pad to get all the oxidized scale off everything and a coat of por15 on the accessory brackets.
its not perfect but everything looks way better than where it started.

 

I got the heads back on Friday from the machine shop. new cams fitted for valve clearance. the guy at the machine shop said he had to take about .002 off the valve stems to keep them the same height as the stock ones, I kinda wish he didnt since my clearances are all about .1-.2mm over spec.
I still have to check to see which lifters Im able to move around so I can order what I need.

 

Didn't the machinist check the lifter buckets over before shaving the valve stems? Did he re-install the valves + cams or did you do it? Doesn't look like put the heads in a parts washer.
Also, get any shots of the valve seats and mating surface after the work?
Cheers!
-Icer

 

unfortunately I did not get any photos. I installed the cams and buckets after getting the heads back since they said they tend not to mess with solid lifters due to how tedious they tend to be.
I understand not wanting to to mess with the, since its just one guy whos got some miles on him. I really didnt mind doing that myself and plus just more of me getting to do what I enjoy doing
the way he explained the process what he would take the stock valves in their original location and measure the stem height. then cut the new valves to match the stock stem height.
sounded simple enough and with this guys magic math I didnt really question it.
on the bright side I know all the sizes I need are available and I will be able to reused some of the old buckets just moving them to a new location.

 

Just got done going through my list of buckets to see what i can reuse.
Of 24. I can reuse 6 of them..
At ~$55 each. Talk about hidden fees.

 

Yeah, it gets expensive quick. Try reaching out to @bre240z he purchased a bunch of different sizes on ebay last year to adjust a ticking valve. He may have some you could use.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

How much did the machinist end up shaving off the heads? Also, I didn't catch this earlier, but are you replacing all your OEM valves with aftermarket?
Cheers!
-Icer

 

thanks for the tip! Ill have to check into this

Im not sure how much he shaved off the head surface. they were already pretty straight, just needed some of the stubborn head gasket material trimmed off.
I bought Ferra valves but he reused the stock exhaust valves due to the stem thickness towards the head of the valve thickens up. still shaved of a little to compensate for the valve seat being cut. he didnt elaborate much just that he shaved up to a "couple thousandths" off the ends of some of them.

 

Im putting in a parts order so I have everything to button up putting the engine back together and I cannot seem to find this vacuum hose I colored red to remind me to replace it. does anybody know what this is called or know the part number?

 

Hey Bologna,

That hose is listed under the "Engine Electrical - Engine Control Vacuum Piping" section for most online Nissan Parts sites (like Nissan Parts Deal). It's listed as "discontinued" but that might only be a Nissan North America thing. Why did they file it under engine electrical? I have no idea, since it's part of the Evap system, you would think it would be under the fuel & exhaust section.
Here's the full description and P/N: Nissan 14912-CD700 Evap Control Hose.

14912MB in the diagram:




I checked amayama.com and they have it listed as available if you're willing to order from Japan (reasonable price at around $20.00 with international shipping).
Cheers!
-Icer

 

a little update on the engine build. I sourced all the lifter buckets needed so now with camshaft clearance in spec Ive been slowly working on getting everything back together with the rest of life going on as well. Badlands Region autoX posted an upcoming event I dont think Ill be able to make mid May since I still have to install the engine into the car and get everything running and tuned properly. the GTI Im pretty sure also blew a turbo so cant even use as a back up. so here is my progress over the last month and some change.


timed and rotating nicely. no matter how many times I check, this part always makes me nervous. lol


I decided since the water pipes and crank pulley were in pretty rough shape finish wise I coated them with por15. looks so much better.

routing the wire harness now, much of the loom was old and brittle, had a spot that was close to the exhaust and melted as well so getting that all cleaned up. Im glad I decided to open up pretty much the entire engine harness, I found 5 wires with open spots in their coatings and a few had corrosion. much easier to take care of it now than when it turns into an electrical goose chase later in the car.
I had to order a few connectors that I found broken as well but Im pretty much ready to put everything back into the car.

 

Awesome progress dude!

Do yourself a favor while you have everything out/exposed. Do the "idler pulley delete" mod. Late model 06s have this done from the factory, but the early production 2006s and all of the 03-05s still had the useless idler pulley (sits between PS pump and crank). It's just a big hunk of weight that you don't need and spinning that extra pulley does rob a tiny bit of power. It's a super quick/easy delete. Simply unbolt the old pulley, add the spacer between block and PS pump bracket, and replace the old belt with the updated shorter belt. Some guys have even "chopped" off the ear of the idler pulley bracket to save money on the spacer, I mean, why not? No one is ever going to need/want that idler bracket.

Why did Nissan include this useless pulley? I think on some VQ35DE Infiniti/Nissan platforms, this pulley was used to drive a fan clutch, so they simply left it in place without the fan and then later on they removed it altogether. Btw, your coolant hard pipes and crank look much better! I've been thinking about having my passenger side coolant hard pipe (upper rad hose pipe) cleaned up and then nickel plated to prevent corrosion since these not only rust on the outside, but also the inside. Nickel plating would help cure this without having adverse reactions to the aluminum in the coolant loop. My buddy did this on his Z32 coolant hard pipe, it came out great and didn't cost much.

Cheers!
-Icer

 

thanks for the info! I might as well delete it and the belt is about due anyway.
Im really happy with how the pipes turned out. por15 dries pretty hard and glossy so Im expecting it to hold up well over time.
the hose fittings did all have a little rust build up I was able to sandblast away. fingers crossed they dont leak after all is said and done.

 

Did those buckets I sent you end up working out for you?