quick question my350z, ive been searching many forums and looking at some ford/muscle car engine building tech forums for shortblock assembly. it seems pretty straight forward and kinda make me wanna learn how to build motors, (you gotta start some where right?) Furthermore i have my spare motor fully machined already with the rotating assembly balanced and rings installed on my pistons. Do you think someone such as i with no mechanic skills can build/assembly the shortblock by myself if i follow the nissan manual and these muscle car tech articles??? (i know not to attempt the longblock yet as installation of the heads, cams and timing can MAKE OR BREAK MY MOTOR.lol)

 

I would rather install heads on a block and cams over assembling the motor internals.

This is after working on cars for 9 years.

 

how hard is it to install the heads/cams on a pre-assemblied shortblock?

 

Outside the car? If you have the tools as simple as following a manual. What is your prior mechanical experience.

 

None of it is hard as long as you're careful. Bottom end, cams, heads, whatever, it's all just nuts and bolts.

 

prior mechincal experience: a lube tech, that can change oil, spark plugs, head light, exhaust, rotate and balance tires.lol but on a serious note im pretty smart academically and street wise.


BINGO, thats how i see it (mechanical engineering perspective lol).lol but i didnt want to get ahead of myself without asking the 350z community first. i couldnt imagine siting pistons in their correct cylinder and torqueing the rod caps, L19's, and installing the crank pulley being that hard. Especially with all the tech articles out and the nissan servie manual that actually tells you what to do. lol


i feel as if i can learn from this primarily and also save $$ vs me paying some engine builder with mininum expericence building the VQ to build my motor when all they gonna do is just follwo the nissan manual. lol

 

+1

After multiple head/cam swaps on SOHC Mustangs, LS1/LS2s... I still wouldn't touch the bottom ends.

Good luck!

 

wow.lol okay is the timing chain and head installation to a preassembled shortblock easy?? would you reccomend me just do that and pay to have to shortblock assembled?

 

If you mean specifically on a VQ? I don't know. Somebody else who has done it before will probably chime in with specifics. On other cars it required removal of the oil pan, which was messy but definitely doable. The hardest part was lining up the timing chain correctly. Tedious wrenching, but not brain surgery.

edit:
I forgot that you are just putting it together, disregard the oil pan part.

 

Do it, its very easy. There is a build up thread somewhere in here. I think DIY section. If everything is already machined, balanced, etc. You've gotten the hard part out of the way.

 

there are things that mechanics know to do and not to do... which is your downfall. So you will have to carefully rely on others words and readings. Find a FSM and follow it to a T. If you mess up than you learn from your mistakes.

 

i say GO FOR IT! you'll need some precision measurement tools for checking journals and bores....and for all sorts of clearances. Your best bet will be to use the tolerances listed in the FSM. Professional engine builders end up with their own set of tolerances and clearances that they prefer, but you'll be hard pressed to get "their" numbers.

other tools you should have are a very good (accurate) torque wrench. also a rod bolt stretch gauge is preferred, but alot of people don't use them. feeler gauges....you'll definately need those and some plastigage as a backup.

Go for it. take it slowly , and you'll learn ALOT.

 

Take lots of pics in between and dump them here.

 

Your best bet would be to have a good machine shop assemble the bottom end. They will know how to cage the bearings and set the ring gaps. From there you should be able to finish the rest of the assembly. Besides the tools that quadcam said don't forget the service manual for all the torque specs. Good luck!

 

I did it with two rebuilds under my belt (Honda/Acura). However I'm going to have to go back in and fix something ring or block clearence related (consuming oil). It wasn't hard but mistakes are easily missed and the time it takes to fix is extensive. So be warned. Aside from that, if you can follow directions and you're detail oriented you should be able to do it.

 

One more thing... the M6 or 10mm bolts are ULTRA torque sensitive. I stripped/broke a couple cast aluminium pieces that I had to replace/re-tap. Use a good torque wrench.

 

honestly man, if you are asking all these questions you should stay away from the bottom end. Have someone that has experience take care of it for you

 

Def what he said.

 

thanks guys for all your help. i downloaded the FSM, and im going 1 step at a time.lol its seems like from asking you guys about 50% say do it! and the other 50% are like let the machinst do the bottom end. Im most definately probably gonna do a mixture of both. i having my machinst measure ALL CRITICAL MEASUREMENTS like the bearing clearances, ring gap, etc. i really just want to do the whole wrenching thing and get a feel for where everything goes. like me i know theres over 50% of members on this forum who actually want to know how their 500+ whp daily driven car actually works vs them going to forged/gtm/aam(insert your favorite shop here. lol) and just paying high prices for work that they have no idea on.

 

With minimal mechanical experience. I vote no. There is generally too much at stake and it can get VERY expensive if you suffer a failure. Get the short block assembled. The rest you CAN DO by following the manual. Just my .02
and over $12K in rebuilds...(probably more)...