Woo Hoo... Its out... I did it!!!

After a lot of frustration, headaches, bloody knuckles, and cursing at pieces of metal and the engineers who designed them... its out....

This was a great experience...hopefully when i put everything back together it works right hehe...

And yes... the engine can come out without removing the tranny... as already mentioned... here are some pics below...
The engine is on stands now and not on the engine stand itself.. i cant find my torx bolts to get the flywheel off so gotta wait till tomorrow...

Now that I should have some free time until my built engine comes in from SGP i can finally do some writeups... this was so much fun guys... i recommend anyone with the courage to do this to give it a try...BUT UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES... heck... I havent even ever changed my oil.... and i just removed a freaking engine... LOL.... Im gonna put up these 3 pics for tonight cause its late... but my folder has 130 photos in it so far... so ill start some more writeups all the way to removal of the engine... and put in the best pics i have... and also give credit where credit is due for the help/

Here ya go...

My dad watching hoping i dont do something stupid.... same thing he thought when i put in a turbo....


Angle one of engine out with tranny still in...



Angle two



There you go!! Ill have some writeups coming up shortly

 

I’d like to applaud you in your contribution and can’t wait for your final write-up.

I know there is more than one way to skin a cat, but from the sounds of it pulling the engine wasn’t a joyful experience for you. I’ve seen some pictures of a shop dropping the engine and another shop removing the frontal of the Z then using a lift to pull the engine thru the front. I think it would be more complicated installing the engine back in if you don’t pull the engine with the transmission. Connect the transmission and engine is no walk in the park.

 

Here is an example:

 

Congratulations Anthony...this is really a great accomplish for you. Yeah, your Dad has a very "fatherly" look on his face.

Just tell him you had to remove the engine in order to change the oil.

Dont worry too much about re-attching the tranny. i know you have that thing loose, and on stands, so its just a matter of wiggling the crap out of the engine and tranny with a couple of helpers. It should go right back in the way it came.

 

Unbelievable! Congrats on the job so far. It takes a big set of stones to go down this path, but as far as I'm concerned, the only way to learn is to go out and try.

One thing/question. In the first pic with motor out, its hung on the hoist. I see the strapping run over the exhaust manifold - is that really a good place to lift from?

ahm

 

Yeah, that is fine. The engine was never design to be removed from the top, so it lacks good lifting points for the hoist. When I lifted mine out, and put one chain through the gap on the front timing cover, and then inserted a couple of tranny bolts into the block, and hooked a chain from there. Worked just fine.

 

Ok It’s been a while since I removed the radiator… But I should be able to remember everything from the pictures I took… At least I hope so 


As always use this only as a supplement to the service manual… this is only my detailed accounts of what occurred with me. This may also not be the correct way to do this, but it worked for me! Always consult the manual or ask a professional if you are unsure of what you are doing.

If anyone has any helpful hints or ideas, be sure to share and I will edit this post and give you credit.

Tools required:

Flathead Screwdriver
10 and 12mm wrench or ratchet
Needle-nose pliers
Something to label wire connections
Rope, wire, or equivalent to hold A/C condenser

Time required:

Took me roughly two hours for a first timer with no help… and taking my time.
This can be done by anyone with patience, the tools, and the time.. if they are looking to replace thier radiator.

After draining the radiator fluid as discussed before, its time to get the radiator ready for removal. The first thing to do is to remove the coolant reservoir, wherever it may be located. I think mine was moved to a different location because of my Greddy kit.



After that you should get whatever piping you have from the Intercooler, if you have one, out of the way. In my case I removed every pipe in front of the engine and the intercooler. All I needed was a flathead screwdriver and some muscles to pull and pry the rubber blue tubing. Be prepared to use some strength as these rubber pipes seem to want to hold on for their dear life… If you are careful you can use something to pry them off but don’t scrape anything…I didn’t remove all the pipes… since they would have taken too long to get to, and I’m taking out the engine anyway… so they can come off with that.

If you do have an intercooler make sure you are careful removing it, obviously, but if you never handled one before it may be a little heavier than you might have expected… I did it myself with a jack keeping it from falling and one hand balancing it... but if you have more hands... all the better.

After you have removed the Intercooler and piping in front of the engine… its time to remove the radiator piping. There are two pipes going directly to the radiator... one on the top left… if you are standing in front of the car looking at it... and one on the lower right. The one on the lower right you have already seen. That is the one that I unhooked because my drainage screw was already stripped to hell. The upper right hose you can unhook just like the lower one from the radiator with some pliers. Just squeeze the clamps together and wiggle the hosing off. No coolant should come out. I would keep the lower radiator hose connected to the engine to allow you to let the coolant drip into a container for a good amount of time… at least a full day. It just keeps coming out... and if you unhook that radiator hose... coolant will get all over the engine and the belts… which you don’t want.



After you have removed the hoses you can go underneath the car and unhook the cable to the radiator fans. Make sure you label the connectors somehow so you remember where to attach it when you put the engine back in… The only neat thing I did find was that most connectors have a color so it will cut down time finding to figure it out where connectors go... if you really don’t like labeling things.



The next thing to do is remove the 2 screws holding the fans onto the radiator and lift it up and out... nothing difficult at all. The bottom is held in through two plastic wedges so there is nothing to undo on the bottom. Make sure you lift it out slowly so you don’t dent your radiator.



All that’s left is to remove the radiator… There are two screws holding the radiator in place. If you look in the manual, I could see how it might be a little difficult to find the screws for these. They are right behind two plastic covers located here.




After you remove the two screws you will notice that the radiator and the A/C condenser can now move. What you have to do here is separate the A/C condenser from the radiator. To someone (like me) who has never done this before… you should know that the radiator and the A/C condenser look almost exactly alike. The A/C condenser is the one further in front of the car (OR the one closer to you if you are taking it out from the front, OR the one that gets the air first, OR the one that is connected by two metal pipes, whatever way you want to look at it). At first I tried to disconnect the silver pipes… it looked like there were some disconnectors to do so… Well… DON’T DO THAT… Unless you want to hear a very loud and long sound of refrigerant escaping into the atmosphere… which I’m not sure... but is probably poisonous. I never got to disconnect them thankfully. Looks like you need a special machine to do so… So if you want to remove the A/C condenser… do this ahead of time. From what I experienced you do not need to do this to remove the engine… it really doesn’t get in the way… it only makes you lift the engine slower to keep from denting it… the loss in time to slowly remove the engine is probably less time than actually removing this thing. It’s really not necessary.

Now it’s hard to explain how to separate the A/C condenser and the radiator…. Basically because I don’t know how I did it... The manual says to “separate and remove them”…. Thanks for the help... They seem to be stuck together or wedged together somehow on the bottom… I would go between having one side disconnected and then all of a sudden that side was connected and the other one wasn’t… It’s probably some kind of finesse thing… after about 10 minutes it came apart from wiggling it back and forth… that’s how I did it… if anyone can add in a better way go ahead.. The only warning I can give you is to not get frustrated or you can dent or bend something you don’t want… Just take your time and it will eventually separate. Be aware that the A/C condenser will want to fall to the ground when you separate the two, so either have another person spot it, or use one hand to keep it from falling. I once again did this by myself so it’s possible but just take your time or you’ll easily dent one of these things...

After the radiator finally comes apart you can keep the condenser attached to the front of the car using a rope or equivalent. Here’s the spot where I put it…



Look how much more room you have in there now! And you can push the condenser back so there is even more room.



Well that’s it! You have removed the radiator! This wasn’t that difficult either... especially if you can figure out a simple way to separate the radiator from the A/C condenser. This is another project that can be done by a first timer in a day who wants to put in a performance radiator.

Make sure you follow the instructions when you put in the new radiator... it will most likely be the reverse of everything you did… And remember that unless you can fully bleed the radiator of air when you refill the coolant, you will need to add more and more over time. Air will circulate and eventually come out of the radiator… so don’t be alarmed if you have to add a lot of coolant the next couple times you drive your car… but be sure that it isn’t really a leak! The manual should give an explanation of how to refill your coolant and what to be prepared for.

Next up… preparing the engine for removal… and finally lifting it out. Stay tuned!

 

Almost forgot

Thanks to Sharif www.forgedinternals.com and Dave Shiroma from Altered Atmosphere for answering the questions I had. And to Booger for help with the sevice manual. And to everyone else whos either given me some good ideas and contributed to my cause.

 

Bump.

 

yah, really...any update???

 

whoops! Hey guys, sorry about that..

I'll put something up soon. The latests update was that the engine i ended up buying had to have some parts replaced in the timing chain. So I had to go buy about a grand of parts (stupid VTC gears are expensive)...

They were all shipped to Kyle at SGP and they got them about two weeks ago. I think Kyle went on vacation last week so im not sure when the engine will be done, ill call him today.. but thats all that is left before I get it back... Oh and i have to send out my parts to get coated too..

The turbo housing has a bolt stuck in it... that I couldnt get out.... so i sent that to a shop yesterday and it should be finished today , that was scary at first..

When my engine comes in im going to try and polish it myself too!... Im testing out what i read on some underside IC pipes that you cant really see... if that works ill put up some info on how to polish aluminum as well

Nothing really happened since my last post... but im going to put up what i did to get the engine out as soon as i can... dont worry, im still doing it... lol... its just that point in time where im waiting for someone else so i dont know whats going on... takes much longer than i thought... but it will be worth it!

 

yah, tell me about it!...i "should be" getting my car back today!!! my car blew up dec 11th 2004...today is april 6th, 2005!!!

it definately takes time, but i'm learning from everyone elses' stories that you can't rebuild a motor (and all the other accessories) in one month's time-- it doesn't work that way...

something comes up, someone goes on vacation, the mechanic gets sick, a part doesn't fit correctly...this is such a NEW motor to rebuild and modify...i'm sure if we were rebuilding a 1.8l honda motor..it would cost 1/4 of what we are spending and take a month or so.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

 

hey guys... just letting you know im still here... and i didnt forget about the thread... there is just still no real new info..

Some of the parts I ordered from somewhere (wont say where, because they fixed it right away) were missing in a shipment... so im waiting for them to be sent to SGP... more delays... but thats part of this whole process is guess. There is only like 4 parts left to install on my engine... its killing me... the timing chains, the vtc pully's, and the water pump... and then the cover... then its back home... hope it gets back soon.. !!!

In the meantime... ive been occupying myself thinking of ways to make the engine bay look nice. I have been polishing all the intake aluminum pipes myslef... they are coming out pretty nice... let me know if anyone wants a writeup on that..

I have all the gaskets i need, and pretty much everything but some springs im gonna go 1 bar for the tial. I'm trying to find red silicone couplers to replace the blue greddy ones and im also trying to get the right sizes for a good deal on some t-bolts... vecco.net... they have e-bay auctions too 30 of them for $75... pretty nice.

Im also looking into getting the plenum anodized red... and speaking with a british company who may do a whole heater hose set for me in red, the other like 10 pipes that samco doesnt cover...

So anxious... so anxious..

 

i'd be curious to know how to polish these things- your methods...

 

Hey guys... just wrote this at work... shhhh.. dont tell anyone... when I get home tonight im gonna try and edit this and put some relevant pics up in the places they should be... take a look at it now... no pics.. but some good info. Pretty good i think since this is from memory and its been about a month since i took the engine out. ----------------


First things first… there are a few things you need to do to make sure that the engine is ready for removal. The first thing required on there is to release the fuel pressure. I unfortunately forgot to do this, and I was so far into it… a spray as I removed it was something I was looking at happening… but it didn’t.. it just dripped out… so you don’t have to worry too much if you forget to do that.

Make sure all the battery cables are disconnected as well… don’t want to have any sparks around fuel now do we…

Now its time to take off the wiper blades and its covers... Most of these covers use those snap on plugs… but there are some bolts that will have to be removed. It’s pretty straightforward to remove these, so there is really no need for detail. The only thing that may require more of a tug are the pieces wedged in against the glass and the corners. There are also some plastic ovalish shaped pieces covering up some screws along the windshield… just take a good look and you will find them. They do come out… just give ‘em a little love. As you remove all of these pieces you will notice that there is clear silicone tubing where the washer fluid goes to the wiper blades. Remove these hoses carefully since they are small and the connectors are tiny pieces of plastic. Once the covers are off you can see a whole other section of the engine bay you didn’t even know existed. But you don’t need to worry about that for now. Take off the wiper blades like you would any other. There is a bolt to remove in each windshield wiper, remove that and take the arm off for each one. I can’t recall because its been a while… but I think you may have to take off the wiper blades first then the covers… either way its not difficult.

The next thing to do can either be fun or just normal… the drive belts…. Personally… I just cut them… It feels pretty good. I would get new ones anyway if you are changing your whole engine. If you need to know how to change belts… then you should stop right now and find a mechanic to finish… or just look in the manual . I just decided to save myself some time and cut them… feels good… but at the same time… upsetting… this is where you go… “I hope I didn’t just f*** something up.”

After that you need to take off the front wheels for easier access to all the parts you are going to need to get to… trust me… take off the tires… it helps a lot.

Looking at the manual, we have already done everything else beforehand. No need to discharge the A/C condenser… If you really really want to… know that the chemicals inside are poisonous.. if you don’t bring it to a shop… and you want to let it out at home… which I don’t know is legal or not… do your best to stay away from the fumes.

Disconnect the two heater hoses going into the firewall to the rest of the car… they are hard as hell to do yourself… I needed another person… I actually waited until I removed the engine. The clamps on there are double clamps so they are hard as hell to stretch and the rubber hoses are really tight on there… get someone to do one thing while you do the other… or its going to take you a long time! Plug them up when you get them off so no coolant drips all over the place… but not much if any should come out since it is already drained.
There are two grounding wires that I can think of… One on the diver side of the engine that is actually part of the cylinder head and one that is near the power steering pump… they are the silver braided or shoelace looking metal wires… you just need to unhook them to get the engine out….

Now comes for a really annoying part that… I ended up getting pissed of at a few times and just ended up using force… I know I know you need to be patient….. but wait until you try to take these things off… they are the 3 harnesses on the very end of the passenger side… and they are bundled together with a plastic piece.. now good luck and I congratulate you if you can take these 3 off without ripping that plastic piece off the wall.. that’s what I ended up doing.. good thing is that It didn’t really get damaged… so everything will be ok. Remove them and let your sore fingers rest for a little while… and have a beer you earned it for this one.

Next up… removing the A/C compressor… Now if you look in the manual it is pretty confusing… because it looks like you can get to 3 bolts and just simply take it off… at least that’s the way the diagram shows it…. Well one of those bolts is underneath in the housing blocked by the compressor itself... So you can’t go that route… instead… take off the four longer bolts to remove the whole bracket… This had me asking myself if Freon was going to be spraying out everywhere… but it didn’t… so go that route… Use a wire to position the compressor somewhere out of the way.

After that start taking all the hoses you can see off the engine… not matter how well you think you did… chances are… you missed one.. so be ready for that when lifting the engine out. The fuel line needs to be removed… and this can be a huge pain… In my case… I just cut it… since I was getting the AAM fuel system. I tried and I tried to remove the quick release… but I wish I could punch the guy who made that… it’s hard as hell… My suggestion is this…. This is something I wasn’t able to do… get another person to pull the fuel line from the top of the engine out while you press in the clip, that should work pretty good… After I took the engine out… I was able to get it out from that angle and it was a sinch… I felt like an idiot  Just look around and remove all the hoses you can find that connect to the engine.. time to move on. When you take the power steering hose off just stick a pan underneath to catch the fluid that comes out and then tuck it away to one side of the engine.

Now its time to become a contortionist…. Make sure you stretch out really well before you try this.. I was upside down on my head with my feet where my head should be on the seat for about an hour trying to figure this out… Removal of the engine harnesses!!
Get into the passenger seat and start taking off the panel by where you put your feet… I didn’t take it all the way off since there is a screw holding it on where I couldn’t get it to… but I didn’t need to take it all the way off… I think there is directions in the manual if you really do want it off…. Now let me tell you… not knowing how to do this… this was THE most difficult part of the whole thing… seriously… one because I was upside down, two because I was in a space where your feet should go, and 3 because I had to old a flashlight with one of my hands… figure out something so you can get rid of this and it will be a lot easier for you.. Now you could spend 45 minutes like me trying to figure out how to remove a harness on you own or try and listen to how to do it… There is a black harness that needs to be removed and a white one… and they both have this elbow hinge type connector… you have to pull down an arm to remove it… Sharif has a picture of the black one on his website… www.forgedinternals.com.... Look at that to determine how to take it off.. it will help… if you don’t know that… it will take you a long time to figure it out… and don’t try ripping it off… like I wanted to do… but I didn’t.. just be calm and know that you will eventually get it…. Once again this was the hardest part of the whole thing…. Once you finally get it out… have another beer or two… now you have to go up to the top of the car in the passenger side corner near the windsheld… under the cover there is a black plunger looking thing… this is where the wires have to come out… Don’t try and rip it off… it wont work … you need to get a screwdriver and pry around the black rubber in search for a white plastic clip… remove that and it will come out easily. Only one last thing… a weird black box holding wires… I don’t know what they are for… but there are a few of them… you have to unhook the whole box from the car and not open it up… It looks like you are supposed to open it up… but I still cant do that even with them off of the car.. just use a screwdriver to hit the clip in the right spot and it will come off. Now place the harness on the engine… its gonna stay on there when you take the engine out… Congrats.. you finished the hardest part… if you can do this.. you can take the engine out (patience wise)..

Get under the car again and remove those exhaust pipes keeping the engine locked in there... There are many different kinds... So I won’t get into how to take them off... Just know you are probably going to need some universal joints.

With the exhaust pipes off the next step the manual says to do is remove the universal joint… well in this case… im not removing the tranny… so I didn’t do that… it will save time and less chances of error putting it back… you don’t have to do this. And you don’t have to do anything pertaining to the removal of the driveshaft or transmission either.. hope you saved some time 

Almost there… now its time to remove all the bolts in the transmission... make sure you get all of them....there is a diagram in the service manual… use it so you don’t waste any time realizing you missed one… like me

 

I had to limit it to 10,000 characters... LOL... here is the rest..._____

Removing the power steering pump is next on the list and for me this one bolt gave me hell… it took me an hour to get it off… you just have to find the right place to get to it and make sure you use a good amount of leverage… it’s the bolt way up there… you’ll know it when you get to it… I loved the sound of that bolt coming off… while you are there you can take off the alternator as well… IMPORTANT… make sure you label the plugs coming off of the power steering pump and the alternator… they look exactly the same. Remove the starter motor as well… I loosened it… I wasn’t able to take it off until after the engine cam out… but you do need to take all the bolts out.

Now on to the wastegates if you have them… I did… the greddy ones… these NEED to come off. There is now other way… I found that out the hard way. Easiest way to do this is to go to sears of pep boys or wherever and get ball end hex keys in metric… I think it was 5mm…. Thanks for helping me find them Sharif!! They made it so easy!! You can turn hex bolts at any angle not straight in… the bolts holding them in should come out in a snap… There are however more stupid bolts you need to take off… I had to get crows feet wrenches… they look like the end of a wrench that you can hook on to a ratchet sideways… I used them and a few extensions and a ratchet to get the bolts off.

Now comes the moment of truth… here is where you can tell if all the work you did will pay off… I went out to home depot and got some ratchet straps… 4 of them… I also got an engine stand and a hoist… you can get a hoist at pep boys and an engine stand for $99 each… and the straps are like 25 dollars… after you set up all the equipment you need to take the engine out… its time to hook up the straps… I put one on each manifold.. one on the front of the timing chain case where it looks like a handle… and one on the back heater hose… make sure they wont put any tension on other parts.. go under or over things in the way as necessary… once you have them on good… hook them up to the hoist.. make sure everything is secure and then start pumping it up to put some tension on it until the ropes get a little tight… Im doing this before loosening the final two nuts.. just to make sure the ropes are good and the hoist is working right….

Now go under the car… there are two final bolts to remove… they connect the insulators (the black rubber tube things to the engine mounts)… you don’t have to remove the metal mounts… just remove one bolt for each insulator. When the bolts are done… go get at least one other person… you are going to need someone to balance and watch the engine as you lift it up… a third person will help too… The way I did it was to use a hydraulic jack to pump up the tranny with my engine on an angle… 3 people would be the best bet.

Here we go.. take a deep breath… start lifting the engine… if you missed a bolt holding it in you will know.. If it starts coming up… great… take it very, very slow… stopping so all of you can check to see clearances, connections, and whatever else you can think of… Make sure you have that jack keeping the tranny from falling after you separate the engine. Keep taking it up until you get a pretty good angle… I would say a little before the tranny looks like its going to hit the top (or underside) of the car inside the engine bay.

Make sure everything is secure… padded… and in the right spot… double and triple check… When you are sure… get two people to pull the engine… Two people so you can balance it in the process… give it a few tugs… and all of a sudden… ITS SEPARATED… if it doesn’t then you missed a bolt.. or forgot to take something off that is keeping it there… no worries.. I had to do both of these things… so don’t get upset if it happens…

Lift it up and out of the engine making sure of proper clearances… I had to remove an extra downpipe from the greddy kit one one side to get it out… congrats…. You did it… now take off the pressure plate and flywheel so you can get it on the stand and go get another beer… 

Congrats once again… it is really simple after you do it... there are so many times when you can get frustrated… believe me… but its worth it… I am here to help with anything I can if you plan on trying this… PM me and ill give you a number to call me. Hope this helps you guys!! So if you’re short on cash for the labor… try this out… but if you can afford it… go with the professionals… if you are not confident in youself and don’t have any patience… this is not for you to try… you cant get it to a mechanic anymore if you took half of it apart… good luck!!

 

oh and 350zDCalb... Ill write up a quick polishing tutorial when there is a nice sunny day... I was planning to take some pics this weekend, but it rained all weekend here in long island... wouldnt have any nice and shiny pics to show..

 

Update as of 4-25-2005...

So i called performance nissan parts today.... they originally charged me for two repalement VTC pully's and two secondary timing chains and only sent Kyle one of each... It was only supposed to take 2 business days for them to get what they needed... as of today im told they are on back order from nissan north america and it may take up to a month and a half.....

Anyone know who has a replacement VTC pully and a secondary timing chain... and a water pump on hand? I need them over to SGP asap... they have been waiting to put in the final bolts for 3 weeks now! HELP MEEEEEE....

 

Anthony, Its awesome to see that you have made so much progress! Let me knwo if there is anything I can do to help out. I'll call our local dealer and see what they say about the parts. Have you tried car-part.com? There may be a junk yard selling a head assembly that would be willing to sell just that.

 

Since you are building your motor how bout getting the Nismo VTC pulley's from Z1 Auto and just trying to source a timing chain from someone...

http://www.z1auto.com/prodmore.asp?m...ine&prodid=922