has anyone attempted pull the heads off and swapping out rods and pistons with the engine in the car??? it used to be a pretty common occurance when i had my turbo Honda. Pulled the head and oil pan, swap rods/pistons, right back together it went. i ask b/c i want to upgrade my rods and pistons to forged, looking for the easiest way to do it.

 

God I would hate life if I tried to do that.

 

its possible but space is extremely limited. you'll save a massive headache if you just pull the motor and put it on a stand.

 

^+1

I dont know if you can just drop pistons in like that. you need to bore it, sleeve it, hone i is necessary.

 

I am curious how you are planning to overbore the cylinders with engine in the car. also, what about the rear cylinders? Maybe you are just planning on dropping in stock bore pistons.....probably not the best plan! to get to them, you'll have to drop the cross member to remove the pan.......if you drop the crossmember, the engine is coming with it!

I'm pretty sure, you are looking at an impossible task and more work than if you just pull the motor!

 

nope

 

it can be done with other cars, just wasnt sure how difficult it would be on the VQ, im a little newer to these cars than i am with the Honda cars like my buddies are still running....... like i said, it was really common with the Hondas i used to run. replacing rings and bearings was very easy task, and could be done between runs no problem. yank the head and oil pan, unbolt the rods, use a dingleberry hone on a cordless drill for the cylinders, new rings on the pistons, press in, rods tightened, head re-torqued.... BAM! ready for run number 2.

 

Yeah but pulling the heads on the VQ isn't as easy as other cars, that is for sure.

 

Once you have everything takin apart just to do the rods and pistons.I would say theres only a few more bolts to pull the block the rest of the way out the Z.As for the Civic's.Pull the head drop the exhaust and everything is in plain veiw.Not so much with the Z.

 

This aint a Honda.....

 

How hard can it be to just take the motor out?

 

I think you would have to drop the whole subframe because the vq35 has an upper oil pan that you would have to remove. Just pull the engine it's fairly easy.

 

This thread cant be serious. We are comparin a 4cyl honda to a v6 nissan.

And you cant just drop pistons/ rods like that. lol. Its not like changing tires. Its presicion machining and you have to measure everything.

IF you had to ask this question in the firs tplace, i dont think this is a job for you.

 

Upper oil pan can be removed without dropping the subframe. Just pull the motor and save yourself time.

 

dont be a bench racer....... pulling heads off with the engine in the car is very common with car with more room, all i wanted to know is if there is the room.

dont tell me what i am able to do or not do

 

Precision maching? There is a thing called stock-bore pistons and people do them all the time. It is totally possible to do pistons and rods on the VQ with the engine in, but it would be easier to just pull the motor.

I build my motor with no boring or decking, just measured and checked everything. It has been holding 19psi like a champ for a year now.

 

damn 19psi?? what kind of rods/pistons u running and what kind of power does it make?

 

What he said.

What CR are you running?

 

8.5 CP pistons, eagle rods, stock HG, standard ARP studs torqued to 85 lbs. 606rwhp on sharif's dyno last June.

 

im sure it can be done. but i wouldn't throw new pistons and rods in the motor without decking the block and heads before you mate them back together. at least do that much. an important step in building a motor thats overlooked a lot; balancing.