IanP

iTrader: (2)

Some of the older members on here may remember my HKS Supercharged Z from a few years ago









I ended up parting the car out and selling it to pursue the dream car - R34 GTR. After owning the R34 for a few years I moved it on and since then have had R33 GTR x3 , Supra TT, 2JZ 350Z, Impreza STI & an Integra DC5.

then I contacted the person who bought my original Z off me, a deal was struck and I ended up buying it

Within a week, i purchased a full Tomei Ti header back exahust


Quite honestly, this was stupid. I like my cars to be loud but even by my standards this was ridiculous. I was embarrassed to drive it and my wife hated it. The car then spent a year parked up outside my parents house whilst we saved for a house. Once we had finally moved into our new house, I chucked a new battery on it, gave it a service and a Cobra (i think) exhaust and I was back on the road.

I've toyed with selling it over the past few months due to the impending birth of our first child in the next few weeks - but I haven't found anything that I want for the money I would have to spend. My wife though, is keen for me to rekindle my passion for cars and to have a project to get my teeth in to. Once my garage has been finished, its time to start the project

I was actually planning another supercharged build, but I managed to pick up a second z at a bargain price - luckily my wife is very understanding



its very rough and I don't think the chassis is good for anything other than scrapping, however it comes with some goodies



Wiseco Pistons .020 over
Eagle/SCAT H Beam Rods
ARP Rod Bolts
ARP VQ35 Main Stud Kit
Ceramic/Moly Piston Coating
Block inspected and cleaned
Block re-decked
Block Bored and Honed using a Torque Plate
Block water passage cut for HR Head gaskets
Rotating assembly balanced
Crank magna-fluxed and the journals micro-polished
New Moly coated Race Spec main bearings installed
New Moly coated Race Spec rod bearings installed
Block prepped and assembled
Power Enterprise TT kit

Engine has been fitted for around 2000 miles and TT kit hasnt done much more than that

Engine should be good for 650whp, which I wont get to without bigger turbos. but if i can get a reliable 500whp then I will be very happy

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Assuming that's the greddy kit?

You might get close to 600 to 625?

what is it tuned with?

thatv35guy

iTrader: (1)

Power Enterprise ^

Kwame

iTrader: (78)

Welcome back!

wizard

IanP

iTrader: (2)

Update incoming. Still waiting on the garage to be finished so I can get my ramp installed I have though, made a start on the project.

Bought an ARC oil catch can, Those of you that have been here long enough will know how much I love ARC products and rare JDMparts in particular



Started stripping down the front end of the car





pipework removed ready for stripping back and refinishing - still deciding between wrinkle black or CF skinned.

Disgusting interior (after much cleaning, I need a Bio hazard suit to do the rest)



think I removed enough McDonald's fries for a happy meal

of course, whilst stripping the car down, I checked under the radiator cap AND.........



So I checked under the oil cap AND......





I still need to test it, but I am 99% certain the head gasket has gone. There is still that small hope that the residue left under the caps is from the last time it happened to this car

I'm at a bit of a crossroads with it now. Anyone who's read the previous owner of this cars build thread will see the huge amount of problems they had with the engine. So, do I

1) Cut my losses with the engine, Sell it as it is and fit the TT kit to my low mileage stock engine and lower my HP goals?
2) Hope that it is just the head gasket that's gone, replace it and hope for the best?
3) Replace the gasket, use the head off my low mileage engine & stick some cams in there while I'm at it?

Sensible, grown up, responsible me thinks option 1........................

Out of interest, how much would a forged engine with a blown HG be worth?

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Disassemble everything and do a better assessment of where you’re at. Don’t speculate based off a radiator cap and a oil fill cap.

take everything down and rebuild from there or part out from there.

Id give you $500 for a built block with many known problems

IanP

iTrader: (2)

Seeing as my garage is finally finished and usable, its time to crack on and get this started

Got the top part of the engine stripped down, air con rad removed along with the ARB, ready to come straight out the front




Rear passenger side cylinder is leaking, badly. Pretty sure the HG is toast. On the plus side, there was no chunks of metal when i drained the oil!





Stripped off the valve covers to retrieve coolant pipe and remove turbo pipes




Noticed that one of the O2 sensor wires were broken



And shes out





Now down to the engine.

Not done a compression test and not checked the plugs yet but seeing the leakage from the head, i'm certain at the very least the head is knackered. So, what do i do next?

• Send engine off to Abbey, have a full strip down and rebuild and check everything is OK with it, possibly chuck a set of cams in it while its open
• cut my losses with this engine and sell it, fit the turbo kit to my good working engine that's currently in my car

I'm leaning more towards option 2 and just running it at 400 hp instead of 500 hp

jhc

Great thread. Gotta love garage tear-outs and understanding wives haha. In my only experience with a failed HG it was caused by continued high temp (even though temp guage read normal) on an old Mitsu single. Clogged cat- higher temp- warped head.
If it were mine I'd have to evaluate how much I'd enjoy the challenge AND my likelihood of success vs. paying someone to do the work. FWIW I'm starting a VQ35DE V3 project next month on a stock engine, we're shooting for 485 with an AEM Wideband Failsafe. I'd put it on the Z that runs and tear the other down to see if it's worth salvaging what's invested.
GL!