Other than cams or something that cost an arm and a leg, what types of things, performance or maintenance wise should i do while i have the engine down to the shortblock? I am going to go ahead and do headers while the engine is out. The timing chain appears to be in good shape. I thought about the rings, because this is my 3rd engine and the reason i am swapping it is because my last 2 have had the rings go out. But are there "aftermarket" rings that are better than OEM that i can use with the OEM pistons? Also, rods/pistons/rings are out of the question at the time. When i can afford to go that far, i will just buy pre-built more than likely.

I also heard to go ahead and change out the timing chain tensioner because a buddy says they have seen a few z's with that going out lately and its not an expensive part.

thanks

 

this could be answered one million and six ways.

are you going Fi w the car? Are you already?
plan on keeping it for long?
what is your budget?

how many miles now?
the engine is out for Rings? thats reeeealy weird. Are they rebuilding the engine ea time? Sounds like a poor job of seating rings on start up if so... are you already FI?

NEVER heard of ring issues on a VQ. Only the occasional thread on ring seating and FI blow by... thats it.

details por favor...

aside from the above,

things to check or replace ( why nots) are the alternator and battery and starter cables, check tensioners, check your Ac clutch.. youcan replace just the snout, belts obviously, motor and trans mounts, and check your valve covers for oil in the plug tubes.. why replace bad covers on a new engine.

Im sure others will add more items to check on.

 

i have this engine that needs the block welded. which is why i have to tear it down to the short block for the welder. My current engine is burning oil and smoking again so out it comes. Not sure how many miles because it is used. The engine was free more or less because @100k my engine blew and this guy sent this one out first and it leaked water from the water jacket, he just never picked it back up and sent another.

and my budget would be less than 1k. I do plan on SC down the road, but will save up for a built shortblock for that because i do not want an engine that has had the block welded. I would say i hope this engine lasts for ~2 years being used mainly for autocross/HPDE/PDX events. The engine itself seems very clean and far less "worn" than my previous engines. It just had a terrible weld job on the block.

 

My first engine the rings went out in the #6 cyl. This current one showed signs on burning oil a lot and smoking only a few months after it went in. it has been ~50k doing that and the rings have eventually worn down from it under the conditions its driven. Oil all over the spark plugs in #6 cyl again... and some in the others

 

http://www.totalseal.com/ for piston rings

 

ah ok cool.. logical.. you posted as i was editing my OP.

dude, i gotta tell ya, i havent been able to figure why for the life of me i shot a rod bearing... i really think the end result of oil in the plug tubes is some nasty misfiring on an engine that truly does not like that kind of thing... hmm.


ok well yeah youre talking purely peripherla stuff to replace then.. id just look at valve covers, if you are down to buy a tensioner, do it... it is cheap. If youre over 100k onthe timing belt, again, might as well.. new sprockets are uber costly, i doubt youd need those anyways, but yanking the existing timing chains n gear cant hurt.
id still do the battery cable thing tho too.

aside from that, unless you see something broken, leave it.
I gave a similar order on my build.. if it needs it do it, etc etc.. but theres only so much you can inspect visually and concur needs replacement.. sucks.. i know where yor coming from.. but thats pretty much it from what ive experienced.

 

thanks thats what im thinking mainly for everything. the tensioners is really all ive heard about. Everything looks really good compared to what ive seen in my old engine of course. Im no mechanic for sure. I just get the job done if i can.

So as for the rings, theres no point really? I know im hard on the engine, but just seems like theres a pattern here with me and oil/rings. hah. I just want to plan ahead if there are any "stronger" rings out there that will keep me from going down the same path until im ready.

 

My engine had #6 piston rings give up on my engine, other than pistons, rods, cams and whatever for power adders, I did a revup oil pump, I did not replace anything else besides seals if I remember right

 

OP, if youre getting blow by and what not, especially over n over.. im betting it starts at incorrectly seating the rings on start up.

theres several threads on it, may be to em easier using google "seat rings 350z" etc etc.. id give it a read and see wht you think...

 

no one has done any engine work to the first 2 engines. they have been oem

 

ring issues are the reason why the revups have issues, and why engines tend to lose compression and eventually become oil eaters as they age

things to do/look for:

tensioners (replace all of them), water pump (replace), thermostat (replace), belts (replace), inspect/replace idlers, complete engine gasket kit, new oil pickup, rear main seal, inspect/replace clutch and flywheel

 

good deal. The plans were to replace the tensioners, Get a gasket kit for sure. did not think about the oil pickup.

I just did new belts and clutch and flywheel. Excuse my ignorance, but where are the idlers?