Boss said it's been long enough.
#1
Boss said it's been long enough.
The wife has finally had enough and wants the Max back up and running. Nice part is there's no limitation on part funds 😆 Rebuild kit arrived and I have started to throw it back together. Now if work will just let me stay home enough to finish her before winter. I have to admit, I can't wait to hear that Ravin muffler rumbling again.
New paint scheme to match the bottom trim
New paint scheme to match the bottom trim
Last edited by kcidmil; 08-04-2017 at 08:05 PM.
#4
Went with the kit from Rock Auto. Original plan was to bore it to 91mm, but all my play money goes to the XRunner in the background. The only thing the kit is really missing is the timing belt tensioner and I'm currently trying to source a set of headers. Heads and water pump are on. now to clean up the timing covers, oil filter housing and exhaust.
#6
Cool - how'd you go about measuring for the bearings and rings? Or did you just go with standard size replacements?
I've always wondered how good those Enginetech parts are. Did you use the pistons it came with or re-use your stockers?
Any pics of your actual teardown/rebuild? That's the kind of stuff I like to see
I've always wondered how good those Enginetech parts are. Did you use the pistons it came with or re-use your stockers?
Any pics of your actual teardown/rebuild? That's the kind of stuff I like to see
#7
Cool - how'd you go about measuring for the bearings and rings? Or did you just go with standard size replacements?
I've always wondered how good those Enginetech parts are. Did you use the pistons it came with or re-use your stockers?
Any pics of your actual teardown/rebuild? That's the kind of stuff I like to see
I've always wondered how good those Enginetech parts are. Did you use the pistons it came with or re-use your stockers?
Any pics of your actual teardown/rebuild? That's the kind of stuff I like to see
the kit seems to be legit so far. Oil pump was filled with oil and sealed. Pistons were machined nicely with no defects. Biggest complaint was no timing belt tensioner or head bolts. my bolts were fine right up to the point I read the specs for VE motors. So I ended up ordering a new set. luckily I didn't damage the head.
I thank god that I bagged and labeled everything those years ago. I've. Also somehow managed to not lose anything important. Work is slow as I'm cleaning and painting most things as I go along. trying to go to school for Bachelor's, work/traveling, car shows and helping my daughter with her car. I really only get one day a week to work on it.
#8
Here's a couple of early pics. Here's what happens when you use VE torque specs on a VG head bolt.
Dug through my Facebook pics and found a few. I had some help putting the bottom end together.
Last edited by kcidmil; 08-14-2017 at 05:29 PM.
#10
Very cool. That's cool you can get brand new oil pumps for the VG still. I'm very jealous of that.
When I built my VE in 2015 I really wanted a new oil pump but they're not available. So then I tried to just get my hands on new oil pump parts to rebuild it but of course those were no longer available either so I just had to re-use my oil pump. Kind of annoying considering everything else was brand new.
I remember one of my timing chain sprockets on the front of the engine for some reason I tried to tighten it down with the wrong bolt mistakenly and it stretched and snapped on me when I torqued it. I couldn't believe I did that and was so relieved it came back out without issue lol.
Are you gonna go with the hard break-in method? That's what I did
When I built my VE in 2015 I really wanted a new oil pump but they're not available. So then I tried to just get my hands on new oil pump parts to rebuild it but of course those were no longer available either so I just had to re-use my oil pump. Kind of annoying considering everything else was brand new.
I remember one of my timing chain sprockets on the front of the engine for some reason I tried to tighten it down with the wrong bolt mistakenly and it stretched and snapped on me when I torqued it. I couldn't believe I did that and was so relieved it came back out without issue lol.
Are you gonna go with the hard break-in method? That's what I did
#11
I'm loving all of the pictures. Thanks for sharing! I have not seen too many full VG30E rebuilds with fun pictures to look at like this. This is something I'd like to do in the future but my skill level and experience are nowhere near yours.
Everything looks so clean! You'll have a brand new Maxima by the time you get it all put back together again.
Loved the picture of you goofing at work
I bet your job never gets boring. I wish my own job was in a field that would benefit me in the garage
It looks like you have plenty of help! I'll be watching this thread and your future posts. Thanks for the quality post!
Everything looks so clean! You'll have a brand new Maxima by the time you get it all put back together again.
Loved the picture of you goofing at work
I bet your job never gets boring. I wish my own job was in a field that would benefit me in the garage
It looks like you have plenty of help! I'll be watching this thread and your future posts. Thanks for the quality post!
#12
Not much this weekend as i had to order a new timing belt tensioner. The kit comes with a new belt but not a tensioner, so I ordered a new Gates kit to be sure (the kit belt doesnt have a brand label that i can see.) Plus I've been fighting off a bad cold for the past week. Timing is done and the lower intake/thermostat piping is being washed. I lost the woodruff key for the harmonic balancer so I'll have to order one.
#15
#17
Is it? It was the first time I had to hunt one down. I was a bit desperate because I couldn't seem to find one anywhere.
The junkyard that had it was one of those junkyards where they won't let you pull parts yourself. They were "required" to pull it for me. They had a hard time doing it too, apparently. I had to keep nagging them and they had to drag the wrecked car up to their shop to pull it.
The good news is that it did the trick. My 3rd gen has been back on the road since last week. New timing belt + other timing related goodies, waterpump, theromstat, battery, and 3 new injectors
I have have one that is in inches-Ft for this sort of thing. I use it a lot more than I thought I would!
The junkyard that had it was one of those junkyards where they won't let you pull parts yourself. They were "required" to pull it for me. They had a hard time doing it too, apparently. I had to keep nagging them and they had to drag the wrecked car up to their shop to pull it.
The good news is that it did the trick. My 3rd gen has been back on the road since last week. New timing belt + other timing related goodies, waterpump, theromstat, battery, and 3 new injectors
I have have one that is in inches-Ft for this sort of thing. I use it a lot more than I thought I would!
#21
Well got some more stuff installed. I'm thinking to replace all the injectors, the car had a 120k on it when I pulled the motor. I'm waiting on OBX headers from ACmax92. I have a work trip coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm getting the upper intake and power steering pump cleaned up and will hopefully get the pump installed before I leave. Finally have to do some research on switching to R134a. I seem to remember reading that I only needed the larger accumulator from a 94 and the lines.
Last edited by kcidmil; 09-06-2017 at 06:12 PM.
#23
Well got some more stuff installed. I'm thinking to replace all the injectors, the car had a 120k on it when I pulled the motor. I'm waiting on OBX headers from ACmax92. I have a work trip coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm getting the upper intake and power steering pump cleaned up and will hopefully get the pump installed before I leave. Finally have to do some research on switching to R134a. I seem to remember reading that I only needed the larger accumulator from a 94 and the lines.
#24
this was the first car me and the wife bought after we got married, been with us since 2002. Almost sold it to some friends of ours. The wife was fine with it till we drove away on a test drive. She couldn't sell it. I pulled the motor with plans to bore it out and turn it into a autocrosser. Life happened but we kept dragging it with us everytime we moved. I've got some nice nostalgic goodies for it too. Ravin muffler, Koni shocks w/ eibach springs, Brembo slotted rotors, Mr.Gone mandrel intake.
#26
I have a few things left to order to finish out everything. With that said this will be the last assembly update until spring (I will post pics of parts as they come in). By the time I get the parts here winter will be in full effect and the garage is a bit chilly. So I spend the winter time working on projects around the house (where it's a lot warmer).
Right now I have the following stuff planned.
- Headers and crank pulley from AC Max 92
- New belts
- New clutch
- Remove engine from the stand and mount the transmission.
- New rear motor mount
- Have engine bay detailed in spring (I would do this myself, but I have a buddy who owns a detail shop, he'll be coming by the house to prep my truck for car show season anyway)
- Hack the fuel pump and purge the lines of any leftover fuel, new filter
- Install engine/trans
- Replace injectors
- R134a fittings and new dryer/accumulator
- Finish assembling the small parts left over
- Final touches before startup
- New tires
- New battery
- Register the car
- Emissions test and AC charge
So there is quite a bit left to do, expected finishing time is Apr/May next year. $$$$ and work dictate how fast I can things done.
I also have to decide on a new stereo, sold my JVC years ago. There are some 8"s in a custom box hanging around from the wife's Xterra. May have to install those.
#30
Well the engine is back in, had to fight the rear mount and header. Things really got interesting when I lowered the cherry picker and it ended up pinned under the car. I had installed the Koni/Eibach combo after I had pulled the motor. Didn't realize it would lower the Max that far.
#34
No all the parts were packed away and I had to pull everything out. As stuff is being installed the garage is getting cleaned up. Plus the garage really isn't big enough to hold all my tools.
#36
I see all the power packs have been removed! I spented a few yrs working on V12 quad turbo diesel and 8 speed Allison automatic transmissions on Oilfield fracmentation units...lots of bigs tools required and too big for me personally I went back to working on aircraft that require small torque compared to those big engines that require big tools, hoist, and lots of muscle.
#39
So the car is driving, but there's some age issues going on. At almost 30 years old she's starting show her age... a lot. I'm tossing around the idea to strip off the performance stuff and have a huge garage sale.