What can i melt down on the engine and get some cash? Alot of it looks to be aluminum, what about like cams and valves, rods, pistons?

 

Those other things you mentioned are not aluminum. you can strip a block down to bare and sell it to an aluminum recycler as clean aluminum, or just take them the whole thing intact and sell it as dirty aluminum. they'll give you more money for the clean aluminum. last time I checked it was like $.42/lb for clean and $.04/lb for dirty.

 

Yesterday I got about $30 from a local metal recycler for the aluminum block and other aluminum pieces. It was like $0.34 cents a pound. Block was stripped but the metal was oil covered and dirty, so I don't know what that qualifies as.

VQ30s are becoming worth more as metal scrap than they are as engines.

 

USIM, lower manifold all aluminum also? the timing chain cover all aluminum? im thinking it looks good like it is. I hope i can at least give the timin cover and chain a good home.

 

Intake manifolds were sold to other Maxima folk, I couldn't find a buyer for the timing covers so they got recycled.

Now I just need to find a recycler that takes steel, plenty of that left in the metal bin.

 

so cams, valves, piston, rods are all made of steel? i know it might sound bad but i have no idea what this shat is forge from. what about the studs for the exhaust and lower intakemanifold? can i leave them or they made of steel? how would you get them out? vice grips and hammer?

 

Any bolts are going to be steel. So are the cams, valves, pistons, rods, bearings, crank, timing chain, etc.

 

Quit telling this man that pistons are among the components of the VQ engine that are made of steel. I have yet to see a steel piston in a modern (<50yr old) engine. Engine bearings are also aluminum (primarily).

Many different structures of aluminum (forged, cast, hypereutectic).

Never steel.

 

what he said. almost all automotive pistons are made of aluminum now... the rings, wrist pins, cams, crank, etc are all steel.

pull everything you can off the block. stick a magnet on those pieces.. if it sticks, then it's steel. throw it in one pile. if it's light grey, lighter than the steel, and a magnet won't stick to it, then it's aluminum. I don't think there's anything made of stainless on a VQ, but there's always a possibility.

 

Wow I didn't know that bearings were made of aluminum. But yep the pistons are aluminum that was retarded of me.

 

The bearings are only aluminium coated, they are steel underneath.

Mike

 

well i ended up with 35 bucks and a dirty scraper trying to get in my car. atleast i have room in my garage.

 

That sounds more logical. I've never seen an aluminum bearing, though I've never built an engine, just a million transmissions.

 

save me a front exhaust manifold