Gtr Engine Removal And Rebuild

[T.F.S.]

hi

i hope to edit this with more pics and more info, i hope it may help others who have to do what i have just done and am about to do with the rebuild stage

hopefully this will be a start to finish engine removal, recon and refit, along the way i will try to do things as best i can with the cheapest parts i dare to fit...this is a budget build!!!

please be patient with the thread as i intend to edit this first episode and add the next stage next week?

hi

after buying a R32GTR the engine blew after 2 days on the way to the mechanics....i had a "det" noise and then lost a lot of compression on no:2 cylinder

i was fully aware of a tapping noise and i understand that this is a signature noise of detonation but this was soo loud i thought it was a gearbox mount..the car has a shortshifter on it but the seal had not been fitted allowing the noise to come from the gearbox area so even though i was on the way to a friends garage to have a look when it was on the lift i gave it about 3/4 throttle for a few secs and it dropped a cylinder

when i got to the garage we didnt bother checking the gearbox mounts lol but we did stand around shaking heads under the bonnet, we noticed that the fuel regulator hose had come away from the regulator.....this is a serious failure on a turbo car as the fuel regulator needs to increase the fuel pressure as boost rises, if it does not then the engine will run lean and detonation occurs

it may have been knocked off by one of us just before we noticed it so its not a definitive cause of this failure but its a good theory for the moment

upon checking the compression was 165-170psi across the board on the tester apart from no:2 which was 40psi down:apoke:

i havent the cash to pay for a rebuild and not many want to help on a project like this so i have done 99% of it own

heres a pic of the car in my back garden awaiting rebuild

another as the dismantle process starts...chassis looks nice and stiff (jacked up on passenger front only)

now for those that dont know me ive been fecking with cars for a long time now and in my previous cars i had honed down the engine strip down or removal process time to less than 3 hours but this car has a lot more stuff attached to it and after careful consideration it may prove easier to remove the engine and gearbox as a complete unit rather than remove the inlet and exhaust manifolds in the car!, and really i need to remove the cylinder head to find out what i need to replace

some of the nuts on the inlet side seem so far away from access it may be impossible with conventional spanners and sockets and the exhaust side isnt much better, the odd pre-rounded off bolt here and there always being in the most inacessable of areas.....

the clutch is a real nasty paddle type so maybe it makes sence to change it during this engine work period anyway eh (well thats my excuse lol)

heres the exhaust side with the heat shields, inlet pipes and other stuff removed

i dont intend this to be a quick rebuild...at the mo is about 10 degrees outside and ill be doing all of the work my myself this time so most of the heavy stuff may just have to wait until warmer weather, i have spent around 15 hours on the car and it feels like i have got no-where with it yet...

had some time off work this week to get this engine out, done 99% of it own my own and TBH that was prob the best way, dont normallly disagree with myself lol

as mentioned before its a pig of a car to work on but i tackled it like this

remove the inlet hoses from the bonnet area, remove rad and fan to get a bit of room to work in

the down pipe nuts, easier then they look to remove from under the car with a 14mm and extention

obviously it also needs to be disconnected from the cat also

i found a load of excess exhaust paste that had gone hard in the cat........now i know what that dam noise was lol

the clutch control arm needs to be removed on the pull type arrangement that i have on mine, you need to remove the slave cylinder and then prise a pin and circlip off from the end of the clutch arm inside the box, you gain acess through the hole the arm travels through

after the pin and circlip have been removed pull it away from the thrust bearing

the bottom bellhousing bolts are easy to get to but the top six bolts look almost impossible...if you remove the top and bottom driverside engine mount bolts and the bottom passenger side mount bolt you can jack the engine and then remove the driver side engine mount, the passenger side mount does not need to be removed

[Duncan]

yeah the top bolts are a pain...any of the following can help....

lower the engine subframe on the subframe bolts, ie let them down a cm or 2 but don't undo them fully.

drop the gearbox crossmember tilt it and the motor right back to get above it

use a series of extenstions (4 foot) and a get at the top bolt from behind the gearbox.

I am actually in exactly the same situation as you, I suspect my engine problem is a head / valve issue but am going to take the whole thing out since

1/ there is way too much work to get the plenum off in the car

2/ once i get the head off I may need to pull the motor anyway

[CruiseLiner]

yeah the top bolts are a pain...any of the following can help....

lower the engine subframe on the subframe bolts, ie let them down a cm or 2 but don't undo them fully.

drop the gearbox crossmember tilt it and the motor right back to get above it

use a series of extenstions (4 foot) and a get at the top bolt from behind the gearbox.

I am actually in exactly the same situation as you, I suspect my engine problem is a head / valve issue but am going to take the whole thing out since

1/ there is way too much work to get the plenum off in the car

2/ once i get the head off I may need to pull the motor anyway

yer the top bellhousing r easy when u have done it about 10 times. easiest way is to unbolt rear gearbox x member and drop it down as far as u can and use about 1.5m of extensions and a 14mm socket i think from memory, not too hard when u get used to it

ive had my rb26 engine in and out of 2 different cars now about 15 times all up

looks daunting the first time, but soon becomes pretty easy and u just get used to trying to get into annoying little spots to turn a bolt 1/10 of a turn and take 20 mins for 1 bolt alone, hehe.

the joys of cars

[Topaz]

I'm sorry, did you say GTR and budget build in teh same sentence . This is a decision I may have to make if mine goes, do it myself or get it to a workshop. Thing is I've had a rebuild fund since I bought my GTR which could go to very good use if I did it all myself. Good to see theres a few guys who can dish out some help

15 times Brad, your bloody crazy

[T.F.S.]

yes i have rebuilt for less than £1000 inc engine work, oversize pistons and a new clutch

[cowie165]

I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts Brian.

Click here for another thread on removing RB26 with the gearbox attached

When you're done it'd be great if you could post a list of tools required.

Thank you mate!

Mark