Bills 33 Gtst Streeter/track Car

[No Crust Racing]

Those clearances are fine, as is mixing bearing shells, which I have done on my big ends to open them up a little as they were too tight for my liking (in spec) but this engine is known for spinning big ends and I was always going to mod/tune etc. 

"0.001" of clearance for every inch of journal" or there abouts is a very widely accepted range.

Just spec your oil accordingly, i.e. my engine could have big ends down to to .013mm which is too tight for my liking and specs a 0w-40 oil, I aim for 0.0425 to 0.046, but am running a 5w-40.

My mains were pretty much bang on the same as yours (yes different engine and one less cylinder).

Edited November 22, 2023 by No Crust Racing

[admS15]

Got the pistons and rods in this arvo. Was pretty straightforward using the adj tapered ring compressor. Just like anything there is a method to use it correctly. Basically don't over tighten it, it's got to be just right and then the piston slides down and in by hand. No tapping with the handle of a mallet.

 

Was a bit of a ball ache lining up all the rings as described in the fsm, was fiddly and took a while to get right. There's little locating holes or indents where you line each ring up. I can't see them staying there but if that's what Nissan says, I'll just do it.

Diagram of said arrangement

And assembled bottom end

Moving on to oil pump strip,clean, check and shim up relief valve spring.

[admS15]

Nissan rang me yesterday to inform me the 2 piston circlips I'm waiting on had arrived. I duly went over and picked them up. I made a phone call to the engine shop to find out if the head was ready to go and it was, so went and got that too.

The guides did fit but needed to be trimmed down as expected. Engine builder said my clearances are fine and that he would run them looser than that. 

When I got home, I removed number 1 piston, put the new circlips on and torqued up all the rod bolts to 45 Ft-lbs. Then started stripping the oil pumps. My Supercheap auto impact driver struggled against the Nissan Thor strength Loctite on the screws. Took me a while but got there in the end. 3 of the screws on 1 pump had to be drilled, I managed to extract 1 with vice grips, the other 2 are going to be drilled out and threads re tapped by the machinist at work. I don't have the patience for that shit. Both pumps are in good shape and well in spec according to the clearances specified in the fsm.

New circlips and Allen key screws for oil pump

Head job, only got the 4 valves, guides and seals replaced. Didn't weld the dent, just smoothed it out, engine builder was confident it wouldn't be an issue, he's only been building engines for 38 years so I'll happily listen to him on that. Didn't need to machine the face either as surface was still flat and I'm only using a stock gasket.

Took the head to work today and put it through the hotwash a couple of times. Surprisingly the engine shop has the exact same hotwash machines.

 

Piston getting the circlips installed

Neo head gasket next to R33 gasket. As expected no difference whatsoever other than being cheaper and different part number.

Got busy after work today, head and cams are installed. Also drilled the head for a head drain. Going to get a bung welded onto the sump tomorrow, am planning to put it on  intake side to avoid getting close to the exhaust mani. I've noticed most guys go to the exhaust side.

Is there any reason why going to intake side may be a problem?

Planning on shimming the oil pump relief valve with a 1mm washer. Is that the commonly accepted amount?

 

[Duncan]

Yeah, in theory the exhaust side is better for a drain due to crankshaft rotation. On the intake side any oil returning gets thrown up at the windage tray not down at the sump. No idea if it makes any real world difference

[No Crust Racing]

Windage etc as Duncan said, the CA ran a "balance tube" from factory though and it ran on the intake side. 

Anything will help, many people claim there's SFA oil actually flowing in them anyway and they end up just being a pressure relief as in the CA. 
 

[soviet_merlin]

8 hours ago, admS15 said:

Nissan rang me yesterday to inform me the 2 piston circlips I'm waiting on had arrived.

Just out of curiousity, when you say you are talking to Nissan, who are you talking to? A local Nissan dealer?

I've never tried it, but always imagined if I talked to anyone at Nissan in Australia about getting something for a 25+ year old imported car they'd just laugh at me.

[GTSBoy]

6 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

I've never tried it, but always imagined if I talked to anyone at Nissan in Australia about getting something for a 25+ year old imported car they'd just laugh at me.

When I leave it to my mechanic to buy parts, like the recent need for a clutch slave cylinder, he will, as often as not, get it from the local Nissan dealer. There is little, if any, cost penalty, and genuine (ie Pitwork) Nissan parts are frequently a whole step up in quality to the 3rd party stuff sourced elsewhere.

[admS15]

On 01/12/2023 at 7:57 AM, Duncan said:

Yeah, in theory the exhaust side is better for a drain due to crankshaft rotation. On the intake side any oil returning gets thrown up at the windage tray not down at the sump. No idea if it makes any real world difference

Thanks 

On 01/12/2023 at 8:02 AM, No Crust Racing said:

Windage etc as Duncan said, the CA ran a "balance tube" from factory though and it ran on the intake side. 

Anything will help, many people claim there's SFA oil actually flowing in them anyway and they end up just being a pressure relief as in the CA. 
 

I thought so when I was looking at it this morning and have heard that not much flows through them. It's been done now and is on the intake side. 

On 01/12/2023 at 8:07 AM, soviet_merlin said:

Just out of curiousity, when you say you are talking to Nissan, who are you talking to? A local Nissan dealer?

I've never tried it, but always imagined if I talked to anyone at Nissan in Australia about getting something for a 25+ year old imported car they'd just laugh at me.

Yes Nissan dealer, some are more helpful than others. Just ring them with the part number and see what they say. A lot of the little bits and pieces fit multiple models including some adm so they generally have them in stock. They can also import from Japan, never gone through that process with them.

You can get most of the common genuine Nissan pitwork parts through places like EFI solutions, kudos motorsport, just jap etc.

[admS15]

Anyone see any issue with packing the oil pump with assembly grease? Theory is to avoid any potential air locks and difficulty in getting oil pressure for first start up.

I've done it now and I've got about an hour before the Loctite sets and Thor's hammer won't be able to remove the bolts.

 

[No Crust Racing]

Very common, worked fine for me. 

Have seen vaseline also, you just want something that will dissolve in your break in oil, assembly lube "fits the Bill" nicely

Edited November 30, 2023 by No Crust Racing

[soviet_merlin]

48 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

When I leave it to my mechanic to buy parts, like the recent need for a clutch slave cylinder, he will, as often as not, get it from the local Nissan dealer. There is little, if any, cost penalty, and genuine (ie Pitwork) Nissan parts are frequently a whole step up in quality to the 3rd party stuff sourced elsewhere.

Agreed. OEM all the way for the bits that are just meant to be replaced.

23 minutes ago, admS15 said:

Yes Nissan dealer, some are more helpful than others. Just ring them with the part number and see what they say. A lot of the little bits and pieces fit multiple models including some adm so they generally have them in stock. They can also import from Japan, never gone through that process with them.

You can get most of the common genuine Nissan pitwork parts through places like EFI solutions, kudos motorsport, just jap etc.

That's good to know, thanks guys! I tend to get OEM parts online from the usual places and then pass them on to the mechanic. I guess dealers won't show stock online so probably a good thing to keep in mind as an option.

[admS15]

Yes have heard about Vaseline but was concerned about how it will dissolve and thought there's enough ass lube left in the tube and it's probably better to only have 1 type of ass lube mixing in with the oil. Lol

[admS15]

Now, if only sparesfailbox could deliver the break in oil I ordered 15 days ago, I'd have everything I need. 

In fairness they shipped it a day after I ordered it and the train wreck that is couriers please lost it,  "apparently" anyway.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

wow.. fancy, break in oil!

Both motors I just poured in normal motor oil left over from the daily cars as break-in oil, dumped it after about hundred kms and pop in the usual Penrite 15W50 bullshit and sent its mum to the moon, albeit the 1st motor exploded after 2x track days at Wakefield Park.

 

[No Crust Racing]

I used break in oil, was told to. 

Have 2-3L left over I have no idea what to do with, put in the mower? Not sure what high zinc content will do, will do some reading. 

[GTSBoy]

Break in oils have a lot of "grease" and a lot of detergents and nothing in the way of friction modifiers. The lack of modifiers so as to encourage bedding of the rings, etc. The greases (various metallic elements, such as the zinc) to provide some cushioning of the metal to metal blows and the detergents for the purposes of gathering up all the crud that failed to get cleaned out after machining.

The high detergents are good for things like lawn mowers, but I reckon that the expected short life span of break in oil makes it a poor choice for anything that actualy has a bit of a hard life (ie the mower) and intermittent servicing (ie, the mower!)

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

9 minutes ago, No Crust Racing said:

used break in oil, was told to. 

Seems there are 2x schools of thought with this.

Some swear by it, some say don't waste your time.

[No Crust Racing]

lol well I like my mower, 12-13yrs going strong so I dont wanna risk it. 

Is it weird to get attached to things purely because they have lived a long life? 

[admS15]

My last mower didn't get an oil change in 11 years. Still ran like a champ. Now my dad has it, he has changed the oil now.

As far as break in oil. I would prefer cheap mineral oil for break in and would rather not waste 6 litres of Castrol edge 10-60 not cheap these days.

The penrite break in oil cost me a total of $2.92 after eBay plus discount and $30 eBay plus voucher. Considering I'm going to dump it after 1-200km it's still expensive, lol.

[No Crust Racing]

29 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Seems there are 2x schools of thought with this.

Some swear by it, some say don't waste your time.

True of almost every aspect of cars really...