Anyone Rebuilt an Engine?

panthro · 23 Sep 2019 at 11:05

As above, anyone ever done it in their garage?
Since getting the Mk3 Supra I've been immersing myself into the world of the Jap car scene and have to admit I'm enjoying it. People are ridiculously enthusiastic and there isn't much in the way of snobbery as there is in for example German cars (BMW).
Anyway I have always wanted to give it a go and as there are so many parts, guides, info etc available I'm toying with the idea of buying a 1JZ or 2JZ with the intention of stripping it and rebuilding it with some minor upgrades and dropping it into the Supra.

Gibbo · 23 Sep 2019 at 11:33

Well I did the bottom end of my E46 M3 engine, also did it in my drive, albeit the bottom end is not a big job as there is no measurements or settings to adhere to, just crank inspection, then removal of old bolts and shells, then insert new ones. Yes it was fiddly and quite daunting opening up your first engine and of course refitting of sump and making sure gasket and silicon is correctly placed and trying to get it up and re-fitted in one go to prevent leaks.

The more online documentation and youtube videos the better, as it all helps. But it went successful for me, as I did it a few years ago, and several track days and thousands of miles later and the knocking never returned.

bimbleuk · 23 Sep 2019 at 11:56

My first was a Toyota 4AGE with a 20V cylinder head which I rebuilt in the kitchen. Later worked on a couple of Elise K series and more recently I've been into LS1 V8 engines. The current engine had both cylinder heads mildly ported in my front room in a make shift porting workstation and took a month as I was only using a Dremel

Yeah popular engines with readily available parts are good as there's usually lots of forum guides and Youtube videos. You just have to learn how to filter out the garbage that gets posted sometimes. Even better if you know someone with a garage that can give good advice on rebuilding engines. I'm very lucky in that respect and may not have tried half the things I've done in the past.

I was going to say JZ engines are probably fairly rare and expensive but then the supply of LS engines is next to nothing these days and it's almost cheaper to just buy a new crate engine.

cuke2u · 23 Sep 2019 at 13:28

I once rebuilt a V6 3.0l out of a Capri, also built a A35 up from two cars renovating everything completely aside from the upholstery.
I have also rebuilt a number of British motorcycle engines, one had been lying in someone's backyard for a few years...

Clarkey · 23 Sep 2019 at 14:58

JZs are very strong and reliable, not to take anything away from you but being rebuilt by a novice is probably the worst thing that could happen to one.

panthro · 23 Sep 2019 at 15:54

Clarkey said:
JZs are very strong and reliable, not to take anything away from you but being rebuilt by a novice is probably the worst thing that could happen to one.

What could possibly go wrong!!

Seriously though, if I stick to plans, have the correct tools and knowledge on tap what could go wrong?

Lashout_UK · 23 Sep 2019 at 15:58

I'd buy something small, manageable and straightforward to tinker with first – something for which parts are cheap, and which you can run without any complicated set-ups. An A-series or a Beetle engine, perhaps?

Then, once you're happy with that, move onto something a bit more expensive. At least if you bend and break stuff the first time around, you won't be spending a small fortune putting it right.

Both are really well documented, too, so you can grab a great book for one and rely on that for advice and instruction.

vanpeebles · 23 Sep 2019 at 17:01

Thumbs up for a-series! Hooooooooo!

Nasher · 23 Sep 2019 at 17:08

A friend completely rebuilt his from scratch recently. I don't think he even upgraded anything, but it runs way better than it did. It now produces more power and emissions readings were quite a bit lower. Even sounds smoother.

bainbridge · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:20

I've always wanted to do this but as per the above poster I'd start with something simple and cheap.

sideways14a · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:29

Yep i did my SR20det on my old S14 200sx.
Blew it on just shy of 300hp (was due to my Racelogic traction control pulling in the timing and causing valve float on the stock SR20) -snapped the timing chain (still the only person on the SXOC to snap a chain)
Rebuilt it with much of the same gear as was on it but with forged everything, better spec cams and a lot of other stuff - was just shy of 400hp when i got rid (gt2871r held it to that or it would have been near 500)

God it was quick, wiped the floor with M3s and such of the era... in fact would wipe the floor with most performance cars now.

Best quarter was 13 dead on 280bhp at 111mph - just a few months before i rebuilt it.

Loved that car but it was an utter animal.

Doobedoo · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:33

sideways14a said:
Yep i did my SR20det on my old S14 200sx.
Blew it on just shy of 300hp (was due to my Racelogic traction control pulling in the timing and causing valve float on the stock SR20) -snapped the timing chain (still the only person on the SXOC to snap a chain)
Rebuilt it with much of the same gear as was on it but with forged everything, better spec cams and a lot of other stuff - was just shy of 400hp when i got rid (gt2871r held it to that or it would have been near 500)

God it was quick, wiped the floor with M3s and such of the era... in fact would wipe the floor with most performance cars now.

Best quarter was 13 dead on 280bhp at 111mph - just a few months before i rebuilt it.

Loved that car but it was an utter animal.

Hello sir fancy popping round to help fettle my Pulsar

.

I have a coolant leak somewhere worse case it’s a head gasket and I need to replace the head gasket. Keep putting it off but need to muster up the courage/motivation preferably before next summer.

~Dockie · 24 Sep 2019 at 17:05

Yep, however it was a rotary, which isn't really comparable. rotaries are super easy to rebuild compared to a RPE. no cams, timing etc to worry about.

DereksDontRun · 24 Sep 2019 at 18:41

done a little work on a F20C, but not a full rebuild. Built a S2000 powered Westfield and the engine was off ebay, so we wanted to check it. Only ended up removing the rocker cover (to check for wear and check valve clearances) and sump to baffle it (and check for swarf/metal).

No matter what heat or length breaker-bar we tried, we couldn't get the crank pulley off, so felt there was little point going any further with the strip-down (especially as we couldn't spot anything to be worried about).

Malevolence · 24 Sep 2019 at 19:42

2.3 out of a Victor. Stripped it, cleaned it and totally rebuilt it only for some thieving ****** to half-inch it from the yard. And to this day I'm still at a loss as to how they managed to have it away in 10 minutes. It took three of us a lot longer than that to manhandle it up the yard, and yo make things even stranger the gates were still bolted and locked from the inside when I discovered it missing.

mjt · 24 Sep 2019 at 19:43

Malevolence said:
2.3 out of a Victor. Stripped it, cleaned it and totally rebuilt it only for some thieving ****** to half-inch it from the yard. And to this day I'm still at a loss as to how they managed to have it away in 10 minutes. It took three of us a lot longer than that to manhandle it up the yard, and yo make things even stranger the gates were still bolted and locked from the inside when I discovered it missing.

Drone?

andy_mk3 · 24 Sep 2019 at 20:05

Yeah I rebuilt the engine from my Astra in my shed (don't get the Astra and the shed confused

) (Saab 2.0 turbo B204 engine). The quick rundown of what I did/had done:

Full strip down & clean up all all parts
Cylinder block acid dipped, crack checked, deck skimmed, a light hone on the bores and balance shafts completely removed and oilways blanked off
Every single gasket and o-ring renewed, along with all new bearings, piston rings and oil pump gears
Cylinder head skimmed, valves & seats re-cut, pressure tested, lightly ported inlet, uprated valve springs
Everything either painted or powdercoated
Probably tons of things I've forgotten...

I do plenty of engine work in my job, but it's always fun and nice to be able to take the time to have it all cleaned up and nice.

Malevolence · 24 Sep 2019 at 20:47

mjt said:
Drone?

It was back in the 90s so I doubt it, but **** knows.

thedazman67 · 26 Sep 2019 at 13:39

Yep, rebuilt the engine in my s14a 200sx with forged internals many years ago now.

There is a thread on here somewhere documenting the journey.

I borrowed my brother's drive and garage it took about 8 months working on it mostly at weekends. It
was an enjoyable experience.

It was a great feeling when it started up again for the first time.

Greboth · 26 Sep 2019 at 14:38

Sounds like something worthwhile and that you're interested in. Though I would say it depends on how much spanner you're used to doing. If none / not much then that's quite a leap to go to a full rebuild. On the other hand, if you've worked on cars in the past and have a reasonable idea how engines are put together then why not.

I've never had the need to do a full rebuild but I have changed head gaskets and fully stripped and rebuilt the heads while I was at it so I don't think a full rebuild would be too difficult if I need / wanted to do it.