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Old 29-10-2013, 03:09 PM   #1
34ZDA
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major engine rebuild brisbane? (vics?!!)

went for weekend roadtrip last weekend in my sp20 (2003, 135k) which i've only had for almost three months. 500k from home and while cruising along highway suddenly it started to run bad like it was missing. i was 50k from the nearest town so eased it there and rang racq. the nrma guy came and looked at it. sure it wasn't running one cylinder (the end one by the belts) but other than an air leak somewhere (he couldn't find that) there were no bad sounds. when he inspected the spark plug we saw that something had hit it which he assumed must have been the piston.

thank goodness i've got racq ultimate for a motel and loser-cruiser ride home and car gets on a transport next week home to brissy.

i'd earlier read about the vics problem briefly so found the old thread here and sure sounds like i might be a victim. i'm wondering if bits have been going through the engine for a few weeks, possible or not? i remembered couple weeks back that i'd had the car for over two months and hadn't checked the oil since i bought it (it was freshly serviced and all was sweet then). the oil was on low so i topped it up. checked it again before the bad trip and it was down to half. i'd done maybe 500k in that time with a couple of long spirited mtn drives, but it didn't seem right. if not vics death what else? a broken rod? surely that would be noisy.

so now i need to find someone to pull it to bits and see how much is stuffed. will i need a new engine? is it better to get the existing one reconned? if i'm most likely going to need an engine rebuild are there any performance upgrades that might be worthwhile doing at the time?

for starters can anyone recommend a good place here in brissy to get it taken to?
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Old 29-10-2013, 04:27 PM   #2
project.r.racing
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it could be a number of things. but half dissassembling the intake manifold will confirm if it is the loose screws issue. you can get those flexible camera awith screens now, that might save pulling apart the manifold. take off the intake pipe and jam open the throttle and stick the camera down inside.

buying a second hand engine is much cheaper than rebuilding, but you'll never find one with as low kms as yours. rebuilding will be a $3000 job, find damage, add more $$$, upgrade parts, add more $$$.

as for the oil usage, too many varibles to even come out with a straight answer on that. and to be honest, with your pending engine issues, it doesn't matter now.

if it was missing cause of the plug, i would regap it and test engine. while i cannot see the plug being hit by anything unless something is in the camber. it might be worth a quick test.

Last edited by project.r.racing; 29-10-2013 at 04:31 PM.
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Old 29-10-2013, 04:39 PM   #3
Ice88
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Honestly man. Project R has hit the nail on the head.

Utilising parts I got for a good price, Ive so far spent about 3.8k on the engine alone. Granted its a bit special but still.

Questions to ask yourself. What is the car worth to you? Would you be happy with another car?

If you want to keep the car how much is it worth to you to repair? Recently it cost someone on this board ~1700 to replace the engine. 1k for engine and about 700 for labour + parts.

If you wish to keep the car, I will have an engine available soon.
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Old 29-10-2013, 05:37 PM   #4
34ZDA
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i definitely want to keep the car. i paid $7500 three months ago for it and it's super tidy (except for the ding i put in it last week in a carpark..shame, but i was really tired...was supposed to get assessed yesterday for insurance claim..doh!) i've put a nice stereo in it, done a quality hid conversion of the fogs to high beam driving lights, there's a progress hd swaybar waiting for me to pick up tomorrow at the post office. i totally fell in love with it the first time i dropped from mt glorious down northbrook parkway, wow, i knew they were supposed to handle well but i was amazed.

i'm looking at this occurance as a chance to make the car better than it was, not necessarily upgraded, but at least less likely to suffer dramas again.

spending 4k doesn't frighten me so long as i'm going to get something reliable. the car will become my daily drive when it's fixed. my trusty 91 pulsar with 390k on the clock has been saved from its trip to the scrapyard next weekend (oh the irony).

Ice88, can you recommend someone i can take it to? it comes up on a truck late next week. it would be good if i was zoomzooming again in not too much more than a month or so.
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Old 30-10-2013, 01:03 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by 34ZDA View Post
i definitely want to keep the car. i paid $7500 three months ago for it and it's super tidy (except for the ding i put in it last week in a carpark..shame, but i was really tired...was supposed to get assessed yesterday for insurance claim..doh!) i've put a nice stereo in it, done a quality hid conversion of the fogs to high beam driving lights, there's a progress hd swaybar waiting for me to pick up tomorrow at the post office. i totally fell in love with it the first time i dropped from mt glorious down northbrook parkway, wow, i knew they were supposed to handle well but i was amazed.

i'm looking at this occurance as a chance to make the car better than it was, not necessarily upgraded, but at least less likely to suffer dramas again.

spending 4k doesn't frighten me so long as i'm going to get something reliable. the car will become my daily drive when it's fixed. my trusty 91 pulsar with 390k on the clock has been saved from its trip to the scrapyard next weekend (oh the irony).

Ice88, can you recommend someone i can take it to? it comes up on a truck late next week. it would be good if i was zoomzooming again in not too much more than a month or so.
Next set of questions.

Do you want to boost it? Or do you want to stay NA?

What do you want out of the engine? Mild increase or?

In either case you have two options:
1) Take the head off to check if the bore (piston side walls) are scored (read: marked/gouged) from the VICS screw/butterfly.
2) Take the engine out and sell it off as a dud to an engine recondition place. And purchase an intact working engine.

The reason I say this is if the bore is gouged/marked they will need to do some prep work which will change what parts you need in the end.

In either scenario and I was to have an engine assembled and done as a package I would take it to PLR. They have been awesome to me and know there stuff.

Have you thought about sourcing an FS-ZE engine from NZ? They can be had for about 1600-2k delivered. They have higher compression etc. Throw on a good set of extractors, exhaust and you'd be about 130 at the wheels.
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Old 30-10-2013, 04:39 PM   #6
34ZDA
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Have you thought about sourcing an FS-ZE engine from NZ? They can be had for about 1600-2k delivered. They have higher compression etc. Throw on a good set of extractors, exhaust and you'd be about 130 at the wheels. [/QUOTE]

cher! that sounds wicked bro. 130, so is that an increase from what? 90ish? sounds like you've suggested a good option for me.

i guess i need to get the damage properly inspected before i make any moves. i'll ring PLR, i can say you recommended me if you wish, PM me or whatever.

are there a few FS-ZE's sitting over the ditch or is it a bit of a hunt?
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Old 30-10-2013, 07:02 PM   #7
Rupewrecht
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are there a few FS-ZE's sitting over the ditch or is it a bit of a hunt?
Easy to find FS-ZEs in Japan, too.
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Old 30-10-2013, 09:43 PM   #8
Ice88
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Originally Posted by 34ZDA View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice88 View Post
Have you thought about sourcing an FS-ZE engine from NZ? They can be had for about 1600-2k delivered. They have higher compression etc. Throw on a good set of extractors, exhaust and you'd be about 130 at the wheels.
cher! that sounds wicked bro. 130, so is that an increase from what? 90ish? sounds like you've suggested a good option for me.

i guess i need to get the damage properly inspected before i make any moves. i'll ring PLR, i can say you recommended me if you wish, PM me or whatever.

are there a few FS-ZE's sitting over the ditch or is it a bit of a hunt?
From about 100-110 depending on what mods you had before hand...

There are no Australian delivered FS-ZE, so you either get them from Rupe, or from a wrecker in NZ. Either way they all come from JPY at some point in time.

There's a few people running them in Australia now Phildough, Rhys, Ben Carney and Marc_sp20. If your wanting someone to install the engine, not sure whom to recommend.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupewrecht View Post
Easy to find FS-ZEs in Japan, too.
Forgot you can import them.
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Last edited by Ice88; 30-10-2013 at 09:47 PM.
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