Shot in the Dark.

[spitznoz]

Son of a bitch nvermind its not oil its water

[dimedriver]

Not really a big deal if you are planing on rebuilding. Get the water out of there and spray some PB blaster in there. Some times the valve can rust to the valve seat. Let that sit for a few days. Then turn the engine over to TDC compression stroke. Then you can start taking the rest of it apart.

 

Do you know what car that engine came out of? You can find FSM's on nicoclub's website and figure out the Timing marks.

 

-Dime

[spitznoz]

Not really a big deal if you are planing on rebuilding. Get the water out of there and spray some PB blaster in there. Some times the valve can rust to the valve seat. Let that sit for a few days. Then turn the engine over to TDC compression stroke. Then you can start taking the rest of it apart.

 

Do you know what car that engine came out of? You can find FSM's on nicoclub's website and figure out the Timing marks.

 

-Dime

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/300zx/

I looked on this site but couldnt tell the diffrence 84 to 89 looked the same is there another way to tell the difference

[dimedriver]

They could all be the same. Check out redz31.net he may have some info on differences in years. Also hybridz.org is good to look in the nissan V6 section for stickies.

 

 

-Dime

[spitznoz]

They could all be the same. Check out redz31.net he may have some info on differences in years. Also hybridz.org is good to look in the nissan V6 section for stickies.

 

 

-Dime

 

Thanks for all the info i appreciate it alot

[spitznoz]

i think this was on purpose as a joke what do you guys think, yup those are nails

 

is there hope for this motor?or would it be cheaper just to move on to a different motor so far Ive only spent $3.28 for a can of blaster and $10 for a set of hex heads

[spitznoz]

comments advice appreciated :rolleyes:

[Rustina 510]

Build it up dude, parts for that

Motor are quite common, vg30 Datsun 510 is a beast! The hardest part is keeping the front wheels on the Dam ground.

[LenRobertson]

I don't think you can give up on this engine until you tear it all the way down. It looks like probably the cylinder walls will be beyond just honing, they will have to be re-bored, but until the pistons are out, you can't be sure. The crank may be fine, or may need to be turned. Only way to know is clean everything up and mic it. You could have gotten a motor that looked a lot cleaner inside, but had enough wear to need boring and crank turned. I don't know how the Pull n Saves where you are do it, but up here in the wilds of E WA, there is a $25 core charge for aluminum cylinder heads. If nothing else, you have $50 of core heads. You might start putting together parts prices for a VG30 rebuild - rings w/wout pistons, complete gasket set, bearings, all that. Then find a trust worthy machine shop, and get prices on rebore and crank turn. You don't have to know down to the penny, just a get a good idea what it will cost you. Then figure the cost of the VG mounts, headers, whatever you can't build yourself, but have to buy. Then, if the total isn't too scary, go for it! I dream of a VG, but I'm cheap n lazy. I love the idea of someone else being able to do it though.

 

Len

[dimedriver]

I 2nd everything Len says. Start an excel spread sheet or google spread sheet and get on summit and search for parts. They should have piston rings and bearings listed for the VG on summit. If you want go for the ARP bolt kits too. Then get the thing taken apart and measured. Keep track of which cylinder each piston came out of. If it's rebuildable with those pistons they have to go back in there current cylinders. I hope all the rust is from the nails and not from the cylinder walls. At the very leaste you have two heads that you can work with. Valves are pretty cheap. I think the federal mogol pistons on Summit are pretty cheap too. The L-18's which are out of stock and production were listed as $20 each. How long has that engine been sitting? Get that rust dust out of there and spray the walls down with PB blaster to slow/stop the rust.

 

Where in the high desert are you located? Anywhere near Prineville, OR?

 

 

-Dime

[spitznoz]

thank you all for the encouragement you all rock, dont know how long its been sitting im just taking my time with it Im in victorville ca

[spitznoz]

My motor rebuild have been delayed

Replaced the whole rear of my truck i did it all by myself and now it hurts when i breath :lol: il get back to the motor now, had to take care of the Daily driver first thats were the money is :lol:

 

new rear

old rear

[The Dat-side]

Looks like that motor is begging for VH45 pistons.

[spitznoz]

I got caught up with some wheels i promise il get back to the motor :lol: 180 bucks with tires for the set

[Jesse C.]

On the block numbers, should be on the rear of the cylinder banks, what is the letter on the end of VG30?

[spitznoz]

On the block numbers, should be on the rear of the cylinder banks, what is the letter on the end of VG30?

 

VG30 346248A

[spitznoz]

UPDATE: OK I looked around for parts for this motor, the cylinder walls are corroded to a point were the pistons are stuck on it, also two of the valves on one of the head is also corroded. I also think that I don't have the skills to rebuild this motor so I asked someone else how much it would cost for a rebuild on a vg30e he estimated 1400 for a rebuild which did not make sense to me because I only payed 40 bucks for the motor lol, at the end of the day there is just too much baggage on this motor so I'm bitching out and going to a much simpler/running set up. I am ditching the block to ecology to get some cash the other head looks fine if anybody wants it :), with the gas prices il probably just go KA or SR I don't mind four bangers.

 

Mods please delete thread Thanks

[jputz]

1400 to much for a rebuild yet you say ka or sr. Have you priced those swaps yet? Think you would be better off going with what you got. But thats just my .02.

[motavated]

The sr's cost that much. And there could be problems with them.

[dimedriver]

I rent shop space with a Miata nut. He rebuilds a lot of engines. He bought a set of tools for redoing heads for way cheaper than that. I think all the tools plus the machine work to over bore the engine will be cheaper than what you have been quoted if you do it yourself.

 

If you you can get those pistons out of the bores and measure how bad the pitting is then you can make a decision. If an over bore is needed pistons should be pretty cheap 1mm over on summit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UEM-9075-1-0MM/ are ~300 These are nice pistons. You could find cheaper pistons from federal mogul. I have seen them for around $20 each($120 for a set). Then it will need to be bored for the pistons. This should not be too much. Then do everything else yourself. ITs not that hard a lot of measuring and some math. You really need to get the crank out and check it too. If its shot it would really increase the costs but it's probably not too bad.

 

keep the piston rods in order and the rod caps together. they have to go back in the same places. Same with the main caps.

 

 

Go check a book on rebuilding chevy engines out from your library it will help you get an idea of whats up.

 

-Dime

[spitznoz]

Good inputs guys but i honestly think that it would be cheaper for me to just go ka or sr, the 1400 was just the rebuild i would still need a transmission , drop in kit, and wiring harnesses. Ive seen a few ka's here in so cal that are great prices and running before they were pulled there is one right now that has really good compression for 450 about 70 miles away from me. there is also a few around me that will do a rebuilt KA swap for 4k (is this a fair price? lemme know)

 

Thanks

[dimedriver]

There are NO kits for engine swaps into 510's. Thats what makes it fun and rewarding.

There is a big difference between saying "I put the engine in there." and "I paid such and such to put it in there."

 

For the $4k KA swap, I would say its only worth it if it came with everything.

-Fresh regasket'ed or rebuilt engine. The ones that get pulled for SR swaps have been sitting along time and have gasket rot.

-known working transmission or rebuilt.

-Custom oil pan so you can maintain stock roll bar or custom roll bar with 240sx pan. 510 handle like shit without the front roll bar.

-Custom radiator with electric fans. This includes the mods needed to the ECU to control them. Fans not controlled by ECU = they don't know what they are doing.

-Modified fuel tank for in tank pump. Nice double filter setup and fuel pump. Walboro is ok, Bosch 044 is better.

-Custom drive shaft.

-Custom exhaust.

-They take the car to the smog ref and get it barred. It's still required even though the car is smog exempt. Had a friend caught with a SR in his 510. His car was impounded + $1000 fine. If he had it barred this would not have happened. Good luck barring a SR barred. KA should go though with flying colors if all the smog stuff is there.

-Nicely modded transmission tunnel to fit KA transmission. I have seen a lot of cut and bend the metal out of the way here.

-Can you bring it back if its got problems? Like over heating. or it seems to turn left really well but when you turn right it makes funny sounds?

-Most people like to put a break upgrade on too.

 

Also In my three years of autocrossing, I have yet to see a SR or KA powered 510 beat L16's with side draft carbs. The KA wins on paper because of torque, but no one has proven it in the real world yet. We probably get a swapped 510 or 2 every other event. With 3 or 4 L16 powered cars there for every event. There is a built and trailed 510 with an L20 that does very well but its only tenth's faster than the L16's if its faster that day. Also if you do an engine swap that automatically moves you in to the open classes in SCCA. Do you want to compete against cars with 20k in just their engines?

 

Does your 510 run ok now?

 

-Avery

[spitznoz]

Holy smokes thank you for taking the time to reply on my post your reply is very interesting and gave me a whole new perspective on things. I don't really plan on racing my 510 i just want it to cruise as smooth as possible and also be reliable. I currently have an L16 automatic its not really suited for the freeway were i live its pretty scary doing 60-65 max speed on the freeway. I really like carburetor motors because they sound great and easy to mess around with, but with a KA i feel like i would be able to enjoy my car much better without having a spare truck on stand by in case something happens. with the 4k swap the guy i talked to said it will come with everything, i would basically drop my car off running and leave with it running. I am currently working on my brake upgrades i think i can handle this part at least. I could try doing the swap myself and save maybe 1.5-2k of that 4k but my greatest fear is my car becoming a project car that would collect dust. what i could also do is maybe just swap out my transmission with a manual one. I'm not trying to rush into anything but Ive been stuck in situations were I could have made my life so much easier if i just payed for shit, granted i didnt learn anything but i got to my goal. :)

 

your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated thanks

[dimedriver]

Yeah, EFI and a 5-speed make for a car thats really nice and easy to get along with. The 5-speed fixes highway driving. EFI fixes the inconsistencies of a carb. The tune changing with the weather and hard starting sometimes. In southern California your not going to notice it much.

 

A dogleg 5-speed is a bolt in but kinda hard to find.

 

Any Z 5-speeds from any Z car 69 to 83 will bolt to the engine but its longer and will need the the drive shaft shortened and a custom tail mount. Oh and a little trimming of the hole for the shifter.

You can also swap in a KA transmission. But that requires getting a Z bell housing and getting some of the holes made bigger by a machinist.

 

You may also want to look at what ratio you have in the differential. A 4.11 will make for high revs on the highway. 3.90 is a little easier. But without overdrive(5th gear) it's still going to seem way to high.

 

 

If you like the carb keep the L series in there. Once you work out the kinks the car has, it will get really reliable. Its a Datsun! Thats what their known for.

 

Here is an example:

My 1st Datsun was a 76 280z rust bucket I picked up for $600. It had rotted brake hoses and fuel injection lines. I changed the alternator when I bought it. I drove it 200 Miles home not knowing this. I fixed those things and cleaned up some of the vacum lines. After that the car ran like a top. It started every time and faster than my then year old 2001 saturn. I later swapped in a 5-speed This made the car much more drivable on the highway. I took it apart again to get ready to start fixing some of the rust or find another body. Then I had to move for work and sold the car and the parts I had collected for $300. Before I took it apart it was more reliable than my modern car. I had taken it on several trips over 400 miles and never had issues. The saturn left me stranded twice. It had issues with ignition coils even though the design was over 10 years old.

 

These things are so simple its hard for them not to be reliable.

 

-Dime

[kmc63]

If the vg is deemed worthy of a rebuild do it. You obviously want a little more power and the vg is a torque motor. With a 5-speed you can cruise at 70mph all day and she wont break a sweat.As I've heard many times there is no replacement for displacement.Figure out your budget,no matter what engine you go with,its probably going to cost more than you think,good luck to you and happy motoring.