Shoota_77

I've got an extended sump and the external pickup. My sump uses the original pickup back into the original position just through the side of the sump rather than through the block. There's really no huge advantage with the external pickup. With an RB30 conversion it's a bit of a pain in the arse extending the standard pickup but can be pretty easily done. The reason I stuck with the external pickup was that the (complete p.o.s in the end) engine I bought had the Tomei pump already modified for external so it was easier to build everything around the oil pump rather than tossing a $1500 part!

There's definitely merit in it if you're tracking your car. On the street (if you have large testes) it can be a lot of fun to hang the arse out before the front grabs but I have little doubt it would make you a lot quicker at the track to have full all wheel drive earlier. That in conjunction with a good torque split controller and you're laughing.

Thanks Mick, I wish it wasn't so long between each update! Family, building a house, building a shed and work seem to get in the way very often! Pulled the oil pump back off last night to work out how to get around my A/C bracket issue. Think I might have a solution with a 90 degree -10 fitting I cut up. Glen (aka Rb30/26 running gear in LX Torana hatch fame) is hopefully going to help with the aluminium welding which is outside of my abilities (and equipment!). These photos may not make sense but I know what I mean! If you look at the last photo I'll be able to cut away the triangular bracing on the A/C bracket. I don't believe there should be great enough side loadings to cause the bracket to flex or break. Time will tell. It would be lovely to make some consistent forward progress at some point rather than 2 steps forward 1 step back! Such are the joys of doing it yourself I spose...

Got the front end on (oil pump, water pump, etc)- I fear I might have a porous weld issue with the changes made to my oil pump unfortunately. Seems to be weeping out of a porous looking section that was welded on to make the pump external pickup. An abortion of a job was done the first time it was done prior to me getting the pump so made life hard for the second modification. I'm tempted to get it modified again anyway to work around the A/C bracket. Call me soft but until this car becomes a full track car I still want my air con! Northern Victorian summers are unrelenting... I sat the head on the other day and turned it over (without cams in) and the pistons don't hit the head which is a good start! It had me worried for a while! I've got some Playdoh so when I get me new head/block dowels I'll bolt the head down and see what sort of clearance I get between the valves and the head. Hopefully it's enough....

I've got the AEM ignitor (http://www.aemelectronics.com/8-channel-twin-fire-ignition-module-670) which I presume is much the same thing as the Morristech. I'll get a set of Splitfires and see how we go!

Cool, your setup rocks so it obviously works! Are you using a non R33 GT-R set of Splitfires that don't have the inbuilt ignitors?

I had spark issues on my last tune at only 325kws (pre RB30/26) but it was possibly due to an undiagnosed issue somewhere else.... Are you just running standard kit Paul?

450 plus AWKW hopefully....

I'm tempted to use non ignitor coil overs but I'm sceptical as to whether they can produce enough spark under high comp/boost. The advantage is they're obviously a lot neater if you can get them under the standard cover.

Coil over plugs Eric or individual coil packs running plug leads?

New Jeep Grand Cherokee if you're looking at new cars. $55k for a Laredo diesel that tows 3500kg. They're an awesome car to drive towing or not. Best value for money in that price range. Yes I sell them so biased but they're now comfortably smashing Prados so the proof is on paper! We just sold one to Winton Raceway so they rate them!

Roughly what was it worth for the full rebuild Ash?

Can an alternator rewinder/repairer bump up the output of a standard alternator? Obviously they'd need to change regulator as well but wondering do they add extra windings or something to bump them up?

Excellent work, thanks for the help! Need to paste that somewhere for future reference...

No good for me either. Must be a settings thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukVAWr1Eoc

Just get another genuine RB26 tensioner stud. It depends however what thread was cut after the machinist drilled the new hole. You would hope they used the same thread but you'd best check first. Need one in a hurry? Go to Bunnings and get the right threaded bolt that has the same or longer shank length as the stud that came out, cut off the head of the bolt and cut a new thread on the head end, fixed!

All pistons in. Bought a tapered ring compressor which I HIGHLY recommend. Makes putting the pistons in so much easier and feels a lot nicer than a traditional clamp style compressor. Was a bit worried about piston protrusion from the block but apparently it'll be ok. I hope! I'll play doh the pistons and whack the head on when I get a chance to see how much clearance I have. After thinking I'd finished the head I've decided now to remove the exhaust humps. Should've done it right from the start but oh well, still easier now than when it's completely assembled.... It's incredibly slow progress but I'm getting there!

Try not to start new threads, get's confusing as people still post in both. You could ask the same questions in here as people that are interested will follow the post to help of for their own interest. Standard balancer will be fine. Otherwise get a Ross or an ATI if you've got the cash. Doesn't need to be the same weight as before. Wouldn't hurt to get a balancing/machining company to spin it up to make sure it is balanced. Replaced your crank keys to be safe, saves it sticking again. Put Molybdenum anti seize on the crank snout too, even further prevents sticking/grabbing. Underdriven only worthwhile if you're on the track 90% of the time. Gives you lesser P/S and A/C (which many can live with) on the street.

Yeah bolt loose causes balancers to whack back and forth on the keyway which burrs the edges. If it's a cheap puller, you may as well sacrifice it rather than pulling the motor out. As per above there's a fair chance the crank may be damaged. If it's not too bad and you can replace the key's (cheap from Nissan) and never let the bolt get loose again then you might be alright. If the cam belt gear key is stuffed as well then you're really in trouble. It's obviously more important to hold the belt gear in the perfectly correct position than the balancer.

I read on here somewhere that you can "just put an extra plate in" to the standard transfer and it gives them a better take up due to less clearance. Has anyone got any experience with that? I've got a spare transfer case so if it's that straight forward I'll whack one in while it's out of the car. I believe Racepace do this upgrade as well. They'd charge two arms and 3 legs for it however...

I'd say a huge number of engines are built without being balanced. Most non performance builds would never get balanced. Get the crank balanced then just weight match the rest yourself. Easy to remove weight off the heaviest rods and pistons. With crank balanced and pistons and rods balanced as a pair to within 1 gram of each other it will be perfect. Well worth the effort to protect your oil pump amongst other more obvious benefits.

Leave the manifolds (both sides) on the engine when pulling it out and put the manifold on the engine before you put it back in. It's a prick of a job to do in the car. Not impossible, just fiddly. So much easier to do when you can rotate the engine and see under the manifold for hoses, etc. You can pull the box out still attached to the engine. It's a bit tricky with a GT-R but a non GT-R a lot easier due to less weight and bulk. Just make sure you remove the shifter from inside the car first and the wiring from underneath which can be a bit tricky. With your air con and power steering you can just remove them off the side of the engine and leave them to the side. Don't disconnect any of the hoses. Make sure you remove your radiator too. If you leave the tranny in and just remove the engine put a jack under the trans to take the weight. Good luck!

That port work is sex! Love the billet oil pump blanking plate too, who does those?

Thanks for the responses guys, giving me a little bit of hope! Thanks god it's got the valve reliefs in the pistons cause I think it's going to need that extra 1mm of clearance!