Bnr34 Revamp

[Mckhenry]

Hello All,

I have been dredging through google trying to find a good deal on a new engine, decent exchanges etc. I am coming up with a few options, but I am also getting a few red flags. People saying you need to be very careful who you get to build your motor, making sure all parts and machining are thou perfect or catastrophe will follow.

Since a N1 purchase fell through, I am left with buying a new N1 long motor and putting it in stock or worked, this option seems to range from $17,000- 28,000 or option b is to rebuild my redtop, this seems to be about the same sort of price but no real warranty to speak of.

I have Garrett 2860 7's, evc boost controller, HKS race exhaust, Apexi fc all current and generating 389hp atw maxing current injectors. Parts I have but aren't fitted- old style tomei dumps and manifolds.

The mods I would like to do to the engine are;

• full head rework, port and polish, cc and o/s valves
• bore to 86.5mm (i think)
• explore stroker vs machining stock crank
• forged rods and pistons
• n1 pumps
• sump upgrade

External engine mods I will also be paying for in the above price will be;

• HKS 600cc injectors ( have been advised these or Nismo are tho only ones worth looking at)
• Nismo plenum (to deal with leaning of rear cylinders)
• New clutch & flywheel
• HKS Intake piping kit (have been told this is the best around)
• Intercooler and piping
• Nismo mounts
• New AFM's (nismo has been reccomended)
• Oil cooler
• Sump upgrade

What I want- Reliability and power, want to get a good bump on the torque curve and push out at least 440hp atw, more obviously with forged crank or stroker. Any advice on what I should get, pros/ cons or who I should talk to what mechanics, machine shops would be great.

But I should stress I want a reliable quality job.

Body wise;

Looking to get the z-tune bar, carbon splitter, z tune guards, bonnet, spats and skirts. not going genuine on the z-tune parts, but same again, would like to get quality built epoxy parts that fit the way they are supposed to. Was also wondering if anyone had seen a white GTR with unpainted carbon splitter, spats and skirts as opposed to painting white???

Any help the forum could give would be great!!

Thanks

Mick

[Mckhenry]

Scratch the old style Tomei dumps, they were what I paid for, but they delivered the expreme's! No complaint there.

Also looking at doing suspension in there as well, thinking of the Hipermax III, thoughts?

Lewis Engines seem to have a good deal also as far as engine goes- http://www.lewisengi...m.au/prod60.htm This one comes with a 3l sump extension and sounds like it might be the one.

Here are a few car pics too.

[jangles]

Red R Racing can build you anything you want,

built the 1000+hp mercury motorsport r34 engine

built twoogles engine

[UWISSH!]

u dont need the nismo plenum,

dont use an n1 oil pump, go for nitto,tomei or jun pumps.

the hks intake might be the best but it may also create compressor surge

standard crank will also do the job of the power u want, just get it balanced and cleaned up

[Mckhenry]

u dont need the nismo plenum,

dont use an n1 oil pump, go for nitto,tomei or jun pumps.

the hks intake might be the best but it may also create compressor surge

standard crank will also do the job of the power u want, just get it balanced and cleaned up

Thanks for the feedback!

Have sort of been scared into the Nismo Plenum to a fair degree. I have been told you can lean out a fair bit more and it gives a lot better throttle response, so I think for those two factors (if true) it is a good investment.

Can you let me know why you think the Plenum's unnecessary please?? Compressor surge, what is that?? I have been a long distance admirer of the GTR's and RB's, but still learning.

BTW the engine package I am looking at currently has the Tomei pump.

[Mckhenry]

Red R Racing can build you anything you want,

built the 1000+hp mercury motorsport r34 engine

built twoogles engine

Thanks, will look into them!

[choyda]

Depending on the condition of your existing engine and the kind of drive you want, you can get 440hpatw without opening the engine up. Just depends how much you want to thrash it, if its going on the track or what kind of response you want.

Are you looking to get everything done in WA?

There are a number of great shops around -I'll plug Elite Racing Developments any day.

I have custom intake piping (in my opinion looks better than the HKS stuff since I didn't want bling), bigger Intercooler, Fuel pump, fuel reg, good exhaust, a pair of -5's, cam gears, cams and binned AFM's - vipec ECU. My power is above 440hpatw.

If you have a much higher power figure in mind or a steep response curve in mind, then yes, stroker/the correct turbo combination, is the way to go.

[UWISSH!]

Thanks for the feedback!

Have sort of been scared into the Nismo Plenum to a fair degree. I have been told you can lean out a fair bit more and it gives a lot better throttle response, so I think for those two factors (if true) it is a good investment.

Can you let me know why you think the Plenum's unnecessary please?? Compressor surge, what is that?? I have been a long distance admirer of the GTR's and RB's, but still learning.

BTW the engine package I am looking at currently has the Tomei pump.

my current set up with full forged motor makes 427kw and the stock plenum is absolutley fine

previous setup before rebuild had gt-rs turbos cams and usual bolt ons for a safe and reliable 340kw or 455hp and still plenum was not an issue.

have a look through HPI mags and threads on these formus and u'll find that the plenum is not needed.

it may give slightly better throttle response but there is alot better ways to spend 2k plus

do a search on compressor surge

[Mckhenry]

Nice looking car, have you got carbon skirts and diffuser? I was looking at having lacquered carbon under part on mine too :-)

Lewis engines seems to be the best deal I have found so far they are in SA, so not looking to get it done in WA, WA is very expensive ATM with the mines pushing up labour costs. Also speaking with Josh from JSAI re dress up gear.

My engine is screwed, it needs a rebuild, 5 has a cracked ring, so a rebuild will be happening no matter what.

scan0001.pdf

[N1GTR]

This section is for projects happening and wrap ups. Discussion and wishlists have their own sections.

Moved.

[R31Nismoid]

Firstly, forget buying N1 motors. They are utterly pointless and a waste of money as they still carry all the weaknesses of the RB26.

You can have a motor built for less than a N1 costs, and it will be unquestionably more reliable.

The list of parts for that power output (320rwkw), is nothing more than expensive.

You do not need:

Rods

Stroker kits

Nismo Plenum

HKS piping kit

Upgraded intercooler

Manifolds

Everything else you have parts wise is good. The above will save you at least 5k which realistically, you'll never notice on the street and won't affect reliability at all.

My own GTR makes 350rwkw with pretty much everything factory... Plenum/dumps/cams/crank/cooler/piping/rods/manifolds etc.

Just a rebuild motor with forged pistons, new crank, head tidy up and some strengthening of the block and there isn't much more too it than that.

As you are in WA, go down to XSPEED or similar and have a chat with them down there. No point going to the East Coast when you have a perfectly capable workshops over there that won't make you eat your money freighting stuff all over the place.

How the mining industry affects car mechanical labour, i don't understand. Good work costs good money.

[Mckhenry]

Have had a chat to X-speed already, they are my current mechanics.

They are saying $6,000 in labour just to build the engine, hence why I am looking to Lewis Engines or someone like that.

But the costs from X-speed was pretty much as follows;

$1,100 pistons

$1,000 rods

$700 head gasket

$2,000 head overhaul only, no porting

$600 bearings

$800 gasket kit

$500 hose kit

$1,600 HKS oil pump

$6,000 labour

$2,500 Machining

Lewis Engines $12,569 plus $399 freight;

Block bored,honed,decked, cracktested, oil restrictors, Crank collar, cracktest,grind, blueprint clearances, microppolish

Acl comp bearings, JE forged pistons total seal rings, Spool h beam rods with arp 2000 bolts, Arp main and head studs

Steel 4 layer head gasket, Tomei oil pump, Genuine Nissan gaskets, Tomeii 264 cams, Springs step 2, Full recon head,refaced,guides,multi angle valve job,seals ,tappet adjustment, 300cfm port job –maximum, Hi octane hi vol race sump extension and baffles also mods to oil drainbacks in sump

Assembled complete sump to covers

[R31Nismoid]

You could tell them you don't want rods. They aren't needed, everyone knows that. Also remember the HKS oil pump eats up another $1000, and a $700 head gasket? Even the hose kit - its thats cooler piping/hose, then stock is also fine there too.

Personally i'd choose a Tomei if you are going an after market pump in that form, they are better.

But yes, I agree - 16k is not exactly cheap when you look @ what Lewis are offering price/parts wise.

[jangles]

hi octane? thought they made their own sumps?

[UWISSH!]

nitto oil pump $1300 and its just as good as the more expensive ones

nitto drag metal head gasket $500 or less

also you get what you pay for aswell, build an engine the cheap way and thats what ull get.

i dont know much about lewis engines but i have heard so many good things about xspeed. The more care thats been taken to put the engine together properly the better off ull be in the long run. Sure u might save a grand or two now but u may end up paying more down the road if things go wrong coz it was put together rough.

I learnt this the hard way, tried to save abit of cash and went for sumone who would build it cheaper and when the motor came back it basically needed to be re done due to shit work and said shit work was done by a reputable company aswell

[R31Nismoid]

The Nitto pump is not of the same design as the Tomei. How can it be as good?

Tomei is the best on the market, period. It adpots the different ring gear setup, similar to that of the Supra.

[Mckhenry]

Why no to the rods??

But yes, everyone else seems to favour the Tomei pump, but X-speed are a HKS dealer, so you expect them to push the HKS items, you just take that into consideration when dealing with them. Also at $120 per hour they will always be difficult to get great pricing from. But being a newb I don't know anyone else over hear I trust with my engine.

Darren Lewis seems to get a good rap from the members and is seemingly a very nice guy, so he is leading the race currently.

[Mckhenry]

nitto oil pump $1300 and its just as good as the more expensive ones

nitto drag metal head gasket $500 or less

also you get what you pay for aswell, build an engine the cheap way and thats what ull get.

i dont know much about lewis engines but i have heard so many good things about xspeed. The more care thats been taken to put the engine together properly the better off ull be in the long run. Sure u might save a grand or two now but u may end up paying more down the road if things go wrong coz it was put together rough.

I learnt this the hard way, tried to save abit of cash and went for sumone who would build it cheaper and when the motor came back it basically needed to be re done due to shit work and said shit work was done by a reputable company aswell

I hear you there, but I would say Lewis build more engines than X-Speed do, I have every faith in Hanson and they guys down there but $6k for engine labour is too much for a weeks work. For the last four years nothing bad has come up about Lewis in the forum searches. It is a pretty big thing for me to send my motor off to another state, but these guys seem to know their stuff pretty well!

I am most worried about the crank setup/ clearancing and have discussed this extensively with Darren, they also have a bore machining jig for the rb's centered off the mains. So I can take some comfort off that, plus you can't burn people and be around for as long as they have without someone having a crack on a forum.

[Mckhenry]

hi octane? thought they made their own sumps?

Dunno, that is what has been offered. They retail the extension for $700ish at High Octane, but I am pretty sure Performance Metalcraft makes the High Octane sumps anyway. So the mechanics are probably paying $4-500 for them, might be that they can't match the quality for that price.

[Mckhenry]

Thanks to everyone too for chiming in with your two cents.

I have been in love with GTR's for about 15 years now, but have been able to learn more about them in the last 6 months thanks to the forums.

Anyone have an opinion on the body side of things, I am going to need to order the front end parts this week.