# Nearly finished my engine......



## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

A few of you know that for the last few months I've been busy rebuilding my engine after blowing the turbo.

I've been putting almost every available hour of free time into getting this engine sorted, I have lost count of the exact number but I've spent something like 4-5 hours a day (even more when not working the same day) in my garage for at least the last 8 weeks, which works out conservatively in the region of 300 hours. Hourly rate anyone ?

Much of this time has been to the expense of my normal family routine, and it wouldn't have been possible without the help and encouragement of my most excellant wife Phillippa. She really is a star, and deserves more credit for this engine than I do, even though she never once lifted a spanner.

I also need to admit to being being a complete slut when it comes to tuners and suppliers, as I've had relations with most of them whilst going through this process. It's a long list but includes many of the favourites and a good spattering of my Skyline Friends.

Tony @ Abbey Motorsport, Steve & Rod @ RB Motorsport, Gary @ GT-Art, Dan @ SRB Power, Marc & Kev @ The Garage and Mark & Andy @ SUMO Power

I may have missed some important people from the list above, and that's not to say your input wasn't appreciated just that it's slipped my mind at the moment.

I'd like to say a special thanks to.....
Marc (Crail Loser) for being my personal "Samaritans" helpline.
Simonh for guidance from his previously installed setup.
Steve (from SAU) for all the info prior to and during this build.

Thanks guys 


Oh and here's a photo or two of what I'm on about, enjoy........


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)




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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)




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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)




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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)




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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

The engine spec. is long, but from the photos above you can see the ceramic coated stainless steel exhaust manifold, silver plated hardware from the hotside of the engine, some wonderful detail of the HKS GT3037 turbo, the GReddy Plenum and flippy silver / purple paint on the covers.

What you can't see in these photos is all the port matching and polishing, the N1 water pump and the steel head gasket.

Oh and there's more........


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Doh!!Doh!!*

DOH!!!DOH!!!DOH!!!DOH!!!DOH!!!    




Well done mate!! looks the mutts!!! DOH!! DOH!!

Dont worry Phillipa,you'll be getting your own back soon with your own little monster


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Oh forgot!*

Phone call coming soon mate,had a few probs this weekend!


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## markyboy.1967 (Feb 14, 2004)

*Engine*

Congrats m8, looking very good, now its time to have the fun after all the hard work you have put in.


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## Nick MW (Aug 15, 2003)

Jason - looking awesome and I have a funny feeling it will be worth all of the effort in the end. Cracking job :smokin:


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## wassen (Jul 23, 2002)

Drewling  

Very nice Jason.

I wonder what this guy dreams of when he sleeps


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## gaz2002 (Mar 17, 2004)

Looking forward to seeing it Jason at the RR day in Dalgety Bay.


Gaz


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## scoobster (Aug 8, 2003)

Looking smart mate!!! Did you get that fuel rail sorted?

What sort of paint did you use for the cam & plug covers? looking at doing it to mine but worried about the heat lifting the paint


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## blueskygtr (Mar 24, 2004)

but thats a single tubbie      
Only jokin mate ! The hours you have put in have really paid off.
It looks superb, Infact, i know a great bloke who needs some engine work done as hes just recked his for the second time! lol How much is your wife gonna charge me for your labour time per hour  
JAY


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

looks superb :smokin: All the hard work has really paid off, that has got to be one of the cleanest engine bays I've seen and it's got the power/performance to boot


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## Howsie (Feb 25, 2002)

Fair play dude. I really hope it delivers the result you deserve, well done!


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## deano (Jan 26, 2003)

JasonO said:


> A few of you know that for the last few months I've been busy rebuilding my engine after blowing the turbo.
> 
> I've been putting almost every available hour of free time into getting this engine sorted, I have lost count of the exact number but I've spent something like 4-5 hours a day (even more when not working the same day) in my garage for at least the last 8 weeks, which works out conservatively in the region of 300 hours. Hourly rate anyone ?
> 
> ...


Im curious about something  

Did you build an engine or win an Oscar             















Only joking , engine looks awesome mate


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## ADUS (Mar 10, 2004)

Nice one m8..good luck with it :smokin:


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## Peter (Jun 27, 2001)

Nice one Jason, it looks superb. I know how you must be feeling right now.....


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## DCD (Jun 28, 2001)

Nice one Jason. Looks very special! 

BTW...Love the first engine picture, could belong in a catalogue! Super lighting


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Thanks for the sweet comments guys, appreciated 

Here's a run down of the spec. which may answer some of the questions asked......


*Intake*
HKS Racing Suction Kit
High Resolution Z32 AFM
Blitz BOV
R34 Nur Spec Intercooler
The Garage Custom Intake Pipes
Greddy Intake Plenum
CUSCO Oil Catch Tank

*Exhaust System*
HKS 1000PS Titanium Drag System
HKS Front Pipe
O's Factory De-CAT pipe
HKS Stainless Steel Hi Mount Manifold : Ceramic Coated
HKS Special Racing External Wastegate
HKS GT3037 turbo
All Hardware : Silver Plated

*Engine*
HKS Metal Head Gasket
Head : Port Matched and Polished
Block : Port Matched
Silver / Purple Flip Painted Cam Covers
O's Factory Breather Fittings

*ECU*
APEXi Power FC
APEXi Boost Control Kit
APEXi FC Commander
FC Datalogit Software
Innovate LM1 Wideband Lambda

*Lube & Cooling*
ARC Oil Cooler
GReddy Oil Filter Relocation Kit
Earls Hoses and Fittings
NISMO N1 Water Pump
NISMO N1 Thermostat

*Fuel System*
HKS Fuel Pump
HKS Fuel Rail
APEXi Fuel Pressure Regulator
Denso 550cc Injectors

*Ignition*
GReddy Racing 8 Spark Plugs
HKS Circle Earth Kit
Exide Maxxima 900DC Battery

*Transmission*
HKS GD Pro twin Plate Clutch
HKS Clutch Actuator Pin
HKS Lightened Flywheel

*Suspension*
KYB Climb Gear Shocks
KYB Climb Gear Springs
DoLuck Anti Roll Bars
Tanabe Sustec Strut Brace

*Brakes*
Ferrodo DS2500 Brake Pads

*Wheels*
Front : Circlar GTA 17 x 9 Lightweight 2 Piece Forging
Rear : Circlar GTA 17 x 10 Lightweigth 2 Piece Forging

*Tyres*
Front : Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 235 x 45 x 17
Rear : Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 255 x 40 x17

*Bodywork*
NISMO Front Grille
NISMO Side Skirts
NISMO High Level Rear Spoiler

*ICE*
Head : Kenwood 9020 MP3
DVD Head : PYLE DVD 130
Display : Pyle PLHR56 x 2 
Front Mid : Kenwood PSR 170mm
Front Tweeter : Kenwood PSR 30mm
Rear Speakers : Kenwood PSR 170mm Coaxial
Sub Woofer : Infinity Perfect 10.1 250mm Free Air
Amplifier : Rockford Fosgate DSM


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Scoobster,
The paint is normal 2 part (apart from the flippy stuff over the top) and is suggested OK for the sort of temperatures seen however, it's normally the lacquer which goes first, so I'll just have to wait and see.

JAY,
If you've got my wifes mobile number, just stick a £ sign on the front, divide by 300 and you'll be looking at an aproximate hourly rate 
It probably wouldn't help that I don't have any RB26 experience, but Peter may be intrested in a little bit of moonlighting 

Deano,


Dino,
More accident than intention, but it is rather arty 

Peter,
Have you got over it yet though 

Paul, Mark, Nick, Philip, Gaz, Dave, Howsie, ADUS,
Thanks guys


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## gtsm (Jan 14, 2002)

well done mate looks fantastic cant wait to see her in action


lee


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## hipogtr (Feb 17, 2002)

Great job - Very clean setup. Hope you get the numbers you are after.

Cya O!


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## Bean (Oct 12, 2001)

WOW!

!!! - now that looks n.i.c.e and so does the spec.
Hope you can run it in anger soon


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## chas (Sep 19, 2003)

*Seems like*

You've skimped a bit on the spec there Jason 150.5 BHP now    
Looks awesome can't wait to see it in the flesh. :smokin: 

Charlie...


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## sturm (Feb 19, 2003)

Looks sweet as Jason

Get an even better look at the RR day 

David


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## dangerous dave (Dec 16, 2003)

Lokks brill can't wait to see in the flesh mate


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## GTR-NUTTER (Jul 9, 2002)

*oooooooo*

looking good m8

rising the bar that little bit i want to see you and mark runing up the strip, will be some sight. congrats on nearly finishing im trying my hardest to get mine done aswell

K


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

Quality Jason, thats fookin mint :smokin: well done.

On another note I had a glimpse of what you have in store. I went for a play with mine today at Crail, its nowhere near complete as you know but ........ well dont want to thread hijack so will post up on forum


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

looks sweet as mate 

but you know you want to get that turbo polished up.......................


Simon


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## MattPayne (Apr 11, 2002)

Jason, that looks beautiful... and what a spec!!! :smokin: one thing... a 2.5l??!! i was always under the impression that you were a GTR bloke...


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## AJFleming (Feb 25, 2003)

I love it Jason. Great choice of turbo aswell, I have a Supra running 3037 and lag is well... ...non existent.

Ant


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## mambastu (Feb 13, 2002)

Looks superb Jas, its gonna fly


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

More thanks for the cool comments guys, I've just spent the whole day getting the exhaust back inplace and the IC piping sorted out....and I'll need to spend some more time on it tomorrow....pretty soon be looking at 400+ hours labour 

Oh, and I'm just waiting for some bits to arrive to finish it off in time for the IoM trip next weekend. All things considered, if I can manage a decent tune on her, which will probably mean MrsO nursing the FC-Datalogit all the way south on Friday morning, I'l be able to post some sweet times on Jurby airfield's drag strip 




Simon,
When you see the engine, you'll realise that polishing the turbo housing would be a mistake. It's a BLING!!! free zone  I put the strut brace back on tonight and it looks awful cos it's polished, not to mention the fact that it's about 20 cm higher up than it needs to be. I'll need to find a new one.....Ti would be nice 

I have particularly went out of my way to not polish parts of this engine, it's difficult to resist, but the end result just looks quality. The IC piping which Marc (The Garage) supplied was already brush polished and looked really cool, except that when I put it all in place it just looked wrong. So it now has a satin finish to match all the aluminium that's kicking around.


Matt,
Non-GTR's rock  I thought my status as "odd one out" was obviously more than just my nationality 

HipoGTR, Bean,
I must be doing something right if it's impressing you guys :smokin: Thanks 

Chas,
Defo won't make more than Crail Loser, so 149.5 it'll need to be 

Ant, Stu,
Thanks guys.


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

*Jason*

Can i have your strut brace then please? can i, can i? pleeeeeeaaaassssseee!


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Oh, OK then


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

JasonO said:


> Oh, OK then


Hey Jason, I suffered the same fate, looks like the back of a shopping trolly  . I am having a carbon fiber brace made, dunno if thats bling or bling/function


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## paul creed (Feb 18, 2003)

Crail Loser said:


> dunno if thats bling or bling/function


No, Thats just bloody showing off


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

nice one


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Fired her up today, but never got the oppertunity to go for a run 

I put straight water in the radiator and 0w40 oil in for the first turn of the key, as I wanted to flush out anything left behind in the block, or that the ultrasonic cleaning of the cylinder head had not removed.

A little bit of adjustment got her idling, but I'll need to spend some more time fine tuning the idle after I get the big injectors installed.

With everything hot (68C after a lengthy idle), and all the smoke and fumes from the assembly burnt away, I pulled the sump plug and drained the oil into a clean tub. A quick checked showed everything was OK so I popped another new filter on and topped her up with Castrol RS 10w60 and a proper coolant mix. It was such a relief to here her run quiet with the 10w60, 0w40 is scarey by comparison.

Just to cut the front bumper to fit around the FMIC, and pop the wheels on before I can take her for a run.

Tomorrow can't come quick enough


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## BlueFin (Oct 18, 2002)

That's a beautiful lump (and I mean the engine) you've got there, beautiful enough maybe even take to bed!

Good luck for tomorrow, not that you need it.


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

how much of a relief was it to hear it running????

well done mate - very pleased for you 

Simon


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## Fuggles (Jul 3, 2001)

Simply stunning!   
Can't wait to see it for real.


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Simonh said:


> how much of a relief was it to hear it running????


I tried to start her yesterday, but a slight technical hitch meant I had to abandon the idea. I spent the whole evening concerned that I had done something awfully wrong.

When I connected up the battery at 1:50pm yesterday I knew I was pushing it because I needed to leave for work at 2:30pm, but I had to try. I disconnected the ignition amplifier and spun her over her over on the starter to get some oil moving around and prime the fuel system. Then I connected up the ignition amplifier and went for it.......it was 2:05pm, and she was turning like a good'un but not even trying to fire......and with no petrol smell from the exhaust I thought the pump had given out, so I disconnected the fuel inlet hose to the rail and got the whole front of my garage and myself thoroughly soaked in petrol. I had acidentally swapped the inlet and return fuel lines on the rail.

I was in need of a shower anyway, and the garage wasn't a very safe place to be so I called it quits.

I made it to work on time though. 


Fuggles,
I just hope the reality lives up to your expectations


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

*Crail Loser - Extra Top Bloke !!*

The last 24 hours have been a complete roller coaster 

This time lastnight, I had just finished a late shift at work, and spent until 2 am in the garage getting the front bumper in place. Then got up at 5:30am to go to work for an early shift.

I finally managed to get the wheels on the car ( they look rather purposeful  ) and took her for a run at 4pm.

*It was AWESOME* :smokin:


I called Marc (Crail Loser) @ 'The Garage' just before closing time yesterday afternoon to say I would be coming through to collect some kit I had loaned him, and that I'd appreciate an hour of his time to help me roughly fuel the car. He laughed at me and said "Yeah right, an hour my arse!" and I should have known to take his experience in these matters seriously. 

After a few trips out and some tweeks to the fuelling, with Marc in charge of the laptop, we had a gorgeous AFR setup but couldn't control the boost, and figured that we had an iffy sparkplug or two. 

So we went back to his workshop around 9pm, to emerge an hour later having replaced the GReddy plugs with nice new HKS ones, checked and adjusted the fuel pressure, and hooked up the boost control. 

A few more runs out confirmed that the fuelling was spot on, but we still didn't have boost control. I was reluctant to drive the car hard, and Marc sensing my bottle having went offered to drive, which shortly concluded our evening with a diagnosis of "Wastegate Problems" and "Lack of Sleep". 

Marc, I can't think of a big clever way of saying this, but you know I mean it...........Thanks, you're a mate.



A couple of other people need special mention for their efforts in the last leg of this race.......

Tony and Mark @ Abbey, for supplying a new crank pulley from Japan in record time, and for finding the banjo bolts for the coolant lines in my turbo kit which HKS thought it would be clever to leave out. 

Gary @ GT-Art, for taking my late phone call and helping out with fuel pressure info, when I couldn't find it in the manuals. Top bloke, sorry for diturbing you so late.


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## gtsm (Jan 14, 2002)

well done mate you have done really well cant wait to see her in action

bet she flies u bringing her to billing ???


lee


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

Have a good weekend, car sounds and looks excellent.


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

not much to say other than  and :smokin: :smokin: :smokin: 

what problem is it you are having with the boost - not able to stop it from rising?

Simon


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

I think Jason is away to the Isle Of Man meet Simon but yes the problem seemes to be the same one you experianced with the boost being unregulated by the wastegate.

It was getting pretty late last night by the time Jason got over and we attached the PFC Boost controller. Adjusting the duty seemed to have little to no effect on the boost control so we presumed it was a problem or setting on the external wastegate that was at fault and left it there.

Care to shed any light from your own experiances?


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

as soon as I connect the 'out' from the solenoid to the TOP of the wastegate I cannot stop boost from rising.

I am using a profec B and I have checked that the boost pipe that feeds it is getting a good reading.

The way I have it set up is that the IN on the solenoid is taken from the inlet tract before the throttle body but after the turbo.

The side connector on the wastegate is connected to the inlet manifold after the throttle body.

what seems to happen is that there is not enough pressure diferential between the underside and top of the wastegate so it can't open.

but typing this has just made me think - if the solenoid is operating from AFTER the turbo then the pressure in that part of the inlet tract is going to be about the same as at the wastegate  

but looking at the profec instructions that is exactly how it shows it should be.......

FWIW it holds steady at 1.1bar on just the spring pressure without the controller fitted and I never see any spikes above that.

I'm not sure that helps at all.................

Simon


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## Philip (Jan 17, 2002)

Simonh said:


> as soon as I connect the 'out' from the solenoid to the TOP of the wastegate I cannot stop boost from rising.


Is it worse with more load, i.e. higher gears?

Phil


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## Howsie (Feb 25, 2002)

Jason, sounds like its coming along nicely and as you've no team to follow  in Euro 2004 you should have plenty of time to finish her off. But in all seriousness, its amazes me what you have acheived by yourself and with the help of some friends. Not forgetting the helpful chaps at Abbey and GT-Art!

All the best.


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## GTR-NUTTER (Jul 9, 2002)

well done m8

getting there, i cant wait to see this running. i think we should arrange a skyline day at an airfield.

K


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## stu1k (May 19, 2004)

engine looks great jason, well done!


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## lucy (Dec 9, 2003)

Wow! Top job.


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Well, the IoM weekend has been and gone, it was great fun and the car was relatively faultless considering the amount of work that has been done. One or two minor items, but otherwise fine. Here's a quick rundown of my observations over the weekend..........


I still need to get the bigger injectors installed, but so far the engine is a dream. Having seen 90% duty on the stock injectors I would put the performance easily in the region of 325-350bhp at the moment. Previously at 300bhp the car could be a bit stressful and aggressive, but it now feels very relaxed yet packs a much meatier punch. It took a bit of getting used to the lower compression from the heavy steel head gasket, but this has released some of the potential of the twin plate clutch and lightened flywheel which had made her ever so easy to stall before. Getting away from junctions is so much easier now, but hills require an anticipated down shift if running low rpms.

The N1 Water Pump and Nismo Thermostat have led to a faster warm up but cooler running temperature, after a lengthy idle the temp is just getting to 70ºC and a lengthy high speed run sees this creep up to 75-78ºC. Repeated full-on blasts down the 1/4 saw 82ºC dropping back to 75ºC after a few hundred yards of light throttle in the return road, and recovering 70ºC by the time I joined the queue for another run. I need more practice on the drag strip, especially at getting her off the line, but consistant 100+ mph terminal speeds at 0.9bar boost hint at what's in store for me when I get the bigger injectors installed and a bit more practice. I did notice on the drag strip that she was dropping all boost coming into 3rd gear, this I think was a combination of no BOV and limited boost control. I will have the BOV flange welded in place shortly, and I have the boost control working properly now (sorted it out yesterday afternoon).

The Nur Spec intercooler from Cem's old GTR is doing a great job of keeping the inlet temperature under control, and I am trying to find a couple of small thermometers which I can use to log the charge temp at the IC inlet and outlet. Suffice that checking with my hand after a couple of blasts up the 1/4 found that the inlet was a tad hot but the outlet was nice and chilly.
On the open road all this translates to a car which is creamy smooth at putting on speed for overtaking, and quite tractable about town. Boost builds from about 3krpm and gets ballistic by 4krpm, with the boost controller bringing it on really hard or smooth depending on the settings. The chatter from the external wastegate sounds awesome, but having never experienced anything like it before I struggle to over come the urge to lift off because of the unusual noise.

She really plants you in the seat over 4krpm and is still pulling hard come the redline. The throttle response is good with positive manifold pressure, but noticeably lazy at the moment when off boost but I think this will be recovered by adjusting the cam timing slightly.

I'm really happy with what I've achieved sofar as the engine's power delivery is almost exactly what I had in mind from the outset, I just never realised it was going to be such a smooth hit until I got here.

Roll on the dyno day, it'll be really satisfying to see what it all adds up to :smokin:


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

sounds great 

how did you sort the boost control problem?

Simon


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Howsie said:


> as you've no team to follow in Euro 2004


What  You're mistaken.....I've got loads of teams to follow in the Euro 2004 tourney, and as it happens I won't be concerned about not having a team to support in the tourney tomorrow as 7 of them are still in. I mean, even if Portugal go out tonight I'll still have a choice of Sweden or Holland in the semi final.


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Simon,
Plumbing......
The quick fix was to T the solenoid in the boostline to the wastegate diaphragm and use it as a bleed. This meant that the boost would rise really slowly though, and was still liable to fluctuate a bit. This made the car driveable without worry of it turning the pistons into shrapnell.

Anyway, after a bit of messing about with the boost controller yesterday, and moving the pipes around I have finally managed to get it working properly. It's plumbed with the T off the positive line to the diaphram going to the solenoids NC port, the COMM port goes to the top of the wastegate acting against the diaphragm. I have found that the duty setting for the solenoid on the Boost Control can be set mid range, and the boost level dialled in as desired, and it will control it. If the Duty cycle is too high boost will rise really quickly and spike a bit over the desired setting, too low and it takes a while to reach it's peak. ( A low duty cycle makes for a very progressive drive  )

I now know what you meant abotu the response of the turbo though, it's really relaxed but not in a laggy sort of way.


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

NC - normally closed - I'm guessing that on the profec B that this is the 'IN' port. I'll give it a try and see what happens, won't be for a few weeks though. But with any kind of luck it will be with some new injectors, AFM and ECU 

Simon


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Hmmm, not sure Simon.

I assume your solenoid has three ports, what they are called in your case I am not sure but the normal nomenclature for pneumatics would be *COMM*_on_, *N*_ormally_ *O*_pen_ and *N*_ormally_ *C*_losed_. ths decribes the state of the ports when the solenoid has no power applied.

To determine which port is which, you could blow through the solenoid. The port which is blocked (no airflow) will be NC. The other two will be COMM and NO. You need to power the solenoid (try a 9v battery) and blow again to see which port is blocked when the solenoid is activated, this will be the NO port. The other port is COMM.


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## BBD (May 30, 2002)

Happy man then Jason hehe Grats on your achivment on the car up to now,, its such a hassel working on the car and time consuming ,, but it all pays off at the end. hope you get the injectors in soon so we can hear more updates.

as I am almost at your stage now just waiting on an ECU to stage fine tuning it and see where I can boost my car at.


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

Hi Jason,

there are just the two ports on the profec B solenoid IN and OUT.

I think I will T into the line that goes to the side of the wastegate for IN and leave OUT connected to the top of the wastegate and see what that does.

Cheers for the help 

Simon


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

You tried it yet Simon ?


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

not yet - still working on the bumper 

while it's in bits I going to do the injectors polish up the inlet manifold and sort the AFM

Simon


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## Matt_S (Apr 21, 2002)

Jase - looking good mate - very pretty engine 

Ahould be a nice little motor by the time you have the injectors etc sorted


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