citymunky
Well-known member
Man this sucks. I know the feeling too.
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GST with PSI's build & restoration of 1813
- Thread starterGSTwithPSI
- Start date
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
It was a standard size rod bearing according to the receipts I got with the car when I bought it. The receipt says part number RB105, brand name DNJ. It was purchased here: click . I just can't see any way that a bearing failure could cause a rod bolt to fall out of the rod entirely intact. It only makes sense for it to happen the other way around, otherwise they would have both been sheared off like the one in the pic.
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
So I decided to suck it up and buy all the tools I need to rebuild my bottom end myself.
-Fowler outside micrometers: 2-6 inch
-SPI Vee block set
-Starrett small hole gages
-Starrett inside tubular micrometers
-Brown and Sharp telescoping gages
-Brown and Sharp dial indicator
I should be pulling the motor tomorrow, and starting the rebuild shortly after. I can't wait to put this stuff to work.
-Fowler outside micrometers: 2-6 inch
-SPI Vee block set
-Starrett small hole gages
-Starrett inside tubular micrometers
-Brown and Sharp telescoping gages
-Brown and Sharp dial indicator
I should be pulling the motor tomorrow, and starting the rebuild shortly after. I can't wait to put this stuff to work.
Wow, nice tool collection! Jealous.
GSX_TC
Well-known member
Nice tools Brett, that's some professional stuff right there.
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GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
I finally got the motor back out again and torn all the way down. The crank is trashed, and so was the number 4 rod and piston. The good news is I found out that my motor was previously built with 2G Ross racing pistons and not stock 2G pistons. On a bad note, rather than replacing a 2g OEM piston, I had to custom order a single piston from Ross, which cost me ~$150. I had a 1G spare rod laying around, and had the machine shop bore it over to accept the larger 2g wrist pin.
The worst part about all this is that fact that all the money I just spent on gaskets, oil and consumables is all down the shitter. I just ordered new Felpro gaskets again, as well as ANOTHER new oil pan. I decided to cut my losses and went ahead and ordered a new crank too. All that's left now is finding 2 ARP rod bolts and nuts. I'm already planning on having to suck it up and buy a whole set to get the 2 I need. I stripped down the block, cleaned it and gave it another fresh coat of high temp paint. I scraped and cleaned all the sealing surfaces, and installed the ARP head and main studs. I'm pretty much just waiting on parts so I can balance everything, reassemble and get it back in the car.
One of the things doing this again allows for is fixing all the little things I wish I caught the first time around. The oil plug for the BSEK was one of the things that I wanted to fix. The plug popped out twice after the build, and I got really tired of dealing with the oil leak it caused. When I pulled the motor, I found out why the plug kept popping out. The lip that holds the plug was fractured. I easily pulled the cracked part off with my hand, and as the first pic shows, half of the lip came off. I ground the rest of the lip off flat, and cleaned it up good to repair it. I sealed it up with a large washer and JB Weld. I then used a nut and bolt to tighten the washer against the cover to seal, and keep the washer snug in place. The end result looked tight, and I think it will hold up great without any leaks.
Lastly, I gave the engine bay another good wash to get it all ready to drop the motor back in.
The worst part about all this is that fact that all the money I just spent on gaskets, oil and consumables is all down the shitter. I just ordered new Felpro gaskets again, as well as ANOTHER new oil pan. I decided to cut my losses and went ahead and ordered a new crank too. All that's left now is finding 2 ARP rod bolts and nuts. I'm already planning on having to suck it up and buy a whole set to get the 2 I need. I stripped down the block, cleaned it and gave it another fresh coat of high temp paint. I scraped and cleaned all the sealing surfaces, and installed the ARP head and main studs. I'm pretty much just waiting on parts so I can balance everything, reassemble and get it back in the car.
One of the things doing this again allows for is fixing all the little things I wish I caught the first time around. The oil plug for the BSEK was one of the things that I wanted to fix. The plug popped out twice after the build, and I got really tired of dealing with the oil leak it caused. When I pulled the motor, I found out why the plug kept popping out. The lip that holds the plug was fractured. I easily pulled the cracked part off with my hand, and as the first pic shows, half of the lip came off. I ground the rest of the lip off flat, and cleaned it up good to repair it. I sealed it up with a large washer and JB Weld. I then used a nut and bolt to tighten the washer against the cover to seal, and keep the washer snug in place. The end result looked tight, and I think it will hold up great without any leaks.
Lastly, I gave the engine bay another good wash to get it all ready to drop the motor back in.
Vr4junkie
Well-known member
What I never knew you could use forged pistons on stock 1g rods are these C clips or Push in pins?
can't belive they cheaped out on the bearings I used a DNJ head gasket and crap lasted 20mi before it leaked into cyl#4 I got an extra set of ACL aluglide rod and main bearings you can have if u havent ordered some yet.
can't belive they cheaped out on the bearings I used a DNJ head gasket and crap lasted 20mi before it leaked into cyl#4 I got an extra set of ACL aluglide rod and main bearings you can have if u havent ordered some yet.
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DynastyLCD
Well-known member
you can machine the rods for use with free-floating pistons. i have a set of 1g rods that were machined for 22mm free-floating 2g/Evo pistons. then you just use the pins provided with the forged pistons, and voila!
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
The Ross pistons use "spirolox" to retain the wrist pin. The wrist pin is completely free floating in the setup, and isn't pressed into the rod or piston. The end result is a 2G forged Ross piston on a stock 1G rod.
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GSX_TC
Well-known member
hey Brett, remeber these pics man? that was one hell of a meet huh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I kinda miss Cali... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
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GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
^^^Yeah Mike that was a pretty sweet meet. I really like the wine colored 1G next to mine, I always thought that was such a nice color on the first gen cars. Hopefully I get the VR4 in on the action next time!
Speaking of getting the VR4 back in action, I got to make a little progress today. I got my replacement rod back from the machine shop, and could finally balance all the rotating components. I washed everything, and removed all the dirt and carbon form the pistons. I weighed the wist pins and pistons, all of which weighed exactly the same. It appears Ross makes a very refined product. Next, I assembled the rods and weight matched the little ends. After that, I weighed the whole rod and weight matched them once again, this time removing material from the big end. The only difficult part of this process is matching the little end weight of the rods, while at the same time maintaining the overall rod weight. For instance, I would have one rod with a little end that was a few grams to heavy. I would then remove some material from the small end, but by doing so the overall weight would be off a little. It's a delicate balance that takes some practice to get the hang of, but it is much easier than it sounds. It's not hard, but a time consuming process of taking off material, weighing the rod, then rinse and repeat time and time again until it is absolutely perfect. I didn't have a belt sander to remove material like most machine shops do, but an angle grinder worked just fine. I just took my time, removed metal evenly and polished each rod with some sand paper at the end to give each rod a nice finish. End result was
Speaking of getting the VR4 back in action, I got to make a little progress today. I got my replacement rod back from the machine shop, and could finally balance all the rotating components. I washed everything, and removed all the dirt and carbon form the pistons. I weighed the wist pins and pistons, all of which weighed exactly the same. It appears Ross makes a very refined product. Next, I assembled the rods and weight matched the little ends. After that, I weighed the whole rod and weight matched them once again, this time removing material from the big end. The only difficult part of this process is matching the little end weight of the rods, while at the same time maintaining the overall rod weight. For instance, I would have one rod with a little end that was a few grams to heavy. I would then remove some material from the small end, but by doing so the overall weight would be off a little. It's a delicate balance that takes some practice to get the hang of, but it is much easier than it sounds. It's not hard, but a time consuming process of taking off material, weighing the rod, then rinse and repeat time and time again until it is absolutely perfect. I didn't have a belt sander to remove material like most machine shops do, but an angle grinder worked just fine. I just took my time, removed metal evenly and polished each rod with some sand paper at the end to give each rod a nice finish. End result was
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
I finally got my new crank in the mail, so I assembled the motor this past weekend. New crank installed with new ACL bearings.
I double checked all the rod and main caps with Plastigage. All my tolerances were under .0020" (Measured and Plasitgaged').
Main caps
2 pistons in, checking the rod cap oil clearance.
All new Fel-Pro gaskets...again.
I did have a few new additions to the build this time around. HKS 264/272 cams, AEM Tru-Time adjustable cam gears, 90 OFH with B&M oil cooler, TB FIAV block-off plate, Zaklee clear cam cover and a Fluidampr crank pulley for all the haterz.
New oil pan number 2, since the last one lasted 4 days before I shot a rod through it. FML.
The bottom end is all assembled, ready to be buttoned up.
All done.
I double checked all the rod and main caps with Plastigage. All my tolerances were under .0020" (Measured and Plasitgaged').
Main caps
2 pistons in, checking the rod cap oil clearance.
All new Fel-Pro gaskets...again.
I did have a few new additions to the build this time around. HKS 264/272 cams, AEM Tru-Time adjustable cam gears, 90 OFH with B&M oil cooler, TB FIAV block-off plate, Zaklee clear cam cover and a Fluidampr crank pulley for all the haterz.
New oil pan number 2, since the last one lasted 4 days before I shot a rod through it. FML.
The bottom end is all assembled, ready to be buttoned up.
All done.
turbowop
Well-known member
Word. I would just use Ultragrey RTV like the manual says to use. Works better.
GSTwithPSI
Well-known member
Quoting G:
Yo, you don't need an oil pan gasket.
It comes in the kit, so might as well use it. If nothing else, it makes the oil pan easier to remove in the future.
Yo, you don't need an oil pan gasket.
It comes in the kit, so might as well use it. If nothing else, it makes the oil pan easier to remove in the future.
