I believe my first words, after a few expletives, while we were tearing down the engine were "near-complete catastrophic failure." :inoutroflpuke:

This thing completely exploded. Part of my wiring harness on the transmission was a little charred too from the fire erupting from underneath my car when it happened lol.

None of the ring lands were broken on the remaining Pistons. None of the Pistons were melted or had any obvious lean damage from what I can tell. The only thing I can think of is either a rod snapped, or one of the rod bolts broke and a chain reaction of sorts happened.

Minor and boring update ahead!:

Man this month has been a learning experience for me. I have always wondered why getting a built motor takes so long. Well I have learned that when you're working on other peoples time, sometimes things don't go as planned.

I picked my motor up from the machine shop. It wasn't balanced because I want to size my bearings and check the clearances myself. I ordered my bearings and paid for 2 day shipping so I could hurry up and get it back to the machine shop for balancing. After some trouble with the shipping dept, I finally got my bearings 11 days later.... Immediately drop off my assembly at the machine shop that has a good reputation. Well 4 days later I get a call saying that they can't balance the crank because they don't have enough bob weights since the crank is a 60 degree v6 crank. I went and picked it up and dropped it off at another machine shop that I should have taken it to in the first place. That was Friday and I was told 2 weeks. We will see. Its getting done slowly but surely.

Its probably not going to be done by ZDayZ. I have a lot to do, and a small window of time to do it. Even after I get it all assembled, I still have to break the engine in and go get it tuned.

With all of that being said, I have learned A LOT about this process, and will probably learn a lot more. This is the most fun I have had working on a car in a while. Not to mention I have purchased some cool tools to add to the toolbox. Win/win.

Hey, can I buy that rod from you? I need a desk top "trophy"! That is awesome!

There's more to this then you're telling us lol. Your car definitely screamed, "Grenada!!!!" Then 5 seconds later went boom.

In my experience. They always run their best before they go BOOM! :icon17:

700hp twin turbo project
 

Nope. I'm not omitting anything. It was running like a champ until it blew up. The only issues I had out of it were clutch related issues. Nothing motor related prior.

Carnage!

I plan on keeping it and putting it on a plaque or making it into a "trophy" decorative piece lol.

Turn the block into a coffee table. The crank into a lamp stand. The heads as book ends. The intake as a center piece.

Have some fun with it and put it on eBay as a slightly used con rod.

Alright. I know I have been slacking on updates guys! Im lazy. Also I have a bunch of pictures because everyone loves pictures. Anyway, continuing where I left off:

Like I mentioned earlier, Im replacing all of the bushings on the rear subframe to SPL. The bushing removal process was long, hard, and nasty like your moms college years. I burned them out and drilled out the rest. I thought my differential bushing was busted, but I figured out that it wasn't when I hit it with a drill bit. I had silicone fluid all over my face and had to clean it off of my Z and garage wall about 7 ft away lol. I havent put the bushings in yet because I have been lazy. I need to do my fuel stuff before I put the subframe back in anyway because it will be much easier to just drop the tank and work on it out of the car than to be cramped in the car working in limited space since its accessible now with the subframe out.



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I finally ended up getting my stuff back from the machine shop for balancing. They told me it would be 2 weeks. It ended up being about 3 and a half. No biggie. Ive learned that these time tables are very fluid lol. After getting my stuff back from the machine shop I sent the bearings to Calico Coatings to be coated in their magical wizard powder. These guys are extremely professional and got them done extremely quickly. I sent them off and had them back within the week. I was very impressed with their company.

https://i.imgur.com/U8QItOG.jpg

I started engine assembly shortly after I got them back. This was a tedious process because I'm a little obsessive about doing this right. I can't tell you how many times I checked the ring gaps and bearing clearances lol. Also I was paranoid about the head studs since they are the L19 studs. I was very careful not to touch them at all when putting them in, and after getting them in nice and snug my brother comes over and touches one lol.... I quickly cleaned it off, and moved forward.

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I decided since the motor is out, now is the perfect time to do the JWT cams. The "kit" comes with new shims and springs. If anyone ever attempts to DIY cams, do yourself a favor and buy the JWT spring compressor tool. I used an old school spring compressor and had to use an O2 socket in order to compress the spring. It was a huge PITA, but I was able to get it done. Trust me on this, save yourself the headache and spend the extra money. Not to mention the cams didnt come with any instructions. Now most people will say, they are cams you idiot, you don't need instructions. Thats what I said to myself too. Well after I got the cams, VVEL ladder, rear timing cover, and most of the timing stuff on, I realized that when putting the new longer exhaust cam bolts through the cam gear that I had two little plugs left over in the bag. I looked on Jim Wolfs website and no mention of what they are. After some research and deductive reasoning I discovered that the plugs go in the back of the cams.... Idiot me. So I had to remove the rear timing cover and VVEL ladder and a few other covers, which really sucked the big one because of all of the RTV that needed to be cleaned. After a good 6 hours I finally made it back to where I could put the timing stuff back on.

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So with the motor finally assembled I feel a breath of fresh air. I have started putting the AAM turbo stuff together. The lines on the turbos were a little confusing at first, but after some research and help from Ibenjammin, I think I've got them figured out. I will say that running the lines isn't very exciting but it needs to be done I guess lol.

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Thats pretty much where Im at now. Just waiting on some fuel stuff to be ready with CJM before I place my order and start moving on that. All I really lack in parts is fuel components. Once those come in I can really start moving and putting stuff back in the car. Needless to say I'm pretty stoked. Most of the "hard" work is done. I know I'm a little wordy with these, but I want to share the whole story so maybe someone else can learn from my mistakes or from these experiences.

I have a few other things going in as well. I bought the EPS throttle bodies because I have heard good things, and since Im already balls deep, why not go all out on my little mild build. I also got the Greddy Profec whatever boost controller as recommended by Jon at Z1 and the Z1 34 row oil cooler since my last one was sold with the BP kit.

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At this moment, my Z has been dead just 2 weeks shy of a year. Man I'm itching to get back into it. ZdayZ didnt help any. It killed me not to have it there. I also drove a friends stock Z a few weeks ago and it felt like a damn rocketship compared to my Rogue and Accord that I have been driving as a daily lol. I can only imagine what my Z will feel like once I get it going again, provided that it actually starts lmao.

nice progress bro !

damn! wished i was mechanically inclined to do this myself! build looks amazing!!

Wow impressive work. Jealous u got the balls and know-how to mess with engine internals. I used to do all that with my VTEC motor but hell I wont touch my VQ37HR


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You are my freaking hero! My next Memphis trip lunch will be at your house drooling over this


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Thanks guys! It has been a lot of work and I have learned so much about the motor. There have been moments of frustration, but mostly really exciting and enjoyable. I still have plenty more frustration ahead of me I know lol, but hopefully not too bad.

Awesome

Coming along nicely! Take your time?


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Hey guys, its been a while. Almost 6 months actually. I have made a lot of progress on this thing. So in my normal fashion I'm going to pic dump lol.

The motor was prepped and ready to put in! Talk about excitement.

https://i.imgur.com/u1WxBwa.jpg

After taking my rear subframe out and removing the old bushings I did what every other normal person would do.... get it powder coated. I actually went ahead and did a few different things as well. The funny thing is that you won't really ever see any of this, but I couldn't just put it all back under there all rusty and nasty lol.

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Moving forward I got the front end assembled and most of the engine components back together.

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I also put my factory gauges back in. I liked the old setup I had before but I wanted the factory gauges back in for if I decided to switch to ECUtek, which it doesn't look like I will at this moment in time. It cost me about $250 to get the factory gauges back in their spots after removing them the first time because I had to buy the hoods and bezel rings. You live and you learn.

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Also, I was in the pre-order for the AAM intake manifold. I decided against it due to various reasons and ordered some suspension parts in lieu of the manifold. I got BC coilovers with Swift springs, SPL arms, and lockout bolts to keep the finish on the subframe somewhat nice. Well after everything shipped to my house, I found an issue. I was shipped OEM style coilovers when I wanted true style. The reason for that was so that I could use the SPL toe arms. I called BC who advised me that they actually don't sell true style coilovers for the 370z, however they did have some in development. Im assuming that any vendors who sell true style BC's for the 370z are doing this themselves. Anyway, after some phone calls and disappointment I had to bite the bullet and purchase the SPL midlinks. Talk about a ton of money I wasn't planning on spending. I do want to send a special shoutout to Kyle at IPP who was able to give me a deal on them and shipped them to me with a quickness. If ANYONE needs anything, definitely give IPP a call. Kyle is good people. Im going to have to order new springs in the rear as mine are a little too tall and won't allow me to lower the rear where I want. It sucks because its like half an inch lol. Oh well. Also, if anyone wants to buy some SPL toe arms, I know a guy who's selling some lol.

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I bought the new RJM master cylinder and installed that. For some reason it failed during bleeding. Im not sure why, but I contacted Ryan and he sent me a new one ASAP. Sorry Ryan, I know I'm still supposed to send you that other unit back lol. Sorry for the delay! After that I tried to put some coolant in the motor. As soon as the first gallon was finished I heard what sounded like a water fall. Coolant was pouring from the drivers side head. Oh well, I started it anyways lol.



The coolant leak was from me installing the gasket backwards where the heater hose pipe bolts to the head. Stupid! You can even visibly see that it was wrong lol. There were a few other issues after start up and drive but Ive gotten them sorted out. Now all I'm waiting on before a real tune is the rest of my fuel system from CJM that just shipped today actually. Needless to say I'm really excited to get this thing tuned. Ive driven it about 250 miles so far without any issue but seeing as how the car hasnt been to 7500rpms, Ill be trailering the Z to Z1 for the tune lol. I don't want it blowing up while I'm down there and being stranded lol. Here are a few more pictures of everything done. I have one of Galeforces pillar pods. That thing is top notch btw! Im sure that because of the time elapsed that I'm forgetting some stuff but if any of you have any questions feel free to ask!

https://i.imgur.com/2suIDE0.jpg

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Heck yeah! Congratulations!


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Happy for you, bro!

Right on!!! Hell of a good job...Congrats! :driving:

Helllll yeah!

Awesome man! Well worth the wait.

Can't wait to see some WOT video once you get that tune done. Thing is going to be an aminal.

It sucks being on a base tune and can't play with your new toy lol I know that one all too well right now. Keep that skinny pedal out of it until it's proper - don't want to be a statistic!

:tup: :tup:

This build is pure awesomeness. Very clean and attention to detail. Must be a tech or ex tech?

Yeah, it's actually pretty easy to stay out of the throttle because I don't want to ruin everything lol. But if/when it makes it off the dyno, I'm going to drive it like I stole it!


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Thanks man! There has been many hours of planning, analyzing, and work done to this thing. Believe it or not I have no "proper" training in mechanic work. Most of my knowledge comes from hands on experience from just diving into this stuff. My dad taught me at an early age that if I want to mod cars, I'll save an enormous amount of money if I do it myself. I went from barely knowing how to change oil, to installing one lowering spring on a 2004 Sentra S-ER Spec V. I only did one because I paid a guy to do it for me and they sent me 1 wrong strut. So I ended up doing it myself. The next thing I did was put a turbo kit on the same car with the help of a friend lol. Balls deep from the beginning. It's all just a hobby and fascination. Maybe an obsession lol. Now my professional experience is from Sonic Drive In and being a cop. So if you need someone to make you a #1 with cheese or take a police report for your neighbor leaving bags of dog poo on your front porch, I'm your guy.


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I'll take the bags of dog poo on the porch for 200.

i sent you a pm about bearing sizes,

Thanks :)