welcome to the site,with the forged crank i take it you are not building the car as a daily driver,what power output are you planning on making and what other mods will you be doing to the motor?

those are some really nice rods and pistons, looks like it will be strong as all hell,i also went the 2.2 route, but as the car is used every day i fitted the 2.2 cast crank,standard FE3 rod and toyota camry piston, i had to cut 1mm off the piston crown to give me a deck height of zero, the piston has a dish of 14cc,using a stock head gasket but i did make a tool up to o-ring the block,using stainless wire, i have just put over 1500km on the motor and have no problems at all,currently i get 10km/ liter fuel consumption and am running 0.5 bar boost till the rings are bedded,it is due to go back to the dyno this week to have the final mapping done and the boost turned up to 1.2bar

Hey STW, how much you pay for that one off flywheel? It's a good looking piece with a decent weight reduction. How do you think idle/pull away will be affected by the new piece?

Your choice of usable power and not peak power is the type of build I am also to do with my FE, I don't want to wait till the very end of my rpm range before I feel pull. It must be gradual and strong from get go - Superchargers work better for this sort of feeling and may well fabricate a kit for mine.

With a longer stroke I would of opted for forged peices too. Rods do not break under boost but rather "stretch" on the upstroke at higher rpm's. Not a technical explination but something I am sure will be understood by anyone reading this piece.

I like the forged rods you managed to get, how much you pay once more? They look better than local sets I've seen.

In closing, I don't think your decisions are overkill. Sure we can get the same power cheaper, but for how long Your build will last a hellava lot longer than a shortcut build.

Good work and keep us posted!

Really enjoying your informative write up - re: decisions and reasons for choosing some items.

I am very please to hear gaskets can be made to order from Gaskets-to-go! Very cool. The VG30DTT would have to be modified right? They are longer I think, wasn't sure when I read your post if you meant diameter is different or the length is.

The VR6 springs vs. Stock is a welcome photo I've been looking for! It isn't that much over size, but it does look stronger. The main aspect is the the actual spring rate, I think those are definitely harder, ie: less recoil.

HLA cleaning... I wanted to do this but worried I bugger it up And can't get new ones quick enough. I'll maybe try this some stage or replace all of them because I know mine have collapsed over time.

The Fidanza gears are something I've been searching for. I missed out on the first buy, thought they were available online because there are part #'s already but no luck just yet. If you willing to part with the silver ones, pm me. I may buy them from you at some point (and if you have 2xFE5A's I'd be even happier)

I am not a fan of black DOHC tops but I must say, the wrinkle paint effect makes it look a hell of a lot better!. Did you cover the lettering with vaseline and spray, then part sand off or did you spray the cover completely and sit for hours fine sanding it smooth.

I want to take the lettering on my powder coated cover back to silver. Will have to clear coat if after I guess. How you triggering those coilpacks? The ecu you have support this kind of spark? Very cool. I'm still running the original dizzy, it's fine for now but I think coil on plug's look way better

Cheers for now and look forward to the next update

Howzit buddy !
Nice wright up .... keep up the good work

i wana send you a P.M if i may i want to find out something from you

Cheers

Heh, thanks

Here's the accessories... There's not much here yet, as I like to see how things evolve before purchasing something and ending up with a useless part (borderline and highly expensive example being the rod/piston combo )

My original radiator was pretty beat up, here's how it looked like:



All and all, that's only good for showing what 18 years of brine does to car parts.

The new Nissens radiator was built roughly to same size:



but with a slight modification:


the fan was replaced with a slim line fan, though I suspect I have to go front mount fan to make room for the new turbo.


This radiator didn't wait until finishing the build, it went in right away.

VICS Modification and induction piping

As you know the Mazda VICS system (or should!) uses twin induction chambers, I decided to modify mine slightly. Instead of having secondary chamber fed by unused runners, I cut the roof off the secondary chamber, making it one large induction chamber, retaining the VICS butterflies for twin inertia settings. There's few pitfalls that need to be researched when the engine's assembled though. The worked path of the air in stock VICS system improves flow uniformity, something that could create a problem in modified VICS. Also the bellmouthed intakes of long runners might cause some turbulence in short runners. One of the issues obvious from the get-go is the loss of vacuum reservoir. Top portion of the VICS chamber is isolated from the rest of the system with a the formed aluminium gasket. Obviously the VICS cannot operate without vacuum reservoir, as there is none in the induction system when it is needed. The solution was quite simple, a metallic drinking bottle. I found a bicycle drinking bottle at a discount hardware store. The resistance to vacuum is yet to test, though I don't think that would ever pose a problem. The bottle has nice machined threads too, so it will be quite easy to install. The original check valve should do here just fine.



For intercooler, I'm considering an air-to-water intercooler. This is because of controllability, and short ducting. Also it keeps the car front slightly more inconspicuous. Also, just how fun it would be to fill the coolant tank with icy water for the drag strip track days Downside is obviously complexity, absolute leak proof requirement, and weight.  Again on the positive side, an air-to-water needs only small heat exchanger to cool the water, so radiator blockage is kept considerably smaller. A2W intercooler would be in place of battery and stock air filter box; battery will be relocated in the trunk and stock filter will be replaced with a cone filter.The stock filter isn't quite as bad intake blocker or small element as some seem to think, here's how it looks like rolled into a cylinder:


Anyway, because the stock panel filter would be somewhat difficult to replace with the air box inside the bumper, a cone filter will be the answer, mounted on the turbo intake with ducting and heat shielding. The only cone filter I've seen to have a filtering effect as good as stock panel is the A'pexi dual funnel, so I'll get that one.

Turbo will probably be upper range of Holset series. I haven't purchased one yet, because I don't want to run into conflicting choices anymore. A large Holset might not sound like good choice for flat power curve, but I have some ideas about that and I think I can make it spool just fine.

Engine monitoring and management:

Engine monitoring is basic stuff; water temp, oil temp and pressure, fuel pressure, EGT and so on. The exhaust O2 is monitored by Innovate LC-1 wideband lambda. The LC-1 is really neat piece of equipment with datalogging and all sort of little niceties. Narrow band is really no good here, it only can say if you're over or under stoichiometric ratio, 'how much' is little more than an educated guess. The gauge is G3, which looks like this (sorry I have no picture of my own, I haven't connected it yet..

There's a reason besides aesthetics to choose that particular design gauge face. The 14.7 is exactly at the top, so a leaning needle immediately tells if the engine runs lean or rich. I've tried to match the style and behaviour selecting the other gauges too.

The final ECU will hopefully be FreeEMS, a system based of Freescale 16-bit MCU, currently developed by a voluntary team throughout the world via Internet. The processor has rather impressive number of I/O options, 16 high precision outputs, 16 analog inputs, 16 PWM outputs and 64 general purpose digital I/O pins, plus RS232,RS488 and four CANBus channels... it will certainly won't fall short on possibilities! In the meanwhile, I think I'll be using Megasquirt 2.

Extra knock avoidance methods:

To use maximum boost, I'm planning to add a water-methanol injection. I've got a headlight washer pump for the purpose, though I'm afraid it might be just a little bit undersized, it's capable of about 100LPH at 5 bar pressure. Having 8 bar or more sure wouldn't hurt, smaller the drops the better.


The far out there stuff:
I'm planning a cast iron brace for the bottom end, which would make the journal caps in effect one piece, in an attempt to toughen and smoothen engine behaviour. I just learned also just exactly the secondary imbalance on a four cylinder engine means. Because the pistons near TDC move more rapidly than those near BDC, there's always a vertical imbalance. Longer stroke obviously worsens this so I'm quite determined to make a few.

The power steering pump will probably be eliminated. The turbo downpipe runs a bit too close for comfort, and for clearance issuer I'm quite tied up with free placement of the turbo. A solution might be acquiring a manual rack (4.3 turns lock to lock, s-l-o-w) and steering quickener (2.15 turns lock to lock, heavy!) and possibly an EPS steering shaft from a Toyota Avensis (and then hack the hell out of it to restore driving feel). Those fall more into car mods though, so enough of them until I actually start messing with the car.

I've toyed about making a cast exhaust from high-nickel iron alloy, but a steam pipe bend header is far more likely. Idea of making one out of Inconel (lasts practically forever) fell through after learning just the tube material would cost nearly 1200USD and that didn't include any welding additives or machining or flange material. Anyway it's going to be a tubular manifold, not log, and as-equal-as-possible length runner design, if not completely equal length. One thing I'm going to incorporate is anti reversion cones which should effectively reduce exhaust gas reverse flow, and should allow a bit more aggressive cams than usually found on turbo engines. In theory.

Dry sump. Now this is a tough issue. Transverse engine usually doesn't need one on the same grounds a longitudal would, ie. to ensure oil at both acceleration and deceleration. However, there's more to dry sump than that. First, a dry sump pump won't mind cavitation or running empty; a condition that will break a stock oil pump *very* quickly. The increased oil capacity will make for a much slower oil degradation, and it's easy to preheat the oil in the reservoir using an engine block heater. Also the dry sump will evacuate the crank case pretty thoroughly, which is good for ring seal and oil delivery; crank case at perfect vacuum would give one extra bar of extra oil pressure totally free and without seal popping risk. Also, if the turbo needs to be mounted low, a pump stage can handle turbo draining (and again, a bit of vacuum is good). It all comes down to one thing though; price tag. A dry sump system costs like hell. 1000USD won't get you anywhere even if you could do the sump and accessories yourself. I would feel monumentally stupid to break the engine on a simple oil pump problem, and still, it's yet another huge cost on the engine. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet. But hey, at least I'll save the oil pump O-ring cost, 0.25usd or so....

The forum's now up to speed, so I'll continue with sporadic situation reports when stuff happens.

Indeed, LC-1's versatility is what got me hooked. I actually would've preferred that gauge style visually, but the sweep arrangement on the Smoke gauge won over.

My valve train configuration is frozen, ie. I won't alter it any further. The part list is:

Inner valve springs: Stock OEM
Ouer valve springs: Autotech VW VR6 springs, 10.109.623 x16pcs. Needs a small bevel on the bottom coil (slightly oversized)
Intake valves: Ferrea F1848P Nissan VG30DTT
Exhaust valves: Ferrea F1850P Nissan VG30DTT
Valve locks: Stock OEM, exhaust locks replaced with intake locks
Retainers: Stock OEM
Valve spring bottom cup: Stock OEM
Lifters: Stock HLA's in stock buckets. Cleaned with ultrasonic washer.
Cams: FE5A with regrind, unspecified for the time being.

This arrangement should be good up to at least 9k rpm without valve float. Turbo regrinds aren't very aggressive so I'm not expecting any problems from HLA's either.

The motor is becoming a little more difficult to work with as time moves along, partially because not many manufacturers are willing to support the platform (not as popular as the SR20 or 4AGE motors).

I guess the only way of moving forward here on out is really custom fabrication where you can.

I am stuck in a similar boat, so many great ideas very few parts available to realize them.

Can't wait for the updates and what you landed up using for locks.

Hehe you can actually see the seat pretty clearly. You cutting the valves at all? Perhaps I missed your post regarding the modification of the valves you found work for your application.

CA18 locks, that's another possibility - how common are they in your country though? One thing is for certain the items you are trial fitting and the discovery of alternate parts streams is exciting, for example, aftermarket performance products for those motors may well "retro-fit" with ours with slight machining when required.

Oh yes, before I forget, I've approached Fidanza directly in a bid to make those cam gears available to our country.

It would be possible to cut the lock grooves to accept the Mazda locks, however the groove is so deep I would much rather find a working combination of alternate parts instead of cutting. CA18's are pretty common in fact, and those sportier Nissan parts are really easy to come by in any case.

Shame about the cam gears though. There hasn't been much interest at Finnish site for Fidanzas, as there's a domestic manufacturer (who, however, does price his products rather high, a set from him would set you back between 300-400 USD.) and the other FE DOHC forums have been saturated, more or less. Kia Sportage owners aren't the modding type either.

Dammit bro this looks amazing!! cant wait for the finished product.

Want to help me with my tranny build. bump bump

Well, I can't wait either I just wonder how much I have to build the car to make it last with this engine.

With any transmission build I'd only be along the ride, but I do have factory disassembly/assembly and service manual, if you have any use for those


I like the workmanship too The flywheel is 6kg, about the half of the stock item. There's still room to lighten it about 1kg, but I don't want to do that yet. I hope the car will take the punishment!