who here has rebuilt their own motor?

[owndjoo]

well, i'm actually planning this out rite now. i've already got my piston/rod configuration decided, and my friend actually has the stuff rite now. this will be a full race motor, needs to rev high! i'm lookin at puttin in eagle rods with ross pistons. removing the bs, gettin headwork done, cams,springs all that. i will probably be running a fp3055 at about 25-30psi on race gas at the track. i'm shooting for 500+at the crank. i will be trying to get almost everything new and built up for the high hp. but i'm sure i'm leaving things out. and ofcourse a lot of the stuff will need to be sfi certified. like the harmonic balancer and such. plus i will need extra stuff since i'm putting the 6-bolt in my 2g. what a project

 

[myblack98gst]

having built 2 4g63's now I do have some advice for you..

my first motor was a 6 bolt I went for the 1g rod 2g piston combo. I had it all check balanced etc... spent $350 worth of machine work (mostly do v8s)and it took 5 weeks for them to finish. I assembled the motor it ran great for about 1,000 miles then spun a rod bearing. I was not pulling the motor so I replaced the bearings... the motor ened up spinning 4 more sets of rod bearings before I got done with it.

my second motor I started fresh different block and crank. I bought eagle rods weisco pistons clevite bearings. it is not assembled yet but I have MUCH higher hopes for it. the machine work cost me $650 this time but I can see what they did. and they stayed in contact. and most inportantly, when I called to get a esimate he asked me if it was a 6 or 7 bolt, and if I wanted the balance shafts gone ( meaning he has dealt with several of these motors before).



Morals:

1. Ask the machine shops questions and find one with a good reputation for the motor you are building, a shop that ONLY deals with v8's will not do as goos of a job on your 4g63 as a shop that regularly does them and is known amongst the import community.

2. You may think it is cheaper re-using/re-conditioning some old parts but it isn't.. my total rebuild cost for the first motor was $700 the total rebuild cost of the second motor was $1,800. If I would have just done it right the first time it would have saved me $700+ .

3. 4g63's are notorius for spun bearings after a rebuild (dont belive me look around at all the stories). check all clearances.

4. if it is your first build it may not be a bad idea to pay the machine shop a few extra dollars to check all bearing clearances and piston clearance... and possibly even assemble the bottom end so you know it is done right.. but it isn't THAT hard.

5. if you build it your self, remember the word "plasti gauge" you will need it later.

 

[NOSNUSE]

There is one thing you must not do," FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT USE PLASTI-GAUGE!", sorry for yelling. I can not stress this enough, now people will say that it's okay to use it, but please don't. The correct tools are out there to use and there is a reason for them. If you need one you don't have borrow, buy or steal(not really) to get it. Yes building a motor is someting that will give you pride at the track or in the parking lot, knowing that you did it is always a good feeling. Best of luck in your venture. Later, Keith.

p.s. We could use a spell check on here for some of the people, me being one of them.

 

[bigjangin]

whats wrong with plastigauge?

 

[NOSNUSE]

Well it isn't accurate in the least bit, I grew up in a machine shop and I have put motors together before using plasti-gauge and wound up discovering the clearences were way off. Yeah if you are putting together a motor and want to check it with plasti-gauge then go right ahead after you have measured it with the right tools first at least 2 times if not more. Oh and for the record cleanliness is a rule often over looked when building a motor.

 

[Tevenor]

#### off 8th grade english teacher

Act like an 8th grader, get treated like an 8th grader. This is forum has rules. If you don't like them, don't post here. It's a simple concept.

 

[1fast97gsx]

I rebuilt my own .. jsut take your time and do it right the first time .. don't take any short cuts and use a good machine shop.

 

[gsxitement]

yeah man, i built up my 1g short block in about 5 months because the parts took forever, theres a website that will sell you full rebuild kits with the piston and compression you want. i went with the ross 8.3:1 piston with eagle rods arp mains and head studs. But as far as the actual buil is concerned, just make sure of the little things...make sure the oil ring is butted and not overlapped, and make sure the chamfered part of the ring is facing down, forming a "V". as far as end gap goes, my pistons came with a nifty formula that tells you your proper gap. it takes bore squared, and adds a certain number depending on if it's n/a or not...i forgot the actual formula but i hope that helps out

 

[1gTURD]

having built 2 4g63's now I do have some advice for you..

my first motor was a 6 bolt I went for the 1g rod 2g piston combo. I had it all check balanced etc... spent $350 worth of machine work (mostly do v8s)and it took 5 weeks for them to finish. I assembled the motor it ran great for about 1,000 miles then spun a rod bearing. I was not pulling the motor so I replaced the bearings... the motor ened up spinning 4 more sets of rod bearings before I got done with it.


Morals:

1. Ask the machine shops questions and find one with a good reputation for the motor you are building, a shop that ONLY deals with v8's will not do as goos of a job on your 4g63 as a shop that regularly does them and is known amongst the import community.

2. You may think it is cheaper re-using/re-conditioning some old parts but it isn't.. my total rebuild cost for the first motor was $700 the total rebuild cost of the second motor was $1,800. If I would have just done it right the first time it would have saved me $700+ .

3. 4g63's are notorius for spun bearings after a rebuild (dont belive me look around at all the stories). check all clearances.

4. if it is your first build it may not be a bad idea to pay the machine shop a few extra dollars to check all bearing clearances and piston clearance... and possibly even assemble the bottom end so you know it is done right.. but it isn't THAT hard.

5. if you build it your self, remember the word "plasti gauge" you will need it later.

I honestly could not agree more. Infact my 1st dsm rebuild was in my driveway in the winter with snow on the ground. I melted a piston and needed the car up again asap(daily driver) I picked up 2g pistons for 200 or so, I forget, 1g rods and all the gaskets and bearings and such. A local shop did the blockwork and another did the machining to the rods for the pistons... It wouldve been cheaper to get eagles and je pistons. I think the 2g piston combo is a waste in my opinion. Motor got me to work for about 3 weeks and spun a rod bearing and stretched out the rod journal to an oval shape causing the piston to slap the head until it cracked and went through the vavles into the turbine houing and even intake manifold. (actual pieces of piston in the manifold). Wasn't pretty. Anyways, do yourself a GIANT favor and do not shortcut anything. Not with these motors especially. as far as plati-guage goes, I havent grown up in a machine shop but being a GM/Subaru tech I haven't run into any problems using it yet, knock on wood. The more you measure, the better off you will be wether its plasti-guage or not I suppose

 

[TD05HTalon]

My engine rebuild for my 95 Tsi:

91 6 bolt NT block (no oil squirters so they can't break off and ruin things)
bored .040" over - had a turbo block but it was cracked so this was the best replacement
decked
O ringed
line bored with ARP mains torqued down first - don't want to be spinning bearings now
all threads chased and ARP head studs
10 under crank
Clevite main bearings
King rod bearings
BS removed with Mirage stub shaft

Eagle rods and ARP bolts
Arias pistons (8.8:1 compression) and rings - nice and streetable
rings filed to 14 thousanths end gap
-the eagle rods and Arias pistons cost just a little more than a 1G rod/95 piston combo after the price of them and machine work so i said why not
SCE copper head gasket with SS O rings in block - won't ever blow or burn up

1G head - rebuilt with new components
stock valves, springs, retainers
slightly ported
91 manual trans turbo cams
- in the future if i need more power i know i can definitely upgrade the head - right now though i don't have the money to do it and it really doesn't matter since the car is street driven so it doesn't need to rev to 9000rpm all the time.

all brand new timing components, water pump, freeze plugs, gaskets, seals, etc.



I agree with people when they say plastigauge is questionable. If you don't know how to use it then stay away from it. Also you don't get exact measurements so if you look at it and say "ehh close enough" that's not going to fly. It's better to bolt your main caps on and torque them down first then use a micrometer to measure the bore (done at a good machine shop of course).

Clean and chase the head stud holes and the main stud holes so that the studs screw in BY HAND with no tools - not even using an little allen key. the studs should screw in so smoothly all the way until they bottom out in the hole. if you have to use an allen key then they threads aren't clean enough.

Also make sure your head and block have a perfectly flat deck. it's worth the money to get it decked and be done with it instead of blowing a head gasket.

I would say the general rule of thumb for a motor rebuild: check EVERYTHING multiple times, don't work when you're tired, and buy the best of everything you can afford.
if you're on a budget then build on a budget and don't expect a race motor - if you can afford good pieces (forged internals, ARP studs etc and supporting machine work) do it!