Rebuilding the VG30! (Part 1)

[@Zi.Zenior]

Thank you for this. I’m rebuilding my VG and this gave me confidence to save the money on assembly.

[@glenngray6895]

A few little tips on his video... First before inserting the Piston rod to plastic gauge the clearance it's a wise idea to take some plastic tubing that will fit snugly over the connecting rod bolts six to eight inches long this way you can guide it down over the crank journal safely without the possibility of nicking the journal Second tip inserting the Piston without the rings you cannot flip the engine upside down unless you take an old piston ring or even a new one and insert it in the cylinder bore above the piston this should hold the assembly in place when you tip the engine upside down the Piston rod assembly should not fall out

[@spicythai2000]

Thank you for that information about the crank bearings. I did not know it was different sizes in the middle. Had to take the crank back off and sure enough it was in the wrong place. You save me. Thanks again.

[@PistonheadProductions]

Glad we could help!

[@nismoz32racer]

You can add rubber hoses on the end of the rods to not damage anything. Good video

[@tl5240]

Subtle differences with my vg. No oil squirters below pistons. That vg looks nice and clean, good work. I put a vg33 in my truck, more displacement the better.

[@PistonheadProductions]

totalld21 oil squirters could be specific to the twin turbo version. I'm not super knowledgeable on the VG, but I know that's the situation with the 2JZ

[@devilsoffspring5519]

Engine of choice for the 500+ MPH Pond Racer airplane. Too bad they never got far with it.

[@glenngray6895]

The last tip talking to several torque specs lower is especially helpful torquing your head your head (especially if it's the longer inline six always using your torque sequence)

[@PistonheadProductions]

In this particular case, we torqued the heads in three steps, starting from the center working out, as per the service manual

[@Matthew-ib2kz]

That crank fits in there so tightly 😂

[@PistonheadProductions]

Shes got good oil pressure, I can tell you that much 😅

[@glenngray6895]

Another tip I can share is when talking the rod bolts go halfway say 15 ft/lbs on each nut first and then go up to your final torque spec after both have been torqued at 15

[@1987whitez]

Right on Bro very informative on the z31 keep the good work up and all the education we Z lover need to see and hear.

[@davidbutler8096]

Z or Zed Thirty TWO is what he is working on.

[@1987whitez]

@@davidbutler8096 Its a Z32 with a VG30 engine

[@davidbutler8096]

@@1987whitez In your post above mine you said z31...? I know what it is, I have one almost exactly the same. And technically...it's a VG30DE, but not a DETT. The first VG came out in 83, becoming Nissan's and Japan's first mass-produced V6 engine. But hey, thanks for playing.

[@aidandeslippe988]

Part 2 coming soon? I'm about to start my VG30E rebuild, be awesome to see more of it! Very immersive and reformative!

[@AndrewOrton85]

I'm in the exact same boat! This is great, can't wait for part 2

[@PistonheadProductions]

Part two is up now. Part 3 is in the works, but it won't be as detailed as the first two.

[@BabblingBrookemountain]

Pistonhead Productions why not? This info is so great! Helping countless folks

[@PistonheadProductions]

The final portion of the build wash rushed a bit, and I didn't get it all on camera. I'll cover whatever you don't see as best as I can, though.

[@chuki_Z]

Just finished rebuilding mine and i was curious on wether or not when you did this there were any issues setting the thrust??

[@PistonheadProductions]

I think I got lucky as there was nothing out of spec once it was all assembled.

[@keithyoung7381]

Bore gauge is much better than plastic gauge. What you'll find with these engine is standard bearings will almost never give you great clearance. Basically your engine has to have less than 50k on it for them to fit nice. King race bearings .25 undersize will have a nice fit that is tighter and within spec.

[@PistonheadProductions]

I got lucky and all clearances were well within spec. The only measurement I didn't take was thrust clearance. I don't have a dial indicator or any other way to measure that

[@1987whitez]

So dude how much did you bore your block out to? I am in the process of taken my engine VG30 out as well and plan to do the same . Also if you don't mind what was the price for getting your block redone?

[@PistonheadProductions]

The bores were just honed enough to remove an imperfection in one cylinder wall. Very little was taken off. The block was also decked about 30 thou I believe, as there was some pitting I didn't like. Total cost was around $250 for decking, honing, and hot tanking of the block.

[@AndrewOrton85]

Why did you go with clevite bearings instead of OEM? Your last video you said you'd be going with OEM. Great video btw, can't wait for part 2.

[@PistonheadProductions]

We originally wanted to go with OEM, however using the grade system to determine what bearings we needed, we discovered that the specific bearings we needed were discontinued and we couldn't get them. Rather than guessing and hoping another grade would be close enough, we decided to just go ahead and get something aftermarket with a good reputation.

[@AndrewOrton85]

Also, what exactly did you get done on the block? What are your plans for the heads?

[@PistonheadProductions]

The block was hot tanked and we had the deck machined as there was some pitting I didn't like. The heads just got a refresh with new valve stem seals and a light lapping. For the most part they weren't touched.

[@aaronoliveira7618]

Why do you not lubricate BEFORE plastiguage? Is it because the oil will actually affect the plastiguage reading after being torqued down?

[@PistonheadProductions]

That's correct. I explain that in the next video when I go more into using the plastigauge. Some people recommend a very light film of oil, by basically applying oil and then wimping it with a rag, and platigauge isn't accurate enough in the first place for it to matter too much, but I wanted to give the measurement the best level of accuracy I could by leaving out anything that could interfere.

[@tyranidoverlord]

Do u need the plastigauge? And I couldn't really tell but did yu put it off center a lil bit? Why not center?

[@PistonheadProductions]

It's recommended that you confirm the clearance between the bearings and the bearing surfaces. If it's too tight, oil won't be able to flow into the gap and the bearing will fail. Too tight, and the oil won't be able to take up the slop, and parts will wear prematurely. Plasti-gauge is just one way of measuring these clearances, but I used it because it is the most simple. Best practice is to place the strip close to the centre of the cap, however, I placed them as close as I could without them sliding off due to the angle.

[@FrankCambara]

Is this a pathfinder motor?

[@PistonheadProductions]

I believe a variant of it comes in the late 90s pathfinders, but this one is from a 300zx/Fairlady

[@Adam-wo9ct]

do you know how much labor the shop would have charged you to assemble the block themselves?

[@PistonheadProductions]

We were quoted between $2500-3000 (CAD) to rebuild the heads and bottom end. That price did not include long block assembly.

[@PistonheadProductions]

That is for labour plus bearings and rings.

[@braddahryan]

Part 2?

[@PistonheadProductions]

Part 2 has been uploaded. I haven't finished putting together part 3 yet though

[@braddahryan]

@@PistonheadProductions right on! Thanks

[@giacomoarmagno5937]

Is reusing the studs and nuts on the connecting rods a good idea?

[@PistonheadProductions]

It is normally recommended to replace all of the hardware holding the rotating assembly together when rebuilding an engine, especially when many oem fasteners are torque to yield. In this case, a lack of part availability at the time forced us to make a decision to either wait for back ordered parts, or re-use the original studs. As it's not my engine, I didn't make the decision. With the amount of power the car is making, it's not as risky, but it's still not ideal.

[@giacomoarmagno5937]

@@PistonheadProductions I'm glad to hear that it isn't life or death. Im just about done rebuilding my VG30E and your content has been very helpful. Thanks

[@russelmussle7866]

Is this engine in 98 Nissan quest?

[@PistonheadProductions]

I think so. It can also be found in the Nissan Pathfinder and J30, among others

[@thejohnnybob]

Never use a torque wrench within 20% of the minimum or maximum values marked on the body.

[@PistonheadProductions]

I'll have to check the video, because I mentioned it at some point, but I did say that using my torque wrench at the lowest measurement available would yield less than accurate results. I'm not worried about it too much though.

[@thejohnnybob]

@@PistonheadProductions I'm an aircraft mechanic. That's the primary reason why I get wigged out by the situation.

[@redrhino1911]

Dohc?

[@PistonheadProductions]

Correct.