"Official" S2000 repair/rebuild thread

[Jack]

with a big enough hammer any part will fit !

i was not shure of what motor your putting back in, rebuilt or new
or who or what shop, etc.
so i just want to give you a heads up on the oil cooler thing,
if its a new block with a new oil cooler then your good to go!
i have you sticker, CHECK OIL BEFORE FLIGHT BILL
i would install on dash just under the speed o and above the warn lights!
thats where mine is very visable!

[WAFlowers]

Jeff Lloyd is doing the work at his shop. So far I've been more than pleased.

I do appreciate the heads-up, Jack. See you tomorrow!

[WAFlowers]

Jeff tells me the car is running great and I'll have it for the weekend. Yahoo!

He says he wants to keep it one more night so he can drive it home as a final check. Personally I think he's just having too much fun with it to let it go.

[treekiller]

Car is DONE!!! I just have to put a few miles under close supervision and do an oil change to get all the assembly lube out of the oil system, and give it a decent detail. then Bill can have his baby back ahead of schedule.

I wish Bill was right but keeping an S2000 under 3500 RPM's for break-in is not exactly fun. More frustrating because with specific modifications it just wants to rev.

[Native]

HURRAY!

[Anonymous]

specific modifications

What's done to it? 2.0L?

[WAFlowers]

specific modifications

What's done to it? 2.0L?

Time to reveal all. Regretfully nothing radical. We seriously spent some time looking at AP2 (2.2L) swaps or stroker kits. However to do them properly required the addition of fuel management so the engine wouldn't lean out. And I was all ready to pull the trigger on that, but ...

When the engine was pulled we discovered that the 80K mile clutch was ready for replacement. Also the stupid Honda plastic endtanks on the radiator were disintegrating (I've got a wonderful photo of that!).

The price of a new clutch and radiator shot down my budget; that was the cost of the fuel management I'd need.

Of course my 80K mile hoses all needed replacing too. And since we had everything apart and were replacing the clutch ...

So we bought a factory short block which was nice because it came with a new oil pump, timing chain and, yes, oil cooler. We also bought a Mishimoto aluminum radiator with the matching silicone hose kit, an Exedy clutch and a Fidanza aluminum flywheel, my one indulgence.

All other hoses under the hood were replaced I believe, as were the spark plugs.

Also, quoting from Jeff:

Upon Pre assembly inspection, I did notice quite a bit of carbon buildup on the Valves, ports, and EGR circuit. Felt it was best to Clean and rework the head. This included New Valve Guide Seals. (Which were included in the seal kit we already purchased). Also I did have to Remove the Valves to get clear access to the Exhaust ports. I fully cleaned and verified tolerances within the Head and valve train assembly. then re-lapped the valves and seats

also

PS. when I checked tolerances in the head everything was within "new" specification, with the valve job and cleanup and the required valve adjustment. it should be like a completely new engine. but you have to remember it needs to be broken in like a new engine.

As some of you have heard I'm planning to start my own business in the New Year. If it goes well I may revisit the idea of "radical engine mods" in a year. And if it doesn't go well ...

[Jack]

i bet your happy now!
great to see you running again!

[Alizarin]

Hopefully your Mishimoto radiator showed up straight the first time.

You'll enjoy that light flywheel too. It'll make first gear seem waaaaaaay to short, though. 8)

[WAFlowers]

Hopefully your Mishimoto radiator showed up straight the first time.

I assume so. Jeff didn't complain about it.

You'll enjoy that light flywheel too. It'll make first gear seem waaaaaaay to short, though. 8)

[treekiller]

only problem I had with the mishimoto radiator is it was not overflowing properly and seeping coolant around the nice looking but ill fitting 16# rad cap they provided. I added a small 1/16" vent to the overflow tank cap, I also replaced the Mishimoto Cap with a 16# 300ZxTT cap. FYI The 300ZxTT cap is 1.3 bar unit and a lot cheaper to purchase then a racing cap. actually most of the "racing" rad caps are just 300ZxTT units with a fancy sticker on them.

Lucky for me I stock these caps, since they are a super common upgrade for Nissans with factory 1.1 bar cooling systems. NISMO makes a 18.5# unit and some hardcore racers go as high as 22# but the 16# unit is a nice simple upgrade that won't pop off factory coolant hoses.

Budget build tips from your friend Jeff.

[Charles]

I run a 300z TT radiator cap on the Koyo radiator I put in the 240..... took care of my overheating @ Sebring along with the radiator and no leaks......

I didn't want to run the 18lb cap and push my luck on the who knows how old heater hose.

They are a dealer item I believe.......Japan Nissan dealer that is...so I couldn't replace those... I didn't investigate further to see how close hoses for a KA + 240 combo would have fit my SR

[Alizarin]

only problem I had with the mishimoto radiator is it was not overflowing properly and seeping coolant around the nice looking but ill fitting 16# rad cap they provided. I added a small 1/16" vent to the overflow tank cap, I also replaced the Mishimoto Cap with a 16# 300ZxTT cap. FYI The 300ZxTT cap is 1.3 bar unit and a lot cheaper to purchase then a racing cap. actually most of the "racing" rad caps are just 300ZxTT units with a fancy sticker on them.

Lucky for me I stock these caps, since they are a super common upgrade for Nissans with factory 1.1 bar cooling systems. NISMO makes a 18.5# unit and some hardcore racers go as high as 22# but the 16# unit is a nice simple upgrade that won't pop off factory coolant hoses.

Budget build tips from your friend Jeff.

Interesting, I think mine is doing that also. something o look into, maybe? I may have put my stock Subaru cap on from the old radiator, though.

[WAFlowers]

And the results of my first drive are ... impressive and frustrating.

The car just wants to GO! I have to hold it back ... somewhat.

I was good; I didn't take it into VTEC. But with only 200 miles on what is really a new engine I didn't push too hard, although I did some moderate pulls to 5K then engine braking to pull a good vacuum.

It is really going to be tough to hold back; the engine has never hummed like this! :shock: Talk about smooooth!

[Alizarin]

Bill, even on NASIOC there are 2 schools of thought to break in an engine, one being the standard way (drive like a granny for 500 or so miles), and the other being drive like a granny for a day, change the oil, then just let loose.

[WAFlowers]

Back when I bought a bike (2000 Triumph Sprint ST in the Fall of '99) I essentially used this controversial break-in procedure. It worked great. At 7000 miles the engine internals did look like new and measured that way too. After breakin it lived on Mobil 1 4T as per the manufacturers recommendation.

I'm not driving the S like a granny, but I'm not being quite as agressive as I was with the bike. I've worked my way up to a few full throttle pulls in 2nd gear to just below VTEC now followed by engine braking to pull a vacuum. If all looks well over the next day or so I expect to take it to redline in 2nd this week.

Jeff filled the engine with Castrol GTX (I believe that's what he said), ran it 20 miles, drained it, changed the oil filter and refilled with the same again.

When I change the oil in another 1000 miles it'll go to full synth. However, that will be after the January event.

[Charles]

When I change the oil in another 1000 miles it'll go to full synth. However, that will be after the January event.

Not sure I'd go to full synth so soon but I guess everyone has their own opinions on that........

[WAFlowers]

Break-in faces the laws of diminishing returns. If you've babied the engine and it isn't broken in by 1200 miles (note that I said "another 1000 miles") I'm not sure it will ever be broken in.

This isn't to say that things won't continue to change but getting the rings to bed will either have been accomplished long before 1200 miles or not at all.

IMHO anyway.

[treekiller]

and that's why I fill with Castrol GTX. it's a good oil, but it's still 100% traditional, so there will be at least some friction to help the parts wear in. my concern is not the Rings as much as it is all the seals. Valve guide seals are one place where early use of syenthetic can cause that puff of smoke on start-up. the newer Seals are supposed to be less prone to this, however since the oil will be changed out in 1,000 miles, it's never going to get close to breaking down. so the extra $$ spent on Synthetic can be wasted. but the cork and soft seals of years past that NEEDED traditional oil have pretty much been eliminated. Bills motor for example does not even use an oil pan gasket. everything is sealed with high temp silicone.

to be honest in going on two decades of racing Internal combustion engines. I've never seen a failure I can chalk up to poor oil quality. (on a 4 stroke engine) loose filters, low oil, broken pumps, loose pickups.... yea all of that but never a motor failure due to running less expensive oil. and more-so on an enthusiast's engine that gets regular oil changes.

2 stroke engines are much more sensitive to oil quality. but with Florida implementing California emissions you won't see much of them anymore.

Kenny is the only one I know of that had a bearing failure without an obvious cause. and I'm sure being the enginerd type he uses high quality oil religiously, so poor oil quality was not his issue.

[treekiller]

Interesting, I think mine is doing that also. something o look into, maybe? I may have put my stock Subaru cap on from the old radiator, though.

Remember Kenny, unless Subaru changed their design only one of the radiator caps is pressurized. I think it's the one on the coolant tank by the turbo. the other is just a vented seal. (I might have this backward) you always add coolant to the highest point in the cooling system unless the system has a bleeder valve, which the scoobies don't. then the system uses the natural pressurization to bleed the system.