Looking at buying an 87 2 door Saturday and have a few questions

[RCWD21]

Just an update and a question for anyone that knows. I started ordering some of my parts this week. So far I have a gasket set and the temp sensor on its way to me.

 

Now for the question:

What year did the revised fs5r30a transmission come into production and what can they be found in? Seeing as the 3 speed is in a very questionable and unknown condition I'm going to go with a manual swap.

[RCWD21]

Another update!

 

I've ordered and received the top end gasket set and ecu temp sensor

 

I'm waiting to hear back on my offer for the oil pressure sensor since the old one leaked like crazy..

 

On order currently is: radiator cap, thermostat, oil pan gasket, oil pump, lower timing sprocket/ gear, intake and exhaust valves, throttle body rebuild kit with new filters, and rear main seal.

 

I still have about another $800 worth of parts to get but I'm slowly getting there..

 

Still have to drill out the old studs from the heads for the exhaust and am debating on going to the 10mm studs.

Edited January 16, 2016 by RCWD21

[Blue109]

Getting pricy! Will be sweet in the end. How much was the top end set?

[RCWD21]

That $800 isn't including the lift I want! Lol 2 inch body 3 inch suspension. Nothing to crazy but plenty for my taste.

 

As for the top end gasket set it was only $35 it came with victor reinz gaskets and seals and even a tube of grey rtv that I didn't know it came with until I checked the box. I get a lot of gaskets and seals from wiz parts on fleabay and I've had incredible luck with them even though they're "cheap". The only thing the kit didn't come with was the big rear main seal for the crank but they have that too for $10 and it even comes with the correct gasket. Plus they respond very fast to emails.

 

Oh and one little thing to add to the update list is that thanks to having a parts d21 I can cut part of the bed out and weld it in place of the rusted hole in the real quarter panel area between the bumper and just behind the fender flare on the back left (can be seen in the pics earlier in the thread). Not sure why it rusted out right there but I suspect that something caused a hole and it was never repaired.

Edited January 16, 2016 by RCWD21

[RCWD21]

So far all that's left to order is a new radiator, piston and ring set, replacements for all the worn out bushings, a fan controller unit that's actually reliable, timing belt kit, new lifters, a clutch and flywheel, and a tune up kit that has the accessory belts all the way to the spark plugs.

 

Ordered so far is the oil pressure gauge sending unit that I luckily got for $20, oil pump, crank timing sprocket, throttle body gasket set, rear main seal, valves, oil pan gasket set, radiator cap, and thermostat.

 

Now for a question that I hope isn't a screw up on my part and something I can get away with. Would using a tx18 coolant temp sensor work compared to the "proper" tx31? It says both sensors are "compatible" with both engines and I didn't think to double check that simple thing when I ordered everything..

[RCWD21]

So after getting tired of the climbing price of everything I went through rockauto just out of pure curiosity and saw a lot of wholesaler closeouts and thanks to those hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to order the 30 something parts for $300.74 then I'll be getting the waterpump/ timing belt kit, radiator, and an e-fan controller from eBay for another $160 and then all that's left is the junkyard hunting which should only run me around $200 to $250 if I can keep my urge to get other parts down lol. But that can wait until I get next month's bills squared away since my 90 is due for an inspection and new rag sticker..

 

All in all I should be able to get the engine reassembled though!

 

Just one question, is the driveshaft a different length between the auto and manual transmissions, I can't remember if they are or aren't? If not that'll save me a little bit of money and time.

Edited January 21, 2016 by RCWD21

[RCWD21]

Ok guys, sorry for the big delay in posting on here for anyone that's been following this thread..

 

I have my heads rebuilt and they look better than new the broken studs unscrewed with the help of an spiral stud remover.

 

The throttle body is all nice and clean with new gaskets and seals.

 

And I just ordered all of my other parts testerday. Thanks to rockauto with their discount code I saved about $25 which I can now put towards the other things I need. Only thing left to order is a radiator.

 

So far I need to swap over the pedal assembly from a donor truck that I have and find a transmission and some other parts for the front of the engine and I'll be back running again then I can begin all my customization and get it exactly where I want

 

All my parts should be here by March 1st at the latest so I'm really excited to get this thing done!

[RCWD21]

Well hopefully all of the parts I ordered will be here on Friday , if so all I have left is the radiator and finding a transmission and the other misc engine parts I'm missing.

[RCWD21]

I have an update for yall

 

I honed the cylinders and reinstalled the crank and pistons with new rings

 

New hardware being a brand new water pump and oil pump, next is a new lower timing sprocket (had to cut and crack the old one off)

 

[RCWD21]

Let me know if all my photos aren't showing up, as of right now they're not showing up for me..

 

But anyways an update. I'm still searching for parts and I got a few things today.. I was going to get an electric fan from a quest but it was bad and had a tight spot in it. So I grabbed all the mechanical fan parts instead. Also got a power steering pump from a 95' pathy since I dropped my original one and busted the pulley and cracked the housing..

 

Still searching for a transmission if anyone has one for cheap..

[xterra]

RC-

Your pics aren't showing up for me either.

[RCWD21]

Well I used photo bucket so I'm not sure what's going on I'll check there and if I can't do anything maybe I can get a mod to help me out or something..

[RCWD21]

Seems like they're not on the server anymore.. not really sure what happened but I guess I'll have to re-upload them when I get the chance.

[RCWD21]

It's been a very long time for this post but i found a manual transmission out of a 96 pathfinder and some other bits and pieces like an xterra rack with both cross bars from a local yard. After a lot of fighting and complaining I finally got everything I needed to get it going under its own power..

 

It's still not finished but it has passed a 2 mile drive without incident from the shop to home I'm now searching for a few last things for the interior and then it is on to being built up to where I want it

 

I'm excited as ever and thanks to this forum I'll be going alternate routes on some things which have proved to work better than my original idea

 

Future plans include a front and rear winch capable bumper, underbody protection, suspension and body lift, and lighting.

 

It starts up sort of funny and then smooths out right away, probably due to it only have a small battery in it (surprisingly it starts off of a lawn mower battery).

 

Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to get more parts and be putting the dash back in and clearing out some of the clutter inside lol

[RCWD21]

Well tomorrow I'm going to the junkyard with a pocket full of money and a really long list! Hopefully there will be a breeze too!

 

Also for anyone interested I'll be posting a link to my photobucket folder with all of the pics of this 87 2 door and most of the work I've done to it, instead of reposting the pics.

 

Sent from inside my potato

[RCWD21]

My 3 inch body lift will be here friday, I'll be going back to the junkyard to get a set of springs to lift the rear and then I'll be saving up for upper control arms to complete the lift.

 

Sent from inside my potato