DANK-KAGE

Indeed, the thought had occurred.

Yeah, I drove it for about 3 weeks and it ran and started fine. Even when I pulled it out originally it seemed to turn fine. Unfortunately I haven't taken any photos for you, but the bearings seemed OK, only one showed any wear, but even that was marginal.

First of all. Thankyou everyone for replying so promptly with solid advice and thought. Second, it's a ground up rebuild. Every piece was removed and cleaned from top to bottom. Mainly top end modification. I got a cam grind, head shaved, new carb, springs, electronic ignition, etc. I've done all the assembly myself, making it slightly more irksome as it ran well before I rebuilt it. After a painful night of taking the engine back out of the car and quick disassembly, culminating in giving up at 2am and restarting this morning, it seems that it was indeed the conrod caps being replaced in the wrong orientation. Similarly, I also put them on in exactly the same way I took them off, evidently the wrong way! The engine has shown signs of prior rebuild being done poorly, but I didn't think extended this far. Unusually, the piston are obviously not original as they lack any of the marking described here or in the yellow book. Just some numbers and letters which don't seem to correlate. SO I just changed them in faith that would be the solution knowing that bearings were in good condition, and the camshaft was properly installed, so it wasn't valves or anything similar causing interference. When I built it the first time I could turn it over via the crank bolt, but with effort. Now upon cap reorientation, the whole assembly rotates much more freely. I've reinstalled the engine and the starter seems to be doing its job well without the spark plugs in, until the battery went flat anyway. However, I am optimistic this was the solution. And on the bright side, I know I won't let it happen again.

I'm quite certain the starter is getting is earth properly from the block. I've been able to rotate the engine off the crank bolt a few times which has resulted in the starter doing its job. But for some reason now it has completely locked so I can't even do that. I'll give this a go. Hopefully this will be the answer. Thanks for your help. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Hey all, I just put my rebuilt 4k back into my ke30, but when I turn the key it won't turn over. When I try, it makes a clunking sound and I can see the fan and distributer rotor attempt to rotate but stop. I've tested the starter (which is new), and I can see that it spins with power to it. I've tried without the spark plugs in to make sure it's not that my compression is too high, its definitely in neutral, the rotating assembly is torqued as per the yellow book and I know power and ground is where it should be. Has anyone else experienced this? I am inclined to think that something is acting as a blockage, but am loth to disassemble without consultation. Any help would be appreciated as I have no idea what I'm doing. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I thought I'd look in two directions with the cams. I'm going quite high with the compression, definitely at least 10:1. Given I will mainly be on open mountain roads with little traffic and stopping, or track day/rally-ish stuff in the back paddock, would the #873 be better? As blasphemous as it sounds, given I'm a 19 year old without a semblance of self moderation, I'll probably blow it up. So my main concern is having fun before it does. I'll definitely spend a lot of time tuning the carb and getting everything right though. Thanks a lot for replying in such depth, it was really well explained.

Hey all, I'm currently looking for a cam grind for my 4K in a Ke30. I'm torn between a Tighe #104 or a Auckland cams #873. I'll be running a Weber 45DCOE, heavy duty valve springs and extractors if that has any bearing on the situation. Does anyone run these daily? What are people's thoughts on these cams in terms of street-ability and gain? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Yeah, I'll give that a try I reckon. Unfortunately I can't really daily it but they run khanacross and alike relatively close to me so should be easy. Thanks for the sound advice.

It's currently unregistered. But its definitely a long term project as I have other monetarily diminishing responsibilities. So I was thinking of doing it very slowly over the next few years. and I just want to have fun with the process.

You make a mighty good point. I guess I'll just see how I go and evaluate what I can do with my budget and decide from there. Thanks.

Yeah, the idea was mainly to be able to get it rolling before I replace the diff. The 4age is beginning to seem like a better idea after doing a bit of research. Especially with a budget. Thanks for the reply,

Hey all, I am in great need of advice. I just bought a Ke30 and I'd like to create a sneaky street car with the possibility of a bit of drifting. What would be the easiest engine swap to make good power for the cash? I know there's a lot on 4age and sr20 builds, of which I am inclined toward the sr20. If I were to go with the sr20, are there any transmissions with the length to get into the stock diff? I've not done much mechanics of this sort so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.