Pulled the head off the car tonight and the low compression on the tester after the sparkplug meltdown is a valve with a piece missing... ooops! and we were doing donuts in the parking lot before driving it in to pull the head off.... I'd say she was about 10 minutes from dropping the valve completely... I'll get pictures....
The pistons have 4 cutouts for valves... are all ca18et engines like this, or is it a det bottom end already perhaps.... ?
I also noticed a piece missing off the top of one piston, detonation, only it doesn't look recent as I cant see any damage anywhere else.....but strange things are afoot (at the circle K) I think the muppet I bought the car off has already been in the engine rooting around... I mean, he was up for fitting a 200sx gearbox and clutch... and it looks like it has a T25 on it already now we can actually see it....
So I guess I am looking for a CA18ET engine... or may be willing to risk the grief from the mot guys by fitting a DET motor. If I go DET, what sort of power are they good for without getting into cams and silly money... are they really good for 300 at the flywheel just with some remapping, injectors and such?
Or might just pull the bottom end apart and do it properly... get the head sorted and save the mot headaches....
I found a DET for sale for 300 quid and it's local to me here in sweden, but it has done 80 000miles... so not sure if it is worth buying an engine which is probably as bad as the one we are now pulling apart.....
Come on.... give me some sound advice guys!
Catch you later..
Conkers
the pictures:
