Bought a z6 motor that was taken apart to do an OEM rebuild

Cracked the head on my D15 so now the build had to be rushed because its my daily.

Went to install APR studs in Z6 block and one of the head stud holes is stripped out. Used a helicoil and it worked. Then I noticed the stud was taller in the corner with the vtec solenoid (should've been a clue) Used washer to fill the gap. (I know not the right way to do it.

Finally got the motor in and the Z6 dizzy doesn't fit. Only the top mount lines up.

So I look at the head casting and realize it's a freaking y8 head.

people say use B7 dizzy. Nope. Only 2 side mounts live up.

Z6 timing belt doesn't fit with the Y8 cam gear without it being really tight also had to swap the tensioner with a smaller one. Buy a y8 timing belt and it way to long.

So now my mechanical timing is a mess. tried using the z6 cam gear and it seems to be alot closer which makes no sense to me at all. .

I cannot get the timing right for the life of me. car runs like crap. I found someone selling a z6 shortblock with a rod threw it for $50.

I don't know if I should buy that head and have everything match or keep trying to mess with the z6/y8

I need some opinion because I am at a loss.

 

I would just buy another used motor that hasn't been opened up, and install that instead.

 

I would but I can't afford a whole motor right now and like I said it's my daily so I need it running like yesterday. I can get a Z6 motor that snapped a rod and use the head but Im afraid that it may have messed up the head or valves. I havent seen the motor yet though

 

Used D series should be like $100-$250.

It's going to be cheaper than the parts you need to buy to finish these defunct project motors.

 

z6/y8 timing belts are the same. you sure you're using a b7 distributor? the cases for them and the y7/y8 are the same. if you're having a hard time with a "hybrid" setup, buy the z6 head.

 

yep took the dizzy right off my b7 and only the 2 side mounts align. The top would need drilled out a bit to fit. I got an adjustable gear for free today but its missing the woodruff key. Hopefully it's the same size as the crank pulley one. I'm going to give that a shot before I buy the head

So would the gear need advanced or retarded the 4.75 degree

 

It might be possible that the previous owner mixed up the cam caps between a Z6 and Y8 head, the far end has one of the flange legs for the distributor and if that's the case that might explain why you can't install either dizzy properly.

I'd be interested in which tensioner you used that is "smaller" because in my experience there were only 2 kinds and they're not interchangeable.

 

Oh man that's exactly what happened. I had a z6 head that I sold and I swapped the cam caps onto the y8 before I knew it was a y8. Crap I gotta call the guy I sold it to. That explains the dizzy not fitting.

 

Even Z6 to Z6 its bad idea to mix camshaft caps. They are machined from the factory to fit perfectly on that individual head.

 

well the guy I was getting the z6 head from showed up with a y8 head. I used the the rocker assembly from that. Now the b7 dizzy fits and the car runs. Found out we were adjusting the valves wrong. Did them the right way and now she runs nice and quiet.

Only issue Im having is that it bogs when giving it gas at low RPM which I'm thinking the coolant needs bled. I did bleed it but there isn't a steady flow of coolant unless I blip the throttle.

I also noticed that sometimes when giving it gas the temp gauge will drop as the RPM goes up and go back to normal as I let off the gas.

 

This is getting more fucked up every time I come back here to read.....get another engine.

 

eh it's getting there. This is alot of firsts for me so I didn't expect it to go perfect. I'm learning alot so all of the little headaches are worth it.

 

Can you clarify which camshaft and camgear you are using? Which ECU? Indexing and timing are unique.

 

cam and cam gear are both y8 crank gear is z6. Ecu is a P28 not chipped

setting tdc on the head is a little confusing to me. I know the "up" should be at 12 o'clock but what about the arrows on the cover