the engine has a lot of stuff that needs to be connected before the engine is fitted, because they were all cleaned beforehand it only takes a couple of hours to refit and TBH if i wasnt too sure where something went i just checked the earlier pics i took on its way out

i did have a rather noisey nismo paddle clutch fitted, its being replaced by a single plate exedy uprated version

heres a set of shots of the engine dressed




an input shaft from an old skyline gearbox is the best tool to line the clutch up with as you clamp it down but they are not easy to come by...this one was lent to me by tony of abbey motorsport


rigging the engine to the crane is pretty important with a fully loaded RB26DETT, the engine is very heavy and it will snap chains as i found out shortly after taking the three pics above

the rigging broke and the rebuilt engine fell approx 1 meter into paving slabs and into the front of the car, i expected serious engine damage but the block was untouched....it came down on one of the bottom corners and just took a hole out of one of the slabs before resting itself on the front bumper, scarey stuff really



the 250kg engine stand we used during the rebuild was also bent by the weight of the block when the head and sump, turbos and inlet etc were connected...be careful out there lol

so with some upgraded rigging we started to reinstall the engine (please note that the pin on the gear fork should now be fitted!!)

i found it was far easier to get the lump into position if i had the front of the engine raised above the fly end, it lifts out real easy on the way out and that isnt easy to duplicate on the way in

once i had the engine where i wanted it we had to play with the height of the gearbox/engine to position it correctly so the splines would be at the correct angle to the splines.......i didnt think that it "felt right" at first, there was far too much resistance as the spline went in for my liking but thats how they are on these, once you get this far you know its in, bolt the fecker up!



after that you need to refit the rest of the equipment, driveshafts, pumps, various wires hoses...all straightforward really

back to the head then!