I have a 1988 300zx NA2T that I bought from a guy in my local area for about $6000 back in 2021.  Included in the deal were and extra set of leather seats (that need reupholstering, but whatever), and an entire top end of a spare motor (apparently he had a donor car that through a rod but the top end looked great).  Honestly wasn't disappointed in the deal.

Since owning this thing I have done some extensive work on it.  You can view the details in my previous posts, but basically top mounted turbo conversion (Garrett T3/04e with external WG), and Megasquirt conversion.

The previous owner was not kind to the old girl.  The motor that was in it has a tick (mostly between 2-3k rpm) and shes got some blue smoke especially when cold (guessing valve related). The clutch screams like a banshee, especially in cooler weather.  Bottom line is that I've decided with the amount of overhauling that the motor needs anyway, why not make use of that extra top end that I have?

I ended up finding a vg30 bottom end on Ebay that someone was actually willing to ship! Not freight, or pick up, like UPS left it at my front door.  It came with a crank and factory pistons and rods.  I ended up finding a set of Wiseco 88mm pistons and Eagle H-beam rods on Godzilla Raceworks.  I took the block, heads and crank to a reputable machine shop and they were able to bore and hone the cylinders, deck the heads and polish the crank.

I've purchased all of the tools that I feel I need to tackle the job, obtained all of the accessories (i.e. oil pump, water pump, pulleys, etc...).  

I am just going to take my time and start assembling this "new" motor. I will continue to post updates as I tackle the job.  They won't happen frequently, just as things happen.  I've never built an engine before but it's something that I've always wanted to do.  I'm debating on creating some YT videos on the process as well, but only if anyone is really interested.  

Anyway, that's my "Dear Diary" moment for today.  If anyone has built a VG30 before, especially with the Wiseco pistons and Eagle rods, and has any pointers, I am all ears!

VG30 Engine Build