My VE head swap how to (picture heavy) + Roller Rocker!

Luis · 07-03-2006, 01:22 PM

Well it's simple enough and I've seen a couple of pictures here on what it's supposed to look like. So I went off that and here is how I did it. I was going to use this stuff for my P11, but my buddy got rod knock in his P10 so it went for the greater good.

What you need..

You need a VE head. I bought this one for $400 from a forum member.

And a block, in my case we found a perfectly good JDM roller rocker at my engine place.

I recommend new head bolts.

And you need some oil line fittings. Specifically 1/8NPT to -6AN (x2) and a 1-2ft length of -6 braided line. Gofastdepot.com sells this "kit" and that is what I used.

Block Prep:

Step 1.

Remove old engine with rod-knock

Step 2.

Remove head off of the roller rocker engine. Now it is no longer a roller rocker engine

This engine has a 4 counterweight crank and the oil pump looks just like the VVL one. I also noticed that the pistons seem to be the same as the regular 9.5:1 DE ones. I haven't checked to see if they are taller or not. They have a slight dish and do not have valve reliefs.

I used a razor blade to remove the old lead headgasket. It felt perfectly smooth afterwards.

My buddy had fun with the spraypaint.

I layed the VE/Metal Headgasket on, I made sure the engine was at TDC and put white out on the corresponding line on the crank pulley for future timing fun.

Block is ready. Now for the head.

BObby12many · 07-03-2006, 01:26 PM

Awesome man!

The head swap Era is upon us.....

Cant wait to see the rest!

Luis · 07-03-2006, 01:38 PM

The VE head has a threaded hole right in front of the oil passage. I think a bolt for the water pipe bracket goes there. It won't be used for that after this

Here you can see the stock passage that gets the oil for the soleniods via the block. It's oozing it's last bit of oil.

You need a 11/32 drill bit for the 1/8 NPT tap. I would recommend a drill press, we didn't have one handy.. so we used the eyeball/hand method

I blew air through the hole to get any loose shavings out.

This is kind of a crappy picture, but you can seee the stock oil passage now that we've cut through. I stuck a pick in there to get any extra metal out.

Now it's time to tap. I used a 1/8 NPT tap with some synthetic grease on it. The metal shavings get stuck to the grease leaving us with a clean "hole".

The 1/8NPT to -6AN fitting goes in nicely. I put some teflon tape on the threads when I did the final tightenning for extra insurance.

It's the same process for the oil hole on the bottom of the head. Except you need to plug this hole. I used the 11/32 drill bit to make the hole bigger. Then I used the 1/8NPT tap to thread it. I bought a 1/8NPT plug to uh.. plug the hole. I needed to make sure it was flush at the very least since it wouldn't have sealed right against the headgasket I used. I also used a bit of teflon tape when I did the final assembly.

The head is ready!

Luis · 07-03-2006, 01:50 PM

We followed the FSM instructions for installing the head/bolts. Everything went without a hitch.

Here are the VE cams waiting to be installed.

VE cams installed. It's the same procedure as the DE. We had a mishap with a bolt on the far left of the exhaust cam. Luckily the roller rocker head provided us with a spare cam bearing bolt

Verified cam timing..

Now that the head is buttoned down, I went ahead and got to installing the oil line. Instead of going with a 1.8BSP to 1/8NPT adapter for the oil feed on the block.. I greased up the o'l 1/8NPT tap and threaded it through the hole for the stock oil pressure sender. It just took a couple of turns and it was "converted" to 1/8NPT. No more broken thread converters

I then screwed in a 1/8NPT "T". I screwed in the last 1/8NPT to -6AN fitting. The second 1/8NPT hole will be used for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge.

Here the SS line is installed. It looks like 2feet is a bit too long. I routed it around the oil filter adapter. I might switch to a 1ft hose if it interferes with anything (shouldn't).

From the back again.

All done..

We're just waiting on an intake manifold and water pump before it goes in. I'll keep everyone updated on our progress.

2001SEdemBoobs · 07-03-2006, 01:56 PM

awesome write-up man!!! i'm hoping to do a similar swap soon!! looking good, and very very clean. well done. what numbers are u looking to put down?

Luis · 07-03-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2001SEdemBoobs

awesome write-up man!!! i'm hoping to do a similar swap soon!! looking good, and very very clean. well done. what numbers are u looking to put down?

Thanks! We're trying to get as close to 200whp as possible with the stock cams, then go from there

scortch99th · 07-03-2006, 02:03 PM

cool !!!! i'll be checking in on the pics,

STRATTON · 07-03-2006, 02:06 PM

fu*king clean swap bro. the only issues in the future is with those flat top pistons. ur gonna be limited to basically the sr20ve cams due to piston to valve clearance.

good stuff though.

stratton.

Luis · 07-03-2006, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STRATTON

fu*king clean swap bro. the only issues in the future is with those flat top pistons. ur gonna be limited to basically the sr20ve cams due to piston to valve clearance.

good stuff though.

stratton.

Yeah I was worried about that as well. But Rockwood had the same pistons in his DE/VE and he was running 16VE cams without any problems. I think that'll be the max I would try with this. I was hoping we could find a det longblock and leave the turbo option open. I guess that'll be for my P11

Rob · 07-03-2006, 02:10 PM

nice write up! a VE head for 400! thats a steal!

Mautai916@yahoo · 07-03-2006, 02:11 PM

thats my old VE head! Everything looks awesome! I can't wait till this baby's on the road!

shingouki1 · 07-03-2006, 02:16 PM

that motor looks filthy!!! lol. nice write up, i cant wait to see what kind of power this thing puts out.

anomaly · 07-03-2006, 02:30 PM

good job!

Benito Malito · 07-03-2006, 02:30 PM

That's awesome! I have no doubt this will get stickied. For the record what compression does this yield?

ussil80 · 07-03-2006, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

nice write up! a VE head for 400! thats a steal!

nice work.... looks really clean..

5speed · 07-03-2006, 02:33 PM

I suggest you check the sprockets again. Looks like your off by one tooth on both intake and exhaust. Both camshafts appear to be advanced.

Luis · 07-03-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bennitto Mallito

That's awesome! I have no doubt this will get stickied. For the record what compression does this yield?

I believe it will be 10.5:1

Luis · 07-03-2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5speed

I suggest you check the sprockets again. Looks like your off by one tooth on both intake and exhaust. Both camshafts appear to be advanced.

Yeah, the motor was turned a bit (-5) after I torqued everything down (sprockets etc). I'll take a better pic with everything at TDC tomorrow. There are the correct amount of links, and with them motor level the exhaust cam is right at 12.

Serban · 07-03-2006, 02:43 PM

This is sticky material here!