I found a nice z24 with the 2.4 ld9 for sale, real clean in and out, but will soon need the bottome end rebuilt. It's running smooth, no knocks or anything, but it does have lifter tick which leads me to believe that the oil pump is worn out and when you give throttle a quick romp while the car is in drive and idling and let off quickly, you can hear a very faint brief rattle noise in the bottom end.

My question is, would it be possible to just pull the oil pan and toss in new rod and main bearings and a new oil pump because the guy recently had the cylinder head rebuilt so I don't want to have to pull the head, plus the engine still has excellent compression and doesn't use oil so there's really no need for re ringing or anything. Has anyone done this ? Can it be done in a weekend ?

Yes. Its called an in frame underhaul. Pull the oil pan, replace the bearings one at a time. If there is scoring on the crank journals you will have more issues though.


Have a nice day.

Ok, cool. Thanks. I was thinking about picking it up as a second "fun" car because it's a 5 speed. What are the possibilites of it having scoring on the journals ? It doesn't knock at all. Will I have to remove the timing chain or anything or will I be able to just pull the pan and leave the pistons, crank, etc... in the block ?

Just pull the pan. Remove one main cap at a time and spin the old bearing out and the new one in. Use plastigage to check the clearance. As far as scoring, shouldnt be an issue if the bearings have been kept well oiled. I would get a manual gauge and test the oil pressure before any major tear down though.


Have a nice day.