Ultimate FE3 Buildup: Bottom End

[DJ_JaKe]

Ultimate FE3 Buildup: Bottom End

I'll be making several topics, concerning specific areas of an FE-DOHC build, to give people what kind of work, time, and money is involved in getting everything from a mild FE3 unleashed. Expect specific topics on bottom end, head, induction, fueling, electronics, drivetrain, etc.
I will also be making comparisons between aftermarket, stock, and F2T parts.
This guide assumes you have basic knowledge on the FE3, history, model differences, etc.
Through the way i break these up, you should read them together. the Bottom End rebuild topic isnt compelete without reading Cylinder Head afterwards for example.
TO AVOID CLUTTERING DISCUSSION, I WILL INCLUDE PART NUMBERS TOWARD THE END OF EVERYTHING I MENTION

Ultimate FE3 Buildup; 1 of many. Bottom End:

FE3 vs F2
The FE-DOHC and F2 cast iron blocks are quite similar on the exterior. Almost every bolt and bracket can be re used from the F2 onto an FE3's block. This usually makes most FE3 swaps easy, since there is many donor parts, such as accessory brackets, specific use nuts and bolts you may need, moitor mounts, that make it easy to ensure your swap goes smoothly.
Internally, the SOHC and DOHC motors start showing some significant differences. Oil pumps are physically similar to one another, and water pump has minor differences.
The FE3 is a square motor, which means its bore and stroke are the same at 86mm each, one reason why the FE3 is so capable of revving high stock. the F2, has the same 86mm bore, but a signficantly longer. 94mm stroke. the F2 rods are also 6.5mm longer at 158mm
The FE3 crankshaft is very different from the F2's. They are, however, interchangable. More will be discussed on this later
FE3 has slightly different oil passages, which probably results in enhanced lubrication. FE3 also has four oil squirters below the cylinder bores, which spray oil toward individual rod and piston assemblies.

FE3 ANALYSIS
Many consider the stock FE3 to be a very capable motor. However, its high compression is a problem for those looking to turbo it. This doesnt mean that its not possible to turbo a high compression FE3, completely stock internally, safely. If youre willing to spend the time on a good tune with a dedicated standalone, use good fuel, and limit your boost a bit, you will generate good numbers, very quick spool up, and not even lifted a valve cover yet. But this is like many "stock bottom end" powerplants claiming big power. It runs right, and great for bragging right, but like all those "1000hp supras" on stock bottom ends you see, everything will come apart with even the slightest detonation. By replacing the factory internals, you can generate more power safely, and have a degree of saftey, as a built motor will be more forgiving to a little knock.
If youre on a budget, but insist on an FE3, by not doing a rebuild, you will save an extrodinary amount of money. a proper rebuild, as i will detail soon, requires more then just new pistons and rings. Therefore, if you want to run boost on a stock FE3, it would be best to find the lower compression models. The lower compression (unleaded) can be identified most accuratelly by looking at the piston, which is dished and running a 9.2:1 compression ratio. The domed pistons in the leaded FE3's generate a compression ratio 10.0:1
A tight tune, and excellent fuel can do some amazing things even on a high compression boosted motor. There is a fallacy that the the FE3 is a very expensive motor to make power with, but its actually quite rewarding even at lower boost and stock internals. for anyone seeking 300+ whp in the first generation community, the F2T will have difficulty reaching it. bigger injectors and standalone will be neccessary for both motors. an internally stock FE3 could make 300whp with ease on a tight tune. building an F2T for big power is NOT cheaper then an FE3, as many people will tend to think. There is endless discussion on this topic, so ill leave it at that.

The stock FE3 rods are also considered strong, and capable of holding 400hp at the minimum. Although i would question their strength at power approaching 500whp for sure. Anyone looking for a high revving boosted FE3 powerplant should consider some upgrade to the rods, at least in the fastener. the stock rod bolts on the FE3's rods are not strong enough to hold together at high RPM and boost. even if your head wont float to 10,000rpm, going past 8k on the stock rods is ill advised. they WILL let go, and end up going clean through your block.

FE3 crankshafts are found both cast and forged. Forged would be a nice item, but completley unneccessary even for very large power goals. Stock FE3/F2T crankshafts are capable of supporting a lot of power so they arent an issue. Could use a nice kniveedging though.

[DJ_JaKe]

If you decided that your FE3 will under go a rebuild, with different internals to support your power goals, good choice. This is a costly route, but very effective.

PISTONS:
Most basic thing you can do is replace the pistons with forged units, and new rings. You may choose your compression ratio and overbore at this point. the new piston with everything else stock is a great combination for power of 400+ easy.
Venolia Pistons has made many pistons in the past for the FE3, and i am currently using them. however i will NOT RECOMMEND them to anyone. Their service is horrible, they cannot follow instructions, bad experiance with them. Wiseco would be my next choice. Whomever you buy pistons with, dont forget, you will need the pins as well! the FE3 uses full floating pins, so much different then the F2T.
COMPRESSION:
it all depends on your power goals, what kind of fuel you use, tuning, etc, but most people should choose a compression ratio of 8.0:1 to 9.0:1. I am personally running a little over 9.0:1 right now. This isnt 1989 anymore, we have good gas and tuning, so feel free to be a little adventerous with your compression rate. Keep in mind, with more compression, youll spool much quicker, have more low end power, which is important since many of us are using very large laggy turbos, and generally make more power with less boost.
OVERBORE
Both FE3 and F2T blocks will support a heafty overbore since there is a lot of meat between cylinder bores, about 11mm. FE3 supports a 5mm overbore in each cylinder. This would turn the 1998cc FE3 into a 2237cc motor. However, many will not need to do such an extreme overbore. You do not want to thin out you cylinder walls too much, so i went with a 2.5mm overbore. More displacement means youll be making more power and spooling sooner.
PISTON RINGS
Your custom pistons will usually come with rings if you ask for them. Rings are made for many different applications, and if you are a heavy boost/nitrous user, a standard ring will not work. If you discuss your goals with your ring supplier, they will help you make the right choice, but usually you will want to order chromoly top rings for a turbo FE3.
RODS
Factory rods are strong enough for most applications, but if youre looking to make massive power, and rev high, a strong rod with good fasteners will be a must. Pauter machine co. makes forged rods for the fe3. design is flawless, great bolts, come all balanced end to end properly, great product. I had sent my factory fe3 rods out in early 05, so we have a part # now for the pauter rods.
CRANKSHAFT
FE3 had both forged and cast cranks available. Both are heavy but stout units. The forged unit can be an upgrade for anyone using a cast one, but i dont imagine anyone will ever manage to break even the cast crank. No upgrades here neccessary, but having the crank professionally knife edged would be a significant bonus. You reduce a bit of weight, at higher rpm's it helps keep unneccessary oil off the crank, which helps oil temperature and prevent foaming, and of course, more power.
BEARINGS
Your new motor will require a new set of bearings. Clevite makes excellent rod and main bearings that are available for these motors. If you dont have a clevite supplier, or would like to try someone different, you may cross reference a few things. the "FE-DOHC" will not be listed in north american applications. the FE and F2 motors all had common cranks/journals. When looking through an engine bearing catalogue, any main bearing from an F2 or FE powered mazda should work. this means 85-87 2.0 SOHC 626 main bearings will work, an 88-92 F2 mx6 main bearings will work, etc. Take notice the part #'s will be the same for all motors with an F2 of FE, because they are all share the same crankshafts. This main bearing set will work. Rod bearings are a little trickier. If you get rod bearings for a FE SOHC, the tang will be on the wrong side. If you look up KIA sportage, you will find its broken into 2 sections. 95, and 95-99. The 95's will not work, but the 95-99 will.
OIL PUMP
Get a new oil pump. the KIA one is readily available, the factory spec is always high quality. the KIA unit flows the extra pressure for the FE3, but you may want to have your machine shop shim up the pressure relief spring a little to gain a little more pressure.
MACHINE WORK
All of this will need to be brought to an engine machine shop. Different shops will charge different rates for the same work, but it is important you have a quality rebuild from the get go. Research who is around, and perhaps consider a "performance" machinist with good experiance in the field. You may need to supply him with the neccessary FE3 specifications, like from the factory workservice manual.
Motor should be hot tanked, to clean off any grease and dirt inside and out. They will remove the freeze plugs for this procedure, so you will need another set. I opted to also have my block burned on top of the tanking, where any deposits, paint, etc, is burned away.
Shop will chase all the threads after this, to make sure everything is clean.
They will deck the surface of your block for a fresh mating surface, as well as to ensure its flat.
After the overbore, they will need to rehone the cylinder walls, which puts in a fresh cross hatch pattern. The cross hatch is critical, as your piston rings will work their way into the hone, and this is what creates good compression and a perfect seal. a poor hone, or one that doesnt suit your rings, will result in bad compression due to rings not breaking in properly
Have the crank properly checked out, and journals micropolished. The shop will ensure nothing is out of round. If it is, they will need to re grind the journals, and you will then need to order different bearings.
Make sure everything isnt just slapped together. Get a proper blueprinting and balance done of the entire rotating assembly.
If you are getting any chamber work done on the head, a good shop will put the head on the block with no internals, and scribe the head following the overbore, so they know how much material they can remove to unshrowd the valves.
At this stage, they will assemble the bottom end, but may leave the rest up to you, unless you specify otherwise.
If you are going to go turbo, and the shop is going to install the oil pan, make sure the drain back fitting is already on the pan. The FE3 doesnt use an oil pan gasket, so they use silicone sealer. If your fitting isnt on, and you plan to install it one, make sure they dont seal the pan before you take it home. saves you trouble of removing the sealer and reapplying it later. otherwise, most shops can tap the pan for you if you know what size drain back you want
OTHER
Every good rebuild needs pretty much every little thing replaced. Feel free to use new items everywhere. You can reuse certain things, but it goes without saying, dont reuse the oil pump, or any seals and gaskets. Complete list of whats required is below.

[DJ_JaKe]

OTHER PARTS REQUIRED, PART NUMBERS / PRICING
Despite the FE3 being only offered in europe and japan, the idea that we cant get anything for it in north america isnt true. Every little gasket and seal is easy to come by.
For a project like this, KIA motors and their parts network will be your best freind. The FE3 came here in the form of their 2.0 DOHC sportage motor from 95-01. Everything between the valve cover and the oilpan is nearly the same.
If youre a junkyard warrior, then this motor isnt for you. Here is a quick overview what you will need, BOTTOM END ONLY!!! EVERYTHING FROM THE DECK UP IS INCLUDED IN CYLINDER HEAD TOPIC.

ITEM / WHERE TO FIND / PART NUMBER / APPROX. PRICE / NOTES

Oil PUMP / KIA USA / 21310-3X000 / $150 /

PICK UP TUBE GASKET / KIA USA / 0FES1-14248 / $3 /

PICK UP TUBE / KIA USA / 0K011-14240A / $20 / Use this if your current pick up for the oil pump is overly dirty or damaged. Otherwise, you may reuse the old one.

WATER PUMP SET / KIA USA / 0K01C-1501YA / $150 / Water pump kit. Make sure it comes with the WP gasket, and the Inlet Pipe Gasket.

WATER PUMP GASKET / KIA USA / 0K01A-15116A / $10 / Water pump gasket, if you re use your water pump, you will want to use this gasket.

WATER PIPE GASKET / KIA USA / 0K01A-15165 / $5 / Water pipe inlet gasket. If you didnt get the WP Set, then you need to order this to replace the gasket for the water pipe.

OIL LEVEL TUBE / KIA USA / 0K01A-10440D / $15 / The oil tube is not reused after reassembly. You need a new one.

FREEZE PLUG SET / KIA USA / (2) K9930-62500 / (2) K9930-63000 / (2) K9930-63500 / (4) K9930-64000 / $25 / The numbers in the brackets is how many you need of each.

HEAD BOLT PIN / KIA USA / (2) 00221-10108 / $5 / Two Upper corners of the head bolt holes in the block are larger then the rest. Its because you slip these pins in.

OIL JET KIT / KIA USA / (2) 0FEHH-10570A / (2) 0FE3N-10580 / (4) 0SE01-10730A / $60 / Get this set if you dont plan to reuse your oil squirters.

PILOT BEARING / KIA USA / MF801-11303 / $20 / Get this if your clutch kit doesnt come with one.

REAR MAIN SEAL / KIA USA / 0K011-11312 / $25 /

CLEVITE ROD BEARINGS / NAPA / CB-1455AL / $100 / Rod bearing set, if your FE3 is genuine Mazda from overseas, these should work. otherwise, CB-1362AL.

CLEVITE MAIN BEARINGS / NAPA / MS2046P-10 / $150 / Main bearing set, Trimetal.

Edit: I corrected the last part number from MS204P to MS2046P. MS2046P is the right part number (NSXR)

VENOLIA FORGED PISTONS / WWW.VENOLIA.COM / 125669 / $600 / Set of pistons. The number there is evo's job #. if you call them with that job, they can pull up the file for that piston. make sure you get their total seal rings included, pins, oilers, etc. They will know you need the total package.

PAUTER FORGED RODS / WWW.PAUTER.COM / MAZ-220-540-1500F / $1000 /

OTHER COSTS:
BLUEPRINT, BALANCE, BORE, HONE, ASSEMBLE, ETC / QUALITY MACHINE SHOP / $200-$1000+ / Prices range for this work. Good work will cost about $1000 for bottom end ALONE, and wont include install of any pumps or head.


That is roughly the complete list of what parts and work you need to your FE3 Bottom end. I may have missed a thing or two since im working off memory, but ill update it if i think of something.

Stroking the FE3.
More displacement is often sought after, especially in street setups. As mentioned before, all the F series engines have interchangable crankshafts. If you were to use the crank off the 2.2 F2T, you would see an effective displacement increase to 2.2-2.4 liters depending on overbore. Custom rods and pistons are required for this project, as well as minor modification to the crank itself.
There will be a seperate discussion on stroking the FE3 later.





hope you enjoyed the read. it should give you an idea of the work, time and money involved in doing the BOTTOM END alone.
this topic was going to be rich in images, but i dont have many pics right now, so ill upload them all later.

[ProbeTuner91]

Nice little write up. I have pics comparing the Jspec Mazda fuel rail, the KIA rail, and the f2 rail. i also have pics comparing the f2t IM and the fe IM, and also pics comparing the 9:1 and 10:1 pistons... any other pics let me know, i have tons.

Hit me up on aim sometime, id love to talk with ya sometime

[DJ_JaKe]

i dont use aim. and this is for the bottom end only. rails would fall under fueling, and intake manifolds under induction, just wait a bit and we'll see

[KiNg MaRtY]

Awesome write up, this should be a sticky

[anarchyx34]

This is just an awesome post. I made it sticky, because this is the first thing everybody should read before delving into this.

[discretelyelite]

i will be following this guide closely, those part numbers will defintely save me time and work, thanks alot jake! ill be waiting for the top end build up!

[discretelyelite]

i also have a question, does arp offer rod and main bolts for the fe3?

[DJ_JaKe]

as far as i know, no. but they do deal with custom orders, so sky is the limit

[Fastest95PGT]

Excellent read! I wish someone would do this for the a 2g rebuild!

Looks like stock rods of the FE-DOHC would be more than enough for my daily driver judging by the price of the ones above.

[matt89glturbo]

I'll be looking into the main studs here soon, little detective work now that I know ARP's numbering system, expect something within the next 2 weeks or so...also, the Kia oil pump does NOT run at any higher pressure than even the F2 (65psi max) but yes, they can be shimmed...after comparing both cranks, i personally feel that the F2 crank is the better unit. I know that my FE3 crank is not forged, and that the forged ones are kind of rare, but I have reason to believe that the F2T cranks may be. My FE3 crank, when tapped on the ground is a solid thud when it hits, the F2 crank does have a slight ping to it, I think the "slight" part of it has to do with how thick and full the cranks are...also if anyones studied them close up, look at the oil passages very closely. The FE3 crank has little balls stamped in the counterweights to plug up the oil passages. Pretty common on most engines, even the KL's they drill straight through the main journals, and the rod journals, then drill a straight line down to the previously drilled main journal hole through the counter weight intersecting the rod hole. That hole in the counterwieght is then plugged with a steel ball. NOw look at the F2T crank...the main and rod journals have the same straight holed drilled through them, but the hold connecting the rod journal to the main is drilled through the JOURNAL not the counterweight. Drilled at an angle from one side of the rod journal to the other side of the main, using the original holes so it doesn't stand out too much. I haven't seen a whole lot of cranks in my lifetime, but the F2 crank is probably the best one I've seen. Absolutely dwarfs a 4G63...
Maybe the forged FE3 crank is the same way though, I haven't seen one...

[YouAsk]

What's the diffrence between CLEVITE BEARINGS CB-1362AL AND CB-14554AL

They list the 1362 as the one for F2* engine

https://secure1.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?CS=iepg&RowID=2671&All=

[DJ_JaKe]

the 1362's, if i recall, had the tang on the incorrect side.
get the 1455's if your fe3 is genuine mazda, and compare to stock bearings/rods
if the tang is wrong, order the 1362;s

[MzdaFrk]

Any luck on the stroker build?