Nissan GT-R Tuning / GT-R Parts / Engine Upgrades

GT-R ENGINE UPGRADES

The Litchfield GT-R engine program has been developed over many years and sees us working with the very best suppliers in the world. Our detailed testing programs, using our own vehicles, have allowed us to build up a unique understanding of the GT-R's VR38 engine, so we can tailor our engine programs to our customer requirements.

Litchfield GT-R engines are machined, honed and balanced on site in our dedicated machine shop and careful assembly in our clean room to the very highest standards. We use the best quality components to ensure that our high performance GT-R engines deliver exactly what our customers expect.

The weakest link in the standard engine is the connecting rods. These have been known to fatigue over time, causing them to bend or break when subjected to high load.

However the work that goes into each of our forged 3.8 engines is so much more detailed than just replacing some of the weaker components with stronger items. For more information about how we produce our GT-R engines and the important extra levels of experience and detail that goes into them please read our blog post here.

Each engine is stripped, deep cleaned and inspected before being machined, honed, balanced and rebuilt in-house to our high standards, with all new internals, chains, seals and gaskets.

Whether we are modifying an existing engine or a new block the process is the same. Once cleaned and measured the block is carefully ‘Deck Plate Honed’ to insure all bore imperfections and distortion from the cylinder heads have been taken into account. This process is done on site using our dedicated equipment and experienced staff. The result is a perfect bore finish and shape that allows each piston to have the correct clearance. Having a more efficient and balanced engine will produce more power and less wear. The engine block also receives careful ‘Line Honing’ of the crank journals to insure they give a perfect mounting point for the bearings to control the crankshaft.

It’s not just the engine block that receives this level of attention; each cylinder head is fully disassembled, cleaned and measured. The combustion chambers have extensive machining to re-profile the squish angles for our revised pistons (dyno proven to produce more power), the valves seats are re-cut, ports refinished, replacement seals and the valves checked for length & straightness before being re-lapped in place. The cylinder head faces are also machined in-house to remove any distortion that occurred over time, insuring a superior fit.

To complete the engines we strip, clean and re-powder coat the engine covers, which gives a more durable, deeper finish than simply painting. The Rocker covers are finished in a dark metallic grey to give a classy look and avoid corrosion. We also offer the option of custom colours should you want a more individual engine bay.

We have created a large number of engines over the years and their strength and reliability are backed by our comprehensive 12-month warranty package (UK customers only). Like-for-like our 3.8 engines produce more power and torque throughout the rev range thanks to its modified block, combustion chambers and unique piston design. The revised engine will provide enough strength for over 1000 bhp whilst being smoother than and just as easy to maintain as the original engine.

We have separated our engine builds into four different categories;

Litchfield Rod Conversion & Engine Refresh

Designed for higher mileage or standard engines running high power this comprehensive rebuild of the rotating assembly in the Short engine and fortifies it with our upgraded Connecting Rods. Ideal for customers looking for reliable power levels around 800bhp.

Litchfield 3.8 Engine

Designed to remove the standard engine's weak areas and replace them with unique components capable of handling up to 900bhp-1000+bhp. The perfect choice for special road car builds.

Litchfield Sport Engine

Combining the finest components with hours of craftsmanship, blue-printing every component. Proven competition pedigree and perfect road manners ensure solid reliability up to 1,500bhp. Available in a range of engine sizes from 3.8 to 'Red top' 4.6 litre.

Litchfield Billet Race Engine

These engines are based around our very own CNC machined Aluminium billet engine block. These blocks represent the ultimate in durability for ultra-high power builds and those customers looking for competitive edge.

Litchfield Rod Conversion & Engine Refresh

The Nissan GT-R's VR38 engine is an incredible piece of engineering, which has proved to be exceptionally reliable, even with large changes from it’s original 476bhp output.

With the GT-R being available in the UK since 2009 (earlier with JDM cars) the engines are naturally of an age and likely a mileage where the owner should be considering a rebuild. As many of these GT-Rs will be running more than standard power a refresh would be sensible to avoid expensive failures. The weakest link in the standard engine is the connecting rods. These have been known to fatigue over time or oil pressure problems from worn internal parts can cause the road bearings to fail which ultimately leads to the Rods bending or breaking when subjected to higher loads.

Our Rod Conversion option is designed with these cars in mind and replaces the bearings, seals, rings and gaskets in the rotating. Adding our stronger Rod’s gives additional piece of mind and allows power levels of around 800bhp to be achieved reliably with supporting modifications.

Our Rod Conversion & Engine Refresh includes:

Air conditioning De-gas and Re-gas
Remove the engine
Labour to strip and inspect the existing components
Cylinder bores cleaned, inspected and lightly honed
Labour to balance crank shaft
Clean engine components through hot tank, ultra-sonic tanks and sodium blasting
Piston to bore clearance inspected
Litchfield/Callies Performance upgraded Connecting rods
Labour to install upgraded rods and reassemble engine
New Nissan Piston ring set
Dodson Motorsport upgraded engine seal plates
Litchfield chain guides and supports
Inspection of water pump
Modified and tested oil pump
New Nissan steel head gasket
New Nissan Crank Shaft bearings each individually graded to their journals
New Nissan Connecting Rod bearings each individually graded to their journals
New Nissan engine gasket & seals
Assembled in our engine clean room with internal dust extractions.
Litchfield engine build plaques
Labour to refit engine
New Nissan oil filters for running in
4 Wheel alignment
Running in on 4wd Maha dyno
Engine oil changes with final change using our larger capacity oil filter
Joe Gibbs Running in oil with subsequent change to Castrol 10w60 Supercar oil
Road test and inspections

New Parts included are:

Nissan engine gasket set
Nissan Head gasket set
Engine oil cooler gaskets
Nissan rod bearing set
Nissan Main bearing set
Nissan Piston ring set
Litchfield/Callies upgraded connecting rods
Dodson Motorsport metal engine gasket set
Coolant
Nissan Oil filter for running in
Litchfield large GT-R oil filter

This engine option is a drive in drive out service and comes with a 12 month / 12,000 mile warranty on the refreshed short engine.

Pricing

Litchfield Rod Conversion & Engine Refresh

£5,099.21 exc VAT

£6,119.05 inc VAT

Some additional parts may be required when the engine is inspected but popular additions are:

Litchfield Air pump delete plates

£50.00 exc VAT

£60.00 inc VAT

Engine main covers and rocker covers painted

£495.00 exc VAT

£594.00 inc VAT

Timing chains (3 chain set if original chains have stretched)

£401.00 exc VAT

£481.20 inc VAT

Nissan Auxiliary belt (if original is worn or damaged)

£108.55 exc VAT

£130.26 inc VAT

Stage 4.5 turbos (~800bhp with supporting mods)

£2,795.00 exc VAT

£3,354.00 inc VAT

Stage 5 6758 EFR turbos (~900bhp with supporting mods)

£4,495.00 exc VAT

£5,394.00 inc VAT

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