My 300zx Build

[megaDan]

I got a request to post up a build thread for my 300zx. Its about a year in the making. I did all the ground work last year when I had a few bad injectors. Feel free to let me know what you think. Its my first engine build of any kind, and my first undertaking of this magnitude aside from a transmission pull on my GTI. Everything is coming along pretty well so far.

For the full thread please visit

http://www.300zxclub.com/showthread.php?t=174162

but you have to register to access those forums

Thanks for taking the time to read. Keep in mind this is copied directly from 300zxclub.com and I haven't weeded out all the usernames and etc.

[megaDan]

Originally Posted 4-21-2010

I meant to do a lot (all) of this last year, but on the way home from visiting Wisconsin for my birthday last May the differential in my GTI decided it didn't want to work anymore all over the interstate in Indiana. The Z got converted to DD duty while I taught myself how to pull a transmission. To make a very long story short it took me three months and I got a Corrado transmission, TDI 5th gears, clutch, LW flywheel, etc, and a heck of a lot of experience.

Now, a year later, the GTI is running 'great' (Or as good as it can for you VW haters. I'm looking at you 91ser...) and I have some money and time. Scratch that, I have a little money and less time. I want this car drivable a week before Memorial Day so I can drive it back to Wisconsin in time for my 2nd marathon and the ultimate frisbee College Nationals in Madison. That gives me a hair over 4 weeks to learn as much as I can about this car and do a lot of work in the process.

Parts list:
-New Top Speed downpipes and testpipes
-Z1 13" front big brake kit + master cylinder brace
-Specialty Z stainless steel brake lines
-Stillen Quad tip exhaust [SIZE="1"](thats the plan at least)[/SIZE]
-Driven Authority top feed fuel rail w/755cc injectors THEY FINALLY SHIPPED!!!
-6AN Stainless Steel fuel lines
-JWT Popcharger
-NGK BKR5E (or whatever the code is) spark plugs. [SIZE="1"]Although now that I think about it I think I need to bump it up a few steps to a 7ish...so theres 60 bucks down the drain.[/SIZE]
-Z1 motorsports ECU chip [SIZE="1"]Unless anyone has a better suggestion. I haven't purchased this yet.[/SIZE]
-Front bumper maybe
-Non-torn non-power leather seatsmaybe
-Innovative LC1 wideband
...I might be forgetting a few parts...

Job list:
-Clean garage CHECK
-Drop transmission
-Remove pre-cats (tried this once before. failed miserably)
-Pull plenum (scary)
-Test fit new rotors (get 12mm spacers if necessary)
-Do all the necessary deletes when plenum is removed
-Coolant lines
-EGR
-what else?
-Replace all vacuum lines with silicone and clean all connectors
...I'm sure I'll come up with more soon...


I think this build will be pushing the limits of my budget, time, and abilities, but I'm excited as hell to get it started. The only part I'm really worried about are the pre-cats. I tried removing them last fall with the transmission on. I got the easy nuts started, but wasn't able to fully remove anything and gave up after a few days of frustration.

I'm mostly doing this post for myself and the few gearhead friends I've got that wanna see. But you all seem to get a kick out of these kinda write ups so I figured I'd share and document my process.

If anyone has any pointers for anything I'm doing along the way, please feel free to chime in. More preventative maintenance? What do I need? Don't like the way I hold the wrench? Tell me. I'm drinking the wrong beer? Provide me with your favorite.

Here goes:

[SIZE="7"]Day 1[/SIZE]

I was supposed to do this during the winter, but my laziness got the better of me and I didn't feel like doing any work in the cold. This coming from the guy who runs in shorts all winter. Eh.


I hadn't cleaned the garage since I replaced the transmission in the golf, replaced the wheel bearings, replaced the suspension, bushings, and brakes. Since I converted to an MSD coilpack ignition, did my timing chains, got rid of my second transmission, replaced the cooling system, etc. Throughout all of this I never really threw anything away. I accumulated lots of tools, but had no place to store them. All of this CRAP just kinda found its way to the side of my garage and I moved it aside every time it was in my way.



Started like this:



After 2 hours of moving and vacuuming it looked like this:


It may not look like much but trust me. There was 3" of leaves, tools, metal shards, screws, nuts, washers, ball joints, tires, beer bottles, tie rods and etc coating the floor of the garage.

And then it was time for dinner, so the only REAL work I got done with the Z today was driving it up on some 2x10's to make raising it up on jack stands a little easier. And I didn't take pictures of the boards, so you'll just have to imagine what wood looks like.


Buuut since this is the Z lounge I'll include the before pictures of my car.



Notice the tape hanging from the exhaust just about everywhere. 3 weeks ago I passed emissions :-) Muffler tape is my hero.






This is the mess I'll be staring at for the next 4 weeks.

Tune in tomorrow for hot Z jacking Spotted Cow drinking action! :burnout:

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-21-2010

Oh right. I typed that all up around midnight when I should have been in bed. I kinda forgot the important information and the reason why I'm doing all this stuff.

Last summer I had an intermittent safety boost (or just 7psi for whatever reason) issue. After ohming 4 injectors and finding 2 out of spec (18 and 22 ohms IIRC), I more or less assumed that was the issue. I had hoped to take care of this last year, but overhauling my GTI took care of my spare cash and free time so it got put on hold. I wasn't nearly brave enough to tackle a job like that on the Z when I had to use it every day.

As soon as I heard about the top feed rail I knew that was what I wanted to use. I originally planned on going with the Nismo 555 injectors because they're pretty common and reasonably priced, and didn't expect to ever need more fueling than that. But after much deliberation it made sense to go with the 755's because they were the same price and if I ever decide to upgrade I am covered. My far far far far far in the future plans wouldn't take me past 500hp, but for the whopping cost of $0 its kind of stupid not to build in that extra buffer.

I am not pulling the engine this time, although depending on how long these turbos last on 15psi, I might end up getting new turbos come winter. I'm looking at either the GT535R or GT600R, everything says go BB so those seem to be my choices.

I don't have the funds to build a full-on race car. I just want a somewhat reliable car that I can enjoy on the weekends and take the occasional 500mi road trip; all while making decent power. I have a lot of fun with the car even at stock HP levels, but if everything else I am adding to the car will set me up for more power I guess another 100-200hp couldn't hurt.

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-21-2010




!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-22-2010


[SIZE="7"]

Day 2

[/SIZE]
Todays goal was just to get the car in the air and get the wheels off as I was working with limited time. I got the car about 18" or so off the ground to make exhaust and transmission work easier but I might need to drop it later to make the back of the plenum more accessible. Raising the car took a lot less time than I expected but I realized I forgot to break the lug nuts loose. ****.

$30 Chicago Tools impact gun to the rescue!!! Best automotive purchase I have ever made (aside from my two cars haha), that cheap gun has gotten me out of countless jams. If anyone is debating whether or not its worth the $50 or so sale price....ABSOLUTELY.

I was kinda clueless as to how to tackle the brake lines. I've never done them before and wasn't sure how the stock rubber lines were attached. I've never really looked at them before. Turns out its pretty damn easy. Theres a nut at the end of each hard line. Turn that. Except mine were corroded pretty badly so after stripping the first one I hit them all with PB blaster and used the vice grips. Took about 20 minutes to get all the nuts off completely, except I broke the hard line on the passenger side caliper. It started to get dark so I didn't bother trying to pull the rubber lines out. They seem to be in there pretty good and it'll probably take some problem solving on my part to figure out how to remove them.



Does this require a new hard line? Or can I reuse that nut thingy if I get the old hose out? I'm pretty sure I'm hosed (witty pun intended), gotta find a new one. I took both calipers off and pulled my 13" brake kit out of storage for a test fit.



Hell yeah



New compared to old. Can't wait!

I am going to have fitment issues with these rotors however. I needed 10mm spacers just to get my wheels to fit, and the caliper relocation bracket moves the caliper out 9mm. I'd rather not have to grind the Nissan off the face of the caliper, but if thats what it takes to get my wheels to fit instead of spending $60+ on custom 12mm spacers I'll do it.

Another very productive day :-) I gotta say, doing this kind of work is a hell of a lot easier when you have all the tools and parts you need before you start the job. Can't wait for tonight

[Diamond Dave]

FYI, you need to register for that forum to view your other thread.

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-22-2010

[SIZE="7"]Day 3[/SIZE]

I wish I had a third hand. Two for the magazine one for...oh. Uhhh. I gotta say. Rear brake lines suck. People do not hype up the difficulty of this nearly enough.

I got the front rubber lines off within 5 minutes. The clips were rusted on pretty good, but my vice grips/channel locks whatever you wanna call them made short work of them.


[SIZE="2"]So today was kind of boring...[/SIZE]

I got the new lines on up front, except the collars in the middle that are supposed to get clipped onto the strut and steering knuckle don't seem to be adjustable...and they are in the wrong spot. So I could only get one clip on, and its in an awkward position.


[SIZE="2"]At least its on...I guess[/SIZE]

Then.....I made the mistake of trying to get the rear lines off/on. That upper nut is a major pain in the ass. Used my channel locks to break it free, but it took a good 5 minutes to unscrew it, 10 minutes to get the clip off, another 10 minutes to get the clip back on, and 15 minutes to screw it back in place. Not fun at all. Hopefully I learned a few things that will make the last line tomorrow night a little easier.


[SIZE="2"]40 minutes later[/SIZE]

[megaDan]

Originally Posted 4-24-2010

Day 4

No pictures, nothing exciting to report. I had about a half hour to kill between getting home from work and leaving for the maple festival. Instead of relaxing what do I do? Brake lines!

All I had left was the right rear line. 10mm box wrenches do NOT do the job here, don't even bother. Get a good channel lock and clamp down as hard as you can...which won't be very hard because there is no room to work. After a little bit of work I got the channel locks on tight enough to snap the nut loose, and then used a 10mm to work it the rest of the way. The line at the caliper was MUCH easier. I used the lessons I learned yesterday and took care of this line in maybe 20 minutes.

I've got stainless steel lines all the way around. Except for the front hard line I broke at the caliper. I called the dealership up here and they said they needed my vin to order the right part, and then the vin I gave them didn't work so I'll be ordering from courtesy parts it seems. I just hate the idea of paying 8 dollars shipping for a 7 dollar part that weighs 2oz.

Tonight I prep for the transmission drop!

[megaDan]

Originally Posted 4-25-2010

Day 5

Today's good fortune from the 5 mile "Sap Run" in Chardon carried over into Z-dom. Got the exhaust off, driveshaft dropped, and got a good start on the plenum.

The exhaust was easy and straightforward. Everything was already broken loose since it went back on just a month ago. Pulled it all down and started to tear it apart to make disposing of it easier.

I did a little research on the driveshaft removal which turned out to be a breeze. 10 minutes total. I didn't have an assistant to work the E-brake for me, and the 4 flange nuts were on too tight for a quick snap loose so I whipped up a little tool for my impact. There isn't enough room to get a ratchet on the nuts, unless you use a wobble joint :-)


1/2" to 3/8" adapter to 3/8" to 1/2" wobble to 1/2" 17mm socket

Using this I had all 4 nuts off in 30 seconds without needing to use the e-brake. I love that impact almost as much as my Z.


Bagel enjoying the 15 minutes or so of sunshine we got today

I really wasn't sure where to start with the plenum. I purged the fuel system and started pulling fuel lines which was a b***h and a half, until I remembered I'm ditching the current fuel system and rails. So I got to use my exacto knife and make short work of them all. I got the balance tube off, coil packs removed and cleaned, most of the fuel hoses off, and the throttle body intake hoses removed. The outer intake hoses are frozen solid and I really don't know what I'm going to do with those. After fighting with them for 15 minutes or so I decided to call it quits. Not bad for 3-4 hours of work though.

I HATE those intake hoses. Oh right I cleaned up my front hubs as well to get my hubcentric rings to fit for my 13" brake kit. I tried using a stone on the dremel to grind the calipers away but that would have taken hours and far too many stones. I guess I'll have to get them into work somehow and grind them with proper tools. I want my big brakes :-)


How she sits now

[megaDan]

Originally Posted 4-28-2010

DAY 8

Spent the last two days prepping the transmission and plenum for removal.

Today mrfixit stopped by to assist with the transmission removal. I was working on cutting the EGR tubes when he showed up, and he found a way to get the EGR tubes unscrewed instead. A few missed coolant hoses later and the plenum was off!!!!!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!! What an awesome feeling.

We immediately got under the car and started working on the transmission. All the bolts came off easy and we tried pulling it down. After 20 minutes or so we realized we missed one of the bracket bolts. 60 seconds later the transmission was on the ground. Conquest #2!

It was still pretty early so we started working on the downpipes. I think the PB blaster bath I gave them last fall helped because all the bolts were fairly easy to remove. Pete did pretty much all of the wrenching, which made everything go pretty quickly. The hardest part of the operation was the passenger side turbo heatshield to downpipe bolt. 30 minutes wasted on that bastard. We even got the hard to remove drivers side bolt without any wrench cutting or anything. Three huge achievements in one night. Quite the accomplishment.

Tonight I'll be ordering plenty of silicone vacuum hoses to redo the engine bay, new pcv silicone hoses, and an EGR blockoff kit most likely.

My current wiring harness is pretty brittle and a lot of those little wire connectors broke off. Not concerned about them falling off while driving, and none of the connectors themselves seem to be broken. The car ran fine before except for an injector issue. Is it worth it to spend 400 bucks on a somewhat yet not completely stretched budget on a harness, or should I save that for the next time the plenum comes off? Is it even possible to do with the motor still in the car? It looks entirely possible but I might be missing something.

I'll be gone all weekend playing frisbee in St. Louis, but I know the only thing I'll be able to think about is getting my downpipes on and installing my top feed injectors :-)

Thanks for all the help Pete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Oh I forgot the best part. We checked the compressor side on both turbos; absolutely solid. No shaft play whatsoever. I really hope that means I don't have to worry about those for a few years :-) I wonder how long they'll last at 15 PSI.

[megaDan]

Originally Posted 5-5-2010

Day..uh..9&10?

I've put a few days work into this. Actually just last night and today. I felt like **** after my drive home on Sunday so opted out of any Z work Monday night in hopes of feeling better.

Last night I tackled the EGR valve, and managed to get the two mounting bolts off which was much easier than I expected. By removing the right vertical coolant hard line I was able to get both EGR plenum pipes off of the EGR unit itself, but only the drivers side could be fully removed. I tried to get the manifold pipe out but had no luck. I also easily removed the AIV valves from both fenders and the associated vacuum lines. Do I need to cap the 1" or so hose that is attached to the AIV valves in the wheel well? I couldn't figure out where they go to.

Today I stopped at Lowes to pick up a 19mm wrench for the EGR bolts when I realized the wrench would be too long, I got a small adjustable crescent wrench instead which didn't do crap for me. I ended up hitting the manifold with PB blaster (How could I have forgotten that?) and using my large channel locks which gave me just enough force to tweak the nut free. After that it was just busywork getting the nut out completely. With the last few seconds of daylight I pulled the fuel rail and injectors and called it a night.

I put my downpipes on finally, since there is nothing else down there that needs to be done. Aftermarket downpipes free up quite a bit of room, but still aren't a cake walk to install or remove. It will be interesting to see how cramped it is with the transmission back on. It shouldn't really matter though since I'll have no reason to remove the downpipes until these rock solid turbos finally eat it *knock on wood*. After finishing the downpipes I pulled ALLLLL the lines off the bottom of the plenum in preparation for doing all the bypasses. I was hoping to do those tonight but for some reason all autozone had was 1/4" fuel injection hose that they wanted to sell me at $4 a foot. No thanks. Maybe I'll have better luck at NAPA. Why does everyone hate metric so much? I ask for 6mm hose and they look at me like I have lobsters coming out of my ears.

I really really hope I can get some coolant lines tomorrow so I can do all the necessary bypasses and maybe even get the plenum back on tomorrow. Now I've just got to order new PCV hoses since I had to cut some off and wait for ASH to finish his 755cc tune.

And find a place to buy 6mm hose from

And get an EGR blockoff kit

[megaDan]

Originally posted 5-20-2010

Got everything reconnected after work today. Wired up the wideband. Went to start the car....and.......no fuel. Fuel pump won't prime with turn of they key to on position. Doesn't help that the battery is dead from sitting.

Got frustrated and gave up. Went back outside an hour later to check for ECU codes, and while spinning the diagnostic screw with the car in the on position all of a sudden I heard the pump prime. Key off. Key back on...nothing. Spun the screw some more...same thing. Unfortunately my jumper pack is nearly dead too but at least I am getting fuel it seems. Will try again tomorrow at lunch.

[megaDan]

Originally posted 6-4-2010


I pulled the plenum again and replaced EVERY rubber hose with a silicone hose that I could get to. I ordered new turbo coolant hoses for the next time I do a full tear down. After cleaning off all the old gasket material with a razor and wire wheel and using some permatex grey...my vacuum leaks seem to be totally gone and the car is running great. I think. AFR under boost is low 13's which sounds high. Need to do a little more driving and see whats up; I've only had it out for about 90 minutes total after getting it all going. When I went to start it after a short drive today it wouldn't start for a couple tries...gotta see whats up there.

Some quick pics I took before the rain gets here

Gauge panel, have prosport boost and fuel pressure gauges waiting to go in


13" brakes up front


Top feed fuel rail full install


Just the rail


Cyl 1

[A.Wilder]

i'm not registering on the other forum but i look forward to seeing your progress on here! I always liked the design of the z32. My dad had a convertible which was a pretty cool, semi-rare car but it definitely gave me a soft spot for these

[megaDan]

More recently now: Originally posted 4-8-2011


Pulled my Z out of storage, picked up my heads, borrowed my buddies engine stand, and got the block up and ready for work. Alot for 2 hours after work.

The build should take place somewhat soon...Now that I have everything back in my possession in my garage I'm starting to lose it. I want this thing done now :-)

Lots of parts waiting to go on...

Block:
Block cleaned, bored .020 over and decked
Stock TT crank
Reconditioned TT rods with ARP rod bolts
.020" over wiseco pistons
New oil pump
New 120k kit
ARP main studs
ARP head studs
Cometic head gasket
new OEM gasket kit

Heads:
Refurbed 40p heads
3 angle valve job
New seals
Reconditioned lifters (by yours truly. thanks ash!)

Accessories:
AMS exhaust manifolds
JWT Sport 500 turbos
New EFI harness

I've never built a longblock before so...I've got my work cut out for me this weekend.

Stay tuned for more pics as progress is made

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-13-2011

Work has started again!

It's SOOO nice working in a clean garage! If only I can keep it this way.

Last night I took an hour after work to get everything set up for the weekend. I moved the car to the back of the garage and got it up in the air. It took maybe 15 minutes to drop the exhaust from the downpipes back. It is much easier working with new hardware than 20 year old rusted hardware. Go figure right? I'm impressed with how well the exhaust held up, but was also surprised to find out I had some leaks. I could tell when I installed it that the fitment wasn't quite perfect, but I thought I tweaked it enough to get everything sealed good. I was wrong. The gaskets told the story. Should have taken pictures.

I tried to get my driveshaft off, but I snapped my adapter a while ago so I couldn't use my impact and they weren't budging with my craftsman ratchet. So I gave up.

Unfortunately last night I tweaked my neck while working out sooo I'll probably be working on the top side of the engine this evening. Hurts like hell.

As of right now the plan is to drop the trans before the weekend and pull the engine on saturday. I see no reason why this won't be possible. I've already deleted everything imaginable and I've got a new EFI harness so I don't have to worry too much about labeling.

I'll remember pics tonight.

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-18-2011

Early day on Saturday, the girlfriend and I were up at 7:30 and working on the car by 9 with Pete's help. We got the motor and trans pulled in well under 3 hours. Not bad for my first time. We didn't really have any hangups getting the thing out...we dropped the transmission last winter so that was easy. And the motor wasn't bad either. Nothing too rusty or frozen in place.

By noon we were already breaking down the motor. I'm using the cams and oilpan and a few other pieces for the motor I'm building and the rest I plan on parting out. Another friend stopped by in the afternoon and helped take stuff apart.

On Sunday we started later, and put in 3 hours or so. We got hung up on both turbos. The innermost turbo-exhaust manifold bolt on the drivers side, and the waistgate kept hitting the oil line block on the passenger side preventing the turbo from coming out. We took off almost EVERYTHING from both sides of the motor trying to get these stupid things off. Finally I realized there was a little cotter pin holding the waistgate actuator arm on...I pulled that and the turbo dropped. Ugh. After we removed the water tube on the driver's side I could get a U joint up to the innermost turbo nut and that one came down too. We wasted a LOT of time just trying to get those off. Once we figured it out the rest of the pieces came off much faster. We stopped once I got the oil pan off, it was getting late and we had a lot of stuff to do.

Tonight I'll be stopping by after work to remove the oil pump bolts and pickup tube for my new motor. Initially I had hoped to finish building the motor during the week and put it in next weekend since its a 3-day. Saturday I felt good about that...sunday I figured I would need a few more weeks...now I'm not so sure. I think if I get a couple good nights in I could finish building the block on friday and have it ready to go in on saturday. As long as I can remember where everything goes.

I've discovered I need quite a few new parts I have to order quickly though. Most of the water tubes and oil hard lines I need to replace. They were pretty rusty. I've got stainless steel braided turbo feed lines and new oil return tubes. I guess its just the water lines I need. I was thinking of using fuel injection hose for the water lines on the back of the block, instead of rubber - hard line - rubber - hard line - turbo like its set up now. Does anyone know if that would be a bad idea? I would think it would be less leak prone that way. The plenum water line bypass uses those in other places.

I've also got to replace my clutch and I was hoping someone could help me identify the clutch I've got. After looking at pictures on Z1, I'm almost positive its a Street clutch kit. See here and compare with the image below. The shape is exactly the same, the only difference is the color. The pressure plate is still good but I was just hoping to replace the clutch disc.

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks.













Better pictures of a cleaner motor to be posted later this week :-)

[megaDan]

Originally posted 4-24-2011

Lots of progress this weekend. Friday was a crappy day, rainy and cold. Didn't get a whole lot done; lots of prep-work for the new motor. My girlfriend Mal took the day off to help and took a wire wheel to the plenum and accessories to clean them up for paint, and we cleaned up the oil pan and other boring work. We probably got some other small stuff done but I can't really think of it.

Saturday Pete stopped by and forced us to get some real work done. We got started bright and early at 9am and we pulled the old motor completely apart so we wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

With Pete's help we didn't really have any hiccups building the heads. They went together pretty easily and we got lucky with our exhaust cam placement (forgot to look for the CAS senor). We had no issues building the heads or putting them onto the motor. In under 5 hours we got the old motor ripped apart completely and the heads assembled and torqued onto the new motor. Pete left a little after 1, and we took a break for lunch and to take the dog to the beach.

After a short adventure and a trip to Lowes for some clean new replacement bolts, we got the fresh new painted valvecovers installed with brand new gaskets and fresh RTV. We flipped the block over and re-installed the old oilpan and new rear main seal (all freshy cleaned of course) with brand new grade 8.8 hardware. We even had time to take a few pictures to see what everything was going to look like.

We're almost there! Sorta!

Mal cleaning the plenum. Yay for wire wheels!


Fresh heads w/ valve job!


Smooth bore :-)


First head on!


Both heads on:


Our work area


Mock up. I think I'm gonna like this color scheme


My fantastic assistant/girlfriend (I have to say that shes watching me type this)

[megaDan]

Originally posted 5-10-2011




Some good some bad on Saturday.

I was excited to get my timing belt on and finish all of the external work on the motor so it would be ready to drop back in. To make a very long story short, I think the threads on my rameyZ idler studs were messed up. They looked kinda funny before I installed them, but I thought maybe it could just be me. I heard they were hard to install, but...I don't think they were supposed to be this difficult. They chewed up the threads in my block and my lower intake. Now I have to wait for OEM studs to come in and I'll be using a helicoil or some sort of insert to install the OEM studs. What a setback :-/

While I was cursing up a storm on the front of the block, my girlfriend installed my exhaust manifold studs along with the manifolds themselves. She wasn't feeling too hot so I took over and got both turbos and associated hardware on by myself in just about 90 minutes. I ordered stainless steel oil feed lines and didn't find out until I talked to Coz yesterday that the SHORT stainless steel oil feed line replaces the LONG oem line and vice versa for the LONG stainless steel oil feed line. So I have to redo that work tonight and hope I can get the oil lines off with the turbos still installed.

Also, (I should have taken a picture) the oil return tubes don't line up that well with the oil pan. Is that normal? Should I bend them back into place? I mean they're almost 1/2" off. I have a feeling that could cause some nasty oil leaks if I ignore it and just try to stretch the silicone line between the two.

All in all I'm glad the turbos are installed, but I've still got to do all of the timing hardware. The car won't be ready for this weekends road rally. But the most important thing is to make sure everything is done right so I'm not going to kick myself too much. Heater core install is tonight! I haven't had AC or heat since I bought this car. I'm pulling out all the stops!

[megaDan]

That should get everyone up to date.

Late last week I worked on removing the heater core. I'll take pics of what I had to deal with next time I go work on it and add a more detailed write up. As I said before, thanks for taking the time to read this and let me know what you think if you feel so inclined.

Stay tuned for more updates. I'll had LOTS more pictures as we get closer to completion.

[megaDan]

I got to work on the Z for the first time in about a week last night.

I have not had much luck with anything on this motor in the past couple weeks. I stripped the block and my RameyZ idler studs. I heard they were difficult to install, well...they were. Anyone doing this in the future PLEASE be careful. I got replacement OEM studs from Coz @ CZP and spent 80 bucks on 17mm 10x1.5 steel thread inserts, a 14mm drill bit and a 16x2mm tap. Apparently large metric hardware is expensive.

Surprisingly a drill is one of the few tools I do not own, and I don't have much experience tapping holes so I asked one of my friends at work to give me a hand. After waiting a week for all this stuff to get in, he came by after work and we attempted to drill out the block and intake manifold. The 14mm drill bit was too big for his drill, so I ran to home depot and bought myself a Black & Decker hammer drill with a half inch chuck (finally). It turns out that still wasn't big enough so we had to put the project on hold until Friday so he could turn down the base of the drill bit to fit in the chuck. I cannot catch a break. While I waited for him to show up I did manage to pull the drivers turbo to remove the oil lines and swap it with the passenger side.

FOR THOSE INSTALLING STAINLESS STEEL OIL LINES:
The SHORT hose goes on the drivers side
The LONG hose goes on the passengers side.
It's the opposite of the OEM placement. Don't know why, and they would fit much better if it was the opposite (ask me how I know) but...it doesn't work that way.

Friday he came by again and drilled out the holes and tapped them, everything went smoothly. We fit the steel inserts into the threads and they seated perfectly. I left the motor like that to let the locktite set over the weekend.

It was my birthday Sunday and my girlfriend and I spent the weekend all over Cleveland, and then we caught the Indians/Red Sox game Monday night. It was a fantastic distraction from all the stress of getting this thing done.

Last night I installed the idler pulleys and tried to figure out how to run the timing belt. Unfortunately for me, the Gates belt doesn't have an arrow indicating the front of the belt, so I had to do it the wrong way before I figured it out. I was intimidated at first, but there really isn't much to it. Line up the marks on the belt and gears, rotate the gears a couple teeth when necessary. The only hard part was setting the auto-tensioner just right to get the magic 4mm of extension. I spent about 30 minutes spinning the crank and trying to get the tensioner placed just right. All that work took longer than I expected, I didn't finish until 8pm.

I'm much more eager to work on the car now that I don't have any roadblocks holding me up. I just need to fit the front timing covers and the rest of the water pipes and I think I'll be ready to drop this back in. I just wish I had more free time.

[todras]

Very cool read.

[Jettaboy1884]

Wow. I've always had a soft spot for these cars, but I have to admit that I really would not want to work on that motor... I've done my fair share of wrenching and am comfortable with some in-depth work, but that thing just looks like it must be a pain to get tools around...

Good Luck!

[1.8TRabbit]

[megaDan]

Slow going.

The girlfriend and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Wisconsin, and between getting ready for that and being sick and getting rid of my roommate I haven't had much time to work.

I've been chipping away at the finishing touches of the block for 30 minutes at a time, and got about an hour in last night. All I have left are some accessory brackets and that water pipe I'm waiting for from Coz.



It's starting to look really good. Everything up to this point has been pretty straightforward. No difficulties with anything, just tedious things like polishing my water pipes and finding the woodruff key for my crank.

Downloaded Instagram last night and had a little fun with it.



Sadly since I'm reusing a lot of parts from my old motor this is about the only area thats pleasing to look at up close.

I spent some time at Harbor Freight yet again this weekend to pickup a disposable pneumatic saw to help me take care of the heater core lines up under the dash. Tonight's project is swapping the heater core and re-wiring the injector plugs. I'm hoping to put the motor in on Saturday.

Yay

[megaDan]

Finally made some REAL progress last night.

I wish I would have taken more pictures but the workspace was cramped and all I had was my Iphone which was busy pumping out tunes from my Ke$ha Pandora station. Ke$ha and flip-flops while working on the Z. I felt like a real man yesterday.

I bought a cheap pneumatic jigsaw at HF on Saturday, and attempted to use it last night to cut through my heater core hoses. The hoses are tucked too far up there to get at with a dremel. Believe me, I tried. I hooked this thing up to my 8 gallon 2hp compressor (also from HF) and with a full tank it was enough to cut through each hose. I was pretty impressed. Although initially, it took about 10 seconds to get started, I was afraid I'd have to find another tool. It just took a little force and once it dug in it went right through.

I pulled the old heater core out which just barely fit. This might have been easier pulling the dash out and replacing it the right way (kidding...sort of).

This is what I was left with:


And this was my work area:


You all know how big the interior of a 2 seater Z is. Now imagine someone 6'4" crawled up under the dash. That's where I was. Not fun. For some reason Nissan left all the edges underneath the dash sharp so my forearms are all scratched up.

My cubicle:


Old heater core vs new heater core:


The old one didn't even look that bad, although one of the plastic adapters for the water pipes looked a little green. I'm guessing (hoping) that's where it was leaking.

I ran across the street to Lowe's (I love being so close) and picked up 1 foot of 5/8" ID heater hose and a few hose clamps. It was 5/8" ID and 1" OD, this was THICK beefy hose. I was (and still am) worried it might not clamp tight enough or leak.

I used the saw to cut the new heater core in the same location as the old one. Unfortunately when I was cutting the old hoses I couldn't make cuts perpendicular to the hose so I had to leave the heater hose a little long to make sure I got a good clamp. But after I got the hoses cut and the new heater core wedged into place everything went pretty smoothly. There is NO room to work up there, I used the shortest screwdrivers I could find and had some good luck finding holes I couldn't see. It's easiest if you take the feed/return hoses off the new heater core before you put it in. I'm pretty sure you HAVE to take the bottom one off or you'll never get it up there.

New heater core in place with bottom hose removed:


I didn't leave the hoses as rough as they looked. I wormed some emery cloth up there and sanded down all the edges in hopes of preventing future leaks.

I got my hose clamps tightened up as good as I could and called it a night. My girlfriend got home just as I was tightening the last one and didn't feel like putting it all back together just yet. I think I want to run the car before I put all that back in to make sure I don't have any leaks. I gotta say....with the 90+ degree heat we've been having lately, I'm not nearly as excited to have working heat in my car as I was a few weeks ago. But I know come fall it'll be worth it.

Job completed! Mostly...


Now all I have to do is replace the O rings in the AC system and the dryer and the motor goes back in on Saturday! As long as the water pipe gets here in time...

Woo!

[.andreas]

this thread

[BltByKrmn]

Nice work. I couldn't even fathom working in that cramped engine compartment and I owned a SW20 MR2.

[mellbergVWfan]

In for more later.


Also this is how I think all engines should look. Red with Black and Silver.

[patrikman]

Thanks for sharing! Always loved these cars.

Tune in tomorrow for hot Z jacking Spotted Cow drinking action! :burnout:

mmmmmmmmmm.........New Glarus.




Dan, you from WI?

[megaDan]

patrikman:

I spent the first 24 years of my life in WI and will always be a Wisconsinite. My goal is to have this thing ready to go for our week long road trip to Madison and Milwaukee for Katy Perry at Summerfest during the week of July 4th. I'm just worried there won't be enough storage space in the hatch to bring back extra Spotted Cow. :-(





The motor is back in!!!!!!!!! :cheers:

I think I did a little work Friday night but don't remember what. Probably prep work.

Saturday after a late start my girlfriend and I started getting the motor ready to go in. I thought it would be pretty much ready to go, but there were a lot of little things.

Since I put the turbos on the oil return lines were always off by about 1/4" from the ports in the oil pan. After doing a little bit of reading I realized I needed to clock the turbos. This wasn't a big deal, except the drivers side turbo can't be clocked. It can, but it can't be moved in the direction it needs to because the stainless steel oil feed line gets in the way. The passenger side we clocked and it lines up fine. Does anyone think this will be a problem? I've got Z1 silicone oil return lines bridging the gap, but I have a feeling that this is something that will leak eventually. I'm also not really sure what to do about it.

I forgot one of the other big struggles Saturday was getting the AT pilot bushing out and putting a new MT bushing in. I got the AT bushing out by locking my channel locks onto the bushing, and driving a chisel into the gap between that and the crank. After maybe 2-3 minutes it was out. Relatively pain free and I was very proud of myself for coming up with a new method. I had heard that the bushing puller was kind of useless and didn't wanna make a trip for nothing. I didn't realize there was a MT bushing behind the auto one, so I used the same chisel which was about 1mm smaller in diameter than the bushing to cut it in half and pull it out. The whole process took maybe 20 minutes to remove both bushings, but it worked with simple tools I had on hand.

Putting the motor in was the easy part. Getting the accessories lined up...not so much. We worked for about 20 minutes on the power steering pump and couldn't get it in position. We skipped that and got the AC and alternator in place. Unfortunately when we pulled this apart she pulled the accessories off and now doesn't remember how it all went back together (this is why I usually like to do things myself) so it took a while to figure everything out.

I've got the pivot bolt in the alternator, but I'm not sure where the second bolt goes or how it holds tension on the belt. The AC is in place without much issue. Still cant get the power steering pump in place. Anyone have any suggestions? The FSM really isn't any help.

Sadly, everything mentioned above took about 6 hours. We worked until a little after 7pm and called it quits to take the dog on a walk and take Mal out to dinner.

Sunday I put the flywheel on and put new hose clamps on every line and hose I could find. Brand new Z1 oil cooler lines, silicone oil return lines, and silicone water lines for the turbos, and PCV hoses. I sure hope nothing leaks after all this.

As of right now I can't do a whole lot more until I figure out how to get the power steering pump on and until I get my outer water hose on the passenger side from Coz. I still have to put on my new injector connectors but I don't want to do that until the plenum is on so I don't make ANY mistakes. (Feel terrible cutting up a NEW OEM harness).

Things are still on track for getting it started this weekend...as long as that water pipe gets here mid-week sometime. Fingers crossed!

[jay3737]

Nice work. I couldn't even fathom working in that cramped engine compartment and I owned a SW20 MR2.

Lol...I was thinking the same thing!(SW21 owner)

OP: nice work so far...can't wait to see once your Z is complete!

[megaDan]

Sadly no pics today.

I had a little time to kill after work yesterday so I hooked up the accordion pipes on the drivers side and my new silicone PCV hoses and etc. Non eventful. This time it took all of 30 seconds to get the power steering pump in place. I have no idea why it took over an hour to mess with it this weekend and still not figure it out. But I got it in place and the bolt to thread all the way to the back. Woot. After I realized I didn't have the adjustment bolts hooked up (and totally forgot how they went on) I had to go through the FSM page by page until I found a picture of how they should be setup. The FSM is TERRIBLE. How bout an index or something? Jebus.

After finding the pictures and hunting down my alternator bracket, I got those in place and the water pump-alt-crank belt on. I have a UR underdrive crank pulley and HI overdrive water pump pulley. Supposedly the guy who sent me the water pump pulley was sending the correct set of belts...but...I cant find a belt that fits the power steering, everything is way too long. I guess I'll just have to measure with string and see if autozone has something.

The only snag of the evening came when I realized I completely lost my AC adjustment bolt. Does anyone know the specs on that?

I've done just about everything I can do now until that water pipe comes in. I don't wanna take the chance of installing the donwpipes or transmission or even intake hoses in case I have to pull it all off again just to access that hose. Poo.

[Dr. Woo]

Fascinating stuff. Great thread. Your writing makes this a pleasure to read, even though it also solidifies in my mind the fact that I'll never be able to take on a project like this.

[megaDan]

Fascinating stuff. Great thread. Your writing makes this a pleasure to read, even though it also solidifies in my mind the fact that I'll never be able to take on a project like this.

Thanks for the compliments. I really didn't think people would enjoy reading about tightening hose clamps and losing my tools so much.

And as far as not being able to take on a project of this size:

Nonsense!

As long as you have access to tools and even a little bit of know-how (you're on TCL, you've probably got an inkling) you can handle something like this. How many engine builds have I done before this? None. How many project cars have I had before this? Zero.

I'm doing all of this in a 1 car garage at my condo. My neighbors think I'm crazy but I think its fun. Yes, its taking me way longer than I anticipated but I'm learning more than I ever imagined.

If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend tackling a project like this. It's one hell of a confidence booster.