I'd figured I needed to finally post a build thread of my 1986 300ZX Turbo GLL since it's nearly complete. Keep in mind, all these posts are copy and pasted from various other Z sites in chronological order going as far back as 2006.
If anyone one complains of space-shuttle engineering, fear not. But this is space-shuttle inspected and approved.uioui
WARNING, PICTURE HEAVY, NO 56k. pfffftt.
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I bought this car in August of 2006 in Orlando, FL, with only 86k miles on it for $2800. I talked the guy down from his $5300 asking price because the outer tie rods were shot,
the struts/shocks were blown, and the left rear caliper was seized and needed new brake pads all around with rear rotors. Other than that the interior is a 9/10 and the
outside is a 8/10. The car was an original Florida car until I bought it and registered it in Alabama.
In November of 2006 while in Orlando, the timing belt tensior stud broke, causing 11 bent valves. Since I was in school, I didn't have the money to get all new parts for a
head rebuild. So it sat at school unitl I graduated in December of 2006. I then towed it home to Dothan, Alabama, where I got $700 cash for Christmas (by selling the Rota
wheels-Nismo knock offs) and ordered all new stuff from Nissan. I got the heads rebuilt and the car running by myself in my grandad's bus shop with no heat on Jan. 2nd of
2007. I had to redo the timing belt 3 times because I had the tension too tight that it whine like a supercharger. That sucked because I finished up at 3am with it 20-
something degrees inside the shop (I refuse to work on a car unless it's on a concrete/ashpalt floor). The next day I drove it to Tifton, Georgia where I moved to for a
Nissan job. Talk about being nervous and crossing your fingers hoping that you didn't screw something up on a "maiden" voyage of 140 miles.
All was well until February 14 2007, when the stock T3 turbo crapped out. The next day I yanked the engine and trans out to get ready for some serious cash-infusioned
speed parts. I acquired a portion of my parts until things went sour at the dealership. In August, I moved to north-east central Alabama to work at a steel fabrication shop.
So I once more towed the Z along with me. Then in March of 2008 I bought the remainder of my speed parts.
But during storage, rats had invaded my empty engine bay and destroyed every single wire in the harness, not to mention the power steering lines, A/C lines, and front
brake lines. So then I towed the Z again to Auburn where I currently live and put it into a 10x20 storage building. Now I am waiting till it warms up so I can rebuild the motor
and swap out the engine bay harnesses. All I lack now is a full bearing kit (Nissan).
As the car sits, it has 90k miles. I miss her so badly, it's been apart in boxes for almost 2
years now along with the mountain of goodies in their boxes. Now that I am back at Nissan in Auburn, I should be able to get her put back together soon like humpty-
dumpty.
Current mileage.
The night I got her.
Dyno sheet from UTI, car had about 87k miles, K&N filter, and old ass HKS cat-back exhaust. This was 2 weeks before the bent valves.
Pics with my old Rota P45F fronts with P45R rears. 18x8.5 front/18x9.5 rear.
T4 turbo, 62-1 compressor wheel, p-Trim turbine wheel, with V-clamp exhaust housing
, modified Stock manifold w/ HKS 40mm wastegate (5psi, 10psi, 15psi springs),
3" Downpipe with V-clamp,
40mm dump tube pipe,
3" CF intake tube,
SS inlet oil line
, plan
on using the stock fuel system and ECU with 5psi until the motor is completely broken in and running right, then I will purchase NisTune, bigger injectors and
pump/regulator.
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Eagle Z32 Twin Turbo H-beam rods, picked these up myself from Z1 Motorsports in Carrolton, Georgia.
Z31parts.com rear lower spring seats
Z31parts.com rear upper spring seats
Z31parts.com engine mounts. Also fits S12 with VG30, and Z32's, may fit other VG-powered vehicles.
Z31parts.com manual transmission mount. Fits all Z31 stick shifts
Z31parts.com manual transmission isolater
Z31parts.com rear diff mount, unassembled
Z31parts.com rear diff mount, assembled
Z31parts.com bump steer spacers. Fits S12's also, may fit S130's. Goes between the strut housing and steering knucle to promote better steering geometry on lowered
vehicles.
Z31parts.com front spring seats.
Z31parts.com tierod end boots and ball joint boots.
Z31parts.com steering rack bushings.
Earl's stainless steel clutch line from Motorsport Auto.
Tie rod boots
Rear sway bar end links
Front sway bar end links
Front sway bar bushings. Came with 22, 23, and 24mm versions.
Rear sway bar bushings. Came with 22, 23, and 26mm versions.
Front lower control arm bushings.
Front tension rod bushings for 84-7/87 Z31's.
Front tension rod bushings for 8/87-89 Z31's.
Rear lower control arm bushings.
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DXD (South Bend) Stage 1 clutch good for 390lb-ft torque. I was suprised it is an Exedy disc. From Z31parts.com
Crankshaft timing belt sprocket and guide plates for the timing belt. These parts are what were seized to my crank and I broke the snout off the crank trying to remove them
with a pulley puller. From CourtesyParts.com
New OEM center console lid. These are common to find broken at the hinge, and getting expensive too. From CourtesyParts.com
New OEM fuel level sending unit for the digital dash Z's. These are another common failure part on original Z's. My fuel level on my digital dash sometimes worked, but
would drop off rapidly till it read zero, knowing damn well I still 19 gallons left. So I would drive till "bitching Betty" would say "Warning, Low Fuel", then get some gas. This
new unit should also make my Distance to Empty meter work correctly again. From CourtesyParts.com
My new Certified Muffler aka CM Performance Exhaust. It is 3" mandrel bent aluminized piping with Thermal Research stainless steel muffler with 4" tip. Test pipe is
aluminized too. Got a whole CM turbo exhaust system now. Wanted to get full stainless to match the stainless DP, but saved $350 by going aluminized version.
Z3R front springs from Z31parts.com Lowers front by 1.5", spring rate is 300lb/in.
Z3R rear springs from Z31parts.com Lowers rear by 1", spring rate is 325lb/in.
Prothane Z31 rear subframe bushings. Big ass bushings and uses a 4" washer on top.
Tokico Illumina rear shocks. 5-way adjustable, better than the stock electric 3-ways. Now I have complete suspension mods minus sway bar kit.
Here are the pics of the center panel that was ordered thru Nissan. I have never seen this color on any Z31 before. So it possible that Nissan got their part numbers
screwed up?
Original center panel.
New center panel and it does match the shade of the tail lights pretty good.
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Note the sleeve in this bore. This is cylinder #2. The boring machine broke when boring this hole, gouging the bore very badly. The machine shop had to over bore, then
relseeve it, and rebore to +.020" like the rest to match.
Bottom view of the sleeve. You can tell where it stops. This is done right.
Tag from the machine shop way back when I worked at Greg Isaac's Nissan in Georgia. Long time I was without a block.
New slugs to go in those pretty holes.
These pistons are made for a Z32 Twin Turbo VG30DETT. Note the 4 valve reliefs in the top of the pistons. Z31's came with the VG30ET, which 2 valves per cylinder.
They will work for any VG30E/T, but will lower compression on a VG30ET by around a full point lower than stock. So now my motor will have around 7.5-7.8 C/R. This
means I can run hella boost without hurting the engine as long as I got fuel to match. For the Z32 pistons to work properly in a Z31 engine, you will need Z32 style connecting
rods, which are full floating wrist pins. 1984-1987 1/2 Z31's came with pressed fit pins and different pin diameters. So I got Z32 TT Eagle H-beam rods too.
Now to the heads. Bone stock with brand new valves with less than 1k miles on them. They are dirty looking because the turbo seals on the stock T3 turbo went out,
making the car smoke like a mosquito-fogging truck. I plan on refinishing the valve covers in wrinkle red. The stock burgundy wrinkle finish is starting to wear off.
Intake ports. Notice the shiny port on far tight. I attempted to gasket match, but kept killing Dremel bits, so I just wound up "polishing" it, more like getting the casting marks
and pits out.
Exhaust ports. Alot to be gasket matched, haven't even tried them yet.
Passenger side head. Cylinder #5 has some marks form foreign object damage. I noticed this in December 2006 when I had the heads off to replace the valves after the
T-belt tensioner broke making the belt fall off and whacking all but one of the valves. Didn't hurt the bores, but the stock piston looked alot worse than the head.
Does any
one know if this can be cleaned up by milling the heads? I just don't want any hot spots in the motor causing detonation with lots of boost.
Loteck 3-gauge A-piller replacement.
I got these for a birthday present a few weeks ago from my fiance. The headgaskets are made by STONE.
New freeze plugs for my motor.
I also have a used HKS Z31 intercooler kit, a Z32TT N62 MAF to use for when I Nistune it, and 88 Z31 Turbo twin piston front brake calipers. Also on the way is the factory
external oil cooler setup from a 85 turbo auto 300ZX. Only the turbo auto Z31's had the oil cooler.
This is the motor I purchased from Ira from an '85 VG30ET motor for $90. I only need the crankshaft out of it. Now I have to get bearings and the motor can once again be
reunited with it's bazillion other parts.
I can't wait to put everything back together and get her going again. Just waiting for more sunlight in the afternoons after work so I can
start building her.
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Got more pics of the stuff I never had pics of.
Engine plenum cover. Exposed aluminum needs polishing.
New Unorthodox Racing underdrive crank pulley for the 84-86 VG30ET compared to stock pulley. Long discontinued and getting quite rare these days.
Used HKS Z31 intercooler kit and real carbon fiber 4" intake tube.
HKS kit came from signal12's Shiro before he sold it.
Modified CM Performance 3" stainless steel downpipe to fit with V-band clamp at the turbo.
New and improved ball joint poly covers version 2.0. I got these the other day for free from the guy who makes them. I already had the version 1.0 samples, but haven't
used them.
Factory external oil cooler setup minus lines from a '85 Z31 turbo auto.
Z31 "Z" nose emblem. Personally I think this is the best "Z" emblem Nissan made.
Factory urethane front lip in near pristine shape. Note the raised "NISSAN" in the center, only the authentic OE lips had this.
These next pics are of the interior in its current state. Plus I like how my car has the factory optional brushed aluminum trim.
Driver's seat.
Passenger seat. Bummer for the small cut.n:
No tranny in car, so no center console installed.
Center console.
Passenger door.
Driver door.
Note radar detector affixed to dash, was like that when I bought it and works.
"sensing" part of radar detector, mounted ghetto style.
Stock T-tops. I wanna get the '84 AE edition mirrored T-tops so I can be baller.
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Got the crankshaft out of the spare motor from a '85 300ZX Turbo. Found out the keyway slot was egged out pretty bad due to the pulley bolt coming loose and letting the
pulley and timing sprocket wobble and beat the shit out of the key. Had a guy at work weld up the side that was egged out and I spent 2 hours Friday evening grinding the
excess weld out with a Dremel and polishing cloth.
New dial caliper came in today, so I "miked" the journals of the crank, and all are within .0009"-.0010" of specs. No taper or out-of-round, which is good. Since I felt confident
about the specs, I graded the bearings using Nissan's number method and ordered new main and rod bearings. They will be here Wednesday. When the bearings get
here, I will Plasti-gage the clearances to see where I really stand with bearing clearances. If all goes well, then entire bottom end parts go to the machine shop to be
balanced, i.e.: crank, rods, pistons, underdrive pulley, flywheel, and clutch.
Installed 12 new Nissan freeze plugs in the block. Also chased all bolt holes with thread chasers since I had the block repainted and was suprised at all the shit that came
out of the holes. Also installed my external oil cooler setup to the block along with a new Nissan o-ring and bolts.
Will take some pics tomorrow of what was done today and when I do the Plasti-gage.
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Got some pic updates.
Pic of the egged out crank sprocket for the timing belt.
Refinished keyway slot and bad sprocket. Refinished so that the new sprocket and underdrive pulley fit snug with a little silicone spray.
Passenger side of the block. New shiny Nissan freeze plugs and pic of the external oil cooler.
Front side of block. No paint on this end because 90% of it is machined surfaced and there was no paint on this side before it was hot-tanked at the machine shop.
Top side of the block.
Took care not to paint the machined surfaces where parts seal to.
Driver side of the block.
The '85 Turbo motor that acts as a spare and visual for putting mine back together. Kinda hard to know where everything goes when it's been in boxes for 2.5 years with out
a visual. The manifolds that came on the '85 were badly cracked from either too hot, high mileage, or both.
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Well yesterday sucked. I ordered 6 sets of rod bearings, enough to do 6 con rods. Only 6 halves showed up, enough to do 3 con rods. And they were shipped in a plastic
baggy banging around on each other. Every single one of them were scratched and nicked enough to create burrs in them. I told the parts manager to send that shit back
and re-order 12 more (6 rods) and told her to call the Nissan PDC and specifically tell them not to remove them from their individual wrappers and box. We will see if they
can follow instructions when the re-ordered ones show up Friday. I still haven't got my main bearings yet and wouldn't be suprised if the same shit happened to them.
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Ok some good news. My main bearings came in today. They were shipped properly, each pair (2 halves) per box and individually wrapped. My new rod bearings came in
too. But the thing is that the rod bearings come in packs of 12 (2 per rod), and I only had 10. But they were flawless this time. Nissan said the other 2 would be here Monday,
but we will see if they get f*ed up like the first batch that was ordered.
I should have some time tomorrow at work to Plasti-gage the clearances. Crosses fingers that they are all in spec. If so, then everything goes to the machine shop for
balancing.
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Got my main bearings installed and plastigaged them. All turned out to be .0015", which is in spec. Then I applied assembly lube to the bearings and tried to check to free
spin of the crank by hand. One spot had a drag to it, which is no good. Took the crank back out and found out that Nissan had somehow put the wrong bearings inside the
correct boxes. Main bearing #1 is supposed to have a 2mm wider bearing than mains #2 and #3. But it turns out that main #1 had the narrow bearing and #2 and #3 had the
wider bearings. The wider bearings were just wide enough to barely touch the farside of the roll fillet on the edge of the journals. That was why I had a drag in one spot and
I could not get any reading for crank endplay. So I swapped bearings on #1 and #2 and plasti-gaged those, and those turned out to be .0015" also. So now I am waiting on
the correct main bearing for #3 to show and now have an extra bearing for #1.
I dropped my heads off at the machine shop (Car Quest) in downtown Opelika Wednesday afternoon to have them milled down to get the foreign object damaged knocked
down (FOD) and to have the valve stem-to-valve guide clearance checked. I never had the guide clearance checked back in 2006 when I bent 11 of 12 valves and just
slapped in new Nissan valves and went. All valve clearances turned out to be spot on as to what the FSM called for. Lucky I guess.
Before. This is the FOD on cylinder #5.
After. The machinist took off .006" of both heads, limit is .008". He said it would take nearly .010" to get all the marks out, but the remaining indents will not hurt anything. The
goal was to knock off the high spots so they would not get hot and cause detonation from "hot spots".
Passenger side head. Very clean for only 90k miles.
Driver side head. Very clean also. Usually the driver side head is dirtier from the excess heat of the nearby turbo and cooks all the oil to the head.
Also Nissan yet again
screwed up my shipment of my last 2 rod bearings. They showed up today and one half had a nick so bad that when I ran my finger across it to check it that it cut my
finger.
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Got my interior trim panels back today from a Z31Performance.com board member in Virginia. My car has the factory option of brushed aluminum trim and was getting
faded pretty bad around the switches and texts. They are actually veneer with aluminum top side with the letters and other designs engraved into them, whereas the stock
"veneer" had tampo print for letters and design.
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Scored these off a guy who was parting out a 1984 AE Z31 in Missouri. They are sweet as candy. They need new rubber around the edges which is no big deal.
Mirrored glass t-tops are baller!
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Got these last month from Roy in the Netherlands. Geniune Euro-Z31 parts.
Front bumper singals and front fender signals.
Complete rear diff oil cooler setup. Pics are of the cooler core, hard lines from core to pump, pump and it's harness, vent tube and cover. Pump actually works too. 8) I
have pics of the cooler location and hardlines, but need pics or EDM FSM with diagram showing how the pump and suction/return lines hook up to the diff and where they
mount.
Picked these up today at the pull-a-part in Montgomery.
J30 Maxima fans
Z32 aluminum front calipers.
1986 Maxima front entry plenum.
Steering wheel from a 1985 720 King Cab ST truck. Missing the NISSAN horn button. Genuine Nissan made wheel. Hoping it fits the Z31 steering shaft, nope doesn't fit.
Hole is too large for Z31 steering shaft.
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More updates.
Schneider valve springs for the VG30/33E series. 110 pounds of seat pressure versus 54 pounds stock. Great for increasing revs without fear of floating the valves.
Cyberdyne 52mm green digital boost/vacuum gauge with corresponding MAP sensor for the gauge. Programmable HIGH boost warning setting.
Cyberdyne 52mm green digital EGT gauge. Programmable HIGH temperature warning setting.
Using the Cyberdynes to go with the factory green digital dash readouts.
This came in today, circa 1997.
Kitty does not approve of my frivolous spending.
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Picked this up the other day. Near mint Matchbox 1984 AE 300ZX cutom paint and rare "lazer" wheels.
Now to the real goodies.
Colt Cams Z31 Turbo Stage 2 regrinds.
Specs are:
INT 210*@.050" duration, 262* advertised / .428" lift
EXH 202*@.050" duration 256* advertised / .420" lift
These are the stock cam specs for comparison.
INT 252* advertised .393" lift
EXH 252* advertised .393" lift
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New thing came in the mail today.
I present to you an old skool HKS Sequential Blow Off Valve.
I had to do some cleaning to it with a brass bristled brush and polishing wheel on a Dremel. I completely disassembled it, perfect inside. Pics don't show the minor chips
and nicks in the finish.
I wonder if it's possible to replicate this color with powder coat?
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Long overdue update.
Wheels and lugnuts
Bought a Nissan Motorsports Z31 front swaybar kit that is 28.5mm in diameter. Factory front is 22mm.
Bought a new Nissan 1988 Z31 Shiro Edition rear swaybar that is 26mm in diameter. Factory rear is 22mm.
Retro fitted my Euro-market front bumper orange/clear turn signals to use newer and updated wedge bulb bases or sockets since the orignals were corroded badly and of
old 80's design. Also polished the lenses to bring back the luster and remove the small scratches that were accumalated while on a Z31 in the Netherlands.
Car is over in Columbus, GA being tediously dismantled to be professionally repainted. So far the hood, fenders, front bumper and bumper bar, side skirts, and everything
in the engine bay completely removed and being prepped for paint and small dings being removed also. So far have spent nearly $600 in paint and all related chemicals
for a professional paint job which is; base, clear, reducer, hardener, flex additive, bumper striper, self eching primer, 2-part epoxy primer, trim black, primer/paint sealer,
seam sealer, and rubberized undercoating. All are PPG. As I progress further more will be needed. $$$
This weekend the original front fender side marker holes will be
filled in with metal and new holes will be cut to install the Euro-market front fender blinkers. Doors and rear hatch comes off this weekend too.
Also in contact with a contact at Nissan North America corporate who is helping find genuine Nissan Euro and JDM parts for my Z as I move along with the project.
Pics to follow shortly.
This car keeps me going when I'm down. Car is a US-spec 86 Turbo imported back into Japan rocking old Work wheels.
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Body work pics from today.
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Got some more progress today.
Got hood dents pulled and flattened and filled. DA sanded the whole thing then block sanded with 80 grit. All the underhood bracing has separated from the hood skin
making it very flimsy which is how most of the dents got there. The factory uses seam sealer to hold the bracing to the skin and all has worked loose. Next weekend we will
spot weld the bracing the skin to make a more permanent stiffer hood. Then it gets reblocked and primed and ready for paint.
Took the doors off and removed the side molding adhesive with an air powered rubber eraser wheel. Works super fast. Then inspected the door for dings. Passenger
door is flawless except for one spot where the paint came off with the adhesive. The driver's door has 4 very tiny dings that can barely be seen and will be fixed. Both will
be DA sanded tonight and primed and put to the side until ready for paint.
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Update 10-3-10
Got the trunk area mostly gutted. Stopped early today as I ran out of 35 gallon storage bins for the interior panels and parts.
Got the tails, center tail panel, and rear bumper off. Bumper has 15 nuts and 4 bolts.
Only rust issue on the entire car. This is where the hatch latches shut. The rear hatch body seal was damaged directly behind it and water got in sat on top of the metal,
eventually rusting it out. This will be repaired with new steel panels.
Inside shot of the butyl rope sealing material that run down over the years, creating small water leaks. Makes a big ass mess.
Rear windows removed. Got to find something to clean this stuff up with.
Rust convertor primer applied to the panel under the tool kit after the surface rust was sanded down. This will be repainted red like factory.
Spare tire well. Basically very clean. Will be scuffed and light shot of red paint sprayed on it.
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Got my new JDM Z31 "V6" emblem today.
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Bumpers and skirts based and cleared with 2 coats of clear. They will be shot with another coat of clear before I start the wet sanding procedure. This way I will have at
least 2 coats of clear left when the wet sanding is done using 3000grit.
Before final sanding with 500 grit before the base coats.
Hatch latch area rust fixed and prepped for sealer and primer.
Backside of front fenders where side markers were filled in. Metal plate was welded in and then sealed with seam sealer.
After getting the spoiler off. Nasty nasty.
After final sanding with 500grit. Now it's ready for base and clear.
Underside of hood after scuffing with red Scotchbrites. Next is the sealer/primer stage.
Rear hatch after cleaning and scuffing. Ready for sealer/primer.
Top side of hood after sanding with 500grit. Ready for base and clear.
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Underside of hood and front fenders after 3 layers of base and 3 layers of clearcoat.
Topside of hood and doors after sealer is applied.
After 3 layers of base.
During the 3 layers of clear being put on.
Passenger door after clear has dried.
Driver door after clear has dried.
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Update 3-21-2011
Got the car back up to the dealership today. Cleaned out the dust, trash, and pollen out of it. Took some pics of how it sits.
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Anyways. Got some door rubber seals cleaned up and reinstalled on the doors. Got the door harnesses routed back into the doors. Also had to route the harness from
the hatch back up to the center console and radio area. Started to attempt to replace the bazillion vacuum lines to all the vacuum servos for the digital auto-climate control.
Decided I'd wait till the carpet is back in so I don't bruise my back and head laying in the bare metal floor under the firewall/dash area trying to replace them. Got the front
carpet cleaned and pressure washed. Ordered all new fender mounting bolts, rubber bumpers for the hood, door strikers and bolts, nose emblem, and trunk emblem.
Tomorrow I should have the tail lights and center bar/tag lamp assembly back in and the faces of them polished with plastic polish. May have a tint guy come out tomorrow
and get the 2 layers of faded purple tint off the hatch glass so the defrost lines and antenna lines don't get damaged. May also have him retint the windows while he is
there. Should be easy since the windows are out of the car (minus hatch glass).
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More stuff done today in the free time between working on customer cars.
Decided to leave the base layer of tint on the rear hatch to keep from screwing up the lines. Spent 1.5 hours last night getting the layers off the driver's door window.
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Engine bay frame rails and lower radiator support painted.
Rack bushings installed.
Z32 300ZX 30mm calipers temporarily installed to check fitment. Bare clean aluminum appears white.
3ZR Type2 springs installed. Lowers 1.5" in front. 300in/lbs. Poly upper spring seats, Tokico Illumina 5-way strut inserts, and new shock boots installed.
New Nissan Motorsports 28.5mm front swaybar, Z31Parts.com bump steer spacers, 88T+ style tension rods and all new poly.
Clean and unclean rear suspension components. New "camber-modded" rear subframe with new poly.
Close up of factory original steering rack that I converted to manual steering.
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More work done.
Cleaned, stripped, and repainted rear control arms and differential. Installed poly bushings and diff mount, Goodridge stainless steel brake lines, Tokico Illumina 5-way
adjustable shocks and shock boots. Sprayed the rear inner fenders with truck bed coating. Installed new diff axle and pinion seals. With the camber modded rear
subframe, the camber bolts are set to minimum camber and it appears that the rear camber is less than -1.0*, but that's just eyeballing it.
Notice how the car sits nearly level on the Z3R type 2 springs with no power train installed.
Started installing the "newer" harness into the engine bay and retaping and
relooming the harness to make it look new again. Only have about 40% of the damn thing put in the proper positions in the engine bay because it's been so long I don't
know where most of the crap goes, even with labels on the connectors.Haven't even started on the engine harness.
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Went into work on my off day and got alot done on the engine bay harness and started on the EFI (engine control) harness.
Reinstalling the engine bay harness after completely relooming and rewrapping the thing. Got 90% of it routed and fastened down with "newer" zip-tie clips from other
Nissan harnesses I had laying around.
Found a convient way to relocate the boost sensor and its vacuum hose for a cleaner look. Keep in mind I am deleting a lot of stuff
like PS, AIV, EGR, FPR solenoid and such and will give you lots of room.
Boost sensor mounted below coil. Direct fit. Routed vacuum line up with harness for coil and transistor.
Vacuum line comes out where the hood release cable is and will run it under the ledge on the firewall to the port on the intake manifold.
This way I don't have to mount the
boost sensor to its original bracket that also supports the AIV stuff.
Got to tidy up around the battery area some more when I run the EFI harness in that area also.
Old original damaged engine bay harness.
Original EFI harness on left and EFI harness from another 86T GLL on right. Will be redoing my original and rewiring the injectors to pre-Campiagn configuration and using
what connectors off the other harness to fix mine up. The other harness has all the injector ends missing and some other stuff missing, so it won't hurt to use it as a "parts"
harness.
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Trimmed and installed Maxipad fans.
Cleaned up trans-mount crossmember and installed poly parts from Z31parts.com.
Installed new updated Nissan fuel level sending unit for digital dash. Old original on left, new improved on right.
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Got fans wired up and made custom harness for the fans. Wired the fans up exactly like Caley did his fans. Mounted the switches for the fans inside the center console
under the arm rest. This way no aftermarket stuff/switches are seen in the interior. Also the way Caley and I have our fans wired up, the low speed fans still kick on at 190*F if
we forget to flip the switches on.
Also received and installed mint OEM turbo heat shields for the brake booster/lines, frame rail near turbo, and for steering rack.
Test fitted one of my used Goodyear Eagle RS-A 245/45R18 tires to one of new 18x9.5 Rota P45R for testing looks/fitment. The 245/45R18 tire is too tall and the actual
tread of the tire rubs the bottom of the spring perch on the front strut. The 245/45 is 26.7" tall. Ordered some brand new 265/35R18 tires. The 265/35's are 25.3" tall, so I will
get the needed clearance from the perch, and the tire will be "square" with the wheel --- meaning no tire stretch like the 245/45. I also had 3 of the biggest guys (about 775
pounds combined) sit on the front bumper bar to bring the front end down to simulate full drivetrain and interior installed. While they were sitting there I turned the front wheels
lock to lock to check tire clearance between fender at top and bottom corners, and inner fender areas for contact. Even with the tall tires I had plenty of clearance.
Also dropped the entire engine rotating assembly off at the machine shop to have balanced. The under drive crank pulley, crankshaft, Eagle rods, Wiseco pistons, Nissan
rod bearings, OE flywheel, and Southbend Stage 3 clutch are getting checked and balanced. I intend to raise the factory rev limit from 6000rpm to at least 7500-7750rpm to
take advantage of the big cams and T4 turbo. The machine shop should have my parts ready for pickup by Friday. If that's the case, then I can assemble the engine after I
get off work Saturday.
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UPDATE 6-22-2011
Near mint heat shields installed. Brake master cylinder shield not installed yet.
View of Maxima radiator fans wired up. Grounds for fans are on the metal next to the driver's headlight bucket.
View of Sentra temp sensor to automatically trigger low speed relay for low speed on both fans.
View of where the relays for fans are under batter tray. There is 2 Nissan brown relays. One for low speed, the other for high speed.
The way they are wired, the high will
only work when low is on.
New tires for the Z. Wheels are Rota P45R 18x9.5 +12mm offset front and rear in hyper-black finish.
Flush and mean. No drivetrain in car yet, so the stance is high. The car sits on Z31parts.com Z3R type 2 springs.
Just recieved my rotating assembly back from the machine shop. Had everything from pulley to clutch pressure plate balanced. Installed the crank and re-plastigaged
the mains again. All are at .031mm to .035mm oil clearance. Also installed new Nissan turbo automatic engine oil pump.
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UPDATE 7-10-2011
Got some pictars of the dash and the "aluminum" pieces screamingflea did for me awhile back. All original interior "aluminum" pieces have been redone by
screamingflea, including the ones on the driver seat.
Letters and lines are engraved. I did have to do some fine tuning trimming with a dremmel and sanding drum to make the shifter surround fit perfectly around the shifter boot
area.
Also found a sticker on the old ass Kenwood CD player with the date of August 1997. Keepin' it old school. 8)
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Outside door hadles, rear spoiler, and mirrors have been based and cleared. 5 thin layers of black and 2 layers of clear. They have been installed. Also installed OEM
bronze tinted door glass, another set minty door panels, refinished window switch surrounds, and all OEM speakers.
Hooked a jumper box up to the battery cables and
powered up the car. Tested all electrical systems. All lights work/flash/blink/fade out as should. Even tested out OEM alarm system, good. Digital dash works and
played around with the radio/CD player. Verified power antenna works and the half-mast function works. Even Bitchin' Betty works. Got her to say, "Warning, Low Fuel
Level" and "Lights are on".She also says "Warning, door is open" and Warning, parking brake is on", but the car has to be moving for her to say that.
Also today was a long and tedious one. I spent almost 4 hours filing the Wiseco piston ring end gaps to be where they should for a high HP build. Managed to get them all
done after several tries with piston ring file and feeler gauges on each individual ring. That's 24 total rings.
Final gaps are:
top rings = .019"
2nd rings = .017"
top and bottom
oil control rings = .014"
Top and second rings are just a lil above the range of spec, but well below the MAX LIMIT spec which requires replacement. Oil control rings are in
the middle of spec.
....
....
....
Found out I have to widen the gap on the 2nd rings. Found a good article from Wiseco and talked to some other high HP Z31 guys over the weekend, they all told me the
2nd ring needs to have a wider gap than the top to prevent ring flutter or possible ring gap bind when under lots of boost. They said my top ring and oil control ring gaps
are fine.
So now the new specs will be:
2nd ring old: .017"
2nd ring new: .021"
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UPDATE 7-30-2011
Removed the water tube and small vacuum tube that runs under the rear of the top plenum. Rerouted the water hose for the idle air valve/cold start valve. The only tube
there now is the big one that runs from the charge pipe around to the cold start valve.
Also installed my minty UR underdrive pulley. Adjustable cam gears are set at -3*.
This is my turbo oil drain issue I commented on. The Garrett T4 turbo is soo much bigger that the turbo center section sits approximately 2 1/4" down from where the oem
Garrett T3 sat. Center section is clocked nearly 30* to try to raise the oil outlet of the center section some. Can't clock it anymore as then I will have oil puddling in the center
section which is bad news.
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UPDATE 11-19-2011
Most meaningful thing done to the Z in 4 years.
Got engine installed. Changed the T4 turbo out for a more bolt-on friendly T3/T4 turbo that will make the same power I am shooting for. This keeps me from having to do a
custom turbo oil drain scavenge setup. Also have installed prototype solid aluminum engine mounts. Will be installing transmission in the morning.
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UPDATE 12-4-2011
These are pics of the oil cooler install. Cooler core is the OEM unit from the turbo automatics with the factory coating stripped off exposing the raw bare aluminum. First off,
the original fittings on the core are "-8AN" size with 45* SAE flare, which will not work with AN/JIC which are 37* flare. So I had someone I know cut off the factory fittings and
weld on AN/JIC -8AN male fittings. Fittings are -8AN Push-Loc from Russell. I used 2 bulkhead fittings and nuts to go thru the factory openings in the fender well, they fit
perfectly. I used 6 90* fittings, and 2 45* fittings, and cut the hose accordingly. Word of advice using this stuff, give yourself just a little bit extra hose for each section
because if you make the hose too short, you WILL HAVE TO CUT the hose off. Once the hose is on, it ain't coming off.
This is why you need to trim the lower control arms when using 88T+ slip on hubs and Z32 rotors and brakes. If you don't the rotor will get gouged. I need to trim some
more.
Various suspension pics showing off all the good stuff like poly, V1 bump steer spacers, and V2 diff mount.
Pics of the nearly new OEM '88 30A trans, it only has 50 miles on it. Also pic of the ZSpeed heavy duty clutch fork/pivot ball upgrade.
Refurbished heat shield that I got from MikeP.
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UPDATE 12-13-2011
Pic of the cleaned up inlet tube and filter adaptor that came with the car. It's aluminum and 4" inlet, no idea where it came from as it has no markings on it. Gotta get a new
K&N RE-0870 filter for as the one that was on it got damaged in storage by stuff sitting on it.
Pic of the Siliconeintakes.com reducer for the stock T3 S-pipe to the T4 compressor housing. It's a 2.75" to 3" reducer and had to trim both ends to get it to fit and clear the
mount bracket. I had to take the driver engine mount and bracket off to get this thing in there, not fun at all.
Pic of the refinished vacuum booster. Original BMC leaked fluid and ate the paint off the lower half and it started to rust up, so I sanded it down forever getting the rust off
and reprimed and repainted it. That's dust on there, not messed up paint.
Pics of the hose routing for the vacuum tank and water cock. Trying to hide as much as possible and look clean.
Vacuum tank hose goes in thru the frame here instead of down low on the lower frame rail. I routed it under the battery tray.
Vacuum tank hose comes out here and routed around the hood bumper and upper headlight motor bracket and runs under the edge of the core support.
Vacuum tank hose comes out here to tank. This is less clutter down low in the engine bay and is not exposed to heat from the engine.
Pics of the new Nismo leather shift knob for the 30A trans.
Pics of the Z32 30mm front brake setup. All new parts such as rotors, wheel studs, wheel bearings and dust caps, and new Posi-Quiet pads and hardware. Calipers are
refurbed by me with the inverted flare knocked out so I can run the Z31 Goodridge SS brake lines.
Still have to grind some more on the LCA as the rotors hit the LCA when the steering wheel is at full lock in either direction.
Pic of the 2 Z32TT 1-1/16" BMC's I have. On the
left is a genuine Nissan BMC part number -30P01 with the plugged center port. I couldn't find the hard to find bubble-to-inverted flare metric adaptor, so I bought a new BMC
from RockAuto.com. It has the inverted flare in all 3 ports and is listed for 89-90 Z32TT. I will be using the one on the right.
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Got the charge pipe from the turbo to the throttle body shortend by Sam Collier and installed. Installed Z32TT 1-1/16" brake master cylinder and bled the brake system.
Installed coolant, oil, and fuel. Went to crank the engine and noticed the digital dash gauge readouts aren't working, but the warning lamps operate. I think the power
supply to the dash took a dump. It worked like a champ a few months ago when I hooked a jump box to the battery cables. So I cranked the engine in hopes of it firing up.
Just spins over. Not getting fuel or spark. Also noticed that the red and green LED's inside the ECU aren't coming on and the fuel pump ins't priming. That can only mean
burnt out fusable links or fuses, but all are ok. So now I have to check the harness from the links to the ECU and from the ignition switch to the ECU for power and ground. I
just hope the ECU isn't toast.
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UPDATE 12-18-2011
IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!!!!
Spent most of the day tracking down ECU power feed problems. Turns out the ECU pin #6 that grounds the coil for the EFI relay which sends power to the rest of the ECU
when you turn the key on isn't working. So I had to find another switched source relay and jumped a wire from it to the feed wire coming out of the EFI relay to the ECU and it
now powers up when turning the key on. Once I figured that out, then I knew I had spark and fuel as I could hear the sparking on the ignition coil lead (not hooked to dizzy
cap), and the fuel pump primes like normal. BUt the injectors weren't clicking, they were stuck shut from disuse for 4 years. I took 2 wires straight off the battery and touched
the injectors terminals very rapidly until they would start clicking. One injector took nearly 5 minutes of doing this before it started working again. Connected everything back
up and the engine fired up on the first try. Barely a whiff of smoke came out, and oil pressure was good. No abnormal noises and no leaks at all. I did have a coolant funnel
attached to the radiator cap fill neck to bleed the air out of the coolant. After 15 minutes of running the air purged out so hard it pushed some coolant out so it made a mess
all over the front of the engine and radiator. So now I have to clean up the coolant spill which sucks as everything was shiney and whatnot.
I have to rebleed the brakes, install the stainless steel clutch hose and bled it, and put the exhaust on so I can do some shake down runs on it. Once it's safe to drive around
the storage building complex then I will put the fenders, side skirts, hood, and front bumper back on. Then comes insurance and registration time.
Also got the digital dash working again. Turns out is was just a loose connection.
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2 videos from today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8zkr...ature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xkr...ature=youtu.be
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UPDATE 12-29-2011
Got some more stuff done.
Installed somewhat rare and discontinued Greddy Relief Valve. This functions the same way as the factory "pop-off" valve, but is adjustable
from 1psi up to ~30psi. In the event of an overboost issue from either wastegate problems or boost controller problems, this valve bleeds off excess pressure to whatever
you have it set to. This prevents engine damage in these events. I have this set to around 15-16psi and the OEM one opens at ~8psi.
Before and after pics.
Some extra goodies Zac at Acadiana Sports Car Orphange threw in for Christmas when I purchased the Greddy Relief Valve from him.
Also received my new AEM UEGO analog wideband setup. Already set the display color to green to match the digital dash.
Pics of the 3" mandrel bent CM Performance exhaust. Finally got it all bolted up after some "issues" with it. Turns out that Dave at CM accidentally shipped me a California
emissioned downpipe, which is little shorter than the Federal emission downpipes. Reason is that Cali-equipped cars have 16" cats and the Federal cars have 14" cats. I
had a 14" test pipe, so the mid section was nowhere close to mating up. I called Dave at CM and alerted him to the situation and sent me out a 16" Cali test pipe free of
charge.
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UPDATE 12-31-2011
Got the damper delete SS clutch hose from shromy and was able to get the car to drive under it's own power!!!! Drove it down the road about 1.5 miles just like in the pics to
get some gas. People were breaking their necks doing double takes and trying to figure out what it was.
Going to try to put the front end back on and get the wideband o2 bung welded in to the downpipe tomorrow. Trying to get it presentable enough to have an appraiser
come look at it this coming week to get it insured.
Also got to swap out the 30A as the input shaft bearing whines super loud. Hopefully the spare 30A doesn't have any
issues. If so, the original T5 will see action again temporarily.
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Found out you can put 2 Recaro seats into a B13 Sentra.
More pics when I get them home and installed into the Z.
Here's what they look like.
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UPDATE 1-15-2012
Put the hood and fender liners on today. Then proceeded to drive it around for 25 miles just before dark today. Still have some small things to finish putting on the car.
Cell
phone pics.
Better camera pics.
Video.
[IMG]
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/NissanEgg/300ZX%20Turbo/th_MOV02373.jpg[/IMG]
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...t=MOV02373.mp4
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Alignment sheet from yesterday.
Car has:
Z3R Type 2 springs
V1 bump steer spacers
Poly everywhere possible
slotted camber mod for rear crossmember
camber set at minimum camber possible
Finished putting the last parts of the interior in. Swapped out the FS5R30A trans for another one. The one I put in the car to start off had a noisy input shaft bearing (didn't
know it until after I had fired up the car). It was starting to get annoying, so I swapped it out Friday afternoon at work. Installed the ZSpeed Performance aluminum
undertray/shroud and hood stays yesterday at work. The hood stays where a bitch to make work properly. First off, I don't have the OE bolts/nuts for the OE style stays
and they are NLA anywhere. I did however have some ball studs and found some stays that accept the ball studs and matched their length to some old used OE style
stays. Next I had to grind the bolts down for the bracket on the hood and the ball stud for the hood bracket as they were too long. So 20 minutes at the grinder and then
rethreading the damn things. But hey, for the first time now in owning this Z I have proper working hood stays.
Now I have to buy new Recaro seat bottom support straps for the underside of the driver seat. The other day the diaphram under the seat cushion tore, allowing my ass to
sink deeply into the seat at the rear most portion of the seat cushion. Luckily the replacement support straps from a certified Recaro dealer are only $45, just requires minor
disassembly to get them in there.
Also got the insurance paperwork on it Friday during lunch. Going to get it tagged sometime this week during lunch when it isn't raining so I
can take the Z to the tag office. w00t!!
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Took some pics of the Z from the house today. Still don't have the lip or A- and B-pillar trim pieces back from the paint shop yet. Notice the mirrored t-tops from an 84AE.
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1-30-2012
Taken for a reliability spin today.
Auburn > Birmingham > Montgomery > Auburn
We didnt break down.
Not too shabby gas mileage either for a modded turbo engine. 281 miles round trip and still have 1/4 tank of gas left. Tank is approximately 19 gallons. Roughly 20mpg
and travelling 75mph most of I-65 and I-85.
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UPDATE 2-3-2012
Scored a Euro-spec/Nissan Motorsports finned rear diff cover today from a guy in Atlanta named Alan Poindexter. This dude is a serious Z nut, even used to own one of
the Bob Sharp racing S30's and one of the SCCA SSA Z31's that Tom Cruise raced and wrecked back in the day. Alan has lots of nice things that made me wish I had
pockets full of cash to buy alot stuff from him. He has some stuff and parts from Paul Newman, Sam Posey, and Bob Sharp's racing careers.
Well anyways, here are pics of
the diff cover I got from him. Got it for a good deal too.
Now I can install my diff oil cooler setup.
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2-18-2012
Well, last Monday I took the Z to the post office to drop off some Z parts for a guy in California. On the way to the shop the clutch pedal started feeling funny. The next
morning I go to pull the Z out of the shop and the clutch falls to floor, but I still could disengage the clutch. I'm like hmmmmmmm. Get it out side and look under the car. No
leaks anywhere. Look under the clutch master cylinder, no leaks. Look in the resevoir, no brake fluid at all. I'm like WTF?!
So after work is over I pull back in the shop. I get a flash light and contort myself so I can look under the dash, and I see brake fluid all over the sound deadening material.
Luckily, it didn't hurt the paint or carpet. The clutch master decided to pop the rear seal and each time you released the clutch pedal it would drip fluid out of the back where
the rod goes in. I guess the factory 26 year old clutch master finally gave up the ghost. So I ordered a new Nissan clutch master and installed it today after work. The clutch
pedal feels better than ever now.
The old one is in extremely good shape on the outside, no discolored/stained/pitted/corroded aluminum body, no discoloration or stains on the reservoir or cap. So I am
going to order a new Nissan seal kit for it and refurb it to have as a spare for what ever reason.
Also received new Nissan rear diff cover gasket, drain and fill plugs, and diff cover bolts for the Euro-spec finned diff cover. Waiting on word of status of the odd and end
parts to finalize the diff oil cooler setup.
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UPDATE 2-28-2012
Got new windsheild installed today. Got tired of the wiper arm scratches not jiving with the fresh redo of the whole car.
Also received my Prosport Evo digital green/white oil pressure and boost gauges, another set of V1 bumpsteer spacers, and 38mm water hose temp sensor adaptor
thingy from Titek in matt black finish.
Still need to replace the leaky right rear brake caliper.
2-29-2012
Replaced leaky right rear caliper this evening. Also installed new headlight lid rubber flaps that were back ordered from MSA for several months.
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