Zetsaz

Assorted small purchases over the past month or two as we slowly prepare for winter work: OEM Rear main seals - might not manage these over the winter but they'll at least be available. OEM oil pan gasket Horn pad retaining ring (see recent post for details, mine's been cracked and the horn button falls between legs on hard bumps) Differential axle clip - realized my right side is missing. Not sure if it stuck to the half shaft and I didn't notice unlike the other one which stayed in the diff, but needed new one. Pinion Seal for diff - splattering fluid all over my nice stainless exhaust and gunking up the underside of the tunnel Skillard shim kit - includes door latch striker shims, inspection cover shims (actually necessary for me), door hing shims, rear hatch shims (super grateful for these because the actual oem ones seem integrated and I've just had the hinges right over the gaskets). Skillard rear speaker brackets - kept trying to find an original to copy, but for the prices people were selling it wasn't worth it. Glad skillard made good aluminum reproductions for both sides. Still debating on which receiver to use and whether or not to bother creating a 3D printed bracket for a single or double din to replace the original. Skillard door handle backers - I very very carefully pull down and out every single time I use my door handles to get in because the small amounts of flex are enough to get the top of the handle to rub the paint when I'm opening the door. I need to open up the back to slightly bend and fix the passenger side lock rod anyway, so i figured I'd get these along with the batch of new parts. No oil cap gasket yet. Still debating if I buy the cheap seal, or use this as an excuse to get some more bling for the engine bay with an all new oil cap. At some point I need to powder coat the valve cover soon.

Daaaaaaaaaamn, the KW bits look good! Getting your ZCG brakes is just motiving me to finally pay up for the upgrade.

I'm with Dave here. Don't use silicone on threads. The white thread sealant I've been using has been great. I use the liquid one and make sure it's slightly tacky before threading like the instructions say. I really think it's just that npt to an adapter not being tightened enough. The problem was it was only leaking once it got really hot on the long drives once the coolant gets really hot and thinner, so I hadn't noticed it on my shorter test drives.

Do you have a link to the before/after? Would love to see it

Just as an example of the engineering costs adding up, the ProTunerz intake is a fine piece that looks pretty but it's pretty basic and not overly engineered. @lowrider from Milkfab is in the final stages of an actual performance intake, and the preorder is about 60%+ more than the ProTunerz intake despite being a low volume part that seems like more of a passion project. The price is only going up after the initial pre-order. Good engineering isn't just amazing parts, it's also working within specific limitations, and I think your complaints about the limited aftermarket options are ignoring that.

Agreed with everything @AydinZ71 said here. You're not helping the discussion by criticizing feedback as "emotional crap." I'm running a lightly ported stock exhaust manifold, but I know 3 people personally who are running the protunerz and have seen its fitment, helped them work on their cars, and driven with them. None of them have had issues with cracks so far. It's decent quality for what it is, but the limited engineering time was focused on allowing it to work with the size of turbos they were aiming for and clearing stock components like the steering shaft and even AC which is why it's farther back than the CX manifold which doesn't have much clearance for that. People who are running oversized GT35 turbos with a large hot side are going to get progressively closer to brake components, there's no getting around that. Moving the turbo to the other side is definitely an option, but as a vendor its pros are outweighed by the cons. I've seen at least one person recently that moved the turbo over to the passenger side, only one other before that. I think they ran a stock NA manifold or did custom parts added onto an aftermarket NA part like the MSA header. You run into the issue of hot exhaust gases running right underneath the oil pan or behind the head which is already the hottest part of the engine. As far as making any sort of off-the-shelf production manifold like that, you have to start considering the fact that you're running somewhat long lengths of pipe before you get to the turbo. It adds weight and size which affects shipping cost, as well as adding to materials cost, and it gets progressively harder to guarantee your welds will hold based on how people reinforce where the turbo is mounted and how heavy their specific turbo is. If you think the ProTunerz manifold is poor quality and prone to cracks, something designed around moving the turbo to the opposite side will be way more likely to develop them due to the torque placed on bends created by a much longer lever arm the turbo is acting on. If you're adding supports to provide for people to mitigate this, it's hard to guarantee they'll actually fit if people are running any aftermarket parts like ignition coils, and again, adds even more to the cost of materials and design time. Depending on where you have the turbo end up, you can also be close to aftermarket ignition coils which you don't want running too hot. That's its own other problem. I've only seen one person that had their turbo as close to the brake distribution block as you mentioned and it was massive (probably way oversized for what their engine was capable of honestly). At some point you can't account for every other mod and option people choose to go with if you're trying to make a mass produced product. TL;DR - You said the people making these shouldn't be held highly for their design choices, but they didn't just not think of this - they just aren't aiming for maximum performance . Its a high-ish volume part intended to be usable by as many people as possible while keeping costs down for themselves and the end buyer. Like Aydin said, what you're looking for is going to cost plenty of money and will probably never be available as a ready-to-go aftermarket part.

Not that things can't be done better, but the protunerz manifold is on some pretty high budget cars. It's limitations and most of its "poor engineering" has nothing to do with their design and everything to do with the L series. Unless you do full custom with longer piping running behind the engine or under the oil pan to get the turbo on the passenger side, it's always going to be right under the intake and will also always be at least somewhat close to the brake master unless you have a right hand drive car. The stock manifold had the same issues. The L series regardless of the manifold you pick will always have some heat issues to deal with due to it's reverse flow/non-crossflow design. Haven't heard anything about them being full of cracks, that might be a one off, and they're pretty good about backing up their work. For what it's worth, I would trust the quality and customer service of ProTunerz over CX any day. The fact that CX's turbo manifold for the L series looks better has no bearing on its actual quality. I'm more than happy to be wrong, but it's not for nothing that many people are running the ProTunerz and almost no one is running the CX one.

Clearance issues aside this is looking pretty sweet. You're one of the first I've seen running the newer G series turbo on an L engine, much less one with carbs.

You're gonna be out by an entire inch from where you are now. More aggressive negative offset on top of the extra width is going to require flares or some pulling and rolling. The front fenders have a bit more clearance, but the rear will definitely be rubbing and the top of the wheel will be outside the body line unless you get some fairly aggressive negative camber. I'm with jhm that's it's partially the style of the wheels that will determine the look of the dish You're near the limit of what you can do on a stock body with reasonably wide tires and camber.

Based on the mark on the exhaust manifold I think it's coming from the NPT to AN adapter on top of the extension. Looks like it's sort of "spraying" so really only leaking when it's really hot on the long drive. Doesn't seem to drip or anything otherwise, just need to tighten it a bit more when I'm back home. I've just used basic white thread sealant on NPT threads or the BSPT threads and haven't had issues honestly. (Using the fluid one, not the tape stuff)

Most of the interior is well coated, the cup holder and something like the shifter are the few "open" areas that can't be be totally sealed off or are going to get hot over time anyway. The entire interior is coated in lizard skin and everything but the roof has dynamat. No issues with anything carpeted as far as heat goes. I think at this point the issue is preventing as much heat as possible from getting to the metal to begin with by treating the underside with more lizard skin ceramic or some kind of transmission tunnel cover. In town and really in a drive less than an hour or two you'd never notice it

Heading back to Mexico. Had a nice final cruise and coffee run in my hometown. The drive back was SMOOTH after a Datsun friend in Washington got my alignment back where it belongs. Massive difference with the bump steer spacers under the brand new steering rack and having raised the inboard mounting points of the front control arms with the new crossmember The beauty of longer drives like this is I get to REALLY test it and, especially in the heat, notice things that would otherwise never pop up. -Pinion seal on the diff needs to be replaced have a nice spot on my otherwise clean stainless exhaust from the fluid. -One of coolant fittings in the back of the head isn't quiiiite sealed. Looks like it splattered a bit on the the Cyl 6 runner for the exhaust manifold and probably at least partially responsible for the streaks I saw on the transmission bell housing. -Something's up with the oil pump or area immediately around it. Seems like once the oil is warmed up it's leaking slightly and the fan is spreading things around. Gasket looked good around most of it though, saw drips of oil on the bolt heads mostly. -One of the injectors is possibly not perfectly seated. It took a LOT of miles but there's almost a fine dusting on the last couple and on my fuel hose and pressure gauge. -The seal around the oil fill cap is cracked. I'll debate whether I just get a new seal or a really nice cap around birthday time haha -The plastic ring/sleeve on the backside of my horn has been cracked for a long while. Typically holds fine, but I'm stiffer bumps it falls right between my legs haha. I remember seeing some kind of 3D print replacement somewhere. I'll look into that more or figure out an original replacement. -The screws that hold up the fresh air vent thingamabob switch thing are M5x... .5. no one carries them locally but it's finally time to bolt this thing up and not have it just dangling around under the dash by the passenger foot well. - Finally - looks like I need to do even more about heat, especially off the transmission tunnel. My cup holder from Milkfab was getting nice and hot and turning my drinks into tea by the end. The cabin stays nice and cool despite no AC for now. The lizard skin SERIOUSLY helps, but I think I need to coat the underside so less heat gets into the metal to begin with. -Another consideration is using my vented hood. It's been sitting outside my dad's shed for a while, but I'm debating getting it sand blasted then paint matched and swapping to it. The other option is a carbon hood. Either way, I need to get heat out of the engine bay. All Things considered, pretty small things for a nearly 50 year old car built by a music teacher who does this as a hobby with this as my only experience building a car

Almost ready for the drive back to Utah tomorrow. Car has been running quite well since swapping the ignition coil. I'm currently in "square" GM truck coils, and next year plan on fully swapping all of them out for reliability so I'm not having the issues I had this summer. Christmas visit I think will finally be time to run the AC lines. Over 1000 miles on it just since Thursday, and probably another 1000 between short rides here and the drive back to Utah before I head off to Mexico again. Got to do some nice rides out here on the islands as well as up to Vancouver. Despite the repeated frustrations, and various rattles and small noises I'm not expecting becoming extra obvious with so many miles in it, it really is a joy to drive and I'm happy with how insanely different this thing is from even a few years ago. I was telling my brother in law that it's weird looking back at old folders of pictures I had of other cars for motivation because my car is better than most of them in most ways now haha

Made it to Washington! Bit of oil is leaking from the oil pump or the front of the oil pan. Not severe enough to do an emergency fix while I'm around for a friend's wedding a few days but probably something I'll address when I'm home for Christmas. Ignition coil on 6 went out with a couple hours left in the drive. Was going crazy thinking it was a connector again, but ended up replacing the coil this morning. Unplugged the injector and turned off EGO correction so the rest of the cylinders would at least be close for the last bit of the drive and took it easy but I think these old LS2 coils are just going out. I'll need to upgrade all of them, I think they were already old and pulled off a junkyard engine by the PO. Only other hiccup was more vibration than I'd like but I don't think it's the alignment. Getting tires rotated and balanced right now. Haven't done that since I first bought them which at this point has been several years and close to 10k miles between the now 3 round trips from Seattle area to northern Utah and the cruise down the Pacific coast highway. First time around I had them done at Discount and I feel like the guys there didn't do a couple of them right anyway Mostly small things but with how many miles I like to cruise around they get very noticeable

I assembled them with plenty of grease (which actually made inspection a bit messy haha) I did manage to tighten them properly with the help of my brother in law's impact and the seem well seated now and aren't just loosely spinning around. I really think they just didn't seat as well as they should have when I first installed and it gave a false sense of security when I first torqued them down. If the few miles I put on them last summer before moving wore down too much and they tell me I need new ones I'll definitely reach out. Ball joints are easy, I'm mostly hoping the bearings don't have to be replaced, since those have maybe 6-7000 miles. Took so long between installing and really using the car that I never bothered to double check the torque after a few drives.

Wasn't charged for alignment. They said my wheel bearings and ball joints were loose. They got the toe close and it's driving well but I'm noticing the playin the center. Probably wasn't noticeable before with all the play in the steering rack. I've tightened the wheel bearings and noticed the improvement immediately, next up is ball joints. I think brand new nicely greased parts from Apex going into nearly 50 year old components just didn't seat completely on install. Inspected the ball joint yesterday and it seemed completely fine, just loose. Need to find my 1/2" impact attachment, was only able to tighten a bit yesterday since it was just spinning.

So cool to see you back around! Definitely took a lot of inspiration from your threads back in the day, though I've gone full turbo since

Oh I forgot the most important detail... My annoying noise seems to be solved. I did replace the driver side CV, but there's a chance the new stiffer Kameari mounts stopped some movement and it was slight exhaust issues all along... Should have tested separately but I have things to do haha.

Fairly positive it's never been in an accident, but it's so hard to know on a car nearly 50 years old. Gonna ask T3 if anyone else has had the issue. There is always the chance that the mustache bar studs are slightly off on the body. Got the car back on the ground yesterday. Shaved the fins enough to mount the dog bone but I need to get longer bolts to mount the rear sway bar. The ones included from T3 are a size thicker. I think their design has changed just slightly since I purchased mine, I have a hard time believing they've included the wrong size bolts twice now, once when I bought the new sway bar, and once when I got the fancy caps. I got the alignment shockingly close just by measuring both sides to the end of the tie rod end. We'll see if I'm actually close or just imagining things when I get an alignment tomorrow. The front camber is slightly more negative now since I moved the inboard mounts on the front control arms up a spot from what I think is stock on the new crossmember. Between that and the bump steer shims in the new steering rack I think it should be driving waaaaay better. Three or four days left until I drive it up to Washington for a friend's wedding and really see how it's going on a longer trip

Zero issues. I finally got better screws for the connector case and tightened it up properly. Started running rough halfway through my first longer drive. I guess the vibrations shifted it out juuuust enough that some of the pins didn't make full contact, which makes sense in retrospect because at cruise it was sort of subtly surging, which I know know was one of the coils not firing every time. Agree on the T3 fitment issue. The problem isn't just that it's thicker though, it's the shape of the top. It doesn't dip down at the sides almost immediately like the stock bar, so at the top it has less clearance. I probably could have kept the studs honestly, but with the fitment and lack of flexibility I couldn't even slide the thing on to check without removing the whole diff and just assumed that I'd be needing the spacer and the studs wouldn't be long enough. Would not say I'm unhappy with the angle of my CVs, but it's also so hard to see it properly while on my back. I can tell they're very slightly angled back to meet the diff, but it's less than the angle they're at vertically just while sitting. It's not a huge deal, they'd be a pretty horrible part if they couldn't handle tiny variations outside of perpendicular As far as your fitment, do you have an older version of the bar? I think they've changed slightly over time. I can live with skimming on the mount. I'm more bummed that I have to slightly shave the fins on the diff cover to clear the mustache bar. The diff cover was near perfect condition original piece (minus some grime), but I don't plan on selling so the value isn't tooooo big of an issue haha

We got the diff cover studs out, but I feel like I'm not totally happy with the fitment of this t3 bar Seems to be just skimming the fuel tank mounting point on the spare tire well even after a bit of thumping and hammering. We'll see how it holds up. Also only used some washers instead of the spacer provided by T3. I think I still have some adjustment on the RT diff mount and the spacer might get the CVs completely perpendicular to the wheels but it's close for now. Other major project is the new crossmember/steering rack/Kameari engine isolators. I couldn't use the adjustable engine mounts I bought for now because the top runs into my oil pressure sensor due to the T underneath it for the oil feed to the turbo Aanyway, mostly done with this major project. Just waiting on a new tie rod end since both the ends on the new rack are right hand thread unlike the original Last little problem I had was a cylinder not firing. Racked my brain over it for hours only to find out the DB37 connector on my MS box wasn't completely seating... The side of the connector that was just slightly lifting enough to have intermittent contact issues happened to be the side with the wires for spark control

This is looking so sick! Especially impressed with that harness.

I'll take some pics of how it works during the week. Car is parked at the show I was prepping it for. Even if they stuck with studs I'd have to replace them with longer ones. The billet is thicker than the steel mustache bar. It's also completely straight and has a billet spacer to account for the curve in original bar to meet the mounting face if the diff cover. Original studs barely get you 3/4 of the way through the material on the new one. Haven't worked on it a ton, but aside from being more pieces and more hardware to potentially back out, I think their mustache bar would actually make it easier to service everything

Summer Update before the show and parade: -Fuel filter replaced -Intake piping between IC and throttle remade and working now -Ended up have to purchase a new battery ($$$ ☹️) -Cleaned out inside of car -Vacuum lines for ECU and BOV redone -Car is now back to driving! Notable problems/hangups: -Did not have time to install the new crossmember and engine mounts. Will save for next week. -I was mostly ready to install the new T3 mustache bar then realized it uses bolts instead of the studs on the diff cover. Spent several hours trying to remove the studs with no success and ended up putting the OEM one back on. I'm so sick of this type of work and hang ups that I'm ready to just drop it off at a shop and have them pull the studs for me -Car can't seem to idle below 1100-1200 once warm. Can't tell if I'm missing a vacuum leak somewhere, but idle timing correction IS kicking in and PWM on the IAC is near zero. I'll check it when I'm not rushed to show it off this weekend -After driving again after such a long break I'm now pretty certain what I thought was an exhaust rattle is actually unfortunate timing and one of my CVs has gone bad. I think I just had a luck of the draw in a part that didn't last. When I was checking the sound I noticed it only happens under load and the speed of the tapping depends on the car's speed - not on RPM. Exhaust tapping would get faster with engine RPM, I tested multiple gears at the same speed and it made no difference. Rock Auto replacements of what I have are cheap so bought another couple. Hopefully problem is solved because that's the only thing that makes this car unenjoyable to drive right now. Most other things feel pretty good!

Oh I'll absolutely take a ton! Flight is scheduled for the 26th this month. 27th and 28th of June will basically be full car work all day with some food breaks haha. I want it to be ready for the Cache Valley Cruise-In. I've considered that, but opted against it. If the mounts don't work I'm just going to cut and splice in about a 1/4" section to the middle of the downpipe. The midpipe also has to be remade to add clearance to the resonator anyway. Had incredibly good exhaust clearance until i opted to add more to quiet the sound - my frame rails were the lowest part of the car. I think I have enough room for an upturn in the midpipe that raises the already dented Vibrant unit.