PapaSmurf

yep that's right that's what I did. It doesn't seem to be burning water at all anymore so I wonder if this head gasket ordeal is over. It's burning oil on acceleration though so I expect that to be rings, I'm going to get it to the shop and ask them to do a leak down test as part of a qoute - then kindly decline their offer to fix it for 4-5 thousand dollars and do it myself. One day I'll have some free time to pull it apart and get it figured out, My son is turning 1 year old on Tuesday and I've got another on the way so it's hard to find time for the Z these days. What I really need to do is get a 6x4 sheet of plywood and a few 3x4s and build a few baby gates. This kid has torn down every gate I've put up, he ripped the latest one out of the wall - I didn't know 1 year olds were supposed to be able to climb, maybe mine's just some sort of evil genius.

Don't you just love technology? This sort of thing makes me wonder just how much I want to megasquirt my s30...

I used a brand new torque wrench, not the most expensive wrench but I believe it to be acurate I torqued it to the highest option according to the book by the pattern in three stages ie to 35 to 45 to 65 I dont remember the exact numbers but I took them from the book. It doesnt seem to be burning water as much any more mostly oil. I havent had time to get it apart to check the head with a straight edge but that is the plan. It smokes most on acceleration which makes me worry its rings too. I may take it in for a leak down test before dissasembly to save some trouble. If the rings are bad Ill just have to find an engine stand and learn how to hone it out and change them.

You need the cas sensor from the z31. Make sure it is not upside down. I've been trying to get a hold of parts for this swap for months now. I have everything but the oil pump to dizzy shaft (I bought one but it turned out to be from an 81 turbo eg not star pattern) and the wiring harness. If anyone has the wiring harness or shaft let me know. I'm starting to rethink this as an intermediate step before megasquirt. I may just sell the parts I've collected and jump to megasquirt. Since I have to figure out everything from scratch anyways

I did another search and found this thread The blocked passages are just for coolant - so shouldn't be contributing to my low oil pressure issue. However I was confused as hell when he said that his f54 block didn't have those blocked passages. Mine does. I thought all f54s were the same cast? Both my p79 and my f54block have those coolant passages. My gasket ignores them. I'm going to try trading the oil pump from my old n42 with the f54 and see if that helps the oil pressure issue and I'm going to do a wet/dry compression test to test the rings. If I do need new rings I'll just swap crank shafts with the n42 while I'm at it and have the new one checked out. I really don't have time for this I just want to drive the thing already.

yeah when I get time to tear it back down I'll be checking both the head and block making sure they're flat, I'll take the head down and get it magnafluxed and have the machine shop make damned sure it's true. I was thinking a leak down test would be a good idea though before I tear it down. The cheapest machine shop in town that I've found will charge me 400 bucks for a valve job and new guides + the cost of parts :S so I was really putting it off. The cost of rings for the 81-83 n/a blocks is almost twice that of rings for the n42 blocks so I've been putting that off too. When I initially installed the engine I checked the cylinder walls and could still see the honing marks quite clearly, when I removed the head to change the gasket I could still see them, I saw no scoring or anything to tell me that the rings were in fact bad. So I'm at a loss as far as the oil burning goes. I'll do some more searching on that gasket though maybe I'll find something.

Hey guys, well when I went through my "new" (f54 block) engine I installed an old (never used) head gasket left over from my n42 block. I forgot the f54 had an extra water jacket and the gasket died after about 3 miles worth of driving. So I ordered and installed a new head gasket specifically for the 81zx engine. When I installed it I noticed it had the extra hole but was missing quite a few holes that were on the block and cylinder head. So I figured the hell with it I've never had an issue with these gaskets before they must know what they're doing right? Well this head gasket is seemingly bad too now - after only driving it a mile to the gas station and back! So either the gasket was the wrong one or the cylinder head is warped. I saw no evidence of water damage or corosion when I disasembled the engine the first time so I've got to believe that this is a gasket and not warp (Gasket is a cheaper fix too and I'm optimistic) So what's the deal with the missing holes in the f54 felpro gaskets? I'm confused as hell here. I can post a part number if it would be helpful, I still have the box. I just went out there and ran the engine for a bit and the oil pressure is HELLA low! But the water seems to be gone from the exhaust. I'm loosing it here I also adjusted the timing chain when I replaced the gasket, I seem to be off a notch because it's running like ****, stumbling and misfiring here and there, which is odd because the marks all line up the cam mark was off to the left before the adjustment which is what I thought was correct but reading my possibly lying chiltons manual it said it should be to the right - closest I could get it on the #3 mark was just about dead center which is better than nothing for now - but it's not running right and it was running great before. another annoying issue is I'm burning oil still, I just replaced the valve stem seals, but when I got the head off 5 out of 6 combustion chambers were fouled with oil. I think I payed too much for this engine! The last tid bit is - I just replaced the crank pully, the crankshaft was warped underneath it, I'm wondering if it's warped further back into the engine and may have killed some bearings causing the low oil pressure scenario? I'm thinking of just honing my n42 block, buying some rings, and plugging in the flat tops I just cant afford the rings, bearings, etc and I've never taken apart the lower end of these things before. *sigh* another summer without my Z

Like I said, I got it off - in 8 pieces. You can unbolt the top pulley but that doesn't mean it will come off My main problem is that the end of the crank shaft was warped. When I put the new one on it required a mallet. Usually they just slide on with some grease. I've discovered that this new engine I was so happy to buy has bad rings, a warped head, and now a warped crank. The whole damned thing has to come out again. I don't know why I can never find a good engine - I've bought at least 6 in the last 8 years.

the map torch and duck foot worked, I got the old pulley off in about 8 pieces. The end of the crank shaft was warped a bit under it, I smoothed it out with some sand paper and a dremel for the scarred bits and installed the new one. That was an ordeal.

actually I happen to know for a fact that this pulley has never been removed. I was unable to remove it when I first went through the engine, the timing chain was not stretched and the front cover was not leaking so I decided to leave it and try later. The reason I'm removing it now is only due to clearance issues, but it would be nice to know that it will come off easy when needed in the future after reinstallation. My biggest concern at the moment is stripping the thread of the crankshaft where the bolt goes in. Tomorrow the duckfoot in conjuction with the map torch should get it off, If that doesnt work the blazer and a long chain will fix/break everything...

61 pages of wheels and I haven't seen my centerlines posted yet

So I recently transplanted an f54 into my s30 and ran into the clutch fan issue. For those of you who are not aware of it the f54 blocks came with 3 row crank shaft pulleys, the third row is for driving the power steering. This makes the pulley longer than the two row pulleys standard on s30 n42 engines. This presents a problem - the clutch fan from an s30 hits the crankshaft pulley and the one from an s130 hits radiator. The only REAL solution is to remove the pulley and replace it with one from an s30, other ways to fix the issue involve super thin electric fans or what I tried earlier - cutting the clutch fan blades back a bit. The problem I'm running into now is the pulley refuses to come off, I broke my first puller, my second puller has since broken every row on the pulley in multiple places, now I have a duck foot style puller I am going to try to use. The hammer does nothing, the 6ft pry bar does nothing, Now I've got a broken pulley that seems to be permanently attached to the crank. If the duck foot puller doesn't work I'm going to have to go buy a map torch and try heating it - which I wanted to avoid because I don't feel like replacing my front seal. I just wanted to rant for a bit, does anyone have any other suggestions?

it's possible maybe *edit yes aparently that seems to be the whole issue. I just posted in the l6 section and the count changed. Thanks! I feel dumb now, maybe in the future somone else will find this thread helpful at least.

I think I've encountered a glitch with the site, my post count has been the same since 2005... I must have posted a hundred times in the last month but after every post it still says 149 - anyone else experiencing this? *solved

woah, I think mine is actually 110 red originally, it's a slightly red orange but I always called it orange. that's interesting. Now I know what color to ask for specifically when I go to get the thing re-painted.

My first Z was a blue 78 with rust and dents everywhere, torn brown interior, bondo falling off it, etc. I loved that car until the day it died - it was brutally murdered by a black bmw while it was parked. After the insurance money finally arrived I drove a few hundred miles and picked up my current orange 78 280z, it was pretty but I had no idea the hellish issues it had lurking under the hood. I had an electrical fire on the way home from one of those aftermarket oil pressure guages that run oil into the interior. 5 motors, 3 parts cars, and several thousand dollars later and the thing is still parked every winter and worked on every summer. I think I honestly enjoy working on it more than I enjoy driving it... I lay awake in bed calculating how much of my next paycheck can go to the Z. Come to think of it I believe I may have a serious psychological affliction here. My name is papasmurf and I am a Z-aholic

had to mention that when I was at lackland afb for bmt they had an sr71 on display. I liked the b17, b25, p38, and p51 more though it was quite a collection. edit* I just noticed the list

I no longer need the cas wheel but the harness and the dizzy shaft are still needed

I for one don't give a rats ass about the poor little turtles and fishies that are dying. I am most pissed about all the wasted oil.

Hey I'm looking for a 82-83 turbo oil pump to dizzy shaft, also looking for a 300zx n/a fuel injection wiring harness and a distributor CAS wheel from a n/a 300zx PM me and let me know what you want.

I just purchased a z31 n/a ecu to install into my 78. I've been running carbs for years so I have no harness and no ecu in there right now. The engine is out of an 81 n/a with p79 head and it has the 81 electronic distributor. I need a shopping list though, I have the intake manifold from the 81 with all wiring and injectors and plumbing. I need a wiring harness which one, I need a chop wheel? What else? I also have the maf coming too. so with no harness what should I get z31 or zx to match the manifold? edit: finally found someone who did a na to na swap looks like I need the 82-83 zxt dizzy, the z31 wheel, the turbo oil pump shaft and the z31 harness am I missing anything?

I have 5 intake and 5 exhaust valves on my n42, yeah there was an issue that killed the other 2. I also have a very nice e88 that I was going to install on my f54 (rather than the p79) but it turned out that the brass valve seats had worn down too much. I just ported that e88 out nicely and the valves were VERY well cleaned - they look new. I don't have any decent machinists in town so it's not doing me any good you can have it for $80 plus shipping or I'll sell you the 10 valves off the n42 for $50 shipped. Maybe I have some other valves hiding in the shop I can look around.

I try to stay away from the portland area, too many weirdos haha One of my dad's friends owns a very large patch of property outside city limits with old logging roads and very large hay fields. The hay fields are great after he harvests them for driving like a crazy person. The logging roads are fun but you can't really get up to speed. There's a 1x1 mile patch of field that we used to use as a track just driving a circle. There was an abandoned industrial property in southern longview that a group of us used to go to also with about a half mile of brand new road that no one used. They blocked that area off though. One of these days when my Z is up to it I'd like to check out pir. Gotta find someone to go with though, I've never been to an actual track but it's something I would love to get into. If only to collect some time slips

Monthly bump I need a hugo fix. Any sort of update will do... just please tell us that hugo is at least resting comfortably in the garage and hasn't been hauled away.