BLOZ UP

The custom manifolds requirement (or steering rack modification) are the biggest reason it's not popular, I'm guessing.

Classic.

"We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self control." -Ancient Egyptian tomb inscription

Nice welds. Looks real clean. I like the mount on the rear crossmember--I should have done that.

The Z32 NA balancer is smaller, from what I've read. I need someone to measure it for me.

Ugh. Looks like I need an underdrive pulley. Z31 setup for reference: Looks like the VG33 crank snout and Z32 pulley sticks out more. Perhaps I didn't install it all the way, but I tried to line up the pulleys where I thought they went. I need the VG33 timing gear and shims installed to be sure.

Got new center gauges. SpeedHut 2-5/8". Haven't found decent install instructions here for these gauges, so I'm experimenting and can report back. Got 2 gauges installed. Will need to dissassemble the first one to redo it, and dissassemble the second one to repaint the OE trim black. Boost/Vacuum Fuel Pressure Oil Pressure All with high/low warning feature and peak recall, IIRC. The wiring bag marked "Fuel Pressure Gauge" came with a 1/8 BSPT male to 1/8" NPT female adapter that I can use for the oil pressure gauge. The oil pressure gauge bag came with another NPT adapter or two. Or was it the other way around? Regardless, I have almost everything I need to hook them up (still need a turbo oil feed solution that may come off the oil pressure sending unit hole on the block). First one I did was the easiest--so I thought. The clock: Step 1: Remove everything in the way: Remove gauge, dissassemble casing, remove innards. Remove clock set button/dial (I crushed the plastic hole it came through). Drilled 2" hole in the center. Had to grind away part of the black lip of the OE gauge cover to let the SpeedHut gauge come through the clear plastic enough to tighten down with the retaining ring. After this I installed it and it looked like shit, but was secure. It's at a completely wrong angle. Oops. So I started on the second gauge, the fuel gauge replacement (My SpeedHut speedo has a small fuel gauge): Again, take gauge apart and remove innards. I tried drilling the plastic but it broke. I then decided to use the included spacer from SpeedHut against the gauge front cover--but this required grinding down the front cover lip completely. Then the front cover lip fell out and the ID of the gauge hole increase, making my spacer and retaining ring have nothing to grip. Finally, I used the metal gauge trim. I removed the center cross piece and bent all edges inward (into the dash). I place it in the front cover (the retaining plastic pins were broken but no matter), then slip the gauge through and tightened the ring. Success! But My grinding removed the paint from the front cover so I need to take it apart again to touch it up: That's as far as I got. I seemingly failed to take a photo of the finished gauge outside the dash. But, basically, you need to widen the bottom-most hole a couple mm so that the largest plug from the back of the new gauge fits through. I also put on a rubber grommet on those hole--which I highly recommend to avoid firey (fuse) death. After fixing those two I need to do the boost gauge, then wire it all in. I already have the main 2 gauges wired in I just have to tap in to those. Also, protip: The instructions say to plug in the button (1/8" stereo plug) to the "back left" side. This is slightly confusing but the diagram sort of lazily points to the left side as viewed from the front of the gauge, so the right if you are looking at the back of the gauge (with the wiring pigtail at the bottom). I got a nice condition Z32 pulley (TT I believe, if that makes a difference): It fits! (Z32 pulley on crank, Z31 pulley on the engine stand frame). Didn't get a chance to see if it would fit, maybe today.

Wut? So his graph doesn't count because some graphs are exaggerated/setup improperly? Why would the easiest way to check for a "fake" be to compare it to a completely different engine? Because those darned old VGs can't make that much power, no matter what? The correction factor (still think those should be turned off, as per SAE guidelines) and input weather variables are plainly visible.

Ah, I see some of those look similar to the OE ZZZAP mirrors. I will see about getting some.

Cleaned and installed rear seal plate and rear seal. Tested oil pickup tube, had a small leak. Fixed it. Installed oil pan. Noticed oil pickup tube was still on welding table. Removed and cleaned oil pan Installed oil pickup tube Noticed oil pan doesn't fit Fixed oil pan Installed oil pan Noticed crank has a stupid dent in it preventing pilot bushing from going in, had to grind it away. Noticed pilot bushing doesn't fit, can't install flywheel Installed engine to fit engine VG33 (Frontier) crank pulley doesn't fit Remote oil filter hookups close to engine mount, need to order 45 or 90 degree fittings and possibly custom lines. Stupid rear seal plate gasket was practically welded on. Chipped away all I could then just use a gasket remover with my die grinder on it. Remote oil filter lines: Harmonic balancer problems: The valve covers are on the opposite sides they're supposed to be. I thought I could run the PCV lines this way. Doesn't look so good. Will try the right way around with the front crossover to see if that works. Then, the top vent currently to the left of the oil cap will go to my PCV catch can in the battery area. I think. That's about it. Stuck until I get new crank timing plates and pilot bearing/bushing, and I figure out what crank balancer will work. There's hope: It looks like the Z32 balancer has the right pulley ODs, if it fits on this crank like I've been hearing it does I'm golden.

I drove a MG T series on the highway. The Honda Civic next to me looked gigantic. That was a scary, yet fun, experience.

I tried to find a 6262 compressor map, but failed to. I have a (I believe) slightly smaller turbo (50 trim T04E) and 0.3L more displacement; I'm hoping for less peak power but a powerband that starts a bit lower. Say, from 3500 to 6500. That would give me that elusive 3000 RPM spread you want.

So, if you recall I had a oil pickup tube problem. The VG33 (Frontier, specifically) pickup tube is designed for a Frontier oil pan and oil pump. I have a Z31 oil pan, which uses the Z31 pickup tube, which expects a VG30 oil pump. I needed to combine the two. First, I measured to see how much room I had to work with. You have about 3.5" from the splash guard or whatever it is, and 4.5" where the splash guard is cut out. It looks like I am SOL as it would be very complex to route it to where I wouldn't have to modify the oil pan. So, I just cut up the oil pickup tubes and tried to make them fit. Well, it sort of fits: After a couple of gentle pushes in the right direction, more welding. Pro-tip: Don't breathe these fumes. Done! Only a couple small holes blew through. Once all the crap burned off the inside it welded a bit better. It's pretty thick metal. Now I just need to leak test it and somehow clean the shit out of the interior.

I'm making a bunch of changes. We'll see if they all work. Intercooler, injectors, valve job, cams... oh and +0.3L. Not sure if the oil pump or the crank pulley are going to fit. One way to find out.

It was simple. It was easy to reach. I cleaned the shit out of it. I hate cast. Exploding molten aluminum hitting my mask. Char marks everywhere. Contaminated tungsten and weld (due to tungsten getting a bit too hot). Oh well, it's just an oil pump. What could possibly go wrong? Much, much easier to torque the heads with the lifter and rockers out. I had to dissassemble the passenger side actually, since my socket's too wide to fit passed the rocker rod. I'm using as few of the paper gaskets as possible, and using grey RTV. The old paper gasket on the block's oil pump mounting surface was a huge PITA to remove. Assembled as far as I can go! I forgot that my VG30 timing belt guide plates won't fit on a 3.3L crank. Oops. Have to order those now. Also, neither my new OEM oil pump or my aftermarket water pump came with the little rubber rods that go in between either of them. More silicone then! I could squeeze some welding rod and more silicone on top of that, but I figured this was good enough.

Why is that?

If your distributor isn't locked (looks like it but I would take it apart further to verify), then you have additive timing from both MegaSquirt and the mechanical advance. That's bad. It should just be megasquirt.

Got one head assembled and torqued. So, the FSM specifically reminds you to put the inner valve spring seat on first, before putting the valve. I followed these instructions for the first 2 valves, but then promptly forgot them when I tried to go faster and assemble all of them at once. Surprisingly, the valve seals did not come off cleanly so now I need a new set. Luckily they are not that expensive. However, they will have to be shipped it looks like as I can't find any in stores. I might have to call.... the dealer.... as I want to get this motor installed this weekend. My rocker arms were clean, but the rocker, uh, tube things, weren't. I did a quick clean up of the oil passages, they were pretty bad. I'm realizing that I can install the valve and spring assemblies, then torque the head on the engine, then install the cam, lifters and rocker arms. It will be easier to torque the cam and easier to torque the head. I will do this for the driver side. And there it sits. The headgaskets seem kind of cheap around the edges, but otherwise look OEM. Total losses so far: 1 main bearing, 1 oil ring, 4 valve seals.

Got my heads back, finally. I can't really tell if it's "3 angles" or not, but it feels smoother than the stock setup. I think. Started gathering all the parts to reassemble the heads (keepers are soaking, forgot to clean them). Put one valve assembly together. My $30 ebay spring compressor works well. Far better than the $20 spring-clamping type that scares the shit out of me. Should have pretty much everything to reassembled the engine. Still need to weld the oil pickup tube and oil pump, but that can be done after the heads are assembled and installed. Oh, and I got my overpriced "boost connect" kit in the mail that was on back order and I was about to cancel. It's just push-to-connect fittings. It's a few feet of tube, 2 connectors and some junctions that I likely won't need. Pretty skimpy for 65 bucks. Will order any additional ones from McMaster-Carr or eBay or something.

I love my GPS speedo. It cuts out every once and a while due to losing the signal (mountains and shit), but is smart and doesn't plummet to zero MPH. Wonder if it has an accelerometer. But it's so nice to have an accurate speed readout. Plus 0-60 and 1/4 mile timer, and altitude, and all the other features I haven't tried.

More power. Always more power.

Did some more work. Heads should be ready this week, and hopefully I can reassemble them by this weekend. Then I just need to weld the oil pump relocation fittings on, and weld the oil pickup tube. Should be easy. So I dissassembled my lifters to "rebuild" them, which is just a good cleaning. They ticked pretty bad on my VG30 so I've been soaking them for a while. I did a engine degreaser, carb cleaner, degreaser routine on all of them. One was pretty stuck, so it got treated overnight. I noticed that a couple of the rebuild instructions available online say to use a small pick, toothpick and a clamp. I found a slightly easier way using an angled pick and a tiny screwdriver, and a piece of welding wire. It took 3 seconds to get each c clip out once I got the hang of it. First, I compressed the lifter using my large C clamp with a rag on each end. I compressed the lifter completely. At first I tried inserting the welding wire to "hold" it in place at this step, but then I found that once the pressure had been bled it could be compressed by hand outside the clamp easily. So you can rotate and squeeze much easier with your hand to get the stop, the filler rod in. I also didn't really understand the need for the stop in order to remove the c clip but I used it anyway in case parts might go flying. After removing the clip, i pulled out the top piston and then inserted my orange pick into the bottom to compress the spring. I mash it down a few times, compressing the spring, to get it loose. Some of them didn't want to come out otherwise. After that you compress the spring down, hold it, and press at an angle, then pull it out while pressing to the side. All 12 are clean now. They need to be resurfaced (allegedly, not sure if this is true, esp. with new regrinds), and then washed off. Then that's all that's left other than reassembly for the heads. I also cut out and welded my battery holder. It's kind of a disappointment but I'm not sure what I was expecting in the first place. It all fits comfortably and the wires aren't being pinched. I did **** up and drill holes in the car wrong. I saw that coming though as this was the first time I was drilling into the unit body and although I measured 5 times it ended up being slightly off and I opted to drill a new hole rather than try and fix the old one. Otherwise, it's in there. Just need to tighten it up and figure out a way to add retention to the top. I'm actually thinking of a simple strap around the whole thing rather than trying to weld anything additional to it. The fusible links will be going up above and to the left of the original fuse box. This will require very little new wiring. Speaking of which, the battery is about 15 lbs lighter than the OE style one, the wire I ran is about 5 lbs total, so I'm at ~10 lbs weight savings, in addition to a smaller polar moment and slightly lower CG. More importantly, I have room to run some PCV and other stuff in the engine bay. For the oil pump, I picked up some weld on fittings. It will be much, much easier to weld these on the new pump than trying to clean an old one up. Bonus: oil pump came with a new, already pressed in front main seal. They need a little grinding to work though.

IME, it depended wildly on the city and inspection station. More than the NJ safety inspection though! That was canned since they can't balance a budget here. Anyway, they really just checked lights, horn and if it stopped well enough. Tires, bumpers and other stuff never came in to question (despite there being requirements) when I was in DFW. Then again my car looked clean and the tires were new.

I'm having a 3 angle at Headmasters. They are waaaay north though. All the other places I called were $400+ for a 3 angle. Headmasters is $225 for my SOHC V6. It's worth the 2 hour round trip for me. For you probably not.

Ordered 3 2-5/8" Speedhut gauges during their 20% off march sale, to replace the center 3 stock gauges. Boost/vac, oil pressure and fuel pressure. Realized I'll need to get a water temperature gauge at some point in the future. Believe I still have a Prosport one sitting around somewhere--and the sender's still in my lower intake manifold, heh. That will work until my bank account recovers. The other day I finish making the battery leads. I connected them to the bulkhead connectors and can actually connect a few systems to test now. I still need to wire in the fusible links--but I'm not sure I'm going to stick with the AGU fuses. Regardless, today I just planned out the battery holder. I'll be making it out of 1/8" aluminum sheet. It seems a bit on the thin side but I don't have enough 1/4" and 1/4" looks way to thick. Besides if I hit something hard enough to get the battery not only out of the holder, but out of the steel compartment--I'm likely dealing with much, much more important physics problems. So I took this picture and then realized that I measured the height wrong. I didn't take a photo of my revisions. It's going to be 5.5" tall, and as wide as the battery (7.25"). There sides extend further than the battery about 3/8" to allow for some padding against the uneven steel compartment. Then the ~1/2" mounting faces come 90 degrees of the end of each side where it will be bolted to the compartment. There's going to be a 1" lip on the bottom and a 2x3" or so tab on top to keep it in place (in addition to the steel lip of the compartment). I'll add some gussets/other reinforcements as I see fit. I see this as more structurally sound than the two fastener stock metal frame and J hook, but let me know if it sounds unsafe.