Sparky

As you progress in your build and you spend more and more time here, you'll learn that there are certain members that don't give much thought to. As with most things in life, we must learn about the world and it's properties through experience. Some of us are lucky enough to have friends and or relatives that are mechanics, or engineers or just well off so we receive advice or financial support. The key is to not be embarrassed or ashamed to ask silly questions. We've all heard that "there is no such thing as a stupid question." Obviously there is such a thing as stupid response. Even the "smartest" of us have made stupid posts or embarked on cheap or nonsensical repairs and "upgrades." The foam in the frame rail is a tremendously bad idea. You'll notice that the frame rail has holes in it or does not seal completely at the welds, the factory does this to allow the frame rail to breath. The factory knew the car would rust but did what it could to prolong it for the expected life span of the product. That foam will hold in water and speed up the degradation and adding "performance" suspension components will further expedite this process by applying additional stress on already weak components. I had the frame rail tear apart at the sway bar mounts when I added my ST bars, what was shocking to me at the time was that the car was a Texas car and relatively rust free. What became apparent to me later as I rebuilt the car was that there is always hidden rust, one small spot almost always leads to a bigger spot, and big spots lead to major repairs. I would sell your TTT tension rods, save some money, take a welding class, and start repairing your car. If you have a second car, use it. If you don't buy a beater Honda or Toyota truck and drive that around while you fix it. Driving it will only destroy it further and it could get to the point were it's beyond repair OR it could get to the point that you cause an accident as my friend alluded to earlier. You don't necessarily need to spend big money on welders or pre-fabricated patch panels; While they help, patience and care will get you far when your broke.

Dang Yasin, your ZX has come along way...absolutely gorgeous. Next time you decided to come over to my side of the state send me a message and I'll buy you and your car some alcohol.

Make sure all your relays are ground properly, when I went to check my fuel injectors I just found six small spice jars, yanked the fuel rail and injector wiring as one unit and set each injector in it's own little car that way I could see that they were firing as well as the spray pattern. I've got a spare 280Z ecu in S.A.

I found my SSR reverse meshies by searching google after a long fruitless search through multiple forums. Google directed me to a craigslist add 2000 miles away and I ended up getting them shipped here. The problem with going that route is that you never know what (if anything) you'll get.

Yeah I'm not sure I'm going to make it either, and I live in the area. Maybe i'll try to make one of those track days that Chris keeps telling my about the day before they happen.

sounds absolutely sick! Are you coming down to SA for the big Z show next week?

I'll pitch in 20$ just to see it set on fire.

Thanks everyone, bought a new cable for my rotary tool now all I need is the sanding drums... The pistons: http://forums.hybridz.org/picture.php?albumid=3&pictureid=1362 How imperative is it that I CC the heads after the fact? And as far as the Ew...it's german comment, you should see the car! Talk about nasty: That's all I'm willing to show of this beast until it runs and drives

Hello everyone, So I bought a new (to me) car with a "Rebuilt" engine only to find that the high compression pistons hit the cylinder head. The head has been removed and the offending bit marked as seen below: So as you can see the dome in the piston hits the head ever so slightly, it's not so bad that the engine cannot be turned over by hand but there is a noticeable resistance when doing so. Others with a similar problem resolve the issue by reshaping the chamber like so: But I think that that might be a bit aggressive and that a more thoughtful approach to combustion may yield better results. By reshaping the chamber to promote or entice a controlled flame spread and in keeping with the somewhat "hemispherical" nature of this head like so (red line is material removal, blue line is slightly repositioned ridge) Am I just talking nonsense here? I'm imagining that as the intake charge ignites it travels away from the spark plug aided by the angle of the plug and the existing ridge and "swirls" counter clockwise to the exhaust valve. By aggressively reshaping or removing this ridge as shown in the second picture you begin to lose the benifit of having it, by reshaping to keep as much of that ridge as possible I can only hope to maintain the entent of the original design. Obviously i'm not experienced in this field of expertise and so I ask the experts here for opinion on both my approach, and for advice on how to achieve my goals, IE best tools for the job (grits, drums, cones, process) and wether or not post process check up..aka CC'ing is an absolute necessity. I'm not after peak performance, I just want to get the car running and driving in a reliable enough state so that It can take over for my current daily driver. Pictures of the aforementioned car will come shortly, in the mean time I'm hoping to get a good foundation of advice so that I may proceed before weeks end. Thanks.

The local Z guys meet at champs americana on the second tuesday of each month, somebody there surely has a contact. I can do the work but I might only have a few extra hours every weekend to help out, probably not beneficial. best of luck, hope he get's that beast back on the road soon, the Z car convention is in San Antonio in october of this year, plenty of time to put it back together!

Anyone from the area know of any good classic car appraisers? I'm looking at making a purchase but would like to have it inspected before I commit. Thanks in advance!

Turbonetics bought rajay some time ago and may still have rebuild kits.

I'd be willing to bet that the Crank case vent valve is the culprit, it's a very common issue and causes sever powerloss and hesitation. the 528, even in wagon for should scoot around fairly well.

Dang I was planning on being in Dallas this weekend to look at a BMW 2002 (yeah, still looking) but it fell through at the last minute! Too bad, have fun, post some pictures up!

Count me in for a set as well!

Sucks about Chris and his blowed up transmission, also sucks that he tells me about these things so last minute! lol certainly looks like fun, wish I would have made it up there!

Dave, we need more smart people like us on the road:) Too many times I see pepple merge onto the highway just to shoot over four lanes and sit at 5 below, while I'm passing them in the same lane I was in while merging at 5 above with everyone else. I tend to also just drive a bit faster than everyone else, I'm not out there to win a race, but to avoid everyone while trying to anticipate every stupid move. as for brake checking, in my younger days I brake checked a truck full of rednecks after they reacted negatively to my passing them at the speed limit very late at night. They proceeded to pass me, return the favor, plus throw full cans a beer at my car. (Natty light of all things) they basically chased me for 20 miles...angry and drunk. I took an exit at the last minute while watching one of them trying to throw a beverage at me only to have it explode all over him. I spent the last 20 miles of my backroad drive thinking about how I could have avoided that and have not done it since. It's only happened once since then but if your on my bumper, pass me enraged and I'll laugh at you when your getting pulled over by the obviously unmarked car you just flew passed. I hope for that everytime!

Both I bought a staggered set of reverse mesh, but what I got was two 16x9 reverse mesh and two 16x7.5 formula mesh. not the ideal outcome but I figured that I will use them until I find a set in 17"

Oh you lucky SOB, those are my dream wheels as well, but I settled on some 16" instead, still took me 6 months to find them. SSR mesh ftw!

Not if your Ronald McDonald.

Do you have the little blue sticker with the plates? In texas you have to have the dated plates approved via special plate registration, then they send you the two blue registration stickers, one with the years date, and the second with a cross referenced tag number. It's a major PITA and most city and county cops have no idea how to properly look them up, I can't count how many times I've been pulled over for "no registration" only to have to explain to them how the tags work. Pffft.

I've never used the parker stuff, but I have used the XRP Aeroquip and russle push lock stuff. I prefer the Aeroquip simple because it has a metal collar ( hose stop) vs the rubber of the XRP. I fit them together dry by sticking the fitting in the freezer for a few hours and heating the hose up in the oven at the lowest setting. I've been able to fit them together with minimal cursing using that method. I only use this method for high temp hose. in the end though I think I prefer the braided stuff for longevity sake, I've had some of the Aeroquip push lock stuff start cracking and peeling apart after a few years of under car use, I'm sure the manufacturers expect real race cars to get new hose every season so just be vigilant and do regular inspections.

Woh that sounds good... car pr0n good. Makes me want to get rid of all my turbo stuff and build a nice little N/A motor.