rossman

My opinion, FWIW... If you have to change your lifestyle to buy something, then you can't afford it. As Leon addressed you should look at the total life cycle cost, not just the sticker price. I've heard some crazy numbers just for brake work. Don't forget to consider what comprehensive insurance coverage will cost for you.

Congratulations! Just remember - family comes first! I know, I have to keep reminding myself . Early morning hours when nobody's up an excellent time to work on the Z.

I talked with the Aeromotive tech rep today. He did not recommend pressurizing the pump over ~80 psi for fear of damaging the end plates due to their relatively large flat surface areas. He commented that the pressure degradation could be due to permeation thru the rubber hose (Earl's Prolite 350). He also thought that the leak rate was slow enough that I probably wouldn't have any fuel leak issues. Worst case I would need to re-seat the a fitting or two. I'm still skeptical. I'm going to bypass the pump and regulator next go round and pressurize to 180 psi. If that doesn't result in any indications then I'll press on with fuel.

Snoop helped find 2 small leaks. One in the fuel system and one of the gauge adapter fittings. I fixed both of those leaks and re-pressurized the system to 75 psi. I check every fitting and hose connection again, twice. There was no indication of a leak. So, I let it sit overnight. Unfortunately it's still losing pressure. This morning it was at 65 psi after sitting pressurized for 7 hours. The next step is to pressurize the system up to 180 psi (compressor maximum) to induce a leak as Tony stated. Should I be worried about the other components like the FPR, injectors and pump at this pressure? I don't want to blow out their seals.

It's not normal. You probably have a stuck rear brake cylinder. If the rear drums are smoking hot after you drive a bit then you found the problem.

I just got the Snoop today. Testing will resume in the morning... You know you're obsessed with your car when you get up at 4 AM to work on it because you have no other time during the day! Free is always good. I paid $14 with shipping for an 8oz bottle from Amazon. I'll be happy if it helps me find these pesky leaks.

I just checked it - 32 psi.

"Change, nothing stays the same"

So it's loosing < 1 psi/hour when pressurized to ~60 psi. There was one loose fitting and a couple of extrusion marks that weren't removed completely. I've only tested it for approx. 1 hour increments so some of that loss may be due to heat as Tony suggested. Right now it is pressurized to 59 psi. I'll take another reading later this evening or in the morning. The Snoop that I ordered should be here tomorrow. Will Snoop find a leak this slow?

You guys got my hopes up. I thought this was actually about Wolf EMS.

The set-up has a shut-off valve between the fuel system and the compressor. That valve is closed when checking for leaks, essentially isolating the compressor from the fuel system. I've checked every fitting including the gauge and shut-off valve with soapy water. There is no indication of a leak, no foaming, no bubbles, nothing. I guess it's possible the shut-off valve or gauge has an internal leak. The shut-off valve is new but the valve was cannibalized from my tire pressure gauge.

A tip I got from a former AP mechanic (now engineer) is to apply a small amount of oil or grease to the sealing faces, torque the joint, back off and re-torque. This process helps seat and seal the joint.

I know there are people out there running without the cross member that have not reported any problems. If that's good enough for you then go ahead and cut it. The cross member has three primary roles. First is to clamp the LCA bushings onto the structure of the car. Second is to react the differential nose load. Lastly is to react the LCA loads across the transmission tunnel. This last function is the one that concerns me when it is removed or cut away. The car has a nice beefy integral structure leading up the the LCA mount. If you remove the cross member, now load must travel across the thin wall around tunnel. Surely this situation increases deflections and stresses in the structure of the car. I have not seen or read about any failures resulting from the removal of this cross member. Maybe John or someone else has. For conservatism sake I would leave it in.

Well, the saga continues... All the flares are smoothed out to what looks like a smooth shiny surface under 20x magnification. I pressurized the system (10 flares, 10 unions, 6 injector o-rings, 6 ORB fittings, 4 NPT to AN fittings, 12 hose end fittings) this morning to 60 PSI. There is still a slow leak (compared to what I originally had). The pressure degrades approximately 1 lb in 4 minutes. Soapy water doesn't seem to detect any leaks at the fittings. I ordered a bottle of Snoop to see if that helps with detection.

No problem. I spent the day watching a couple of guys remove two 30' oak trees in my front yard. The drought we are having got to both of them. I was too depressed to work on the Z afterwards. Mostly because I'm going to miss the trees but also because I had to drop a serious chunk of change to have them removed. Anyway, the fuel lines are coming along nicely. The last couple flares, the ones above the differential are almost done. I can get my hand in there to twist "surface prep tool" but its going slow because I can't get much pressure on it. The plan is to pressure test the fuel system overnight this Thursday. If it holds then it's time to weld up a wastegate dump pipe. If I don't have any luck doing it myself I'll take it somewhere and have it done.

So far, two of the flares still didn't seal after using the "surface conditioner." I think the fitting was bottoming on the inner non-lapped surface causing it to leak. Working the inner flared area by hand fixed the problem. On a positive note, the 1/2" return line is much smoother. It took just a couple of minutes to get one of the flares smooth. Four more flares and I will hopefully be done. Of course I saved the hardest, access wise for last. I may have to drop the differential to get to them.

^^agreed. Smooth it out and move on.

I believe you are correct. Written on the side of the tube is "ASTM/ASME A/SA 269/213 AW TP316/316L 5/8"X 0.035"X20' HEAT TREAT NO: YT090276" and "MADE IN CHINA." I pulled the spec and it allows 10% variation in wall thickness or .004" for .035 wall. The extrusion marks are considerably deeper than that although they are difficult to measure or even see without flaring the tube. The spec doesn't specify a surface finish and actually says very little about the ID of the tube. I'll be working on the car early Saturday morning if you want to swing by. I used a Rigid hand flaring tool that has a hardened steel flaring cone, eccentrically mounted in needle bearings. I had to put a cheater wrench on it to the the cone to bottom out on the flare. The tool is probably not the best choice for this tube size/material. Thanks for the caution but I already went at it with the 220 grit paper. There doesn't appear to be any scratches under a 20X magnifying glass. I'll try putting a small gap were then ends come together and finish it up with 600 grit for good measure. Agreed, no gasket/sealant is preferred. Those options are plan B if this doesn't work. Thanks for your help guys. This has definitely been a learning experience for me.

Here is a picture of the tube, as flared. Those grooves are big enough to catch my fingernail. Big surprise it doesn't seal eh? Here is the lapping tool I made based off of Tony's description. This one has 320 grit bonded to the sealing surface. I worked on one flare this morning for ~20 minutes and I can still see an feel the extrusion marks. Starting with 220 grit then moving up to 600 grit might make this process a little faster.

Thanks Tony, that seems to have worked! I lapped half of the tube segments and those fittings passed the soapy water test and overall the leak rate slowed considerably. I kinda feel stupid though. I know the surface must be smooth but I ignored it for some reason. Oh well, another lesson learned. Oh, and I switched to 320 grit sand paper when became apparent that it was going to take all day with 400 grit and finished off with 600 grit. I have several spare fittings and made one with 320 grit and one with 600 grit.

I pressure tested the fuel system this morning. As I feared, I have leaks at the stainless tube flare to male AN fittings. I think the tubing is too hard for my tooling. I can still see extrusion marks in the flare sealing surface. I'm going to try aluminum conical seals like these instead of redoing all the flares, which will probably yield the same results. Anybody have experience using these? I assume aluminum is acceptable for fuel with 10% ethanol.

I pressure tested the fuel system this morning. Unfortunately there are leaks at ALL of my stainless tube to fitting joints. I posted about it here.

WOW, that's a nice engine you got there! I look forward to the updates.

Post #66 above Racer Parts Wholesale I also have two Blue Sea System bus bars next to the battery for power and ground distribution for the entire car. I purchased these at my local Boats US store.

Sounds good. Early in the day works for me.