Leon

This is a 3-year-old post...

Thanks again Jim, I appreciate all the thoughts! Oil priming is something that's been a big concern of mine so I've been reading up and studying for a while. I'll of course fill and prime the pump, but I've been trying to come up with a method to prime the engine without having to turn the pump. I've read of people back-filling the pump from the entrance orifice to the oil filter (oil filter removed obviously ), but that just fills in the gallery between the pump and oil filter. I also think I remember reading of someone (Tony D?) using the oil pressure sender hole to pressurize the system and get oil flowing that way. I don't remember exactly, but I'll be doing some more research on it. I was just thinking of this the other day, is there anything stopping me from just putting a hose over the oil filter nipple and using a hand pump to force-feed the oil into the mains, and maybe the head if I'm strong enough? It would go like this: fill and prime the pump (maybe try to prime pump inlet before install), install pump, back-fill the pump, pre-oil filter, fill galleries through filter nipple, install filter, crank engine until I see oil pressure and oil at the head. Anything wrong with that plan? I did put in about 15-20 hours of work on the engine this weekend. Saturday was a shorter day. I doubled-checked my mic measurements with a plastigage across all the mains. Clearances are good. I then finally lubed and installed the crank along with the rear main. Saturday night was finished off with a dog walk and dinner with my fiancee and my sister. Sunday was the big day, woke up at 6:30am and went to sleep at 12am. There were breaks in between, such as spending 2 hours with a buddy doing the drive belts on his Xterra and hanging out with him. Of course, that evening we also had to watch the latest episode of Dexter, and since we don't get that channel we go the future in-laws' place to watch. It was a productive, albeit very long, day and I definitely have to thank my fiancee, Melissa, for spoon-feeding me dinner while I was installing pistons. Yes, that's why I'm marrying her! Too bad I don't have photos of that, would've been priceless... I started the morning with gapping piston rings. That took a long time. Once they were gapped, I went out to the local store, got me some piston ring expanders, and went at it. Then I installed the rings, oriented them, and plopped them into their bores. Doesn't sound like that much work does it? But damn, it's enough to cover about 14 hours! I was trying to be very clean and meticulous with each step. In the end I was happy with the progress, given it's the first time I'm fully rebuilding an engine. It was satisfying to see it kind-of looking like an engine again. Well, at the very least there's less parts lying around... Lined up and ready to go! Ooh, ahh! And as bonus footage, are some cleaned-up parts! Untouched ports... And I'm in the final stages of finishing up the tail lights...

I've got plenty of VW stories to share (of the water-cooled variety), that's for sure. For one, my sister's Jetta has been an absolute nightmare. We've had more Hondas than anything else. This isn't brand loyalty, they just make solid, enjoyable cars.

Bingo!

Sure, it's fun to play with but it's just not a very precise tool. If you're that concerned about cylinder-to-cylinder variations, get 6 EGT probes or better yet, 6 widebands...

Slip-on style cloth shoes work well for me. The soles are usually thin, giving you good pedal feel. Last few pairs I've gotten were $10 a piece. I've never had issues and I'm a size 13...

They're great cars. If you must go with something on the list, then the Prelude is pretty much a sportier Accord Coupe. I'd expect mpgs to be less with the benefit of more power but otherwise I assume it's relatively similar to the Accord. With that said, it may be difficult to find a Prelude (or MR2 and S13 for that matter) that isn't beat up. FWIW, I would never consider the VW or Audi you listed. Performance isn't great, or even what I'd call good, with the added fun of higher maintenance costs and terrible reliability (relative to the Hondas). The diesel on the other hand is a good thought...

Frankly, Pharaoh's post is mostly incoherent rambling...

My mile-eater for over 8 years has been a 5-speed '01 Accord Coupe. I've gotten 37mpg a few times, but usually average 31-35mpg in ~80/20 highway/city driving. My only qualms are the weak CV shafts and the diff gearing is a bit wide. Otherwise, it's been great! A quiet, reliable, and efficient daily commuter complements raucous weekend cars pretty nicely, IMO.

You really need to sit down and read the FSM. The FSM will be your best source for Z-specific issues. Stop working on the car immediately, download the FSM and start reading. Otherwise this is all a huge waste of time.

There's a reason why you can't find it, and it's because it doesn't exist. Listen to what the guy told you, they are the same exact part.

Thanks Jim! I actually ordered a new one from Rockauto yesterday, along with the front crank seal and a new oil pump. I figured that I don't have much time to refurbish the old pump. I'll be working on the head in the meantime and I've got the next couple of weekends freed up for car work. It's crunch time!

Good point, and because of the leverage ratio, that 1/16" at the clevis is more like 1/4" at the pedal.

One correction: advancing the cam (as he's doing) moves the power peak to a lower rpm.

You have a 1972 240Z. To attach photos, click "more reply options" underneath the text window and then look below for an "attach files" option.

The serial number represents total, and not model year production.

I know I have at least one. Send me a PM.

Hey Jim, good timing! It's been going pretty slowly... Up until last weekend, it was a lot of parts cleaning, painting, and inventorying what I have. I finally spent all weekend doing engine stuff. This involved a lot of cleaning, assembly, and disassembly. I mic'd all crankshaft journals, the main bearings, and rod bearings (only did 1). From memory, main clearances were mostly .001" with a .0015" and .002" thrown in. Rods were in spec but I don't remember the number. This took quite a while, as I was getting a feel for using the mic and snap gauge. I also verified that 45ft-lb does indeed equate to .0065" of bolt stretch on the ARP rod bolts. I was going to install the crank but I found that the rear-main seal was really loose on the crank (more on that in a second). Towards the end of Sunday I switched to the head and put the valves into their guides, and worked the stem seals onto the valves. The stem seals aren't fully installed yet, but that's the next job on the head. These Ford seals are a bit of a PITA to do right. Then I can temporarily install the outer springs and check the cam wipe pattern. I'm anticipating the need for thicker lash pads. As for the rear main seal, it was very easy to fit it onto the crank and it had a bit of wobble to it when sitting on the crankshaft. It's a Nissan seal for a 200SX (if I remember right), but I cross-referenced the P/N and it said it works for a '79 and later 280ZX. I would think it's the right part then, but the really loose fit on the crank threw me off. Isn't the rear seal supposed to be pretty tight or does it get squished and tighten up when you install the crank into the block?

Thinner? Not really. I bet they used GL-5 fluid in your transmission instead of GL-4. That's what affected your shift quality, as GL-5 is more "slippery" thus does not let the syncros do their job. I'd get a true GL-4 fluid instead of mixing up different grades of gear lube.

Progress is slow, but at least it's progress. I really need to kick it into high gear. If you're going to the ZONC show this weekend or Ivan's show on 8/10 maybe I'll see you there if I have time to go out.

Looking good, Glenn!

Let us know what you're getting!

Have you still not checked the driveshaft bolts?

Nope, it's not obvious. Mark has it right. Track wheels are typically more lightweight and are replaced if one or four happen to bend in an off-track excursion.

Do you also get vibration on the freeway? Sounds just like when I had a couple of loose driveshaft bolts.