Leon Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Thanks Steve! Hope all is well with you and your Z! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 You recently started working on Z cars again too? I let mine sit for a while.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 You recently started working on Z cars again too? I let mine sit for a while.... Hey Austin! Yeah, it's easy to let a project sit by the wayside unfortunately. I did a few things here and there but the big stuff was too much until I got a week off at home! I'll be tying up loose ends on weekends as much as I can now, I'd love to have it dialed in by summertime. Hope all's well with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Hey Austin! Yeah, it's easy to let a project sit by the wayside unfortunately. I did a few things here and there but the big stuff was too much until I got a week off at home! I'll be tying up loose ends on weekends as much as I can now, I'd love to have it dialed in by summertime. Hope all's well with you! Far too easy! But it's nice coming back to it. I'm only able to work on my car one day a week but I should be able to drive it this summer, though it will be kinda bare bones. This 260 is looking like it's gonna be a monster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Checked a few more things off the list yesterday, mostly minor stuff. I did replace the NGK BP6ES plugs with BPR6ES and the Beck Arnley plug wires with some fancy-pants Magnecors. Once again, I checked my valve lash. Since I wiped a cam last time, I'm trying to be very vigilant with the valvetrain. Last time the cam wiped sometime in the first 220 miles. I had put 100 miles on this one and it was time for the moment of truth! I was ready for anything but this time the lobes and rockers look healthy. I'm going to keep carefully monitoring valve lash and wipe patterns because I think that was the reason for the last failure. This cam profile uses a LOT of the rocker pad and you have to be extremely careful with setting wipe patterns, hence the 4 different lash pad thicknesses I utilized with this head. Also, I learned that valve lash trick I mentioned earlier that may have led to improper lash settings previously. I buttoned everything back up and went on a fun cruise around the neighborhood. This is the first chance I've had to just wind the car out on some windy roads and damn did it handle great! It's also the first Z I've ever driven that doesn't fume up with the window down. I did discover that I need to change my fuel pressure regulator and probably the O'Reilly's-special fuel pump. The regulator needs to be backpressure style so that it actually works and keeps the floats full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 Changed the FPR a week back to a bypass-style and the car was running great! Drove it to SF, to work, and today drove it down to Scotts Valley for the Canepa Cars & Coffee event. C&C was fun, lots of cool machinery and a very eclectic mix of cars. Went with a buddy, I believe spitz17 on here. Took this photo at lunch, didn't even think to take one at the event... Didn't take a lot of pictures but this was one of my favorites: Took the long way around to get home, up CA 84 and into the mountains. I'd been doing so many valve adjustments and careful test drives that it was liberating to finally let it rip, holding revs at 5-6k with glorious noises coming from the sidedrafts. Got to the top and was making my way down when I saw a big plume of smoke in my rear view mirror. Fearing the worst, I grabbed my fire extinguisher and got ready to pull over. Checked vital signs: coolant, oil pressure, amps, all okay. The tranny tunnel was cool and the smoke seemed to be coming from the exhaust. I kept driving and performed some experiments. The biggest plume of smoke always came after decel. I haven't popped the valve cover yet but I'm fairly confident that the valve stems seals took a crap. My exhaust system was covered in oil after limping it home. This might also explain the slight smoke/oil burning I've been getting as well as the rev hang that I started to get today on the way to Canepa. I don't know if the seals dried out or failed catastrophically but we'll see when I remove the valve cover. I'd like to do a compression check as well since the radiator likes to spit out coolant. Hope to have this pin-pointed quickly! Anyone have a Rebello motor sitting around...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Wow, more cylinder head drama? Sorry to hear that, Leon. When you said the exhaust system was covered in oil, did you mean the exterior? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 Wow, more cylinder head drama? Sorry to hear that, Leon. When you said the exhaust system was covered in oil, did you mean the exterior? Yep! No worries, I'll take blown valve stem seals to a wiped cam any day of the week. The inside of the exhaust was coated in oil, I had to clean up my muffler when I got home as the tip and surrounding areas were also covered in oil. I still haven't popped the valve cover but I'm strongly suspecting catastrophic failure of the valve stem seals which then sucked oil out of the head, through the cylinders, and into the exhaust. I'm running the low-profile Ford seals that are recommended here for people running high-lift cams, maybe they dried out from sitting for 2.5 years? We'll find out more once I dig into this, I placed an order for new tools this morning. Got an in-car valve compressor, valve seal pliers, and a proper compression gauge. I'd like to check compression before diving into the motor. I'll update as I find out more! It was so nice to finally start enjoying the car, I really don't want to have it down for very long. I'm looking forward to dialing in the suspension and finally tuning the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimO Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I recently replaced the valve stem seals in my L6 with the Ford seals with the head on and the engine in the car. Easy to do. Various ways to prevent the valve from dropping, Rope in cylinder through spark plug hole or pressurize cylinder. I used thin clothes line rope. No problems. Worked great. Just remember to put a rag in both ends of the head where the oil drains back into the pan just in case a lash pad jumps off into the abyss of the oil drain passageway. Ask me how I know. The rag did the trick! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 I recently replaced the valve stem seals in my L6 with the Ford seals with the head on and the engine in the car. Easy to do. Various ways to prevent the valve from dropping, Rope in cylinder through spark plug hole or pressurize cylinder. I used thin clothes line rope. No problems. Worked great. Just remember to put a rag in both ends of the head where the oil drains back into the pan just in case a lash pad jumps off into the abyss of the oil drain passageway. Ask me how I know. The rag did the trick! Good luck. Thanks Tim! I'm curious, what valve spring compressor did you use and what tool did you use to remove/install the stem seals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimO Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Leon, Sorry for the delayed response. I used the KD 3087 valve compressor tool: I removed and installed the seals with: http://www.amazon.com/8milelake-Valve-Seal-Remover-Installer/dp/B016JRBZRY?ie=UTF8&keywords=valve%20stem%20%20seal%20removal%20tool&qid=1463926784&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3 If you're ever in the Nevada City area you can borrow them. Or I could USPS send them to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Thanks Tim! I ordered similar tools last week, hopefully they'll be here soon. I don't think that KD tool is around anymore but I found a similar one (only available in England...). Here's what I got in case anyone needs one: Jack Sealey Valve Spring Compressor Lever Type I still need to pop the valve cover to see what's going on and I'm hoping to do a compression check today to check general engine health as it should be broken in by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimO Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Good Luck Leon Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 Got all my tools and parts in this week and finally had a chance to check compression today. Plug #1 was oily but the rest look OK. Compression #1-6: 192 / 180 / 170 / 192 / 167 / 180 I don't like the spread but the engine was cold, the hope is it's better warm. The numbers aren't terrible so things are pointing to the top end. I pulled the #1 rocker and lash pad out and that's where I'm at now. I plan to finish the job on Tuesday as I'll be gone camping until Monday. Happy Memorial Day everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCan Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Leon. Best of luck with your head. I've had mine off several times trying to get everything to work.... Right now everything is dialed in except one cylinder. I like your idea to try compression after the engine is warm (and more importantly when the cylinder walls have oil on them. Right now all of our cylinder compression are above 200 psi. I think it is because we milled the head 0.080". Keep up the good work! (FYI - We are looking into an RB25 swap.but it wont happen for a while) Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 (edited) Thanks Jim, great to hear from you! My head is milled as well (0.080" shaved P90 with 0.020" over L28 flat-tops) but I'm also using a healthy cam which bleeds off some cylinder pressure at cranking speeds. What's going on with your one cylinder? Heading to the dark-side I see! Hope to see you guys this year. Edited May 31, 2016 by Leon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78-280Z Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 We started fresh on Sunday morning! Leo (Datsun_Z240) and Yoshi (yoshi_w) were back again helping out as well. IMG_1348.JPG The agenda was: (1) Install Bilsteins and camber plates (2) Corner balance and alignment (3) LSD install The Bilstein install went well, very straightforward! The gland nuts worked out perfectly. We made spacers for the Bilsteins out of scrap pipe. I deduced that the struts have not been sectioned as the inserts we pulled out were the stock-replacement Tokico BZ3015 and BZ3016. We also found some nice labels on the springs in the process, showing the spring rates as 250/275. Here is one of the upper shock mounts that came with the Tokicos, not sure where they came from. IMG_1349.JPG The spacer length required for the P30-0032 VW Rabbit Bilsteins in stock 240Z/early 260Z strut housings using the B4-B30-U232B1 ring nut (gland nut) was 2.625" front and 4.375" rear. Leo fabricating a shock spacer: IMG_1357.JPG But wait, I had completely forgotten that the Bilsteins require a special tool in order to torque them! Luckily, the guys found the perfect wrench in the shop's collection! Got the nuts hand tight and used a cheater bar to set them to German torque specs. IMG_1354.JPG An assembled corner, with a DP Racing camber plate on top: IMG_1351.JPG Since the coilover collars had no locking mechanism, Yoshi came up with this clever solution! IMG_1356.JPG While we had the suspension out and half-shafts loose, we decided to swap the diff for the 3.9 LSD. Luckily, we caught a discrepancy before ripping anything out. The R180 in the car has snap-in axles whereas the LSD has bolt-ins. Yoshi later found out that the diff in the car is probably a 280ZX R180. I have about three pairs of bolt-in half-shafts but they were all at home. D'oh! Thus, the LSD install was put on hold... We reassembled the car and put it on the alignment rack: IMG_1359.JPG The front looks pretty good. The rear, not so much. IMG_1360.JPG I'm looking into solutions but so far am favoring getting the T3 rear LCAs help even out toe and camber. There is no sign of accident damage so I'm guessing the subframe may have shifted. At this point we were out of time, so fixing the rear alignment was also put off to another day. In the end, I was very happy the Z made it to Sonoma and back after sitting in the garage forever and that I finally got the Bilsteins in! The drive home was great, the shocks rode smoother than the (worn) Tokicos. I've yet to drive it hard but I hope to do an autocross in the coming months once things are more or less sorted! Next thing it needs is a good detailing. IMG_1361.JPG Would you mind sharing the info on your wheels/tire setup? What rim/offset/size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 Sure! They are 16X7 Panasports with presumably a 0 offset. I got the wheels secondhand and didn't measure to double-check. Tires are Bridgestone RE-11A in 225/50-16. Rear fender lips and front valence were trimmed by the previous owner so there are no issues with rubbing at all. I'm thinking of going to 16X8 Watanabes at some point... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 Well, had a bit of a setback today... I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this but the #1 valve guide was just flopping around underneath the valve spring. Not sure why it failed, maybe I was too ham-fisted when installing the stem seal? I did hammer them on with a socket, trying to be gentle as I could. I'm running the Ford seals which are good for 0.600"+ lift and my cam has 0.540". Anyway, looks like I'll be taking things apart again. Not that I mind much but time is hard to come by these days. I will be contemplating my options... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Damn brother - that sucks. I guess I should feel fortunate with my small set backs. I hammer on my engine every time I'm out too. Hope you find time to get it back rolling:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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