Zetsaz Posted July 4 Author Share Posted July 4 17 hours ago, DuffyMahoney said: Coil bracket is looking mint! It's cleaned things up considerably! Extra nice now that I got a little bracket for the Deutsch connector. It's not just dangling around behind the head. Here's a handful of pictures after cleaning up the ride for this weekend's show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Car show and parade was a blast. Went really well! Drove to Washington to visit old friends - trip went really well. Engine is working great, I'm really happy with how things are running other than some oil leaks that gunk up the underside of the car on long drives like that. When it comes time to rebuild with flat tops I want to really clean up and degrease everthing and do my best to avoid future leaks for a long time to come. End of the trip and the way back were slightly less successful. Looks like the bolts on my right CV axle backed out and last one stripped while on a drive with a friend. Fortunately he has a 912 and a well equipped garage. He let me use his space and stay at his house until my friend in Bellingham with a Z got back from Vancouver the next day who was nice enough to let me borrow his CV to get on the road while he waited for the new one I bought him. Unfortunately... the kindness didn't stop more things from slowing down the trip home. Almost exactly halfway near La Grande OR my front right wheel bearing seems to have seized up and started cooking things. Seemed okay at first thought something from the road made a belt squeak at first or something, then things got progressively worse until eventually my brake rotor was rubbing against the caliper. Tried hard to somehow get it fixed, but no one would touch it and I didn't have everything I needed to get it back on the road, so I rented a UHAUL to finish the trip instead of paying for hotels and rush shipping New parts are on the way. I suspect the wheel bearing was overtightened or the hub was already not quite in good shape when I first replaced the bearings and eventually those small changes in acceptable tolerances from all the miles I've driven caught up with it. The outer bearing race had partially friction welded itself to the spindle. This would have been my third round trip to washington, plus the pacific coast trip, plus any other miles you want to add from cruising around as often as I can when the weather is nice. Here's to 50 more years out of the new hubs and spindles. Edited July 23 by Zetsaz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 9 Author Share Posted October 9 Car is still at home just hanging out until next time I visit. Spindles and new hubs arrived the day after I started driving to Mexico with my dad. Heavily considering buying Z Car Garage brakes to install over Christmas break. Only new things on the way are door seals from S30 world. Finally someone created a door seal that is (supposedly) an exact reproduction of the originals. Will report back on how well doors close once I get them installed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jboogsthethug Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 Have you considered the Toyota 4x4 conversion? I imagine you have, but from what I hear those are a great upgrade and way cheaper than the Z Car Garage kit. Though that kit looks so dang nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpndave Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 10 hours ago, Jboogsthethug said: Have you considered the Toyota 4x4 conversion? I imagine you have, but from what I hear those are a great upgrade and way cheaper than the Z Car Garage kit. Though that kit looks so dang nice If you are talking about the front calipers/pads. I have those on my car. It did make a HUGE difference in braking. I likely will launch those at some point. I was a major upgrade and brake fade with spirited driving was much better, especially in the rear as the fronts did a much better job. I remember sourcing some performance pads with better bite. Seems like there was some modifications to the backing plates too. That's my memory from a long time ago though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 23 hours ago, Jboogsthethug said: Have you considered the Toyota 4x4 conversion? I imagine you have, but from what I hear those are a great upgrade and way cheaper than the Z Car Garage kit. Though that kit looks so dang nice I've considered them but the reality is that at this point they're getting harder to find and they seem to be just okay. I don't want to buy refurbished ones of questionable quality or go digging. 5-6 years ago they would have been my first choice, but considering I have fully refreshed brakes already and only drive the car when I'm in the US it doesn't make sense to buy an "upgrade" that I'll barely use and discard in a few years when I want to upgrade properly. The other reason is the T3 micro big brake kit that'll fit under my wheels is apparently good but not great and only about $200 cheaper than the ZCG kit which is supposed to be substantially better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 15 Author Share Posted October 15 Looks like Z Car Garage brakes are nearly at an end. Tried to submit my order through Rob at ZCG, he told me they're still on backorder (have been since I first asked waaaaay back in Feb/March. I asked if his message about them being on backorder meant I couldn't put in an order, or if it just meant I might be waiting a while, and this is the response I got. Might have to ask my friend to try his T3 Wilwoods and see if I like them. That or I'll keep waiting to see future options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean 83ZXT Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 Ugh, I've been over a year and a half now. Stoptech as a whole is not looking good. As an alternative you might lookup ZSM Custom on IG. I believe they were working on a kit with AP Racing calipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 17 Author Share Posted October 17 18 hours ago, Sean 83ZXT said: Ugh, I've been over a year and a half now. Stoptech as a whole is not looking good. As an alternative you might lookup ZSM Custom on IG. I believe they were working on a kit with AP Racing calipers. That long?? Always surprises me when I see their recent posts with people getting brakes installed. Must have been waiting forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 In other news. The bummer of hearing my brake option wasn't available made me want to see the other parts that showed up this summer the day after I left, so I asked my dad to open up the boxes and send some pics. Got new spindles and hubs from T3 in a scratch and dent sale. Literally days before I saw the Facebook post I had already messaged them about potentially needing parts while I was still stranded in Eastern Oregon when the bearing failure tore up the hub. Dad said they looked damn near perfect, so either T3 is super generous about their discounted products, or the guys picking the parts were the ones emailing me and took pity and grabbed the best examples for me knowing the story already. Alvin from Z Car Garage posted a reply to my Facebook post on dpan stating they're working with the same engineer from the previous brake kit for the next option, so I guess I'll just keep waiting in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted yesterday at 07:23 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 07:23 PM Thinking of brakes once again. There are really only a few "big" things left for me to do and past that it just becomes upgrades or redoing old things to clean them up more. -T3 micro big brake kit is 20% off, which is huge actually. Their micro kit is about the same size as the ZCG kit and has the rear parking brake retained. Tempted to get them. I don't think their normal bbk will fit under my 15" wheels and I don't want to upgrade to bigger wheels. Not sure if I want to get these or the Milkfab upgrade and take the savings towards the Nexus R3. Happy to have some feedback from @lowrider -Need to upgrade to electric fans and reroute my intercooler piping. Looking into a custom shroud with Spal fans. -Complete hoses for AC. Friend is working on 3D designing the bulkhead to match the existing holes from the factory AC. -Install and wire the head unit so the console/dash area doesn't look like its missing something. Beyond those things everything is "done." I want to eventually upgrade to the new Haltech Nexus R3 units. Having so many things built right in including power control to the fuel pump, fans, and built in wideband controller is a major upgrade from my MS3X, but again is one of those things that I technically don't need. We'll see what the future holds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.