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A musician's therapist (The $300 Z)


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4 hours ago, BJSZED said:

Omar,

 

Do you think the coolant leak is coming from the NPT threads into the head ? What did you seal those threads with ? I'm about to do the coolant mod and am trying to figure what's best to seal the threads. I was considering just using blue silicone as I've used that before to seal badly damaged threads or using blue locktite.

 

Do NOT use silicone on NPT threads. Teflon tape, paste or both. Get something decent if you don't have it already. On the tape, wrap opposite of what you would think initially so it lays it down rather than bunching up when threaded together. Thicker higher quality tape does work better and there are stainless specific formulas when needed. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/22/2023 at 9:44 PM, jpndave said:

Do NOT use silicone on NPT threads. Teflon tape, paste or both. Get something decent if you don't have it already. On the tape, wrap opposite of what you would think initially so it lays it down rather than bunching up when threaded together. Thicker higher quality tape does work better and there are stainless specific formulas when needed. 

 

I'm with Dave here. Don't use silicone on threads. The white thread sealant I've been using has been great. I use the liquid one and make sure it's slightly tacky before threading like the instructions say.

I really think it's just that npt to an adapter not being tightened enough. The problem was it was only leaking once it got really hot on the long drives once the coolant gets really hot and thinner, so I hadn't noticed it on my shorter test drives.

Edited by Zetsaz
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Assorted small purchases over the past month or two as we slowly prepare for winter work:

 

OEM Rear main seals - might not manage these over the winter but they'll at least be available.

OEM oil pan gasket

Horn pad retaining ring (see recent post for details, mine's been cracked and the horn button falls between legs on hard bumps)

Differential axle clip - realized my right side is missing. Not sure if it stuck to the half shaft and I didn't notice unlike the other one which stayed in the diff, but needed new one.
Pinion Seal for diff - splattering fluid all over my nice stainless exhaust and gunking up the underside of the tunnel

 

Skillard shim kit - includes door latch striker shims,  inspection cover shims (actually necessary for me), door hing shims, rear hatch shims (super grateful for these because the actual oem ones seem integrated and I've just had the hinges right over the gaskets).

 

Skillard rear speaker brackets - kept trying to find an original to copy, but for the prices people were selling it wasn't worth it. Glad skillard made good aluminum reproductions for both sides. Still debating on which receiver to use and whether or not to bother creating a 3D printed bracket for a single or double din to replace the original.

 

Skillard door handle backers - I very very carefully pull down and out every single time I use my door handles to get in because the small amounts of flex are enough to get the top of the handle to rub the paint when I'm opening the door. I need to open up the back to slightly bend and fix the passenger side lock rod anyway, so i figured I'd get these along with the batch of new parts. 
 

No oil cap gasket yet. Still debating if I buy the cheap seal, or use this as an excuse to get some more bling for the engine bay with an all new oil cap. At some point I need to powder coat the valve cover soon. 

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  • 3 months later...

Didn't do a whole lot while I was home for Christmas like I was hoping. Since the weather was so unusually warm and no much snow (and consequently not much salt on the roads) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take the car out for some cruising. Here are just a few of the updates

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Found the mats I thought were missing!

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DID replaced the horn retaining ring, but not sure how I feel about how tight it is. Don't want to glue the horn pad to it just yet in case something chips. Already has some small bits if it flake off when removing the original ring,  but at least now it doesn't fall every time I hit a bump. 

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Installed only a small handful of shims. Realized most of them are still good. I think if I visit this spring the big work will be finally fixing the seals on the hatch and adjusting it properly. Right now it tends to pull back on the seal. Ugly and makes it inconvenient to use since I have to tuck it back.

 

Also broke my IAC valve running it through test mode in tunerstudio somehow... woops haha. Blew the end off. Put it back together but now it won't go in or out. 

 

Also bought a proper reproduction windshield washer bottle

 

Biggest mishap... found out one side of the bumper hasn't been hanging on to the brackets at all. Probably broke early on. It's just a few tacks holding it on :( Gonna fix with epoxy when I get back. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/27/2024 at 11:31 PM, 1969honda said:

Forget the epoxy, come use the metal glue gun when you get back in town. 

I will take you up on that!

 

Small update: Slowly purchasing little things here and there again. I'm not happy with my LS coils slowly going out and even less happy with my bracket. Granted the placement is better than most i've seen. I REALLY don't like how high up on the valve cover the Protunerz one is. Mine normally goes where one of the heater hoses is, but I'm retaining stock function and moved it.

Between those problems and having to buy new coils soon I chose to upgrade to Nissan coils. Got the bracket from @DuffyMahoney and ordered the Hitachi coils from RockAuto. In a few weeks I'll hopefully get a chance to work on it again.

WhatsAppImage2024-02-23at19_09.41_16f500b8.jpg.45c7e0620c18af0d2999ab88b0d7bab5.jpg

WhatsAppImage2024-02-08at13_34.50_f64dd92a.jpg.018dd4e70f5b8340ca08a57cba4edf65.jpg

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18 hours ago, Zetsaz said:

I will take you up on that!

 

Small update: Slowly purchasing little things here and there again. I'm not happy with my LS coils slowly going out and even less happy with my bracket. Granted the placement is better than most i've seen. I REALLY don't like how high up on the valve cover the Protunerz one is. Mine normally goes where one of the heater hoses is, but I'm retaining stock function and moved it.

Between those problems and having to buy new coils soon I chose to upgrade to Nissan coils. Got the bracket from @DuffyMahoney and ordered the Hitachi coils from RockAuto. In a few weeks I'll hopefully get a chance to work on it again.

WhatsAppImage2024-02-23at19_09.41_16f500b8.jpg.45c7e0620c18af0d2999ab88b0d7bab5.jpg

WhatsAppImage2024-02-08at13_34.50_f64dd92a.jpg.018dd4e70f5b8340ca08a57cba4edf65.jpg

Sweet! 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Heading back home in just a couple days for easter and passover weeks. 

 

I... mostly... certain I have all the parts I need for the ignition upgrade and some new seals. 

 

As far as planning goes ITM flat tops are back in stock momentarily so I immediately snagged some from Rock Auto. MXN to USD exchange rate is very in my favor right now, the total shipped was about $240. Full $70 or so cheaper than just the list price from other vendors like Z Car Depot and waaaay cheaper than what some people are asking for on ebay or in facebook groups. 

 

Unfortunately swapping the pistons will probably require a full rebuild. Debating if I pull the engine my second week around and just go at it for a couple of 12+ hour days to get it done and back in or if I wait until summer. The other option is pulling the block before I leave and just dropping it off at a decent shop then just have a family member pick up the engine whenever they finish it so it's ready to drop in when I get back this summer.

 

We'll see... I was excited to just get at it until I remembered I'd also need to pull the timing cover and all that entails, it'll be better to just rebuild when everything is ready to go.

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First project now that I'm home is getting the new ignition coils in. Just had to swap out the stalks along with the new spring provided by Duffy. Taped the harness I got in two spots just to keep it a little tighter. I'm not the biggest fan of wiring that branches off in only one section, much prefer it to T off in multiple spots as it goes down the line, but I know that's a lot more time consuming. Regardless I'm actually really happy with the little subharness I got. 

 

A few pics included here show the shorter stalks, taped up, finished fitment and the before and after.

 

Already got the dwell times adjusted. Updated my megasquirt firmware for the first time in 4 years, and did some very mild adjustments. Feels like it's running much smoother than before - maybe that's full placebo effect happening, but even if the actual performance difference is negligible, I'm WAY happier with how much tidier and more serviceable this is than the previous setup.

 

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Second mini project was just 30 seconds of adjusting the dampers on my coilovers. I softened them up after reading a post. I think I was overdampened for my spring rates, especially at the front and small but abrupt dips and other holes felt like they were pounding the whole car. Feels much smoother now. 

 

I think I'll be doing a lot of small projects again while I'm here, but I think within the next year I want to completely upgrade all my wiring, move to a nexus R3, switch to electric fans and reroute the hot side intercooler piping, and color match the engine bay to the exterior while the engine is out to rebuild with flat top pistons. 

 

In the meantime I'll cleanup major spots that need some attention and tidy up anthing from the transmission back that's causing little rattles or discomfort. 

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