Drax240z Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 Well there goes that plan. MSA was kind enough to respond to me saying they've shipped the chain block, but the 2mm head gasket is back ordered until "tomorrow, 6 months from now, or never". So now I am paying shipping and freight forwarding (and customs) on a $12 part, which when it's all said and done will have cost me $60. It was much easier to swallow a $200 order that would cost me $250. To top it off MSA included the line: "If the 2.0MM metal head gasket arrives in our inventory it will be processed and sent out through Fed Ex ground at no additional shipping cost." So basically if they receive it anytime between now and never, they will bill me for it and ship it out? What an unbelievably ludicrous way to do business... Phoned a few other places in town (NAPA) and the head gasket they normally sell (Victor Reinz) is NLA as well. I did however locate another Felpro I could have tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) OK, well some progress. Got the MSA cam chain block, what a piece of crap that is. Do yourself a favor and make one out of a block of wood. It worked fine, but it's the cheapest piece of flimsy plastic I've ever seen. Oh well, did the trick. Got the Ishino head gasket finally today, and in it went! Amazing to compare it with the Felpro, there are so many differences... Felpro is underneath in the following photo... Measured the O-ring height above the deck, and it was 0.017"!! No wonder the gasket leaked. Whoever did the O-ring machining had no idea what they were doing, and me being a dumbass didn't measure before assembly. The O-rings should be proud of the deck by 0.006-0.008". The gasket didn't have a prayer... And for a little ghetto fabulousness... ever try to lift a head, turbo, manifolds, etc. all up at the same time, by yourself, with no overhead lifting apparatus, and secure it long enough to change a headgasket? Well, it was a bit of an adventure, but with some rope, a hella long lever arm and a fulcrum I was able to do it by myself, with relative safety too... (and no, I never levered off the fenders) Head is back on with the new gasket (and no o-rings) and torqued down, etc. Just have to button things up, which the weekend is scheduled for... Edited September 4, 2009 by Drax240z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 Well, this sucks. First fit the felpro/O-ring combo and had coolant leaking out the passenger side of the head/block connection at cylinder #2. Tore it down, measured the o-rings at 0.017" proud of the deck. My research combined with posts here indicates the desirable crush is 0.006"-0.013". Put in the new Ishino head gasket, with no O-rings in place. Coolant leaking out of the same side next to #4. @#$%^*(#$^#@$&*#@!!!! I'm kindof at a loss... the block and head were both decked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 Reassembled today, nothing wrong with head or deck. Looks like the problem is due to the O-ring grooves being too far away from the cylinder bore. I bought some copper gasket spray, sprayed it like crazy and it seems to have worked. Tried to fire up this evening only to find one of my AN fuel lines was done... will have to pick up some more -6 tomorrow morning to replace it. Getting there... got oil pressure, no coolant leaks, electrical is a go... just fuel system replacements now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 And the plot thickens... Turns out I left the key on overnight after the leaking fuel pulled me away. End result, dead battery this morning... will have to charge that overnight. Replaced braided stainless -6 fuel line in the rear, re-pressurize fuel system, and all the other braided lines are seeping as well. Went off, bought some new line after wandering around hells half acre, first place wanted $11 per foot for -6! Stupid. Ended up getting it for $6/ft in the end, still not great but saved myself $50 for half an hour more of looking around. Fuel system totally fitted, leak free! Tried jumping the car, no dice. Something a bit wonky electrically. Pulled off the positive and negative cables, will clean them up well and reinstall. Feels like the car has a bad ground somewhere that I need to find. Unfortuantely I ran out of time tonight... early start tomorrow to trouble shoot electrical gremlins now. The moral of this story: letting a car sit can have a lot of side effects you don't plan on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 (edited) Muahahaha. It runs. Cleaning up the main cables, adding another ground cable and cleaning every connection I could find as well as a full charge on the battery and everything is fine. Lots of little odds and ends to take care of, but engine is ready for it's first oil change and then to put it down and make sure it's got brakes, etc. before getting a T.O.P. and going for a RIP... Edited September 7, 2009 by Drax240z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Well, another item ready to go just before the first drive. (this weekend?) Have a few more km/h speedo decals if anyone wants one, PM for details please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 Good news. Put the temp. insurance on this weekend for Saturday/Sunday to drive the car, break in the new motor before the season turns. A few hiccups though. Took the car out, put some fuel and air in it, didn't think it was running all that great. Headed to the car wash (it's really dirty from sitting) and sprayed it down. Had a buddy stop by while I was there and we got chatting, checked cylinders and low and behold #2 wasn't doing much. Headed home to check it out. Powered up injectors 1 by 1, and #2 would not open. Dead injector. Tried to find a replacement, and luckily we know some supra guys around, and scored a set of 6 440cc/min supra turbo (same as I have in the car) injectors for $25. Got new seals for another $30 from the parts store. Pulling #2, looks like my Russell hose fiasco of a few days ago was worse than I thought, not only did they leak but they disintegrated and plugged up ONLY #2 injector for some reason. So plugged up I couldn't save it. New injector installed and we're good to go! So after that it went ok. I put 83.6miles on the car, all while varying load and rpm (no highway) to seat the rings. I am hoping to hit 200miles by the end of the day tomorrow, a number in which I'll be pretty comfortable with as far as considering the rings seated well, and the engine ready for the winter. Felt good to drive the Z again... it's not really very streetable, but I will work on that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 201.2 miles in 2 days, no highway. A good couple of days, nice to drive it again! It's going to be hard to park for the winter and move back to house renovations without touching the Z. (well, I am sure I will a bit anyway) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Well, I'll let the photos speak for what I've been up to lately... 24' x 16' with 10' ceilings. It's not huge, but it will do for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted June 19, 2010 Author Share Posted June 19, 2010 Insured the Z again, finally turning the wheels in anger a little bit. A few issues as a result of sitting that I had to sort out, a new starter for one. Finally got the WG hooked up (I was breaking it in before, was boost and RPM limited during that period), and ran the car around at 6psi. I've been driving slow cars for too long! The car is really built with a race car mentality, so it needs some attention for street use. Going to see if I can't pick away at putting an interior in it, to hopefully quiet things down a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Weren't you just selling this car in the for sale section? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 It's still for sale. A guy can still drive it and work on it though, can't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexPie Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I'll wait to buy it till your done all jokes aside very nice car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 It's still for sale. A guy can still drive it and work on it though, can't he? I suppose, but man you've put a lot of work into this car! I don't know that I'll EVER be able to sell my Z, only because I've put way too many man hours into it and I'll never get out of it what I've put into it. I'm sure that holds true in many cases, but man, you've got it all hooked up like you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Spent yesterday working on the car, tidying up some issues so the next owner won't have to. Shortened the stainless downpipe by 1.5", and regained over 1" in (much needed) ground clearance. New stainless exhaust tip as well. (3" tip, 3" exhaust!) I also put in a 7psi wastegate spring, as the one I had in there was a 15psi one, and too much for the moment. Took the car out for a drive tonight, what a blast. The extended exhaust tip quieted things down a notch, which is nice. Ground clearance was great. When I modified the downpipe I also changed the placement of the exhaust a bit, and stopped it from contacting the chassis at a couple points. (All this while improving ground clearance) The end result was a few less squeaks and rattles, which made a noticeable difference driving. (NVH was not a consideration in this cars former purpose) Did some 7psi runs... and anywhere over about 3000rpm the tires just go up in smoke in 1st or 2nd gear. Feels pretty darn good! Forgot how tossible this car is too, I spent a lot of time on suspension setup for the track, and it really is dialed in nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 Still up for sale. Price reduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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