I thought i'd drop you a link to a slideshow of all the progress on the car so far plus a few new photos to show you where it's at at the moment.

 

Just having a mass ebay then ordering new parts in the next couple of weeks.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/600zx/

 

 

 

 

 

 

You wanna get the front lowered there a bit fella :lol:

 

1 hour 32 minutes, i would have thought someone would have brought that up sooner knowing you lot :tongue: lol

 

It'll be even lower when i'm finished with it this time, i'm putting the tokigo on again this time with the lowering springs as i've managed to free up a couple of inches clearance with the new subframe ;)

I like it with the table top, I was always a 99spec fan, but the table top is growing more and more on me and it looks good on your car.

 

Well it's up for sale now buddy if you want it - £50 and i'll even chuck in free delivery if you're near leicester (it's on the way back from work for me and i'll be out that way this week)

Not feeling the spoiler mate.

Glad to see you changing your mind on the "picnic table". Looks like a nice spot you got your self into Mate.

Not feeling the spoiler mate.

 

lol, it's a marmite spoiler. I always loved the 99 spec spoiler personally from the start and it would stick with the later style theme i was aiming for. I'll get the back filled and a new perspex strip on then save up for the 99 spec i think.

 

Glad to see you changing your mind on the "picnic table". Looks like a nice spot you got your self into Mate.

 

It's not that bad :tongue: Cheers buddy, i've put some piccy's up on facebook of "the house project", i'm laying the driveway in april/beginning of may so plenty to do! :)

^^^^^Just somehow got to see some vids on Youtube Mate.....Loved "em! Besides building V8 Z's and buying houses you actually have a lot of fun doing it. Jealous!

Haha, i didn't realise you hadn't seen the videos yet - it's the only thing keeping me going at the moment until i get the real thing back :)

 

As of tomorrow night i'm free to get back on with the engine build again through till Sunday. I'm playing bass saturday afternoon for a few hours and going out in the evening but i'll be working on the car all Friday night, and most of Sunday so should hopefully have the bottom end at least finished and complete. I'm hoping by the middle of the week to get the whole engine assembled and ready to put back in the car next weekend :)

Okay update, as always there's been a setback. Nothing major but something unavoidable.

 

Finished painting the block on Saturday lunchtime and decided I would (for safety's sake) remove a ring off the pistons and check for ring gaps before relaxing too much.

 

The block has been bored to a set size through the same engineering company as the old one so the finish and fit is as expected but as with all engineering there's a subtle difference in bore.

 

The new block gives a reading of 0.025" gap on the top ring whereas according to the calculations it should be 0.018" so i've had to order some new rings which are being shipped over from the states as we speak to Real Steel and i should have them beginning of next week to complete the build.

 

In the meantime i'm going to crack on with grinding out the reliefs and and cleaning the block/bolting in the crank, fitting the pulleys etc.

 

Unfortunately tonight i'm driving down to hampshire to try and rescue my relationship after my other half decided to dump me for no reason the other week, tomorrow i'll be visiting the rents for the evening, friday night i'm seeing jaguar skills in my home town and saturday i might actually be able to do some work although i'll be at band practice 3-6pm.

 

I'm steadily running out of time as the drag racing starts in April so have about 2 weeks to get the engine built, a week to put it back in the car and connect it up then a week to tune it before the first event.

 

Picking up some adjustable upper arms this week so i can get those fitted when i have a spare minute.

 

More to come as it comes :)

 

Okay an exciting update for you all, I haven't posted much as i've been back and forth getting everything in order to rebuild the engine, the rings arrived last monday and i've been champing at the bit to get on with it.

 

The list of jobs i've had to do since moving into the new house has been stupidly long: chopping hedges down, chainsawing up the branches, incinerating them, building a huge 13 x 8 shed/workshop, going up the tip and scrap metal dealers about a billion times, emptying the pond, cleaning and re-setting it, building and fitting wall cupboards in my brother's room, hanging shelves left right and centre and organising getting rid of and picking up furniture.

 

So..... onto the interesting bit for you guys :)

 

Friday night i went over and dropped off all the tools/parts needed to build the new block, as always i forgot things so had to keep going back, emptying the shed to find the stuff then repack it but got there in the end.

 

Once i'd got my engine building head back on i knew exactly what to do and i plowed through it cleaning everything thoroughly with a compressor, white spirit, compressed air and engine oil.

 

Saturday was spend clearancing the block to get the conrods to move cleanly through their cycle then sunday morning cleaning the block to within an inch of it's life.

 

When i got back from the meal i set about cleaning all the bearings removing every last metal filing, then all the threads in the studs and bolts, lightly assembling them with engine oil and coating all the bearings and surfaces with assembly lube to help with break in.

 

The cam went in next, and then all the caps were tightened to spec.

 

By the time i walked away last night at 9.30pm i'd got one of the pistons in and they're a quick job. The bottom rings are actually already the right size so all I need to do it change over the top rings for the new ones and i'm done!

 

Plan is finish the pistons tonight and set the timing back to -11 degrees as well as reattach the windage tray and seal the bottom end with the new gasket and freshly rewelded, sealed sump

 

Tuesday i'm out for a meal so won't get back till late (plus i need a pint!)

 

Wednesday crack on with the heads, gaskets and adjusting all the tappets/valve clearance.

 

Thursday refit all the pulleys, intake manifold then test fit and adjust the looms to get the spacing right.

 

Things are looking good for installation this coming weekend - hope the weather's good! :hyper:

 

Pictures to follow! :)

Photos of the powertrix adjustables i left stewing for the week in super cheap mossers vinegar :)

 

 

 

 

Block with shells installed to test fit a piston and grind the clearances

 

Crank bolted in with temporary bolts lightly

 

First groove grinded in

 

Block finished, stripped and ready to clean

 

Block all nice and clean ready to install the cam (bloody big thing it is too!)

Edited April 4, 201114 yr by bantambunny

Look how shiny and clean that freshly honed bore is :hyper:

 

Last picture i managed to get before it got too dark, studs in place ready to bolt down. After this i torqued the crank in (turning it each time i went round with slightly more torque to ensure it was in properly), oil pump went on, first piston went in and ready to carry on tonight after the sofa gets picked up!

wow mate, you a busy boy at the moment. I can't wait to see her finished.

Cheers buddy, i've been waiting till i could give it my 100% devotion otherwise it'd never get done plus it's hard to remember what you have and haven't done flitting back and forth.

 

I've got my engine builder head on now, a bag full of enthusiasm and drive and the pressure's on to make the first Ashby Folville classic car meet of the season next Tuesday as well as the first drag racing meet on the 16th (a week this Saturday!)

 

Chassis I know for sure works now, electrics work apart from speedo but as i found it was the wrong feed wire connected to the unit and brakes were fine so just the upper arms to swap over and those spacers to fit in the rear suspension and we're done!

 

Still have to get the gearlever linkage welded up so i can run a nice short shift but this will get me on the road at least :)

mate, fingers crossed and i am excited to see the finished article.

Cheers buddy, see you at the pod ;)

Cant wait to see the finished project.......more to the point HEAR that beauty.

 

Well don fella, hope to see ya'll soon.:biggrin:

lol, you can already hear it buddy if you search back september time in this thread and hunt down the videos or type bantambunny on youtube :)

 

I need to do some drivebys on video when i get it on the road, i still have no idea what it sounds like from the outside yet :hyper:

youve lost me now. i thought you had it up and running :confused1:

Redesigned subframe then found a cracked block? Where've you been? :rofl:

hey Bud.

 

Might not be a good idea to submerge those front top arms in vinegar as the have sealed bearings in them. Might be an idea to wrap the H sections in cloth and soak the cloth.

 

Andy

Looking good there mate, hope you make the meet, can you still do us some vids when finished with sound though :drool:

 

Chris

Hey Mate , want a few more HP's out of that cam. Google "degreeing a cam in" What you get from the companys as far a duration and timing is not what ends up in a V8. It is rather simple to do. I like what you are doing so far. Cheers

Looking good there mate, hope you make the meet, can you still do us some vids when finished with sound though :drool:

 

Chris

 

Haha, don't worry buddy, i'll be filling my iphone up with as many vids of it running as i can so i can sit at work and lust over it when it's back on the road :rofl:

 

Hey Mate , want a few more HP's out of that cam. Google "degreeing a cam in" What you get from the companys as far a duration and timing is not what ends up in a V8. It is rather simple to do. I like what you are doing so far. Cheers

 

Hello buddy, don't you worry having spent hours, days, weeks and months reading up on building chevy V8s i'd already used some engine design software to optimise the cam timing.

 

Ended finding if i pushed the cam back 11 degrees the torque curve flew up at the bottom end without affecting the power at the top.

 

In real life, instant torque pushing you into the back of the seat from 800rpm solidly and building really quickly to 2k. It was a monster while it was running so i'll be going for that again :)

hey Bud.

 

Might not be a good idea to submerge those front top arms in vinegar as the have sealed bearings in them. Might be an idea to wrap the H sections in cloth and soak the cloth.

 

Andy

 

Probably a bit late for that buddy, they were in for a week, now cleaned up and ready to fit :x