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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats a lovely sound.:taz:

:dance::dance::dance::dance:

 

Well worth the wait and hard work fella :)

Look forward to the results mate what sort of power do you think it will reach?

 

I really don't know, there's been some speculation from talking to a few in the know of 450bhp is, i'll be happy with 400-420bhp at the engine so we'll just have to wait and see. Either way, i started off in 3rd gear the other night and didn't even notice it :rofl: lol

 

Thats a lovely sound.:taz:

 

It's superb isn't it! :hyper:

 

:dance::dance::dance::dance:

 

Well worth the wait and hard work fella :)

 

Cheers buddy, i haven't forgotten the BBQ. Just need to get a few jobs sorted then i'll organise a get together for everyone :)

:D :D

Nice one mate, somehow missed this yesterday. Hope the dyno all goes Ok for you.

Looks great Nick good luck on the rollers today

Awesome!

 

Well done Nick, must have seemed like you were never going to get to this point at times! But you hung in there - results speak for themselves, once I get mine back on the road (hopefully not too long now) we can go racing! I mean, driving sensibly well within the designated speed limits in a mature manner.. :innocent:

 

Good luck for today, i'm guessing your estimate was a little on the conservative side????

Hmmm ... ok I'll pitch in a complete guess of 394bhp @ the wheels with a tight engine .... and probably around 423 ft/lb of torque, whos next ? :)

I wouldn't have a clue,

 

but I reckon the torque would be more than that. But I know its delivered very low down, so then again, you could be right!

 

401rwhp

450lb/ft

 

:gunsmilie:

Well it's still there. 3 rockers kept working loose.

 

Best result we could get was 320bhp at the crank and over 420ftlb torque from 1600rpm (!) - so much torque it kept ripping itself off the dyno lol

 

Power doesn't sound much but when you see the torque curve it's solid all the way up to 5000rpm!

 

Going back down now to see if we cansort out the three rear studs - possibly bent from when the engine fell on it's side while being transported

Yikes ! fingers crossed for ya and the studs are easily sorted.

420ftlb from 1600rpm ... wow :)

At least i won't have to worry about changing gear too soon on the strip :rofl:

 

Just got back from work on the car this morning, we've located the problem. The heads had old rocker studs in and the thread was knackered on a few of them so ordered a set of new ARP rocker studs and we'll replace them tomorrow.

 

Also ordered the Edelbrock tuning kit with all the jets and rods i needed to lean the mixture off at cruising speed. Should hopefully make it alot better to drive long distance.

 

Other than that it's sounding nice and meaty and the final run yesterday the HP was up 5bhp over the other runs after changing the rods but the air temp was up to 22 in the rolling road from running all day long. Best power we got was 13 degrees C.

 

Amazing how much HP you lose through warm air - 20bhp at the wheels!

I love big displacement V8's mmmmmmmmmm torque torque torque!!!!

Well it's still there. 3 rockers kept working loose.

 

Best result we could get was 320bhp at the crank and over 420ftlb torque from 1600rpm (!) - so much torque it kept ripping itself off the dyno lol

 

Power doesn't sound much but when you see the torque curve it's solid all the way up to 5000rpm!

 

Going back down now to see if we cansort out the three rear studs - possibly bent from when the engine fell on it's side while being transported

 

you wont be using your left foot much with that on tap....well done mate:thumbup1:

Ooooo...........you making me itchy now!!!-well done Nick lad!:cool2:

you wont be using your left foot much with that on tap....well done mate:thumbup1:

 

Cheers buddy :) not bad for someone who's never built an engine before lol bit of fettling to get it closer to 400bhp but the torque's bob on.

 

Ooooo...........you making me itchy now!!!-well done Nick lad!:cool2:

 

I have yourself and keith5700 to thank for the inspiration buddy, I never forgot seeing yours at the bubble inn mate or keith's amazing attention to detail with his build on his threads. Pity they're not around in the club any more to park up next to :(

 

It won't be long till you do yours again...... ;) hehe

.60 overbore , stroked , 10.5 compression , mild cam Nick? That 320hp at the crank seems a little low. I was expecting you to turn around 360 at the wheels easily. The 420tq seems right on with your build. Still got to be a lot of fun tho.

.60 overbore , stroked , 10.5 compression , mild cam Nick? That 320hp at the crank seems a little low. I was expecting you to turn around 360 at the wheels easily. The 420tq seems right on with your build. Still got to be a lot of fun tho.

 

not forgeting its a fresh tight motor...needs a few miles under its belt then setting up..bet those lumpy lobes on that cam aint reached there ideal rpm limit yet to release those ponies:wink:

Well it's all come to an end. It's been one hell of a week on the car and i'm left disheartened, after 3 years of building this thing i've lost interest.

 

It's cost me over £400 the last few days and the car still runs badly, the rockers are still loosening themselves off despite brand new studs and the power is less than satisfactory without spending more money to improve it.

 

The engine's so tight and the starter motor gets so hot that i can't turn it over on an almost full 800 cold cranking amps battery when the engine's warm. The tuning on the engine with the bonnet up means nothing when you have the bonnet down as the air/fuel goes all over the shop.

 

The prop knocks badly under changes in load, the suspension handles badly and all in all i'm left thinking - why did i even bother.

 

The oil pressure and temp (at 143 degrees c) was so bad last night that i had to pull over 15 miles into my journey and let it cool down.

 

I've spent in excess of £16,000 now, i have an outlay of at least another grand and a half to fix all the problems and i think i'm going to call it a day and walk away from the project, break it for parts and spend the money more wisely.

 

I'm sorry to have dragged you all along for the ride on this one, it breaks my heart to write this but i don't feel any different after a night's sleep on the matter.

 

I'm stepping away from this for a week to get my head straight then if i don't feel any better about it i'll start breaking the engine then decide if i want to just buy a straight, tidy SWB and move my parts across or end my love affair with the zed and buy something completely different.

Total opposite post to what I was expecting Nick. Only you can decide what is right for you. I know there will be a lot of 'you are so close' posts, but you've been there before. A sad post but do what is right for you. Good luck with whatever you decide. Daffy.

Sorry to hear that nick

 

sounds like you've been up and down this week.. I thought you were quite pleased with how things were progressing. Guess that's changed in the last 48 hours or so.

 

Sounds like the tight engine and hot oil problems and low power output are all related - but I cannot see how that could be radically improved without stripping the engine and reboring the cylinders (or using smaller pistons). I take it it doesn't really like being left to idle either (ie allow it some time to run in)?

 

The propshaft sounds like a relatively simple fix though, wouldn't a single piece shaft stop the knocking/distortion? Or have you already got a decent prop fitted?

 

Buggered if I know anything about rocker covers though. :confused1:

 

I'd be gutted too mate - perhaps you need a toys-out-the-pram moment, get a big hammer and hit a few things (not the zed though) then leave it for a few weeks. If I were you, I'd put some energy into your house again for a bit, something that will be rewarding, then see if you can drum up any enthusiasm for the zed. If not, then you can start breaking it.

 

Just don't be hasty - you've invested too much time and money for a knee-jerk reaction.

 

Take your mind off it for a bit and then see how you feel...

Gutted to hear its still giving you grief, but as has been said, give it a bit of time before you decide whichever way is best for you.

chin up mate. Stick with it!! if you give up now you will always be thinking what if.......

Bloody hell Nick don't give up mate. When all is said and done it's down to spending a bit more dosh. Put it to bed for a while and get some overtime in. I've been arsing around with modified cars for thirty years and I have never had one that was easy lol. I've broken down a hundred miles from home more times than I care to remember and then have to wait six hours or more because there wasn't a tow truck which could move my motor cos it was so low. Sleep on it again :)

it may sound grim but from all your problems you describe it sounds like something is too tight - if the starter is struggling to turn the engine over & oil pressure/temps are way out are you sure you have enough piston/cylinder clearance or the main/crank bearings are too tight?

 

It may be worth another strip down to see what is going on as it may be something more simple than you think - new set of shells or a regrind/rebore etc

 

dont give up quite yet - see what is causing the problem - nothing to lose in that! :detective:

The oil pressure isn't that much of a worry as it's something more than likely easily sorted but the rockers loosening themselves off is more complicated. It's only on one side, i've replaced everything on the valvetrain (studs, rockers, lifters, etc) and tried every technique to lock them down but they keep shaking loose.

 

I could end up sinking another £300 in some stud girdles in the attempt to rectifiy that, but if it's a natural harmonic problem it may never fix it.

 

It's been one hell of a journey getting this far and if it's had been making over 400bhp i would have fought on a bit to get there but with my housemate moving out, increasing cost of petrol and increasing deby struggling to get this car on the road I think i might have to just cut my losses.

 

To say i'm a bit gutted having to be making this decision is an understatement.