As with most projects and rebuilds, they all start in the same place, mine was no different. However, this isn’t truely the start of my forever ongoing Z project. I’ve owned this car (my second Z) since 2008 when I purchased it from a former member. For the first 5 or 6 years I did the usual mods with suspension parts and basic bolt ons. For reasons unknown, whilst running stock boost, piston 5 cracked a ring land during a track day at Castle Coombe. A forged build and a remap later all was well until a sunny October’s day 2013 at Bruntingthorpe killed that engine with what at the time was a suspected head gasket failure at 181mph..... And this is where I shall start my journal.

 

The Z was stored off the road from Oct 2013 until March 2015. I’d had a major knee operation at the beginning of 2015 which meant I was going to be off work for 6 months. I’d saved up enough to start thinking about a parts list to rebuild her and frankly, after a couple of months of staring at the same 4 walls, I was going stir crazy! I employed the help of a good friend and decided to pull the engine and see what was what.... just a head gasket my arse!

 

March 2015

Problem 1: It turns out stainless steel, exhaust wraps and condensation don’t mix well

 

Before I’d even got the engine out, a new set of downpipes was added to this list. These AMS items were only 2 years old, so I was far from impressed! I contacted the retailer and after a bit of tooing and froing I secured myself a set of replacements for free... how long they will last, only time will tell!

Finished my PS pot resto today. It’s not quite a perfect match to the OR colour, but it’s really close.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]116102[/ATTACH]

 

It’s only a rattle can job, using Halfords “Matte Military Green” covered with a ProXL 2K clear coat. I’m pretty pleased with the result

 

That looks great Nick and will make a big difference to the look of the engine bay. Must do this myself.

Looks good Andrew. Provision for a mechanical fuel pump drive is an interesting idea

Edited February 16, 20196 yr by nickz32

 

New Ti automotive 525lph fuel pump arrived today. This thing will give me a good 15% headroom with flow for what I need but is pretty amp heavy in comparison to my AEM320lph pump (525 draws just under 22amps at 70psi). So I’ve bought a 46amp capable Delphi fuse holder and 30amp capable Deutsch connector also arrived today. Just need to order some 12AWG Raychem wire, and the new pump setup will be complete.

How far will the pump be from the battery?

How far will the pump be from the battery?

 

The same as any other 2+2 lol!

 

From memory my current wiring (which is 16awg) is about 4m when all the twists and turns of getting it to the pump connector

Edited February 23, 20196 yr by nickz32

Well it does say "out of tank" on the box, so not such an odd question!

 

22A using automotive 12awg (nominal 3mm²) over 4m will give you a voltage drop of 1V. Nominal rated max load for 3.0mm² is ~27.5A.

Well it does say "out of tank" on the box, so not such an odd question!

 

22A using automotive 12awg (nominal 3mm²) over 4m will give you a voltage drop of 1V. Nominal rated max load for 3.0mm² is ~27.5A.

 

It’s a generic Walbro box, the pump is still an in tank pump

Well it does say "out of tank" on the box, so not such an odd question!

 

22A using automotive 12awg (nominal 3mm²) over 4m will give you a voltage drop of 1V. Nominal rated max load for 3.0mm² is ~27.5A.

 

Where do you get that calculation from Andrew, it differs somewhat from the one I’ve used...

 

Thinking about it, I think 4 meters was how much I ordered, but I didn’t use all of it..... I’ll have to measure again when I remove my 16AWG wiring

Edited February 23, 20196 yr by nickz32

Here (scroll down to calculator):

 

https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/cable-sizing-selection.html

Ah, that’ll be why there’s a difference, my calcs are at 13.5V

Had a bit of a detailing day today as my wiring for my pump hasn’t arrived yet.

 

Popped into Clean and Shiney and bought some Scholl S30+ polish. Really impressed with this product. Obviously being a fresh respray I don’t have any heavy defects to worry about, just removing the final have and holigramming from the Bodyshop’s rotary polisher.

 

 

However, there’s a slightly odd texture to the paint when you look at it up close.... so looks like I’ll be wet sanding it in the future

Swapped out the fuel pumps today. Need to get my backside in gear and sort out the new loom

 

Mr DPD dropped something off today....

 

 

Beautiful trophy..... thanks to the Club team for this. It’ll sit pride of place on the mantlepiece

My CP Pistons came back from being treated with Diamondyze anodising. This drastically increases the surface hardness of the pistons aswell as improving thermal dispersion and anti friction properties

 

 

Then they’ve been treated with TechLine ceramic coatings on the crowns and skirt.

 

 

They’re almost too pretty to put in an engine!

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated this, for good reason.

 

The later months of the Mrs pregnancy had complications with something called Obstetric Cholestasis, which is basically a liver malfunction caused by the pregnancy, so frequent trips to the hospital has taken up most of my time. However I’m pleased to say little Henry joined us safe and well on the 29th April

 

 

So as you can imagine, the Z hasn’t had much attention recently.

 

A couple of updates from EPR. Engine is now in assembly room and is due to go together next week. However we noticed an issue with the Ross Performance dampener..... their Race pulley doesn’t have any provision for an Air Con belt. Mitch and I were a little miffed as their website makes no mention of this. Having had a few conversations with Ross Performance, Mitch and I decided to switch to an ATi Super Damper with a custom mounted 12 tooth ring for crank position.

 

I’m having some custom ducts made for my SMIC’s next weekend. The OE ducts on Z1 SMIC’s do kind of fit, but they obstruct the top 3 and bottom 3 rows of the cooler, so reducing their efficiency. The new ducts will expose the entire face of the SMIC.

 

Other than that, the engine should fly together and hoping I’ll have it first week of June. Still aiming to be up and running for the AGM, but it’ll be tight

Ah congratulations to you both, and Henry.

Congratulations and welcome to the world Henry. :clap:

Congratulations Nick....!!

congratulations, you got yourself a new mechanic with hands that can work in the 300ZX engine bay :lol:

Congratulations :)

What an utter arse of a job that was to remove!

 

 

So the Milspec harness has been put on hold for now. For two reasons really, 1) I want use of the car this summer and I want to attend the AGM in it. 2) I want to future proof the MilSpec loom by having the required harnesses for a Haltech I/O expander box and CAN hub.

 

So I’ve just ordered a new ‘95 OEM harness that I will use for the next year, and then I’ll sell both looms in the future to recoup some of the costs for the Milspec.

 

I’m also due to have some custom intercooler ducts made this coming weekend. While the OEM ducts do bolt to my Z1 SMIC’s, they obstruct the top 3 and bottom 3 rows the the core.... far from efficient. The new ones will be made of aluminium and will expose the full face of the SMICS. Furthermore, I’ve sourced some arch liners from a mk1 Audi TT, so I can harvest the intercooler ducts from them and graft them onto my arch liners..... of the Germans fit them from factory, they must do something!

The first one i did took me hours and cut me too ribbons removing it,Such a satisfying job though knowing you are future proofing the car for many years.Anybody viewing this who has a sketchy loom should roll their sleeves up and get it swapped before they go obsolete.Top job Nick :cool2:

Started another of the “to do list” jobs today.

 

As I mentions a few posts back, I’d sourced a set of mk1 Audi TT arch liners. They utilise a vent in each front arch for air passing through the intercooler on one side and oil cooler on the other. So today I set about grafting the vents into my arch liners

 

 

I scored an outline on my arch liner

 

And made the cuts

 

I then used the hot knife fitting on my soldering iron, plastic zip ties as a “filler” and set about plastic welding them in place. It’s been a while since I’ve done any plastic welding, but I think it came out ok. No doubt the second one I do will be a bit neater.

 

 

Given that VAG decided the TT needed such a vent for escaping air, i believe these vents will improve the efficiency of the SMICs by preventing positive air pressure building up behind the coolers and slowing air being fed through the coolers down.

 

I’m going to dig out the smoke machine and leaf blower for a crude test to see how they compare to an unmodified arch liner I have knocking around

I’ve done the same to mine Nick, although I didn’t fit a fancy pants grill :lol: big old Stanley knife hole.

Well I’ll be surprised if I make the AGM