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!

Very Bling!

Very nice, I took mine down to 400 grit then powder coated [emoji3].

 

 

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Is the Piston/Oil cap a permanent feature Nick?

 

A nice stock Black one would work well.

 

What a per-lava getting my engine collected has been!

 

Was meant to be collected last Tuesday by FedEx, and after lots of excuses and £235 of international calls to get them to do their effing jobs, they finally got their arses in gear and picked up my engine. (Don’t ask... it’ll take me too long to explain, and yes, I am seeking compensation)

 

All being well, it’ll be here on Monday

All being well, it’ll be here on Monday

 

Just UK customs to deal with then Nick.

 

 

What a per-lava getting my engine collected has been!

 

Was meant to be collected last Tuesday by FedEx, and after lots of excuses and £235 of international calls to get them to do their effing jobs, they finally got their arses in gear and picked up my engine. (Don’t ask... it’ll take me too long to explain, and yes, I am seeking compensation)

 

oh come on Nick, we've all been with you this far :biggrin:

 

All being well, it’ll be here on Monday

 

having a coming home party for it?

it's like one of those "leaves as a boy, comes home a man" type stories

I like that, mine used to be like that 4 years ago but its all dull now.

 

But not enough experience with polishing to try bring the shine back.

 

Came out OK

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]118419[/ATTACH]

Will you have to pay tax on the Labour?

29ft 7 and a bit inch’s of DEI reflect-a-Gold tape later...

 

 

The IC pipes were fairly easy to wrap nicely.... the turbo intake pipes were simply impossible to get a crease free finish on, simply too many angles and shapes to contend with.

No mate, just the complete engine

She’s home!

 

 

I’ll post more pics tomorrow, been a hectic day...

Wonderful news Nick! Been a long journey (in more than one sense). Very much looking foward to the next steps!

Get it fitted!!!! :)

Great news Nick - and not long now before the NEC mate.... As Si says, get it fitted :wink:

 

Richard:thumbup:

Well it’s not been a straight forward couple of days! A mixture of expected and unexpected issues have made for very slow progress in the reassembly process.

 

Issue #1 (unexpected)

 

I’ve installed the dipstick tube as per usual and obvious gone to install the dip stick... only to find if won’t go all the way in and I can hear it fouling against something metal inside the sump... how odd. Message Mitch to find this is an unheard off issue to him with all the main caps kits he’s sold. So I try rotating the dipstick and it drops in. Sweet. Go to pull the dipstick out with one finger and it instantly grabs and releases leaving me with...

 

What the eff! The measuring weight at the end of the dipstick had come off leaving me no option but to have to remove the sump to retrieve it.... balls.... but at least I got to see my engine internals first hand

 

 

Managed to retrieve the end without any issues

 

It appears to be a clearance issue between the girdle and the pickup that’s grabbing onto the dipstick. Obviously I’ve made Mitch aware and much pondering is being hand as to how to resolve the issue as easily as possible.

 

Issue #2 (expected)

 

I’ve then moved onto rebuilding the turbos. A new one for me as I’ve never rebuilt a turbo before. While the assembly is straightforward enough, getting the “clocking” of the housing correct look a bit of trial and error

 

Issue #3 (partially expected)

 

Onto installing the turbos and the issue became apparent

 

As with all after market parts, tweaking is always required, and I come to expect it. So to solve this I cut down the drain pipe just before the upward turn, flared the end and used a section of reinforced rubber hose to join up the drain to the sump. Didn’t have chance to take a pic as was a little stressed out by this point.

 

Issue #4 (unexpected)

 

Assembly moved on, to find that I was missing a few parts that I’ll need to finish the engine before it goes back into the engine bay. A few of my PCV hoses, thermostat and couple of the Plenum bolts had been missed during the packing process. So I’ll have to wait for them to arrive to top and tail the engine before installation.

 

So as it stands, the engine currently looks like this

 

 

Plan for tomorrow is to get the ancillaries back on the engine and get the belts on. Then I’ll make a start on the wiring loom and refitting the interior.... hopefully tomorrow will be a little less stressful!

Also took a few pics showing some CNC details I love on my engine

 

A lot of stress building a modifed car for sure Nick but hope all goes better for you tomorrow.:clover:

As promised, here’s a pic of the turbo drain modification

 

Managed to get the ancillaries on, but noticed I’ll need new aux belts (forgot the ATi Damper isnsame sized as stock, while these belts were for my underdrive pulley)

 

While I’m waiting for parts to arrive to allow me to finish the engine, I started on some of the other jobs.

 

New AC condenser went in

 

And I started on the wiring loom install

 

Tomorrow I’m planning on cracking on with getting the AC matrix and blower back in and start getting the dash back in

Reasonable progress today

 

 

Took a bit of time to swap the brake pedal assembly over for the cruise control as well as sorting some of the wiring out under the dash.

Hopefully the rest of the interior will be back in tomorrow

Well bar the aux belts, it’s ready to be installed

 

 

Gave the clutch and flywheel a bit of a clean before installation

 

And did a little more interior work

 

Will finish the interior tomorrow while I wait for the belts to be delivered, and being well the engine will be back in the engine bay tomorrow

the engine will be back in the engine bay tomorrow

 

That’s where I’d of put it [emoji12].

 

 

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I’ll let the pictures do the talking

 

Its in :thumbup:

Stunning!!

It's great to see this beast of a zed come together.