bantambunny

Okay, driveway finished and time to make a decision. I had a good long think while i was laying the 1600 blocks yesterday (it was a very long day!) and thought about logically what could be done. The shell and the interior are in good nick and everything's been done so i don't really want to part with it because the car looked great. The chevy has proven to be a very tricky engine to get working in the shell and i can't really afford to invest any more into the project so i've decided i'm going to pull the engine and sell it either whole or as parts to get back as much money from the project as I can. Once i've got the money back in the bank then i'll decide which way to go. I should be looking in the region of £5000-6000 for all the chevy parts i'd get back from breaking it but £3500-4000 if I sell it whole. I'll put the word out to the guys at rev it in solihull to see if they can find anyone looking for that spec of engine. I'll keep the adapter plates and spacers in a box in case i get the urge to do it again along with the manifolds or if anyone makes me the right offer i might sell the lot to them good price. Bearing in mind i've spent £16k on the build and it only needs a grand to get the engine balanced to eliminate the rockers loosening off and a plug putting in the bottom of the block where i forgot to do it i think £6k isn't a bad price for everything including the gearbox and prop shaft ready to bolt in. I'll put it in the for sale section when i get back with a detailed spec. Whatever money i have left from it will go into getting it running one way or another so i'll keep you updated. Cheers for all your support on the project guys i'm just sorry i can't get it finished but needs must unfortunately.

I can't mate, i've got to get this driveway finished first. We've got 3 cars sitting on the road outside and no way of moving the v8 until it's done. When it's done then i'll get back on it and get it done but till then i've got too much to do buddy. Thanks for your offer though, it is appreciated :)

It is a shame and if i view it as a failure i'll be broken hearted but i've taken it on the chin, i've built a unique car that to some degree works but to get it running 100% i'll need another grand at least to get it rebuilt by someone who knows how to set it up properly. I view it as a huge learning exercise and 99% of it i think i've done alright at but with the rising cost of petrol, the fact i'd have to trailer it everywhere and all the other negatives for the amount of driving pleasure i'd get out of it I don't see the point in investing more money into something that i'll literally trailer to and from a track for a quick burn around and probably end up having to rebuild every year. I enjoyed the social interaction the club gave me when i was an active member. I miss being on the road in a zed and going to the shows and i just can't afford to do that with this car. If it were to have been a full on racing car to be trailered to and from an event I would have built it to spec but I wanted 90% road and 10% race and ended up with something i could have had with a standard twin turbo. I feel a little i've let the club down after 3 years but I can't afford to do any more, i've racked up more debt than i can afford to increase and maxed out everything pushing to get it finished and sometimes you just have to know when to walk away from something. It's been 3 years since I went to a show with my own car and i miss it. Time to move on and start again with something i can enjoy. There's a plug that sits under the rear bearing cap which i have a feeling is either blocked or missing completely and that would be the only explanation i can think of. I measured the tollerances on the bearings and they were within spec so i can only assume it's the plug. To get to that involved ripping the subframe off and emptying the engine before removing the sump which i just don't have the time to do right now. Part of me wants to solve that problem and see what happens with the rockers whether it's heat related but realistically i think i've lost my love for the car now. There's only so many times you can take a punch in the face from something before you have to walk away.

Hello buddy, Ah where do i start. Okay as you probably know from previous posts i had a couple of ideas of what could be wrong but had to investigate. I got the rockers off and checked the push rod length and unfortunately that seemed to be absolutely perfect :( If they'd been too long i would have said that would have been the problem with the rockers. In terms of oil pressure the only thing that's changed is the block. The connection is set exactly the same, the same oil filter etc and now the same oil yet it still overheats (145 degrees C oil temp on the motorway!) and pressure drops through the floor to 1-4psi on idle. Currently if i break it I get back about £9k in parts and everything is virtually brand new. If i keep running it and try and fix this problem i might end up snapping a rocker/valve/burn bearings out etc. I've been flat out building the drive the last few weeks and every other jobs on the house i need to do and all the while i'm losing £60 a month on insurance and £16 on the tax and all the shows/drag racing inbetween. It's sad to say but it's looking very likely i won't finish it now and if i keep going i'm only going to lose more money on it. I just want a nice car to go to the shows in and enjoy actually owning a jap car/300zx again and it wasn't till i went out for a run in my bro's new mg tf that i realised i don't really care that much about finishing the project any more. The biggest problem now is money, our lodger is moving out next weekend and i'm picking up half of his rent myself now and my brother the other half so i've got no money to throw into the car any more. I'll keep you posted when i finally get back onto it but realistically i think it's reached the end of the road :cry:

Welcome to the club buddy, sounds like you've picked one of the best zed's that's been on here in the last 10 years - congratulations! :hyper:

"Shamal mother f***er! Eeee-he!" :D

Great news! Congratulations to you all :hyper:

I am very very very jealous right now :D lol

My old NA touched 140mph and the TT 145mph but still some revs left but ran out of room :) That NA was blisteringly quick past 100mph

That's the steering wheel i really wanted, great choice :)

Can't moan about them, my bro just bought a 1.6 MF TF and i love it. Great little car for the money :) I've had a Metro GTi MPi and a Rover coupe in the past and loved both of them :hyper:

A hidden past secret creeping out there buddy? :rofl:

I'd best build it before the other half moves up next year and fills it with shoes :rofl:

Hahahaha :rofl:

http://www.0-60mag.com/needforspeedshift/# :shock: :hyper:

Flipping heck, another one :rofl: I loved my MR2, still miss it for it's amazingly handling and practicality and the fun of revving it up to 7500k :)

Crap mate, that's awful news :( I really hope you manage to find a way of sorting it out that doesn't involve alot of money, i know exactly where you're coming from right now so keep your head up buddy and fingers crossed for you :)

The way it's going it might still be an option in mine :rofl: D-Day is this weekend when I find out if there's more problems with th elow oil pressure than i thought. My idea was put a BMW 330D 3 litre straight 6 DIESEL in there with the loom, should fit nicely and it's still a 6 cylinder :)

That is how to do it, makes mine look like a kid with mechano's done it :rofl:

Have a great one dave! :hyper Happy birthday buddy! :D

And a tool to check who actually has access to your exchange so you can avoid this problem if you decide to go with sky: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

A word of warning: I signed up to sky in feb, took a month to get the phone and broadband installed in the end, what a waste of time. My monthly bill was for £58 a month for line rental, up to 8 meg broadband and sky dish/plus box and hd channels. A week after the install the 6meg we were getting dropped to 0.07meg every night from 5pm - 11.45pm then back up to 6 meg. Totally useless, enquired about it, they said leave it and it should come back. Out of the 8 weeks we've been with them we've had possible 2 weeks where it's useable then the rest of the time having to use 2g mobile signal. Phoned them up on Friday to see what's going on and they said it's a BT exchange they rent, can't do anything about it and i'm in a 12 month contract so can't leave them. Looked it up and yes indeed it is a bt box with talk talk in there too. Said to the guy i'm not paying for unusable broadband, i want to speak to customer services, he said there's no point, i insisted i wanted to speak to them, he said there'd be a 10 minute wait, i waited 2 minutes and got through to a really nice chap called Mark. He said no problem if i wanted to leave and said a mac code would be posted out to me to use with another broadband company and there would be no charge for leaving my contract early. Rang up talk talk who estimated 17.5 meg from their exchange, they'd deal with sky moving over the phone and broadband and we'd be installed by the 30th of May! Currently pay sky £11 line rental and £17 for broadband and talk talk are doing both for £19 a month. My advice, get the tv with sky but don't bother with the phone or broadband because if like me you're on a bt exchange they really can't give a toss

Great work buddy, well done :hyper:

I've covered 15,000 miles+ in 6 months and i have no complaints about mine. Plus it's the same chassis as the V70 estate with a citroen diesel engine, great combo in my book :)

I hate to sound boring but i bought a 2002 plate mondeo estate with the 130bhp diesel in, i can honestly say one of the most fun diesel cars i've ever driven. Easily 45-48mpg and up to 58mpg on long hauls, bags of room, quiet, comfy and seriously quick especially when overtaking. You can pick them up for just over a £1000 now