Well here we go. I'll start with a quick recap of my history with the car. I originally purchased the car 3/11 from Vegas. It was in fantastic condition (maintained correctly) and had a few mods that made the car really fun to drive.

EGR Delete
JWT Pop Charger
JWT ECU Program
5-speed Conversion
1-piece Steel Driveshaft
Stillen (I think) Tension Rods
Stillen FUCA's
Powertrix RUCA's
Brembo Drilled & Slotted Rotors
Steel Braided Brake Lines
Steel Braided Clutch Line
Aluminum Intake Pipes
Test Pipes
No Name SS Mufflers





I lost the lip one frigid February morning as I was pulling into work. It was like 20 degrees below zero and the lip touched an ice chunk as I was coming into the parking lot and the lip shattered into a bunch of pieces. I hope to get another one sometime.

I daily drove the car while I had it and tracked it a couple times. I absolutely loved the car but for some reason I thought I was getting bored so I sold it (had just over 200k at the time) and bought a miata (my second) and pretty quickly was really regretting my decision to get rid of the Z.

I started looking for another Z and in 10/14 I was actually was able to BUY BACK MY ORIGINAL Z!!! I lowered it and put on 1" hubcentric spacers pretty soon after I bought it. Drove it and loved it for a couple years until I developed a coolant leak coming home on Thanksgiving.



The car ended up getting parked in my garage for about a year while life moved on until I got the itch to try and fix it. In my efforts to get it back on the road I kept running into issues trying to pass emissions and after some trouble shooting I discovered the middle cylinder on the driver side had low compression. I knew it was only a matter of time since the motor had 230k on it.

So here we are! I have made the decision to rebuild the motor and wanted to have a running log of my progress. I dont want to do a used motor swap and I dont want to go TT. I sincerely enjoy the car in its NA form and for simplicity/reliability sake I want to keep it that way. Ideally I'd like to get back to DD status or something close to it.

I have started tearing down the motor and I know I'll have questions along the way. I'm tearing it apart while its in the car because of reasons. Ive been bagging and tagging parts and bolts along the way as well to help keep everything straight.

Plan is to get the motor out and take the block and heads to a local reputable shop and let them tell me what they find before I start ordering parts.

Here are a few random pics before I post the tear down pics.

As I was removing some of the cam caps I noticed a few of the bolts were bound up most of the way out. All of the bolts that had issues had this corrosion/grime on them. Do I need to think about replacing any cam cap bolts?




Would I benefit from some of those VTC cap things?






I have the head bolts on the driver side all loosened and just need to get those 10mm bolts and then the exhaust manifolds and I can pull it out.

I'm a long way off from touching the engine in mine, but will be watching this thread for things to keep an eye out for!

Ozzie wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 12, 2018 3:24 am

I'm a long way off from touching the engine in mine, but will be watching this thread for things to keep an eye out for!

Thanks for following along! I'm hoping the more experienced Z owners can also keep me from messing up any steps along the way.

The plan is to rebuild the lifters I have. From what I understand as long as there are no damaged or broken parts and the top surface of the lifter is not gouged, I can rebuild the lifters with no issue. But please correct me if thats not right. As I was pulling out the lifters I "Starred" a few lifters in my notebook that I could compress about 1/8th of an inch by hand. I dont know if that means anything about wear?



My Z has all the plenum deletes done and as I was taking off these rear hard lines I was thinking about chopping it up to just leave the PCV hard line. But I have heard some people delete the PCV system all together. I read a couple write-ups about how to do it and I think I would like to remove the PCV system all together. I like the idea of cleaning up the bay a bit more where I can. Has anyone removed it and had any issues?


Another thing I was wondering about is the coolant hard lines/heater core pipes at the back of the engine. The smaller lines I have marked in green are basically looped back into the system. Has anyone done anything to clean up these lines? Cut off the smaller ones and weld the holes closed? Do some AN lines? The coolant leak I developed was on one of those smaller lines so it would be nice to remove leak possibilities.


Has anyone had any luck rebuilding their FUCA's? Specifically the Stillen V1? The bushings in mine need replaced and as long as nothing is damaged or broken I would like to rebuild and clean them up.

Soooo.....years later....I finally decided to update.

As of right now I have the rebuilt engine back in the car, first stage of break in done, I have put 50 miles on the engine without issue, did an oil change in preparation for the final 500 of the break in and had an injector go out on me so I am waiting on parts atm.

I took a ton of pictures throughout the process and will just dump those in the following posts. (56K WARNING!!! lol ah...the good ol' days)
I'll add details but if anyone wants to know anything please don't hesitate to ask.

Engine back from machine shop













BDE Half Moons


ARP Idler Studs

Getting a small sandblaster cabinet setup was a game changer for refinishing dirty old parts. I used glass beads as that seems to be fairly mild on aluminum.
























For those of you wondering, yes I did remove/replace the baffles when I blasted the valve covers.


This power steering mount is a cast iron lump. I dont have a before pic but it was super rusty and crusty. I blasted it and then heated it way up with a torch and gave it a few linseed oil baths.






Also went with BDE poly mounts

Modified/welded my rear coolant pipes to fully finish the small coolant line delete.























Magnetic Drain Plug



ES Poly Steering Rack Bushings



GKtech Solid Steering Shaft Bushing

I cant remember the exact size, but this brass fitting was what I used to eliminate the upper clutch bleeder and the junction box.









































I put the engine back in WITHOUT the tranny attached. Because of that, once I tightened the motor mounts, I needed to keep the engine supported leaning toward the front of the car until I got the transmission installed. This was simple but effective.



These were the stands I made to help with working under the car. When it was time, I used my dads help and we both just bench pressed the tranny into place and after 3-4 stabs it mated up great.

This color I ended up painting the timing covers was a complete experiment and I couldn't be happier. Id love to paint a whole car this color some day.

I used a basic metallic silver as a base coat and then sprayed a few layers of clear with a Black Emerald Pearl powder mixed in, I then sprayed a few layers of straight clear.

One thing I wanted to note about the clear I used; Its called KBS Diamond Clear. Its a moisture cure urethane, just like POR-15. So when it dries it is INCREDIBLY durable. I've tried, with real effort, to scratch or chip the clear with my fingernails and I couldn't leave a mark.
This video actually made me buy it and try it, this is my first time using it too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_6kS7I9Mjw

I replaced the leaky old BMC with a new centric unit and rebuilt the power steering pump. Also added a lightweight aluminum pulley to the PS pump that I snagged for a deal.

Here are a couple videos showing more of the timing cover paint color
https://imgur.com/3E1ShRq
https://imgur.com/zjTbV7U

Great job, awesome progress!

NolimitZ32 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:40 am

Great job, awesome progress!

Thank you! It feels good to be driving the car again after it being parked for so long.

I know the feeling, took me almost 9 years to complete my TT Swap the first time around. Wait till you have kids in extracurriculars. I haven't touched a wrench in who knows how long. . .

NolimitZ32 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:22 am

I know the feeling, took me almost 9 years to complete my TT Swap the first time around. Wait till you have kids in extracurriculars. I haven't touched a wrench in who knows how long. . .

I cant even imagine! My wife and I had our first kid early last year so I am just jumping into that pool. I thought I was busy before the little guy showed up I totally understand the 9 years timeframe. Life comes at ya fast!

The 9 years was when I was a broke college student, the money was the problem, not the time. Time, Money, and Heath, most only get two of the three at one time.

Your post is an inspiration. Fantastic build post! Will you be putting a Recaro child seat in the back at some point? My son wishes mine was a limo.

DaKow wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:14 am

Your post is an inspiration. Fantastic build post! Will you be putting a Recaro child seat in the back at some point? My son wishes mine was a limo.

Thank you for the kind words! Its taken a LOT of time and effort and there are still plenty of things I want to address on the car, but I am pretty happy with how things are turning out.
That is absolutely the plan. As soon as my boy is big enough to be in a forward facing car seat we are going to go for a cruise. I know it's not the popular thing to say but I actually prefer the 2+2, visually and dynamically, and it's just an extra bonus now that I have a kid.

Great post! And great work. I am currently waiting for my 91 NA z32 to arrive and this post will be invaluable to me.

Also what did you use to coat your items black? I have been trying to get that finish and have not found it anywhere!

Fantastic work man. Really like your color choices and quality of work done. Did you post a full list of mods somewhere?

It's funny you mention how you prefer the 2+2 and how you plan to take your son for a ride soon as you can. I have 2 Turbo Coupes (87T and 92TT) and I really want a 2+2 to add to the stable for this reason. Just don't have the space :-/

spade312 wrote: ↑

Mon May 02, 2022 3:26 pm

Great post! And great work. I am currently waiting for my 91 NA z32 to arrive and this post will be invaluable to me.

Also what did you use to coat your items black? I have been trying to get that finish and have not found it anywhere!

Thank you!! The black paint is a VHT product in a rattle can. Its their epoxy black roll bar and chassis paint.

FlawleZ wrote: ↑

Mon May 02, 2022 7:23 pm

Fantastic work man. Really like your color choices and quality of work done. Did you post a full list of mods somewhere?

It's funny you mention how you prefer the 2+2 and how you plan to take your son for a ride soon as you can. I have 2 Turbo Coupes (87T and 92TT) and I really want a 2+2 to add to the stable for this reason. Just don't have the space :-/

Thank you for the kind words! You could always do a TT 2+2

As far as a mods list goes here is what I have:

JWT Pop Charger
JWT ECU Program
Aluminum Intake Pipes
Headers
2.5" exhaust
No Name SS Mufflers
All common deletes
ARP Idler studs
BDE Half Moons
BDE Poly Mounts
Aluminum Crank, alternator & power steering underdrive pulleys
GKTech Solid Steering Spacer
ES Poly steering rack bushings
5-speed Conversion
Oil impregnated bronze shifter bushings
1-piece Steel Driveshaft
Tien Lowering Springs
Stillen (IIRC) Tension Rods
Stillen FUCA's
Powertrix RUCA's
Brembo Drilled & Slotted Rotors
Steel Braided Brake Lines
Steel Braided Clutch Line

I THINK that pretty much covers it.

Haven't touched my Z in years now......
Glad to see your progress, and it still gives me something to aspire to.
Fantastic job.
Thanks for the updates and the tips on the timing cover paint/clear coat!
Those turned out really good!

The attention to detail is very inspiring.

I've used POR-15 on an MGB rebuild and it is rock solid. Great find for something similar for your engine pieces.