My Fall/Winter rebuild

[zcar93na]

I bought my 1993 Z with 167k and two oddball wheels last summer for $2300, sounds like a good deal, huh? I was told that it needed injector #5 replaced beacause it missed, which it did. Me and my dad still drove it home on 5 cylinders. I replaced all 6 injectors with remans(hell of alot cheaper than new and they're still in it working fine), found a nice 3 row tt radiator for $160 and bought the conversion bracket for an NA, various interior parts, and i even bought another '93 out of a junkyard for $600 to get various parts that are hard to find(clips, screws, other interior parts.) Put a new set of Continental DWS on it and put around 10k on it until it started popping coils packs and catching fire(hacked up efi harness). So here I am, stuck with a dead end job barely making enough money to wipe my own a**, and I park the car and drive old faithful('84 Dodge Prospector) when it's cold and I rode my '01 katana when it was nice. On Easter sunday this year, a deer runs out in front of me while going 60 at night, needless to say, no more katana. Then on July 6th, I wrecked my '08 Honda 700xx, ended up with 4 hemorrhages on the brain, a broken collarbone that came through the skin, and pretty knarly road rash. To top it off, I lost my job because I wasn't in any shape to work. Needless to say, I've been through hell this year. Sorry for the long story guys, just giving a little background on what's been going on and why my car has sat for almost a year without being worked on.

Back to the car; How she looked in October


Took the front bumper and skirts off


Moved it in the driveway where it could actually be worked on


Took everything off starting behind the crash bar and stopped after the a/c condenser was off



Pulled the plenum so dad could make a lift plate to bolt on the lower plenum to hold the weight of the engine/trans


Up in the air so I can get the mid pipes dropped, trans mount unbolted, transmission jacked up and the crossmember dropped




I'm at a standstill right now, gotta get some money for the rest of my parts. Plus, I gotta get some buddies together for some help, I've done all this so far by myself. I've done mechanic work on atvs and dirtbikes for a few months and at $50/hr. I've managed to round up a decent amount of parts

But here are the parts I do have:

eBay melon launcher catback-$170
Z1 oem efi harness-$460(sold the katana)
Z1 oem shifter rebuild-$25
Z1 bronze shifter bushings-$16
Z1 billet transmission mount-$75
OEM 350z release fork-$50


Z1 lower hardpipe and upper silcone radiator hose-$125
Z1 silicone brake booster hose set-$30
BDE billet cam plugs-$20


Z1 six shooter motor mounts-$68


PPC stg.3 ceramic clutch kit-$120

[zcar93na]

When the engine is out I have a few things to to:
clean all the oil and road grime off it
buy a complete gasket set
paint valve covers, timing covers, and black out the engine bay because I don't care much for it being the same color as the car
Take the headers off my parts car and put on my engine
Take the transmission out of parts car and put in mine; my snycros are wore in 2nd and 4th

If you go back to my first pic, you'll notice my headlight is kinda sunk in and the lens is also busted. I won a used one off eBay for $41.

I was pretty ill when I received it, one of the mounts was broke. A little super glue, blue silicone(to seal it off), and a few hours of my time made it like new(to the untrained eye) The second pic is with the fixed headlight on the car, I just wanted to see what it looked like


In the mount, you can barely even see it


Any questions or comments? I'm open to suggestions or advice, feel free to give all the help you can. Please, no bashing

[t.mcginley.jr]

Looking good! I bought the same exhaust you did, it sounds great for the money

Also, my headlight housing broke in exactly the same place. Gotta love 20 year old plastic

[zcar93na]

The one that was on it was broke in the same spot. I would've fixed it but the lens was busted. The PO tried "gluing" it back in place with black RTV, apparently they thought it fixed everything cause all the interior parts that were broke and I replaced were coated with the stuff

[zcar93na]

More parts are in! Z1 shipped everything except my hardpipes, they sent them to the powder-coater and I'll get them in a few days.


Zspeed solid shifter brace and boot-$149
Z1 N/A hardpipes-$148
Z1 high flow intake-$74
Z1 subframe collars-$58
Energy steering rack bushings-$18

The boxes are really starting to pile up, taking up a corner of my room.


If you haven't noticed, I order almost everything from Z1. It's mainly because Carrollton is about 3hrs away and they ship super fast. I've only bought a few things off eBay because it's really a shot in the dark with some of the things on there. You really have to do some searching to find nice parts.

[gsrteg]

nice job! looks like fun doing a project car, keep me/us posted! -nick

[zcar93na]

I'll be sure to! Haven't done much cause I've got 2 four wheelers and a dirtbike to get ready before Christmas. I'm hoping to have the engine/trans pulled this weekend, and of course I'll have pictures to keep everyone updated

[zcar93na]

The final piece of my last order came in earlier, fresh from the powder coater. My Z1 70/30 hardpipes

[zcar93na]

I have a question and I don't want to sound like a cheapo but I am on limited funds. My 180k service will be due in 2500 miles and the belt seems to be in good shape. I'm gonna have to take the belt off to replace some gaskets and seals. Would it hurt anything to put the belt back on and run it until I can buy a 60k service kit? I plan on buying it before it's due just to get it out of the way, I just need some other parts to get it running first

[IonZ32]

I wouldn't do that for sure. You'd be surprised a the condition some of those parts can be when they come off upon close inspection. I would not recommend putting the old belt and parts back on. If that belt breaks its over. I'd take the extra insurance and wait until you can do the whole service. It'll be worth it in the end. Do it right the first time and you won't have to do it twice!

[nissanfreak12]

I wouldn't do that for sure. You'd be surprised a the condition some of those parts can be when they come off upon close inspection. I would not recommend putting the old belt and parts back on. If that belt breaks its over. I'd take the extra insurance and wait until you can do the whole service. It'll be worth it in the end. Do it right the first time and you won't have to do it twice!

Definitely this ^^^^^^

[zcar93na]

Still haven't got a chance to get the engine and transmission out because of the rain Every time it dries up enough to work on it, the bottom falls out of the sky. I did however, make a lift plate today to bolt to the lower plenum. Do y'all think it'll hold the weight of the engine/trans? I can put some straps around the engine to support weight if it won't be enough. I mean, a BBC weighs around 600 pounds and they lift them out by the intake all the time.

Anyhow, what do you guys think?

[Ace2cool]

This weighs 750 lbs, with aluminum heads. However, I've seen people use rope around the plenum to hoist the engine out. That being said, I'm a fan of using the exhaust manifolds as extra support.

[zcar93na]

I noticed that it makes a 454 look small, lol. I planned on using extra support, but i wanted to make a good point to hoist from first. How much would you say the transmission weighs? I'm pulling them out together, I know that there's easier ways to do it, but I've always been a fan of pulling them out together and I've seen that it can be done in a Z

[Ace2cool]

Transmission, not sure on exact weight, but me and my buddy carried one up the stairs pretty easily. Less than 150 I'd say.

[zcar93na]

I knew it couldn't weigh much, it's not very big and plus it's aluminum cased. The one that's in it has the soft syncro problem, it grinds in 2nd and 4th. I'm gonna use the one in my '93 parts car in the hopes the syncros are still good, but with 141k it's a shot in the dark. How much would a rebuild kit or just the syncros be?

[zcar93na]

Well, I got my engine and transmission pulled out today. I Unbolted the crossmember and let it drop down about an inch. Dad used the cherry picker on his Ford 4000 tractor, and it came right out Don't have any pictures cause it was getting dark when we started on it. But I'm here to say, it's easier to pull the engine and transmission than any other way. Looks like I'm gonna have a hard time getting all the oil and South Georgia sand off this motor, it's dirty.lol

[zcar93na]

Well, I got a little done today. I wanna get this thing degreased and cleaned before I put it on the stand.

How it looked this morning




Rear main seal is leaking, you know what the PO's solution was? Put RTV on the bellhousing so it filled up with oil instead of dripping on the ground


Looks like the majority of my leaks are from the valve covers


The motor mounts fell on the ground as soon as we lifted the engine up


Timing belt and lower plenum off


You can just imagine how nasty the lower plenum is from this picture. It's sitting in a tote full of degreaser right now. I'm gonna clean it up tomorrow


I decided to pull the ECU and harness out and got a big surprise when I pulled that wood panel back


That's all for today. I'm hoping by tomorrow or Tuesday to have it up on the stand and in the basement. That way I can work on cleaning the engine bay up during the day and work on the motor at night

[zcar93na]

Well, i figured it's time for an update and it's not a pretty one

All I can say, is the previous owner did not care a bit about this car. It is as dirty on the inside as it was outside. I pulled the oil pan off and a big blob of sludge dropped in my drain pan, the pickup tube was stopped up with the gunk but I cleaned it out. The oil pan is in just as bad of shape, I'm gonna have to do some serious cleaning on it. I took some pictures but they're not all that great cause was shaky. Tell me what you guys think....





What would you guys suggest I do to clean this gunk out of the engine? It doesn't look so bad in pictures, in person it is horrible

[gsrteg]

[zcar93na]

I've really been thinking and the only thing I've came up with is to run it for a few hours then change the oil. Do that twice and then put a good high mileage synthetic(what I actually want to run, but I'm not gonna waste it) with Zmax or something else like it that will clean my engine. I've been told you can add some kerosene to the oil and it will clean it, but I'm not too sure about that one. Any thoughts?

[Ace2cool]

I've really been thinking and the only thing I've came up with is to run it for a few hours then change the oil. Do that twice and then put a good high mileage synthetic(what I actually want to run, but I'm not gonna waste it) with Zmax or something else like it that will clean my engine. I've been told you can add some kerosene to the oil and it will clean it, but I'm not too sure about that one. Any thoughts?

Don't just run it at idle. Run it up and down the road for 50 miles or so, then change it. That sludge is most likely from switching to synthetic after years of conventional. If you want to do it right, swap to synthetic right now, and it'll help clean it out. Run 50 miles, drop the oil pan, scrape it out, and go from there.

[zcar93na]

How hard is it to drop the oil pan with it in the car? But I intended on running up and down the road, I know it's not gonna get good circulation just idling. And I will switch to synthetic right now, what's a cheap synthetic so I won't be wasting money?

[zcar93na]

Well as much as I hate it, this project is gonna have to be put on hold for a little while. Some things have came up and working on atvs and dirtbikes isn't gonna cut it anymore I'm going to check out a TIG welding job Monday, but I'm not getting my hopes up for it. It's nearly impossible to find anyone around here that will give someone my age a chance with a TIG welder. I'll keep you guys updated if I manage to get anything done on the car. Thanks for the advice y'all have given me. I WILL finish this car, just gonna take some time.

[zcar93na]

Well, it's been over 2 months since I last updated this thread. The build has now lasted into the spring, but I'm making progress. I manged to get a job at a fabrication shop and I have a consistent income now The only parts I've ordered so far are a power steering pump rebuild, Z1 silicone power steering hoses, heater hoses, spark plug tube seals, Injector/plenum seals, balance tube o-rings, new knock sensor and upgraded harness. But I have bought paint and gasket maker to put my motor back together, so here's some pictures.

Stripped the upper plenum to dremel the casting marks and paint it


Before


During


Done


I panted the intake wrinkle black and my heart sank 2 hours later when it didn't wrinkle


Two days later, it finally wrinkled. Not big wrinkles, it's like it "frosted", but I think it looks good.



I painted the balance tube, and valve covers wrinkle red in hopes that I could match my hardpipes.



I spent all day yesterday putting the engine together. I installed the new knock sensor and harness before I put the lower plenum on, but I didn't take a picture of that




Finally got to use my BDE billet cam plugs


Upper plenum reassembled and intalled


I think I done a good job at matching the valve covers and balance tube to the hardpipes, what do you guys think?


Oh, I also took my shifter brace and shifter pivot/mount to work and done a little work. I welded a nut on the underside of the brace so both bolts can go in from the top and make shifter install so much easier. I took a few washers, cut one and welded them with a TIG to fix the front hole where it broke. Then i took a wire brush and cleaned the shifter itself up, I'll clear coat it so it doesn't rust.


I didn't want to drop the money on a factory shift knob, so I bought this one. Still spent $43, but it's better than $60+ for a red stitch JDM or a factory Nissan

[zcar93na]

I have an actual update this time guys! I'm 2 small orders away from having everything for the drivetrain of the car, so I figured it's time to do some work. I finally ordered my 120K service kit, I also purchased Ramey Z HD idler studs, 2 new coolant temperature sensors, and PCV valves. Took me a little while to get the money saved up, but I done it


I started on it last night and everything was going smooth until an exhaust cam bolt snapped on me. Luckily there was still some bolt sticking out of the cam and it backed out by finger. After I got the belt back on I was turning the engine over to check clearance and the belt slipped due to the tensioner being screwy, so I called it quits for the night. I got home this evening and finshed her up.


Sorry for the blurry picture. I had the hunger shakes. Haha.

[zcar93na]

Small update:
I finished painting my timing covers and my water pipes, and I rebuilt my power steering pump. I had been putting off the PWS pump, but it was actually pretty easy, only took me around an hour and I took my time doing it.



^The pipes are only bolted on finger tight with no RTV, I've got a couple timing cover bolts to rob off my parts car before I put them on for good. I just wanted to see what everything looked like. The oil pan will go on once I get the rear main seal replaced



^I took apart the PWS pump this morning and cleaned everything with brake parts cleaner



^Everything cleaned and laid out



^Starting to put it back together



^A little Loctite never hurts




^O-ring and suction tube installed



^Everything tightened up and waiting for my underdrive pulleys to come in.

[zcar93na]

Good update guys;
Got the car to a buddies shop and I've been working on it a lot in the past week. Before the motor went in; I changed my rack bushings with energy poly bushings, My inner and outer tie rods plus the boots. Before the inners went on, I made my spacers; .625"x.875"x.250".

^I originally cut them .5" but after some reading I cut them down to .250"


^Tires off the ground, and still ~1/2' toed out but you can see it helped my steering angle



^Flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate installed


^Engine installed

[zcar93na]

Update:
After printing out a wiring diagram, and spending several hours I've got the engine wired...


...Except for this little guy. As you can see, it's on the driver-side plenum next to the brake booster; but where does it go? It's been a good while since I disassembled the car so I don't remember a plug like this. Could you guys help me on this one?

[zcar93na]

Update:

I've got everything on the car done except for a few things on the interior. I'm waiting for an injector, lug nuts and clutch master cylinder to come in the mail and it will be driveable.

Here's a few pictures