You're nuts if you don't pull the pan on the spare and and just check some of the bearings before putting it in. Screw doing all that work over again.

 

Eh, see no evil; know no evil.

 

Yesterday was weird.

Friday night I hear from Sigfrid that the engine hoist we were supposed to rent was unavailable, so we planned a leisurely day of prep to get ready for next weekend. I asked him to call the rental place first thing and reserve the lift for next week.

I rolled over to his place about 10am and he wasn't there.
Shows up twenty minutes later with the hoist...when he called to reserve it, they told him the other people had cancelled and he could get it immediately.
Suddenly, we went from a day of leisurely parts swapping to a full bore swap in four hours (he wanted to return the lift by end of day to avoid the extra charges...).

The "new" engine got front/rear crank seals, all new timing set, new headgasket and pan gasket.
We removed the old engine and got the new one bolted in at four thirty, Sigfrid sped off to return the lift...and came right back as he realized we still had the old engine sitting on the ground.
Had to unload the hoist, reassemble it, lift the engine onto its cart and then break down the hoist and repack it.
Apparently, he made it in time.

Today we finish up.
I hope.

We did get some pics, I'll get em up tonight.

 

Fire right up and purr?

 

Remarkably, yes.








She really did fire on the key and run perfectly first time.
We let her idle up to temp while we adjusteded timing (about 2° off) and checked for leaks and then went for a test drive.
The engine does not smoke and has 15psi oil pressure at hot idle, so we're already slightly better off for our efforts. Sigfrid says it doesn't feel as snappy as the other engine but that's just bullshit, we didn't drive far/fast enough to tell and if there is a difference, it's too suble for a butt dyno.
She felt fine from the passenger seat.

Hopefully he'll drive her to work a few times this week and next weekend we can chase down the inevitable oil leaks. This engine is as bad as a Mitsubishi...it'll leak from every possible orifice/joint and you just play whack-a-mole plugging it up.

If I wasn't clear before, I'll say it now...I think this was a silly idea that at best, only had one real benefit far as I can see. The engine we now have sitting in the garage is supposedly the most desirable combination of block and head among all the Nissan variants, so if we stick with the stock drivetrain, those would be the parts to invest in. We could properly build it up and be done.
As far as the drivetrain goes, it's time for a final decision.

To avoid the agony, S. has now turned his attention to suspension and handling.
I've long thought that the Z's "problems" weren't lack of power but rather, the inability to use it properly. Fix some of those issues and I think he'd begin to love the Z more or less as she is now.
My druthers would be to start with the wheels and tires (both too heavy and big), a diff (our stocker is open and we're running 4k rpms at an indicated 80mph) and the shocks (we have the cheapest Monroes that Rock Auto sells and cut front springs).
Just those simple (albeit, not cheap) changes would transform her.

Of course, I have no idea what he'll decide to do next.

 

Well, she leaks, apparently from the front timing cover.
Of course.

There is debate in the community regarding gaskets v. sealant during engine assembly and this time we went the "dry" route, using gaskets only.
Doesn't seem to have worked out too well but I haven't seen the damage yet, so who knows.

Anyway, it looks like this weekend we'll be ripping apart most of what we did last weekend only this time with the engine in place and harder to work on. The front cover is really not too bad but the oil pan is a bitch. Along with clearance issues at the front crossmember, there are 31 bolts to wrangle.
Remarkably, I found a stainless stud/nut kit for the L28 oil pan- all 31 pieces- for $16 plus shipping, so maybe that will help.

I doubt I'll get to it but the next upgrade to the interior will be rewiring the door locks to a central locking switch...a minor mod but a real convenience for the driver.

It's nearly 80° here as our freakishly warm winter slowly ebbs into spring.
Time for a blizzard.

 

I've been wondering about doing this on the FC, but it seems easier to just reach across to the passenger side door lock from inside. Maybe I'll change my mind when I lose my youthful spine articulation.

 

I did it (though I went for all out keyless entry instead of just central locking) and while it is an incredibly irritating job to perform, the reward is very much worthwhile. Also, there is an almost perfect location inside the door for the actuator, with one mounting hole already available. You only need to drill one hole to do the job. It will clear the window (although it's very close).

No youthful spine articulation required

 

 

So in talking with a buddy about how I hate most car shows on YouTube, because they are mostly the bad kind of hack jobs or silly upgrades, he recommends Binky because of all the awesome fab work and how clean the car is. What he didnt tell me is that they were only to episode 8 and the car was nowhere near finished. I hate him a little still to this day but god damn are those guys freaking amazing in what they can do and how well put together that car is.

 

We only had about five hours to work on the Z Saturday but got a surprising amount done.
Resealed the timing cover and oil pan and replaced the rear trans seal...car is now leak free (so far).
Also tweaked the alignment a bit and took care of a few little details, like realigning the hood.

A guy drove all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska to buy some parts from Sigfrid...he's thinking on the engine, probably decide to get it before he goes home tomorrow. That'd be nice to get rid off.

I even washed the car, so she's looking good as well as running good.

And it was 80°.
In March, in Denver.

 

life is good!

 

I love this Thread..lol!

 

Love how you took all that stuff off the front of the car, but the license plate is still zip tied to whatever that is.

 

Those are torsion springs for the hood hinges.
We only left them in because we haven't figured out the grill yet and they're a convenient place to hang the plate.

I have a plan for that area once we finalize the drivetrain but until that happens, this setup seems to work fine and actually looks pretty good. We've confirmed that the plate really does fold up at speed and unblock the rad and the car doesn't run hot, so all is good for now.

Reports from S.'s drive yesterday were positive except the rear trans seal appears to be leaking still...I have no idea why. Brand new seal and the driveshaft stub is in apparently perfect condition, no dings or scratches or anything.
Very irritating.

I'm amazed- and pleased- this thread is still alive.
It's like the Seinfeld of topics, not really about anything.

 

 

Both the Z and the FC are motoring along, the Z's situation is rather ah, "fluid" at the moment but that should resolve soon.
Meanwhile, there's this:


Yup, Roadkill visited my junkyard...this is the birthplace of my last four project cars, essentially my home away from home.
Freiberger is in a section of the yard not normally open to the public, my main stomping ground is across the street, behind the big blue warehouse visible in the background.

Kinda sounds like they may be filming there soon, I'll have to check it out...

 

jesus christ that place is absolutely massive! much larger than how i imagined it when you have spoken of going down there.

 

Hi cat, how's it going?
That sublot he's filming in is about 1/10 the size of the "normal" yard and believe it or not, there are two other yards on this same road.
The size is great for the variety of choice but is almost a health risk in the summertime.
Remember that I'm really a mile high and our UV is brutal up here...you let acres of metal cook in the sun and it gets nasty hot.
Carry a heavy toolbox around and realize that any part you want- especially a big part- will be in the absolute furthest reaches of the lot and I could see dying in there someday.

Incidentally, Colorado Auto & Parts is the same junkyard featured recently on Jay Leno's Garage with an old hot rod they fit a radial airplane engine into.
You walk right by that as you sign in and enter the yard.

 

sounds like heaven to be honest. time to use your junkyard guru skills and sort out a nice trolley with tools in it brother =)
i must say im impressed that you chose the rotary when i can only assume that there must be copious amounts of parts from american produced vehicles going for peanuts. the Z looks great by the way!

im cool been sort of in a "take 1 step back to take 2 forward" kinda phase at the mo but i can see light at the end of the tunnel so to speak but i have been chugging along with my seven. ill be coming with an update soon!

 

And so it has.

It's been increasingly apparent that we needed to finally make a decision and commitment to a drivetrain...either build what we got or swap in something altogether different.
At this point, the "good" engine- the one with the most desirable head/block combo- is sitting in the garage and there'll never be an easier time to go through it and be done.
This would not be a time sensitive approach as long as the currently installed motor hangs in there and she seems healthy enough for now.

Well, "healthy enough" if you discount the carb, which just sucks.
Sigfrid has spent a lot of time tweaking/tuning with mixed results and it's quite frustrating although we suspect the carb is just worn out junk and it's not our fault.

As attractive as a swap would seem, the cascading domino effect would just be overwhelming, both financially and capability-wise.

So, we've decided to definitely stay with the "stock" setup (we actually have the later 280ZX engine/trans instead of the "77 280Z version) and as a symbol of this commitment, this is now on order:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/FIF-30003

It's a self contained injection throttle body, all it needs is power, ground and a few sensors.
We'll need to upgrade to a high pressure fuel system and weld an O2 bung into the exhaust header but that's about it.

Meanwhile, we've found a shop that can go through the head for us, now we just need to figure out the shortblock.

Anyway, it appears the Z project will continue.

 

That's a neat upgrade. Any idea what kind of horsepower that engine is capable of once it has properly tuned EFI?

 

On a good day, maybe 150-160 hp.
With a cam and headwork, possibly 200.

 

And it has.
A spring snowstorm and a birthday prevented us working this weekend but progress has been made, all on Sigfrid's side.
The FI throttle body is here and S. likes how it looks.
The exhaust header has been modified with different flanges (replacing the one-time-use "slip fit/crush clamp" it came with) and an O2 bung was welded on, so it's completely ready.

We're just going to use the FC pump that came with the fuel tank I installed in the Z two years ago. I've been carrying it as a spare in my FC, which means mine will probably crap out the day I put the backup in the Nissan.
We also need to replace all the soft line between the tank and the carb with high pressure hose and get a suitable filter (a FC filter would work fine, I think).

Sigfrid also got a fancy schmansy (well, new) ignition module, coil, rotor and cap...I guess out of a sense of preventive excess, because I never noted any ignition problems.
Doesn't hurt though.

I haven't seen the supplied wiring harness but it's not much in any case.
We're already set for the O2 sensor, there are unused ports in the thermostat housing that I hope the coolant sensor will fit and the coil is only a few inches away, so all the required inputs are handled.

Hope to install and drive next weekend.

 

be a great name for a band