bealljk

iTrader: (13)

I’ve got the same hex-head bits! Lol, and they didnt work either!

I will definately try the Torx! That’s really smart! I appreciate the advice!

I stopped off at Lowes and bought stainless hex-head bolts as replacements.

Dr Hoon

I'm actually surprised you're able to do any aluminum welding beyond like coke can thickness off of 120V.

Vitamin_B12

it was weird, used T25 and it did the normal thing where the bit starts to twist. hammer in T27 3/8" socket and it worked wonderfully

since we share same calipers, just some info for you:

front pad profile:
https://apracing.com/race-car/brake-...iles/cp3215d50
rear pad profile:
https://apracing.com/race-car/brake-...iles/cp3345d44

Aeneas137

The Fab work is awesome. I love seeing custom work like this.

​​​​​​

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

I should start a CNC build thread…

intercooler pipe (1.5mm to 2mm) does fine, stainless (16ga, 14ga, and sch10) does good too but anything past 1/4” aluminum youre baking the **** out of it! It gets to the point where the torch is too hot to hold.

Love the process! Thank you for the kind words!

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

I did soak them in PB Blaster for the two days and heated them up and surer-than-**** it worked - straight up magical

i8acobra

iTrader: (6)

Wish I lived closer. Would love to help with this. You running solid motor mounts? Only ask because that cold side intercooler pipe is very long to be solid with no couplers, unless you've eliminated engine movement with solid mounts.

Vitamin_B12

dunno if it was the same for you, but it worked so easily it feels like i didn't even try anything before or was doing something wrong

i also liquid wrench'd it for a day and a half while i thought, which definitely did nothing as when it came out the threads were bone dry lol. i also tried using a manual impact driver and narrow punch to try and shake it loose to no avail

i am happy to share tips and tricks, especially when it actually works for someone else (!), but also for such a helpful forum veteran as yourself; a credit to the community. i really should also upload my geometry serpentine belt trick to remove/install crank pulleys

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Yea - solid mounts … pretty much the only way I could sneak the hot side (easily) through.

Its one of the benefits of the forums vs. the facebook groups … nothing wrong with all the FB groups but love this forum and the dedicated members.

i8acobra

iTrader: (6)

You mean where you use the belt as strap wrench to hold the pulley?

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Got the front brakes 100% assembled and installed on the car - took longer than I anticipated but its done. Did get the rear brackets on but the calipers needed some paint (I’ll get some pics loaded) and I can get them on tonight / tomorrow / this weekend … the paint supposedly takes 5days to fully dry.

with all the brake lines disconnected (fromt he calipers) I filled the reservoir and let it gravity drain/flush over the past few days.

Progressed on the power steering plumbing (not 100% dont but getting there). Oil cooler, oil lines, turbo oil lines all making progress.

Filled the diff w/redline 75w90 and got MT85 in the transmission.

Driveshaft bolted on (I hate the g35 two-piece driveshaft).

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Tiny bits of progress …

Took damn-near 90minutes but was able to get my 1/2” fuel line fee hose pushed/pulled up between the chassis and the fuel tank - I have been dreading this for the last few weeks but buttoned down and got it done. Fuel pump assembly/basket is 100% and the rest of this will go quick.

Also started the oil feed and oil scavenge lines to the turbo … not quite finished


Gonna have a long weekend with memorial day and my goals are:

-get the fuel setup 100% ready (Run feed line, run return line, install FPR, install injectors/rail, fabricate lines)
-Install the new axles & wheel bearings in the white z
-install the power steering hoses
-got a few welds to take care of on the hot side (which has to come off for the PS lines)
-finish up turbo oil lines
-fabricate rear coolant hard pipe
-fabricate turbo coolant lines

Vitamin_B12

if we're talking about using an old serpentine belt to wrap onto itself, then yes

i changed to to a fluidampr, and most threads were for manual talking about putting it in 6th gear. i didn't like the idea of cranking it over to unlock, and didn't really understand if i would be able to tighten it afterward

after much failure (i even actually snapped a piece off the OEM cast pulley trying a chain strap vise grip!!), i finally found the tip on grassrootsmotorsports and it worked wonderfully. i made a little thread just now on DIY. yes the car is 20 years old now but i hope it helps at least 1 person

Escobar

iTrader: (27)

sounds like a fun weekend

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Made good progress on this - not quite 100%.
Feed line is 100% done
Return line is 0% done bc I used all my 3/8” hose on the power steering setup. I got more hose coming
Gonna call the FPR 20% done - Toy’d around with a few places to mount the FPR and considering mounting it to the bell housing of the transmission. I removed the false firewall and I have wayyyy more space back there than I thought. It’d make it easy to plumb the return lines to/from and I dont think that the FRP needs to be up-right? Installed fittings on the FPR and it’s moving.
Didnt install the fuel injectors - will probably wait until everything is 100%, I did fully install the fuel rails (easy-enough)
Lines too / from the feed & return are 100%


100% complete - Stayed up pretty late on Friday (Saturday morning) and got them 100%. If it was any help - most the hardware was previously taken out and put back in… so it was pretty straight-forward and nothing really went wrong.

Even more exciting - I was having some very hard cold-starts with the e85. With warmer temps the car started up pretty quick. Still needs tuned but it’s looking good.

Minimal - I ordered the pump>rack hose and got the two lines where they needed to be for the cooler.
Also started cutting material and setting out fittings for a PS reservoir.

0% progress … didnt even take the hotside off…

Didnt finish these 100% but made great progress.

The AN-4>M14x1.5 fittings that feeds from the block arrived and I got this fitting installed. I fabricated the -4 line - sized it, put fittings on, and put fire-sleeve on it as well. Also got the -4 oil restrictor fitting installed on the turbo.
I didnt have a -10 drain fitting (off the turbo) but I do have a welder! I was able to fabricate the drain fitting.
Started the scavenge line but need fire sleeve for it before I put fittings on it. Should be bad once fire sleeve arrives.

100% done … the rear hard pipe needed two -8 fittings (one for the turbo coolant and one for my ‘pathfinder cooling mod’ mod) and luckily had a stick of 1.25” aluminum pipe that I fab’d & welded. I will still obviously have about a 6” section of heater-hose to connect to the radiator but that’ll be fine. I need to figure out the thermostat side as the heater hose comes close to the turbo manifold and the turbine housing. In hindsight I wish I would have added a small expansion chamber and plug on the coolant hard pipe to assist filling/bleeding the coolant system (I did this on the white z and it’s pretty slick).

Got these about 75% complete. One line is 100% complete and ready while the other is mostly complete but I need another -8 fitting and a 12” section of fire sleeve. Should take but 5minutes to finalize this once I have fire sleeve and the fitting.

I did order AN-8 x M14x1.4 fittings that the turbo uses for the coolant. Ditching the bango bolts & tube design and going with AN.

Progress for this week (may not have the fittings/hose/fire sleeve in time)…

Get the hotside off and finalize those welds! And while it’s off get the power steering hoses wrapped up
Finish fabrication on the reservoir and get all the hoses hooked up/tighened

See about mounting the Haltech piggyback and the wideband controllers. And get the wire harness installed (at least in the cab).

Install the crank pulley and fit-up a serpentine belt.

Find the ECT temp sensor and get it installed (I misplaced the sensor).

i8acobra

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, I always have a Summer and Winter tune when tuning for E85. Only real difference is cold start enrichment. This is why I try to use a flex sensor whenever possible. Eliminates the need for this.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

yea - I was surprised on how hard the car was to start (albeit - it was 20-30degrees out) and then how quick it fired up. The car and ECU are setup with flexfuel but its essentially un-tuned and was damn-near impossible to even start finding the sweet spot for enrichment. Further, Link has 5 or 6 maps to dial-in start-up and I just couldnt get it.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Soooooooo its been awhile …

Been going crazy on the build and sadly missed the track day. For what it’s worth I drove my buddy’s lotus and we had a killer time. I am totally hooked (if I wasnt before)…

I got the fuel system 100% wrapped up and it was sorta difficult to re-route lines up the fire wall and to/from the FPR but was able to get it right - really happy how it turned out.

I messed up the OEM power steering line I ordered and just ordered the Chase Bays power steering hose kit. Pretty simple kit - the fittings have wrong angles (they need differnet angles on crimped hose fittings) and I think it fixed everything. I got a pretty big power steering reservoir fabricated and installed - I made is excessively large - I think it’ll hold 32ounces or so.

turbo oil / coolant feed / scavenge lines were pretty easy - I ordered a bunch of -6, -8, -10, and -12 line and it was just a matter of cutting and fitting hoses.

With fuel 100% wrapped up I was able to install the injectors and bolt on the plenum.

Also knocked out all my vacuum line. I used 1/4” and 3/8” aluminum tubing for everything. Needed to order a round of 1/4” tube-nuts and sleeves along with a bunch of 1/8” NPT and 1/8” BSP x -4 fittings but got everything in.

(partial post)

i8acobra

iTrader: (6)

It's good you got a large steering reservoir. Will help keep it from overheating. We've been switching our track cars over to electric steering. Currently have a Miata and CTS-V with electric conversions. We autocross, so we keep overheating our fluid. Using lines instead of hoses is a good idea. I do that on every VG30DETT I build. Lots of hoses between the engine and firewall that are hard to get to without removing the transmission.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Larger reservoir and still running a medium sized (12row 4” x 11”)cooler - as pictured.

I love the aluminum tubing (versus silicone hoses).

Continuation of previous post

Fluids
Got fluids filled (some a little while back) but diff and transmission are running redline 75w-140 and MT85. Put a round of inexpensive engine oil (like 0w-16, thinest I could find) for a oil priming / first start / quick flush, autoparts(valvoline) ATF for power steering (will drain and flush to Motul prior to track time). All pretty straight forward. Luckily no leaks.

Engine bay harness
Also took on the task of converting a RevUp engine bay harness to a DE harness. I believe it will work fine. I cross referenced / compared / contrasted a DE harness vs. a RevUp and just about everything lined up exactly pin to pin. The items updated for the RevUp (exhaust timing solenoids/sensors, oxygen sensors, etc) were all on pins that the DE doesnt use. So I cut these circuits off and heat-shrinked them all together in a single place for simplicity.

Next challenge was to repurpose the 6 wire widebands to 4 pin narrow bands for the upstream sensors (doing this all from memory and I can elaborate from my notes later on). The DE (narrow band) ECU will not accept a wideband sensor signal - the voltages dont line up / sensor voltages are inconsistent between the two generations.

Another inconsistency is that widebands dont have a formal ground pin that the narrowbands do. Luckily both narrow and widebands have the same 12volt power (no changes there). Luckily 3 of the 4 signal wires matched up perfect and no chnages were required. One wire on the passenger side needed a wire that was used (pinned) to the drivers side. So that was just a matter of de-looming and moving the wire. And lastly, choosing one of the 3 remaining wires to cut and re-purpose to grounds for each sensor.

It was a great exercise in reading/reseaching the FSM and I think everything went well - I dont have any CEL for o2 sensors.

This particular harness needed cleaning-up, I reinforced the ground wire, and did a formal wire tuck while the harness was disassembled.

Haltech Redbox install
Next challenge was getting the haltech redbox figured out. I found a redbox with the wideband controller and sensors for $250 and decided to take a gamble on it. It looked good and the seller said it was pulled from his running car. The wideband control was wired pretty poorly so I knew I had some work to get it ready to install. Wasnt wildly difficult as there are some decent schematics available online.

It was a few weeks back but got the OEM ecu and redbox installed and went to turn the key to check the fuel pump priming and throttle body valve sweep and it blew the ECU fuse on the IPDM. Didnt think much about it and called it a night. Next day disconnected the redbox and just put the OEM ECU back on. Flipped the key and the fuel pump primed and throttle body flipped like it should. At this point I had other work to do before I could attempt first start so I left it at that.

Battery wire/mounting
Next challenge was getting the battery installed in the trunk and running a 4ga battery positive wire up to the battery compartment. Finding the right style of automotive wire is basically impossible to find locally. Looked online and found a company that sells a welder lead type wire that was perfect. And luckily they sold it in common lenghts - THey had a 15ft lenght. The previous owner did have a 0ga wire running to the trunk for stereo equipment and I contemplated keeping it but I cut it out because I didnt know the history of it and it looked sorta jank. I did use the same routing that he used between the battery compartment, down through the front fender, along side the passenger kick panel, through the back seats and into the trunk. Used a 8mm stud that the original owner installed for the ground but re-did the ground wire between the stud and the battery as well.

Misc ****
Had a few minor things to install / fix in the engine bay (brake booster line, vac block, boost control solenoid) but nothing but a few days worth of work.

Coolant/radiator lines
Had to get custom fit coolant hoses - took two rounds but finally got the right gates flex hoses - very happy with how they look/feel/fit. The Dayco flex hoses are noticable better but I didnt know that at the time. Filled the radiator with just distilled water. I made a coolant overflow tank for a customer, he changed some things up on it and I’m just going to build him a new one. So I had this tank available and only needed a few modifications for overflow barbs and brackets. Happy how it came out.

Oil pump priming
With everything looking good I was ready to attempt to start the car. Check oil and disconnected the fuel pump, hooked up an oil pressure sensor gauge and did about 3 or 4 starter pulls (to prime the oil pump) and nothing … very discouraging.

Thought maybe I messed up my oil hoses on the oil filter relocation kit / oil cooler but nothing jumped out at me. I added another 2.5 quarts of oil (probably had a total of 8 quarts in the engine.

Had a full day to think it over and restrategize… first thing that I looked over was the oil pressure gauge **** the bed and was not working … so maybe I did have oil flowing?? Who knows.

But went to Harbor Freight and bought one of their weed sprayers (it was like $15), cut the sprayer attachment off and hose-clamped a -4 fitting to it, disconnected the turbo feed line and hooked up the weed sprayer to the feed line. I used the clean oil jugs to take 5 quarts of oil from the oil pan and filled the weed sprayer (did this twice) and by half way through the second cycle I was getting oil pressure on a different known-good gauge. From here, used the starter to verify oil pressure, which I was flowing oil.

First Start
All that to say, hooked up the fuel pump and cranked the car. To my surprise the car started after about 3 seconds of cranking. Despite having 1000cc injectors (need to check fuel pressure) the car ran well.

Whats next
next step will be chasing down the haltech… I got into the FSM and researched when lines are related to the fuse I keep blowing and I that’s where I’m going to start. Either I got a bad ground or the ECU sucks and will need replaced. TBD