Let me know how your clutch install goes, I'm yet to do mine. I'm assuming that's a lightweight flywheel?

 

Yes, the Z1 lightweight. and Z1 just shipped another package today. that must be the missing parts.

damn, I have a lot of work to do. I think I have a condition where I'm not happy unless I'm under pressure. Even with a self-inflicted to-do list.:-) running a business with cargo vans that I service myself, hobby cars, track cars, home remodeling, and porting an indie game to classic game consoles and retro computers... lol. I definitely don't feel good with nothing to do.

 

clutch can be a pain to bleed, just be patient and make sure you wait in between cycles.

 

oh yeah, I didn't think about that. Good point.

 

Axle stubs arrived. I think getting this put together and installed will motivate me to get other stuff done that I have neglected to do.

 

git'r done!

 

 

was finally able to cut back the hours and get some time in the garage again since December. I put the new diff together. can't wait to get this thing on the track. The 4.09 gear will be awesome at Sonoma and thunderhill. still have a ton of stuff to do. glad to finally be getting back at it.

 

Lots of stuff happening--all for the better! I was working 6 days a week running the business + doing a lot of work myself for the past few months which is why nothing has been getting done on the track car(s) since last year. Finally hired another driver & reduced my schedule to 2 days a week. I was so exhausted... Just starting to get some energy back again after 2 weeks of recovery & thinking about the garage again. With this amount of free time, I'll finally get back on track (pun 100% intended).

I just ordered a MaxJax M7K lift. $3,100 at Lowes. After 5 years of crawling on the floor, finally leveling up the garage. The ceiling is only 96" so this is the best solution. I was pissed at MaxJax for doubling their price 3 years ago when I was about to place the order. During Covid, I guess. So when I saw this price come up, i was surprised and jumped on it.

I have a ton of stuff to do & can't wait to get to it. this lift will change things a lot.

Yeah i've been working so much I didn't even get the new diff installed... ugh... But now I can finally get back into this hobby.

 

Have you driven the 4.09 gearing yet? I just ordered mine from z1, im having the LSD rebuilt and then having a shop install it. I hope it gives some good accel improvment!

 

not yet, but it's assembled and ready to go into the '04. I've been remodeling the house for the past year and just recently cut back on my work hours. so between the contracting and working too much, the cars have just been sitting for a long time. I've got the shift cables out of the Cayman, getting the numerics installed. that was not a fun job. I figured out that on the driver side, it's way easier to go through the top. I took the MAF tube and TB out. and the driver side shift attachment is right there. super easy at that point. whereas getting to it from the wheel well seemed almost impossible to me... and while I had it apart I ordered an IPD intake with the 82 mm TB. which just arrived today so I can put this stuff together this weekend so I can get the Cayman out of the way and install the MaxJax. it'll be so nice to get the Z on the lift.

 

nice, those cables will make a big difference. I remember how shitty mine felt on my cayman.

 

Lots of delays... while I had the plenums removed, I decided to buy the IPD 82mm plenum + TB and yanked out the two butterfly valve vacuum tubes by not paying close attention... I figured when you pull on a vacuum line, it pops off, but instead it came out of its source under the intake. an honest but stupid mistake. so I've got my worm camera searching for the 1/8 vacuum line attachments for both the front and rear plenums. This is shitty engineering. leaving a vacuum line just attached by friction is stupid. anyway I haven't found them yet. I've scoured forums and diagrams and the usual suspects are not what these are attached to.

I don't regret doing this because I've wanted to install an IPD plenum and it will be cool to get this done but I feel dumb for manhandling the tubes.

at this point, I'm really behind schedule. I've got a MaxJax waiting to be installed and a buyer for my 03 350Z. so I need to get this **** done already...

there are so many times when I wish I had a buddy nearby to point out obvious mistakes... I do have a friend at a local shop who works too many hours but if I could get him to come over and help me with a few things it would get me out of this rut...

I've got the shift cables wrapped and attached to the transaxle so this is really close to being done. I just need to find the vacuum attachments. and I don't want to take the whole intake off in order to find them...

so hopefully soon I'll actually be posting some updates here about the '04 350Z with the new differential and clutch and etc... which have been on hold for a long time. The good news is I'm only working two days a week so I have plenty of time now.

 

making progress. I'm sharing this here because it is directly impacting my work on the 350Z.

I pulled all of the racing seats out of the shed to clean them up. I'm putting the OG cayman seats back in. converted the white corbeaus into desk/gaming chairs.






I really don't see the point of all these adjustment screws in the numeric cables except that it's lazy engineering so they only have to make one set for all of the Porsche models. because it is a PITA to tune the cables and I have no confidence in the tightener nuts even with thread locker. whereas the OG Porsche cables are fixed length. I'm disappointed in these numeric cables. This is overengineered ********. but I'm dealing with it...

 

Worm cam to the rescue!

Maybe this inaugural 2006 Cayman had prototype vacuum lines that were revised. Neither the front nor rear plenum flap vacuum line connectors were where they were supposed to be from the diagrams. The front plenum line goes to the right (passenger), rear plenum goes to the left (driver) with no T-connectors. The "T-connector" looks like a literal vacuum pump on each side while the diagrams show a single vacuum nipple, a short hose, and a T (with both going to the T). I would have never found them without the worm cam. I was so irritated that I almost removed the intakes.

I almost bought a 987.2 Boxster yesterday but glad I didn't. TBH, I always feel relieved to get a job done, but I hate working on Porsches. Every time I've done something to the Cayman it has been a hair-pulling PITA. Those Germans are obsessed with engineering but they introduce fragility with over-complicated designs. I don't think I'm going "all in" with this platform. Def not ever going to the track again with it. Who knows what will just randomly fail? At least with the Nissans, you get some warnings.

 

Did you get your new diff installed yet?

My new diff is ready to go but after getting the Cayman out of the way, I'll be installing a Maxjax lift, so more delays... But will be worth it.