DJZ's 280ZX

[DJZ]

Took the turbo and manifold off today to have a look at the exhaust leaks and see what I can do about the wastegate, I think I'm going to have to find another manifold.

1. The holes for the pipes for the wastegate in the collector haven't been matched to the size of the pipes, there is a huge lip but I don't think I can get the die grinder in down through the turbo flange, I'd have to cut the pipes off, grind them out then weld them back on.

2. There is a leak coming from the collector, part of it hasn't been welded and there's pretty much no way to get the tig torch anywhere near it.

3. The manifold was leaking out of number 1 & 6, I knew it would be like this as the manifold was a bit bananaered, it would probably come right if it was surfaced but I'd end up with the flange being thicker in the middle than at the ends.

I'm keeping my eyes out for a decent manifold, may have to have a go at fixing this one to keep the car running then swap it out once I find a goody.

[DJZ]

Haven't managed to find a new manifold yet so I've decided to try and fix the existing one. I chopped the wastegate pipes off around 20mm from the collector and I bought a new carbide burr and we got a new giant compressor at work which made the job a whole lot easier. I ground the lips off from both pipes, the overhang would have been made 6 - 8mm, the holes would have been maybe 2/3s on one side and 1/2 the size they should have been on the other. I put a bit of weld in there to try and smooth out a nasty lip from where everything was welded together.

I got a piece of 2" staino pipe (thanks Jabo) to redo the wastegate pipe with, I've chopped the wastegate pipes off around where the red line is and I've squashed the 2" pipe up to match, I'm going to need to put a little bend in it towards the block so the wastegate clears everything, I'll probably have to "lobster back" it as the pipe is to short to bend.

The main leak was coming from where the arrow is but on the other side of the flange (the block side), I managed to get the tig torch in through the turbo flange and I've put a bit of weld in there, I can't see light through it like I could before so I'm pretty sure its good. Now I just need to get the head flange skimmed and then I can jam it back on.



Haven't really done much else to this thing so far, the bolts for my wheels are still sitting in Germany for some reason, they left the factory on the 6th so they've been sitting there for 20 days. I'll have to ring DHL up next week and see what the deal is. I'm going to get the 235s and 255s put on them and then jam them on the car to see what they look like.

[DJZ]

Wheel bolts still haven't arrived, looks like they still haven't left Germany. The company I bought them off started an investigation with DHL but I haven't heard anything since.

I spend some time the other day undersealing the RHS wheel arch, I've been holding off for a while but it's done now. I put some slots in the exhaust manifold not quite all the way through between the runners for 2 & 3 and 4 & 5 to try and get it to sit flat on the head, I couldn't find the feeler gauges at work but I could still fit a piece of paper folded in half under each end so it didn't really help. I really wanted to get it going again but I'll have to wait till next week then try and get it skimmed flat.

The lobster back wastegate pipe turned out alright, my tig welding is getting better but is nowhere near perfect, learnt some skills from Zac on how to do it and borrowed his drop saw which made things heaps easier. I spent some time cleaning up where the runners are welded onto the head flange and also where they merge at the turbo flange. The wastegate position is much better than it was before and the wastegate pipe can now pretty much follow the downpipe rather than being at right angles to it.

Measured up the S14 hubs and bought some hubcentric rings, not too sure whether they are going to work with the wheel spacers that I've got but I can either get the rings or spacers modified. Not really sure what to do on the back as I don't think the wheel actually locates on anything as the hub barely sticks through the rotor. I need to pull a back wheel off and have another look.

Other than that I've barely touched the car in 2 weeks. One other thing I did was buy some more braided line and a couple of 45 degree fittings to replace one of the turbo water lines, it was never really right and was actually touching on the downpipe - even though it had head protecting stuff around it it is still slightly burnt so time to fix that.

[DJZ]

Yay, my wheel bolts have finally made it into the country, it's only taken 33 days. I finished putting one of the front wheels back together today, will do the other one tomorrow. Hopefully the bolts will actually get delivered this week then I can get the tyres fitted and jam all 4 wheels on.

Gave two of my wheel spacers to the guys next door to work to get machined so the hubcentric spacers will work with them. Sent the exhaust manifold over to MPL Automotive to get machined flat, should get that back this week as well.

[fletch]

Just spent the last hour reading your build thread. Its awesome!
haha, nice job!

Those chinese manifolds all leak, i think its 50/50 if you get a good one.

[DJZ]

Yeah, it's pretty hard to justify $200 + some dicking around time vs. $1000+. I'm keeping an eye out for a good Japanese one.

[DJZ]

Got the manifold back and on the car today, need to take the computer & battery back out of the Skyline, top up the oil after I changed it the other day, fill it with water and it should be good to go.

[classicdat]

Wahoo, can't wait!!! Rakaia?

[DJZ]

I'd like to bring it along but I don't think I'll be able to get it certified in time.

[DJZ]

New shoes, thanks Chris @ Firestone Papanui for pimping my ride. The rear tyres are too stretched so I'll have to look at getting some 275s pretty soon. One of the front tyres is pretty average but my Toyos are too narrow to go on the 9s.