My 1990 300zx Twin Turbo build by megaDan

10 minute(s) of a 731 minute read

No pictures, nothing exciting to report. I had about a half hour to kill between getting home from work and leaving for the maple festival. Instead of relaxing what do I do? Brake lines!

All I had left was the right rear line. 10mm box wrenches do NOT do the job here, don't even bother. Get a good channel lock and clamp down as hard as you can...which won't be very hard because there is no room to work. After a little bit of work I got the channel locks on tight enough to snap the nut loose, and then used a 10mm to work it the rest of the way. The line at the caliper was MUCH easier. I used the lessons I learned yesterday and took care of this line in maybe 20 minutes. 

I've got stainless steel lines all the way around. Except for the front hard line I broke at the caliper. I called the dealership up here and they said they needed my vin to order the right part, and then the vin I gave them didn't work so I'll be ordering from courtesy parts it seems. I just hate the idea of paying 8 dollars shipping for a 7 dollar part that weighs 2oz.

Tonight I prep for the transmission drop!

4/25/2010

Today's good fortune from the 5 mile "Sap Run" in Chardon carried over into Z-dom. Got the exhaust off, driveshaft dropped, and got a good start on the plenum. 

The exhaust was easy and straightforward. Everything was already broken loose since it went back on just a month ago. Pulled it all down and started to tear it apart to make disposing of it easier.

I did a little research on the driveshaft removal which turned out to be a breeze. 10 minutes total. I didn't have an assistant to work the E-brake for me, and the 4 flange nuts were on too tight for a quick snap loose so I whipped up a little tool for my impact. There isn't enough room to get a ratchet on the nuts, unless you use a wobble joint :-)

1/2" to 3/8" adapter to 3/8" to 1/2" wobble to 1/2" 17mm socket

Using this I had all 4 nuts off in 30 seconds without needing to use the e-brake. I love that impact almost as much as my Z.

Bagel enjoying the 15 minutes or so of sunshine we got today

I really wasn't sure where to start with the plenum. I purged the fuel system and started pulling fuel lines which was a b***h and a half, until I remembered I'm ditching the current fuel system and rails. So I got to use my exacto knife and make short work of them all. I got the balance tube off, coil packs removed and cleaned, most of the fuel hoses off, and the throttle body intake hoses removed. The outer intake hoses are frozen solid and I really don't know what I'm going to do with those. After fighting with them for 15 minutes or so I decided to call it quits. Not bad for 3-4 hours of work though.

I HATE those intake hoses. Oh right I cleaned up my front hubs as well to get my hubcentric rings to fit for my 13" brake kit. I tried using a stone on the dremel to grind the calipers away but that would have taken hours and far too many stones. I guess I'll have to get them into work somehow and grind them with proper tools. I want my big brakes :-)

How she sits now

4/28/2010

Spent the last two days prepping the transmission and plenum for removal.

Today mrfixit stopped by to assist with the transmission removal. I was working on cutting the EGR tubes when he showed up, and he found a way to get the EGR tubes unscrewed instead. A few missed coolant hoses later and the plenum was off!!!!!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!! What an awesome feeling.

We immediately got under the car and started working on the transmission. All the bolts came off easy and we tried pulling it down. After 20 minutes or so we realized we missed one of the bracket bolts. 60 seconds later the transmission was on the ground. Conquest #2!

It was still pretty early so we started working on the downpipes. I think the PB blaster bath I gave them last fall helped because all the bolts were fairly easy to remove. Pete did pretty much all of the wrenching, which made everything go pretty quickly. The hardest part of the operation was the passenger side turbo heatshield to downpipe bolt. 30 minutes wasted on that bastard. We even got the hard to remove drivers side bolt without any wrench cutting or anything. Three huge achievements in one night. Quite the accomplishment.

Tonight I'll be ordering plenty of silicone vacuum hoses to redo the engine bay, new pcv silicone hoses, and an EGR blockoff kit most likely.

My current wiring harness is pretty brittle and a lot of those little wire connectors broke off. Not concerned about them falling off while driving, and none of the connectors themselves seem to be broken. The car ran fine before except for an injector issue. Is it worth it to spend 400 bucks on a somewhat yet not completely stretched budget on a harness, or should I save that for the next time the plenum comes off? Is it even possible to do with the motor still in the car? It looks entirely possible but I might be missing something.

I'll be gone all weekend playing frisbee in St. Louis, but I know the only thing I'll be able to think about is getting my downpipes on and installing my top feed injectors :-)

Thanks for all the help Pete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh I forgot the best part. We checked the compressor side on both turbos; absolutely solid. No shaft play whatsoever. I really hope that means I don't have to worry about those for a few years :-) I wonder how long they'll last at 15 PSI. 

5/5/2010

I've put a few days work into this. Actually just last night and today. I felt like **** after my drive home on Sunday so opted out of any Z work Monday night in hopes of feeling better.

Last night I tackled the EGR valve, and managed to get the two mounting bolts off which was much easier than I expected. By removing the right vertical coolant hard line I was able to get both EGR plenum pipes off of the EGR unit itself, but only the drivers side could be fully removed. I tried to get the manifold pipe out but had no luck. I also easily removed the AIV valves from both fenders and the associated vacuum lines. Do I need to cap the 1" or so hose that is attached to the AIV valves in the wheel well? I couldn't figure out where they go to.

Today I stopped at Lowes to pick up a 19mm wrench for the EGR bolts when I realized the wrench would be too long, I got a small adjustable crescent wrench instead which didn't do crap for me. I ended up hitting the manifold with PB blaster (How could I have forgotten that?) and using my large channel locks which gave me just enough force to tweak the nut free. After that it was just busywork getting the nut out completely. With the last few seconds of daylight I pulled the fuel rail and injectors and called it a night.

I put my downpipes on finally, since there is nothing else down there that needs to be done. Aftermarket downpipes free up quite a bit of room, but still aren't a cake walk to install or remove. It will be interesting to see how cramped it is with the transmission back on. It shouldn't really matter though since I'll have no reason to remove the downpipes until these rock solid turbos finally eat it *knock on wood*. After finishing the downpipes I pulled ALLLLL the lines off the bottom of the plenum in preparation for doing all the bypasses. I was hoping to do those tonight but for some reason all autozone had was 1/4" fuel injection hose that they wanted to sell me at $4 a foot. No thanks. Maybe I'll have better luck at NAPA. Why does everyone hate metric so much? I ask for 6mm hose and they look at me like I have lobsters coming out of my ears.

I really really hope I can get some coolant lines tomorrow so I can do all the necessary bypasses and maybe even get the plenum back on tomorrow. Now I've just got to order new PCV hoses since I had to cut some off and wait for ASH to finish his 755cc tune. 

And find a place to buy 6mm hose from

And get an EGR blockoff kit

5/20/2010

Got everything reconnected after work today. Wired up the wideband. Went to start the car....and.......no fuel. Fuel pump won't prime with turn of they key to on position. Doesn't help that the battery is dead from sitting.

Got frustrated and gave up. Went back outside an hour later to check for ECU codes, and while spinning the diagnostic screw with the car in the on position all of a sudden I heard the pump prime. Key off. Key back on...nothing. Spun the screw some more...same thing. Unfortunately my jumper pack is nearly dead too but at least I am getting fuel it seems. Will try again tomorrow at lunch. 

6/4/2010

I pulled the plenum again and replaced EVERY rubber hose with a silicone hose that I could get to. I ordered new turbo coolant hoses for the next time I do a full tear down. After cleaning off all the old gasket material with a razor and wire wheel and using some permatex grey...my vacuum leaks seem to be totally gone and the car is running great. I think. AFR under boost is low 13's which sounds high. Need to do a little more driving and see whats up; I've only had it out for about 90 minutes total after getting it all going. When I went to start it after a short drive today it wouldn't start for a couple tries...gotta see whats up there.

Some quick pics I took before the rain gets here

Gauge panel, have prosport boost and fuel pressure gauges waiting to go in

13" brakes up front

Top feed fuel rail full install

Just the rail

Cyl 1