nickz32

Cheers chaps

A bit of an update the long and short is the engine is goosed and will require a significant amount of work to sort it out, none of which is covered under warranty. The “why” of the failure is a bit of a sore topic. I have my beliefs on the cause, EPR have theirs. However, the end result is the same, the block requires a significant amount machine work to get everything straight and how it should be, the crank needs either a regrind or replacing and I need to replace both turbos as debris has damaged the CHRA’s to the point the compressor wheel touches the housings, aswell as replacing two of my pistons. the engine is not going back to EPR again, and I’ll be sorting it out myself. There may be an opportunity to upgrade a few bits, but machining costs will dictate if it’s affordable.

Was hoping to volunteer, but my engine has suffered significant damage and it looks like it’ll be off the road for the forseeable. gutted to say the least

I’ve come to expect the worst when it comes to my luck with this car, and my luck didn’t disappoint. I pulled the engine yesterday, and removed the sump, where I found… I’m pretty confident that is bearing delamination. There is virtually zero shimmer to the oil, which means that it hasn’t been instigated by bearing to journal contact. what makes things worse is that it appears the issue has taken my turbos with it

Mechanical or body resto?

It’s bearing material…. Which bearing is unknown at the moment

So yet again, it looks like I’m going to have to strip the engine down and figure out what’s gone wrong and try and deduce why. the oil analysis will tell me if the rich base map has diluted the oil, but due to the time frames and lack of fuel smell from the oil, I’d be very surprised. Highly gutting, but I refuse to let an inanimate object beat me!

Fairly major update the Z went to Abbey motorsport last week for mapping. with fuelling 80% done and boost levels decided upon (1.5 bar) she made 524hp and 519 lb ft at the hubs, which equates to 602hp and 591lbs ft at the crank. Considering that no changes to the base map ignition timing were made, she’s on track to make well over 600hp/lbs ft. however…. We stopped play when the VTC developed a rattle and a slight drop in oil pressure was noticed. We decided to inspect the oil filter and send an oil sample off for analysis to make sure everything was ok unfortunately, I got some bad news today.

Happy birthday chap

Will see what next year brings mate!

I haven’t seen it referred to as a z34 in any of the Nissan literature. it’s not even called a 400Z…. It’s model name is simply Z

This!

Small update i borrowed a UJ off a good friend of mine so that my car stays mobile in time for this weekend (BIG milestone coming!) I removed mine and found it was utterly goosed, both notchy and stiff to move in all directions. JoelyP also pointed me in the direction of a recent FB post that identifies 350Z steering UJ’s as identical and half the price of 300zx ones! Nissan U.K. haven’t got any at the moment max but I’ve got one coming from European stocks that will arrive in plenty of time for my road trip in September

Good to see you back on here buddy!

Well on further inspection, I found I’d made a mistake when I reinstalled the rack when replacing the bushes. It appears that I’ve misaligned the column in the UJ, which has thrown the lower UJ out of phase with the upper…. While I’m not 100% sure it’s the cause of my stiff steering, it’s deffo worn out the lower UJ. I removed it today and found it to be free moving but very notchy. hopefully I can source a used replacement in the next day or so and I’ll look at getting a new unit when funds allow (theyre £240 for an OEM replacement!)