300zx's ELX work log

[KAinjection]

That's a cool idea. Are you going to run a screen in front of the intake or anything?

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I wasnt planning to do so but perhaps I should to keep the leaves and cig butts from collecting in it

amazing! I like it!

Thanks, I am surprised it turned out, I almost gave up on it.

Good thing I decided to take the engine apart for rebuilding. It would have left me stranded eventually.

[Mazda_Powered]

yikes!

[KAinjection]

Engine is completely assembled and transmission is attached. Going to be dropping it in the car tomorrow and hopefully get the exhaust completely welded up.

With the head shave, and decking the block, I will assume I am in the range of about 10.5:1 compression, .020" over pistons, head cleanup/modified intake ports/grooved, modded/cut Kia intake, ported TB, header/full exhaust, EX/Int cam, aluminum flywheel and SOHC crank, this thing should definitely pull harder.

It will be a few months before I purchase the Colt Tri-flows, but its still on the to-do list.

[Mazda_Powered]

I can't wait to hear the review!

[DuRWooD]

Nice to hear it's together. Also looking forward to hearing about the results.

[KAinjection]

I got the engine bolted in in today but I still need to hook everything up to it. Ran into a problem with the header outlet pointing up and toward the passenger side too far. I think I can make it work if I cut the end of the outlet off and re weld it.

I guess I shouldnt be surprised as it was a prototype after all.

Hopefully if I can get all this done and the engine running tomorrow, I can weld up the triangulation pieces for Jims rear tower bar on Friday.

[FE3-323]

mig with? or without gas?

[KAinjection]

Without gas

[KAinjection]

More hangups have prevented me from finishing the car/starting the engine yet. Got the header pipe at the correct angle, got the cat ready with v-bands and the straight pipe so swapping between them is easy. I also had to redo the rear section of exhaust since I somehow messed that up and it was about 1" short, and I had ordered 2 extra v-bands since one of the clamps stripped on one of them only to find out the ones I ordered this time from a different ebay seller are slightly different and the clamps/flanges dont match. I had already welded the v-bands onto the pipes mating with the cat and the ones I was going to weld to the straight pipe were different, so I had to order another one from the same seller as the other 2 so they would match up. Everything is all welded up and ready to go except the straight pipe as of now, so hopefully tomorrow I will do the final install of the exhaust and get it fired up.

A tip for those using Mig to weld V-bands: use non-stick cooking spray to minimize the spatter that sticks to v-bands when welding or just put the clamp on to cover it and spray the clamp with the cooking spray.

[FE3-323]

grab some gas attachments. it helps immensely!!!

[KAinjection]

Its not my welder, and its a cheap century unit that only has a hi/lo switch and wire speed. The feed is not working correctly either since it wont weld right unless the speed is around 9-10 with either temperature.

If I ever get one of my own it will be a better unit and be able to use gas.

[KAinjection]

I finally started it, but I could only let it run a few seconds since there is no radiator or coolant yet. Oil pressure primed to 25psi while cranking with the plugs removed, primed the fuel system to check for leaks on my tapped fuel rail and all is good with 50 psi pressure. Engine fired after only a couple revolutions.

It has an exhaust leak which I suspect is only a misaligned v-band.

[KAinjection]

Finally got it back on the ground and will be doing the break-in/test run tonight around midnight when traffic will be minimal.

[Mazda_Powered]

awesome man!!! hope it goes well!

[KAinjection]

I actually just got back now, lol.

After almost 20 miles of hard accel pulls and long coast downs between pulls, the vacuum gauge went from reading 15" at idle before I left to now reading 17.5" at idle when I got back in the driveway. Looks like the rings are seated good and the most important part is out of the way now. It will still be more time before they fully seat but most of it is done now.

The good news is that when it pulls it pulls hard from about 4K-6.5K, and there is definitely room for improvement in the tuning department. There is definitely more air moving then before since my A/F used to read 14.5 at initial WOT and then dip into the 13's before getting all the way in the 12-11 range at redline. Now it reads 15.5 and sometimes 16 at initial WOT and will hold 14.5-14.7 till redline.

The engine sounds very smooth and rev matching now sounds like a sport bike with the lighter bottom end and open exhaust. The exhaust has a great sound and is surprisingly quiet at cruise but as soon as you crack the throttle or go wide open, it gets loud and a little louder then I want, so there may be another resonator going in place of my test pipe. It really does sound mean for a BP, but I feel it will attract too much attention. There is an exhaust leak at the slip joint of the header and I need to fix that before I even think of driving it to work since it lets way to much exhaust in the cabin.

The bad news is: The lighter bottom end appears to make then engine want to die when dropping revs into neutral but it could also be a tuning issue. The exhaust leak I feel is causing some O2 sensor reading errors since its before the sensor. Tranny is leaking badly from one axle seal, and the front crank seal on the engine appears to be leaking badly as well. I also noticed the crank pully wobbles a lot, so I may be trying to find another or just buy an under drive pulley since I am N/A. Engine does not seem to be improved much in the bottom end power, but I feel that is something to be addressed with tuning.

I feel this engine could really benefit from a MS at this point, and that is part of the plan for the future. I really hate messing with the VAF.

1st gear is gone in a flash, and with the sound from the exhaust it makes the car feel like I am not driving an escort.