300zx's ELX work log

[KAinjection]

How do you plan on mounting the lights?

I really have no idea at this point, I was going to cross that bridge when I get to it

You are so lucky! I wish i had this when I had my ITBs

I certainly do feel lucky to have acquired this thing. ITBs are part of my build plan as well.

[KAinjection]

So I received my ZX2 exhaust piping kit from this place:

http://www.mandrelexhaustsystems.com/servlet/StoreFront

Long story short I am not real impressed with it.

I got the box from UPS and its kinda beat up, nothing new there, opened the box and the pipes are kind of just thrown in there, with another smaller box stapled inside to kind of somewhat hold things in place.

Couple of the pipe ends are dinged up on the edges and will have to be fixed before welding, one pipe got pinched a little to hard in the bender and has a small crease in it. Then the hardware was wrapped with plastic and tape, falling apart of course. As a result I think I am missing a couple things.

Last thing is on the section of pipe that goes over the rear subframe has a joint in it. Cool right? No, its a ball joint type connector with a 3 bolt flange. I am ok with the connector, but I cant get the supplied bolts thru the holes because the hump for the ball joint is in the pathway of the bolts, and the supplied washers make it worse because they interfere with the piping

So.....I will be cutting that thing off and welding a V-band on it.

Below in the picture is the said joint and the hardware I received. Bolts for the 3 bolt flange, a gasket for the said flange, why I dont know, and only one side of a 2 bolt flange with no bolts or gasket. Dumb, but on a better note, I have plenty of hangers.

[FE3-323]

+1 for hangers
0 for exhaust ball joint
ask them to pay for the V-band

[KAinjection]

Well after sending them an email and some pictures, they said they stood behind the products they sell, apologized about what happened and offered to send a new pipe with a correct flange/joint, but I asked them about refunding me the amount for a V-band and they agreed to do that. Easier for them and probably cheaper anyway.


So I bought this nice little reasonably priced catch can off ebay and so I decided to take the top off to look inside.....no baffling at all. Should I be surprised? Nope you get what you pay for.

I had some flat aluminum lying around the garage from making my wheel alignment plates. After some careful measuring, cutting, and grinding I had a custom fit plate to essentially make the catch can into 2 chambers, then I am planning to lightly fill the chambers with steel wool. I think that should do the trick without adding too much restriction in the system, and allow the PCV to do its job. If I dont feel its adequate, I will increase the hose sizes from the standard 3/8" line to something bigger.




I also finally got all matching green/white Prosport gauges. One of them Prosport does not sell anymore, but a seller from China has them. Makes sense since all prosports stuff says "made in Taiwan" anyway.

Decided to rewire the gauges so that they will be green day and night instead of day/white and night/green. Even with my dark tinted windows, the gauges are hard to see sometimes when the sun is just right, but the green does not have that problem, so green it is. Only problem is now the stock gauges look very dim in comparison as you can see in the pic, but I am buying some green LED bulbs to replace the the ones in the cluster, so hopefully it will help.

[FE3-323]

fond on the guages!
and also glad to hear you sorted out a V-band- you'll be much happier with that method

[Mazda_Powered]

glad you got the exhaust stuff sorted out man! Let us know the fitment with the pre-welded flanges! Definitely would save time from ordering just their tubing kit.

[KAinjection]

fond on the guages!
and also glad to hear you sorted out a V-band- you'll be much happier with that method

Thanks, they look much nicer in person then the camera can capture. Just have to figure out where to mount the wideband when that comes.

V-band all the way! so much easier. I already have one in the garage that will get welded to the header.

glad you got the exhaust stuff sorted out man! Let us know the fitment with the pre-welded flanges! Definitely would save time from ordering just their tubing kit.

They are just refunding me the money. I will be buying the V-band and welding it myself.

At least if it gets messed up I will only have me to blame.

[wgnths]

very nice work on the placement and lighting of the gauges... but also great work on the catch can, Baffled is the way to go. I gotta come down and check this out in person bro.

[KAinjection]

PLX Wideband installed

Installed the PLX wideband a few days ago, and It was all pretty easy simple and straightforward as you can get.

Only need to connect the following wires:


Power- I used the existing O2 fused power wire since my car was originally equipped with a heated sensor
Ground- used a ring terminal on a bolt right next to the stock ECU

Narrowband O2 sensor wire- connected to existing O2 input wire
Gauge input wire

Wideband sensor harness- Connected the harness and installed the sensor in the OE spot for now until my header is installed. Recommended as per PLX instructions is 24" downstream for N/A and 36" for turbo and before the cat

Thats it, the hardest part is running the wires and figuring out where you want to place the gauge and module.

Pictures:





A few other items done. Installed second gen BP vlave cover with cam cover cut and 1st gen backing plate in place. Looks like they were made for each other other then the backing plate need some messaging to allow the cover to fit.

Installed new front crank seal, magnetic drain plug, oil filter sandwich adapter, so I can plug in my oil pressure sensor, and finally got to use the Flyin Miata crank holder and ninja tool. Those 2 items are a must have in your toolbox if you own a BP. Finally able to get my timing belt just the way I like to set all of them, and thats as close as I can get to exactly on the marks as the belt will allow me to. No way to get it perfect really without the ninja tool.

Installed my custom from swaybar endlinks as per Matt91GT's parts list, to attach to the tubular control arms, but due to my car being so low, the swaybar is hitting the suspension crossmember where it bolts up right between the axle and tie rod end. Then end link needs to be shortened and the only way I think I can do that is cut the 2 ES bushings in half and that should give me about 3/4" - 1" more clearance and eliminate this problem...I hope.

Miata rear sport rotors are on their way, so the next update should be rear suspension/disc brakes

[Mazda_Powered]

nice updates man lol. I'm going to try your ground location for the wideband, maybe that's my issue...good call on keeping it near the ECU. Also does the heater o2 circuit not shut off after so long?? I thought it was a timed or turned off after it heated itself up. I may be totally wrong lol

[KAinjection]

I think the ECU is grounded through the case since it bolts down to the metal bracket which is grounded to the body, so I chose the bolt that holds the fuel pump relay to that bracket.

It wont shut off the way I have it wired anyway since I am using the power wire coming from the fuse. I will have to check the diagram but perhaps the ECU controls the heater circuit thru the ground connection on a stock setup.

[MazdaNoob]

nice updates man lol. I'm going to try your ground location for the wideband, maybe that's my issue...good call on keeping it near the ECU. Also does the heater o2 circuit not shut off after so long?? I thought it was a timed or turned off after it heated itself up. I may be totally wrong lol

is on the whole time the car ignition is on .

[KAinjection]

Well this project will eventually change gears a little bit hopefully sooner then later. BP has been burning oil since it was installed and it seems its steadily getting worse, even though the engine runs great. I get blue smoke on high vacuum decel so I am 90% sure the stem seals or valve guides need done.

Plan A was get a VVT miata engine and build that........since I am staying N/A for this, I would like at least 2.0L of displacement. Problem is without going through a bunch of BP blocks to see if they can take +2.5MM supertech pistons or sleeving the block ($$$$) to use them, it seems like a big headache.

Plan B is to source an FE3 engine and build that doing the same treatment as I was planning for the Miata engine. Already at the displacement I want and it will allow me to easily increase the displacement compared to a BP.

I found a place to get an imported Mazda FE3 for $875 shipped, but considering that my plan for this build is to use forged pistons/rods, ITB's and modify my SMSP BP header, I will have no use for the internals or need to source the FWD IN/EX manifolds.

That being said, I am now looking for a non running Kia sportage to get the engine from, and then send the sportage to the scrap yard to recoup my money.

[FE3-323]

the sportage has a roughly 9.2-9.4:1 compression ratio VS the mazda high comp 10:1. but either way still a good setup

[KAinjection]

Yeah I know you advised me to get the mazda one, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed the internals matter very little since I wont be using them anyway. 11:1 compression or higher is the goal.

I am PM'ing you about something in a few minutes