daeron

buy the fel pro gaskets ONLY from autozone, then get the intake manifold gaskets and the Cam Case O-ring from a dealership.. the last two are also available from http://www.thepartsbin.com. You do NOT want to use aftermarket intake manifold gaskets, as they are very prone to blowing up in short order. the "cam case O-rings" go between the cam case and the cylinder head itself (two separate assemblies) and they are metal reinforced. Non reinforced ones have a tendency to get sucked into the oil passage they are intended to seal. you REALLY need to know if you are overheating though. I would highly recommend either fixing your temp gauge or installing an aftermarket one. Even if you leave an aftermarket one under the hood or something, you NEED to watch your engine's temp.. on these cars, an engine with 100K only needs one overheat to blow a headgasket. I know this ALL by personal experience, I just finished MY headgasket job earlier this week. the Fel-Pro gasket set has alot of superflous stuff you dont need, the two gaskets themselves are under $40 from autozone, and the other bits are about $20 shipped. Add some RTV sealant for the joint between cam case and cylinder head and thats all you should need... but timing belts would be wise to add if they have never been done on the vehicle. You don't want to re use old timing belts with an unknown history. I have gobs of photos from everything except putting my engine back together, I will try to hurry and post them soon.

Talk to some guys at work, then.. for someone who works with metal, custom frame rails are NOT a major thing to "fabricate." With any luck you could get out of it for the cost of materials, a case of beer, and some pizza.

I couldnt find a way to just spit it out and not sound like i was taking it too seriously

..allright, this is a topic of conversation that came up between my brother, my uncle, and myself earlier this week... MY understanding is, horsepower is simply a function of torque, and Torque is the power you have.. horsepower is simply how readily accessible that power is... THAT being the case, then lightening rotating mass of the engine/driveline would increase horsepower, but only within the confinces of the amount of torque you have.. and it does nothing to effect that torque.. (ie, no change in ft-lb numbers) Am I not right? I am trying to understand it as much as anything else, because according to my understanding of what horsepower actually IS, my statements follow logically (at least as far as I can tell...)

all you really have to do is get some stock of channel, and cut it into pieces. Cut the right angles into everything, and weld it up where the old rails were. Its just bone replacement surgery.. Find appropriate steel, cut it into appropriate shapes, and weld them into the appropriate spots (after removing the old metal of course.) You can mock the pieces up before you ever cut the old rails out, so you can test fit the new rail, one or two pieces at a time, just by setting them up against the old rails. It really is a lot simpler than it can seem.. the concept of "replacing my frame rails" can be daunting, but once you see the end result you realize, "Hey.. it was just putting metal back there where the factory metal rusted away... wow, that was easy!"

No one here will ever doubt the quality of the CCR engines, but I don't feel that we should, as forum members, feel a particular devotion to our Beloved Admin for engine work.. sometimes upwards of a grand isn't exactly an option, and the entire purpose of the forum is discussion and information.. "other" places to get an engine from are simply pieces of information. Everyone here obviously highly recommends "keeping it in the family" as it were, but I don't think Shawn would have a problem with people offering alternatives to his own shop. That being said, it IS nice of you to stick up for him.. but theres no need to give someone else any flak for suggesting options, thats all. Personally, I was wondering if anyone was going to come out and post the link to the ni-mo.com page once CCR had already been linked.. I've been looking for that link for a couple months now (regarding other japcar motors, not soobie engines) and I was glad to see it came up.

check over the first two or three pages of posts here, someone just used Xylene to pass HC emissions in Cali, but I always recommend using Denatured Alcohol. Run your tank almost dry (have a little gas in a can Just In Case) then pour a gallon of denatured alcohol from Home Depot in, take her for a good hot run just before the test, and your HC emissions should be reduced by about 90%. Get out of the emissions check and go fill up your tank with old fashioned dino-fuel, and you should be kosher.

thats right, read MY subject header.. you got it wrong, they don't suck, they BLOW! You can retrofit a MaxiFuse block on instead of the fusible links.. that looks alot cooler, too In your other thread I mentioned my occasional DOA problem.. All i ever do is wiggle the terminal connections on the hindmost fusible link to get it to work. Something tells me you may have been in a similar situation, so it may well come back to haunt you even with your new links. Be glad you don't have the Issue that *I* am stuck with.... My Zcar caught FIRE because i (idiotically) put an oversized link in to replace one that had blown.. the circuit got shorted again, the link heated up, melted the plastic cover i had JUST found in the junkyard and put on there, and set the plastic on fire. The ENTIRE link block, and the wiring going ALL the way down to (but thank goodness, not IN to) the main engine wiring harness, got TOTALLY fried, and thats why Shawn no drivey his Zcar anymore. the silver lining was, thats when I got my Subaru. Well, it WAS silver at one point, now its more like a "rusty lining"

Yah, my buddy's dad had a diesel mercedes that had WELL over 300K on the original clutch.. but that SAME car also had the original brake pads last over 200K, as well. They DO put "lifetime" warranties on things like brake pads and clutches, because it REALLY is possible to drive enough like grandma to make them last that long.

I would recommend splicing a fuel pressure gauge into the rail somewhere so that you can watch your fuel pressure... if an injector is sticking open, it should have an impact on the fuel pressure, wouldn't it? Do the EA81T fuel pumps have anything like the dampener pot ion the fuel pump, like the one on the EA82 that is prone to rustification??? I am talking about the one that sits RIGHT on the pump outlet, right there on the shelf with the pump under the car.... me == pretty ign'int about the pushrod engines, especially the turbocharged ones, but im tryin to brainstorm anyhow... good luck, and don't neglect to check for spark too..

Dicker around with all the wires, i get a TOTAL DOA sometimes when i turn my key from on to start, and all it takes is jiggling the FL wiring.. MY culprit is always either the wire leading in to the block, or the hindmost link.

I try to be the nicest guy on the board (honestly) but sometimes my comments may come out otherwise, and if so I apologize. I was simply trying to point out that it IS a question that warrants more details, since a transmission swap is a job that warrants knowing all of those details. Those details have been covered more succinctly and thoroughly than I could have by Skip and Gloyale (Sand worms aside )

I would span a brace from one side of the central bar to the front, and from the other side, to the back, if you REALLY want it rock-solid... but the center is probably the best spot to reinforce, not the outsides of it. Just keep in mind the direction it will want to "twist" in and give it one more stop against that direction of travel, and you should be golden. Not that I am knowledgeable enough to say "its gonna break like that," but when you backyard re-engineer something like this, its always nice to do it 300% unless weight starts getting in your way.. and wahts two more, one foot lengths of tube going to hurt? Otherwise, that looks great.

Yeah, I went wrong in saying "basically a trim level" but my point was, it says GL because thats the model it is.. RX does not mean three door coupe, the three door coupe body style came in the same kinds of packages that the other vehicles did. Thanks for spelling the difference out for me where *I* grossly over-generalized. I haven't really been around long enough to know the substantial differences well enough to quote them yet :-p Back to the actual car, try pulling spark plug wires one at a time to see if any cylinder is NOT missed.. if you pull a plug wire and the engine doesnt run much much poorer, then that cylinder is already doing nothing. if all four plug wires drastically effect run condition, it is not a specific cylinder and more likely to be a fuel/ignition problem.

^^^^^What he said, with an affirmative on #7.

I was literally JUST trying to get around to actually purchasing AAA last year, when I got a flat tire pulling onto I-95, had no spare, and had to call a tow truck at 3 AM. The tow ate the money I was gonna buy AAA with, and the fact that I stayed up for a total of forty hours, the entire flat tire experience, AND a bogus delivery like, ten miles outside of our area (i was driving pizzas at the time) helped me to miss work the following day, for which I was fired. I have yet to financially recover from losing that job. If only I had gotten to ordering the AAA, I would have been fine. Grr...

200. that should do you. Just keep in mind that if you are on a setting made to differentiate between 10,000 ohms, and 20,000 ohms, a resistance of 3 ohms will NOT register.... and if you are on a setting to differentiate between .001 ohm and .005 ohms, 1 ohm will sho as infinite resistance (open circuit, displaying either zeros with a minus, or just the minus, or something odd like that, whatever the thing shows with the leads touching nothing.)

Denatured Alcohol is ALOT cheaper, and IIRC it took HC emissions from a similar level in our '87 E-150 ford van to even lower than yours.. like, 160 --> 10 ppm. the van had dual tanks, so it was easier.. but get a half a gallon of gas in a can, run your tank almost empty (the half gallon is in case you DO run out early) then pour a gallon of denatured alcohol in.. run like a bat out of hell for ten minutes before the test, go in and pass like butter. stop on your way home and fill up with good ol 93 octane (i guess 91 for you cali folks?) I also highly recommend stopping at a barbecue restaurant of your choice for the celebratory meal after passing. Thats what Dad and I did, anyhow

how would it hurt the quench? it is providing a more even, circular path for the flame kernel to travel along as it combusts.. you want it to have the same distance to travel in all directions.. Obviously, we cannot make our chambers hemispherical.. but we should be able to do more. the machinist I talked to seemed to think it might be a good idea, but not looking at a bare head he couldnt tell if there was enough meat to do the requisite grinding.. "the machinist I talked to" WAS my buddy, same age as I am, so not as much experience as some... BUT, you know, I had to say it Anyone else here who understands what we are talking about, and have anything to contribute??? I am REALLY curious on this, but have ABSOlutely no time, money, motivation, vehicle, parts, etc etc etc to even THINK about trying it.... If you do try the custom dished piston route, I would suggest making an eccentric dish, with a deeper "hole" just below the spark plug.. again, trying to establish as close to a spherical path for the flame kernel to travel on is a top priority in redesigning the combustion chamber.. Honestly, I am talking slightly over my own head.. BUT I have started doing ALOT of reading on http://www.hybridZ.org (a Zcar website) and those guys are REALLY REALLY knowledgable about all this stuff.... I mean, those guys are taking 240SX cylinder heads, cutting them up, and welding them together to make a DOHC crossflow head for the inline six engine that was put in the 240, 260, and 280 Z/ZXs from '70 to '83... seriously mind boggling stuff for a Zcar/datsun fan... Anyhow, I for one am all for machining the combustion chamber (whether on the head side or the piston side) to slightly lower compression and improve quench for this high comp turbo build concept... we need more input from knowledgeable machinists though!! I might try emailing a couple of pics of my cylinder heads to a guy on that forum with a link to this thread... along with a concise summary of these engines, and where we sit. Something tells me that a RAM performance copper headgasket is going to be a must in any situation for true reliability's sake, though.. If you are gonna go through all this to redesign the engine.. it really is a no-brainer..

Do you even have a donor vehicle for the "new" transmission, or are you just in planning stages? The four speed electronic auto trans will NOT fit in your car without cutting and changing the size of the tunnel. Easier to just use the car it came out of. Sorry, I forgot about the differences between the earlier turbo EA82s and the later ones... but more detail, more specifics are DEFINITELY needed in your posts to give you good info.. "the FT4wd transmission out of the later car" means diddly squat.. "the ft4wd 4EAT from the 89 GL-10 turbo" (or "ft4wd 5 speed, etc etc) means something. not to be rude or anything.. but we need data to function as the mentat for you.. and if you do not understand the Dune reference, then ignore my last line

in the section for resistance checking, it should have like four settings. Find the one that is closest to simple base ten.. not 200K ohms, not 200m Ohms (milli Omega) just plain, 20 ohms. In other words, take the multimeter and flip it on the setting that displays 00.0 with the two leads touching each other. you want one or two decimal places.. 0.00 or 0.0. Otherwise, chances are you are trying to read resistance of either too high or too low a value. Just take a step back and breathe deeply. Electricity is NOT very complicated to understand, but it can be VERY daunting to someone just starting out... trust me, we have ALL been there at some point or other. Make sure that you are connecting the leads to the proper terminals on your TPS.. and make sure you arent looking at the terminals backwards, too. Another handy trick involves a trip to wal mart, going to the automotive section, and finding a package of cheap cheap alligator clips to attach to your multimeter leads.. that way, they hold themselves in place. less headache for you to worry about == more brain cells to concentrate on figuring out how to use your meter. Good luck, and post back if this still doesnt quite make sense. If you can find a good pic of your meter, post it here and we can tell you exactly which setting you want to be on.

Check the VIN plate on your driver side door jamb. it should list gross Axle weight restriction.. subtract half of the maximum cargo from each and you have the weight on each axle. IIRC, it was something like 65% front, 35% rear.. MAYBE a tad less drastic than that, but at LEAST 60/40. I like this idea, and I think you should go for it Davalos. I am still reading the whole thread though, just wanted to drop that info when I saw the question posted.

LOL, I have no gas or gas money. Youre right though... I have been UBER stressed for the last month, and things are coming to a head in a number of ways.. but the car was total positivity. I had just let everything ELSE get the better of me. I need to do some test driving sometime today, though. will update.

My understanding is that "RX" is basically a trim level, and most "RX"s are the hatchback coupe body like yours. The fact that it is a "GL" model means only that it isnt "RX." "Quasi" RX or "RX... sorta" IS the typical designation Any 3-door that isnt an RX is called a GL.. just like the wagons and the sedans.