Considering a 1980zx

[JHzcar]

so i decided to prioritize painting the car, so i’ve spent the past 3months or so doing body work and trying to get most of the body straight. given that the car is an expression of myself, i am keeping certain reminders of  past mistakes as momentos of what the cars beginnings were in my eyes. would other people think it’s dumb and makes no sense? yeah, but that doesn’t matter to me. overall  the sbc swap i have has been running good, but leaks/burns a lot of oil, so sometime around christmas i’d like to put new heads on it (my valve guides are roasted and swap from 305 heads to a set of aluminum heads could bring upgrades) and rebuild it to replace every gasket and see what condition the internals are in before i start trying to make a lot of power out of it. the car at the time of this post is in primer, and it will be painted after i’m satisfied with the body and the shape of the primer. after i paint it im gonna put a decent set of tires on, and do some alignment parts. a set of camber plates for the front and for the rear i know a company that will be releasing parts to allow adjustments of the rear(camber, toe, wheel centering) I’m not supposed to give out a lot of details but when it’s released i’ll make a post about it cause i’m pretty sure it’ll be the first available alignment kit for the rear of our cars. overall i’m happy with the build and i’m excited to paint it, and put a fresh windshield in it. i’ll update this post again after it’s painted and i take pictures of the paint!

[JHzcar]

so i painted the car about 2 weeks ago, and it looks really good and i’m happy with it. also be weary with the mask you use and make sure your filters are good even if they’re brand new, i used some brand new organic vapor cartridges which were recommended for what i’m doing and should have been more than capable of filtering, but one failed and i was blowing purple snot for 3 days on top of the side effects from the chemical exposure. i do have a lil touch up i have to do along the roofline from my trim coming off and disappearing into the wind, but it’s largely unnoticed and i can always fix it later. first time driving it i was very excited and immediately got pulled over, just a warning but i’m now on a first name basis with the cop. i also dropped the gas tank below the car and lowered the cg which improved handling tremendously. with regards to the paint quality, the finish is good, but there is some minor orange peel in the clear coat that will buff right out, and i made the mistake of not allowing enough flashtime between coats for the clear (my first time ever painting my car) and as a result the clear is still fairly soft, but should harden up soon. i’ve been keeping it in a heated barn at night to help keep it warm while the solvent evaporates from the paint and hardens the clear. overall i’m very happy with the car, and i’m very excited to drive it more. it rarely gets below freezing where i live so the car will be fun to drive around during christmas break. i’m also gonna try and pull the engine sometime soonish and rebuild it with better cylinder heads and set it up to take some nitrous, my goal is around 450hp with air and 500-550+ on the sauce. i almost never do drag launches so i think my diff will be able to handle the higher power. i also have new tires and a proper roll cage happening before the engine gets faster. i’m really excited about this build, and i’m really happy with how it looks!


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[Patcon]

I don't think the fire is supposed to come out that end!

[Reptoid Overlords]

Did you get HID headlamps? If so, how do you like them?  I have my engine out for some re work and engine bay cleanup, now might be the time to upgrade.

[JHzcar]

Did you get HID headlamps? If so, how do you like them?  I have my engine out for some re work and engine bay cleanup, now might be the time to upgrade.

i got some led off of amazon for like $90 (“vouke H6024 7 inches Round Black Cree LED Headlight High Low Beam fit for Wrangler JK TJ LJ CJ Hummer H1 H2 etc, Replace 7 inch Round Sealed Beam Headlamps,Pack of 2” was the full title on amazon) same headlights that the jeep’s use, they’re very bright, but they have a really nice cutoff for the low beams so that unless you’re looking right into it it’s not super blinding, and the high beams are awesome! i drive mostly at night to avoid any people on the roads and they work great, the only downside was figuring out the wiring, because whatever headlight wiring was in my car did not plug in and play with the headlights (the car has had a tough life so it could just be mine that’s wired wierd) but i bought a $3 relay from oriellys and made it work with very minimal wiring skills. the very white tone of the light is also very good for showing the contrast on the road of the minor bumps,cracks and rocks you otherwise wouldn’t see in the daytime.


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[JHzcar]

so i pulled the engine a lil while ago and tore it down, every rod bearing had some pretty nasty damage and i had detonation marks on two of the pistons. heads were fine so i sold them since i wouldn't be using them anymore. the block has been stripped and rotates in and out of the parts washer, the block isn't too heavy so i'm able to pick it up and put it in and out with relative ease, but it did damage the tray for the parts washer so i'm gonna build a new one. i plan on building it as a small cam big head type of motor so that i have room to grow later on. exhaust headers is the big hiccup i'm trying to sort out, i'm gonna try and make a set of lt1 longtube headers for like a 93-97 camaro fit, with 1 7/8" primaries they can take a little hammering around the steering gearbox if needed for clearance, since the motor pulls away from the gearbox they can be pretty close. i got a borla muffler specced specifically for a 383 so it'll sound really nice too. i'm also re doing a fair bit of wiring to clean things up, and i removed everything behind the dash except for like gauges and stuff so if anyone needs some ac parts let me know cause i don't have a use for them. i'm also removing whatever insulation stuff was there against the firewall because when i held a flame to it it created a bigger fire and i'm not very fireproof. i am also planning to do a cheap s13 coilover conversion in place of camber plates since the s13 coilovers have adjustable top hats already and id like a much stiffer springrate for the rear especially with the beefier engine. overall im very excited to continue building this car and making it faster. my build plan for the motor is as follows(let me know if something with this combo seems wildly off or something): promaxx 225cc IR aluminum heads with 2.02 valves, full 383 rotating assembly with flexplate and harmonic balancer matched to the rotating assembly, 1.5 roller tip rockers with grooved balls for better oiling, lunati barebones cam, 224/234 duration @ .050" 110LSA and 480/488 lift (int/exh), high volume normal pressure oil pump, aftermarket oil pan with windage tray and 7qt capacity, weiand single plane intake manifold(i might port it if it becomes a restriction), edelbrock 600cfm carb(only carb i have will upgrade to a 750cfm when the budget allows it) and lt1 headers if i can make them fit, 3in collectors into a 3in y for exhaust, valve springs are 115lbs closed pressure and 310lbs at .575" lift. im aiming for 9.5-10:1 compression ratio and a wider ring gap incase i decide to run boost or nitrous later on, arp bolts for everything important, 2 bolt main block but ive seen them make decent power when built properly, and the rpms wont exceed 6500 to help keep things together. the horsepower calculator estimates around 500hp for this setup, but with mechanical water pump and alternator and 600cfm carb i estimate closer to 450 ish, which will be more than enough for a street/strip/roll race car. torque converter has a 2500 stall speed so drag style launches wont be anywhere near enough power to really be breaking things, and if i do blow a diff i have another diff and axle set sitting on the shelf. i also have a full set of drilled and slotted rotors with semi metallic pads that will be going on the car very soon. im also trying to sort out a speedometer situation, i think ill end up using an 85mm gps speedometer with a 3d printed adapter to fit the hole so that i can know how much to slow down before the speed traps, theres a few spots where cops hide on back roads because theres lots of wineries and breweries so drunk drivers are frequent on the weekends so i don't drive much at night on the weekends anymore. i have a lot of ideas about the car and what i want to do with it and what direction i wanna go, i just gotta get there. its a beautiful car and its become truly my car and not just another z. i have a youtube channel that i'm gonna try and upload to more often, i have one video up from the top end disassembly (https://youtu.be/wzP2thSjRtQ). im also trying to change out the shifter to a gated shifter instead of the stock 3 speed auto shifter for the zx so that i can have better shift command, and so that i can keep the drivability it has on the street while also having the option of running it to 6500 if i so choose. if anyone has any questions feel free to ask or if someones got some advice i'm missing let me know. i have a rear strut bar that my seatbelts connect to and im gonna make a new front strut bar similar to the one apex engineered makes for the s30 to help up front as well, as even with stock struts and old tires i could feel the difference the previos one made on handling. 

[heyitsrama]

That looks like a rad car, do you get track time with it? 

[JHzcar]

7 hours ago, heyitsrama said:

That looks like a rad car, do you get track time with it? 

unfortunately not yet, as up until now the car leaked about a quart of oil every 30 miles and it still wouldn't come close to passing a tech inspection, and track time is fairly expensive so its a little further down the line of places to drive. however i live on some very twisty roads that are plenty of fun!  

[heyitsrama]

dude a quart of oil for every 30 miles is alot. what was the issue?

[Zed Head]

Just a comment.  This post might be readable on a phone but it's just a huge block of letters on a computer.  In case you're wondering about responses.  Kind of looks like Ginsberg wrote it.  Stream of consciousness stuff...

 

[JHzcar]

dude a quart of oil for every 30 miles is alot. what was the issue?

a few things, valvecovers leaked, timing cover leaked, the intake manifold by the distributor has a leak, there is a small pipe plug that rotted out and leaked, rear main seal leaked and the valve guide seals on the heads were old and rotten so it burned a fair bit as well. but i have the engine fully apart now and a full gasket set ready so it shouldn’t leak a drop once i’m done with it :)


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[Racer X]

10 minutes ago, JHzcar said:

a few things, valvecovers leaked, timing cover leaked, the intake manifold by the distributor has a leak, there is a small pipe plug that rotted out and leaked, rear main seal leaked and the valve guide seals on the heads were old and rotten so it burned a fair bit as well. but i have the engine fully apart now and a full gasket set ready so it shouldn’t leak a drop once i’m done with it 🙂


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Typical Chevy engine, hemorrhaging oil from every possible place it can.

You know it is time to add oil when it stops leaking, eh?