[2023] What Did You Do To/with Your Z Today?

[AK260]

Fitted a monster 4 core radiator!!

[Yarb]

Details please Sir. Sourced, How the fan shroud fits etc….

thanks

[AK260]

2 hours ago, Yarb said:

Details please Sir. Sourced, How the fan shroud fits etc….
thanks

 

OK don't hate me, but cheapo ebay one for £129GBP - had other UK club members have good experiences with them so for the price it was worth a try as the original 2 row rad had started weeping. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394847457594 (Price has gone up since I bought it, but not by much)

Two of the 4 holes didn't quite line up so I had to gently modify them on the rad to fit. 
The fan shroud is a standard one, but again, I had to modify the mounting points for it to fit. In fact, I drilled and tapped the tabs where the shroud hangs so that I could screw the shroud on at those points. I'll log on from my phone in a moment and upload some photos. 

As with any job on the Z, the moment you take something off, you have a) better access to something else to deal with, find surface rust to treat, c) start re-doing all sorts of other stuff and before you know it your 1 hour job turned into 9.5 hours!

So I gave it a quick test in the driveway with a 10 mins fast idle at 2.5K rpm with ambient temps of somewhere between 20-25 degrees C and bonnet shut. With mech fan only, the temps only went ever so slightly over halfway.

Proper test run this weekend once I re-wrap the loom I unwrapped to do neatly (because that was vital to my cooling project, right?).


Hole mods - see sharpie marking before I drilled / filed it. 


 Modifying rad and fan shroud



Had to protect the fins during install as they are more delicate than the copper / Nickel ones on the original rad



 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by AK260

[Yarb]

What color is your car? Is that a Range Rover paint code. Looks very similar to what I’m respraying my car with. Engine bay is done. Replacing all the lines and upgrading the wiring before I drop the new motor in.

[AK260]

What color is your car? Is that a Range Rover paint code. Looks very similar to what I’m respraying my car with. Engine bay is done. Replacing all the lines and upgrading the wiring before I drop the new motor in.

It’s a VW colour, code LD5Q (P1P1) Shadow Blau. In early 2000s it was a rare colour reserved for the high end models but now it’s very readily available on much of the VW line up.


The previous owner sprayed it and I have to say, the car does look great in this shade. It really brings out the lines and the bright work. But being a darker colour, it’s a total PITA for showing any small scratch or dink or dust particle ;)





Looking forward to seeing the finished product in your car!

[Jeff G 78]

I got my 2-1/2" collector from Jegs, so I got the exhaust on today. The AZ Z Car header is terrible. The outlet points right at the trans cross member, so I had to heat and beat the MSA pipe a lot to get it to fit. I modified the OE exhaust hanger to fit the 2-1/2" pipe and, of course, I had shortened the Z pipe between the axle and the muffler. Overall, the system now fits great everywhere except right behind the header, where it is still too tight to the trans crossmember. I just need to go buy two more exhaust clamps. 

I ordered MT90 (or so I thought) from Amazon and it arrived this morning. I opened the box and saw MTL. Somehow, I put the wrong one in the cart, so back it goes. My MT90 will be here tomorrow, so I can't get it off the jackstands and hear the exhaust yet. 

[SteveJ]

Today I was celebrating the birthday of a brother from a different mother. He also happens to be a Z enthusiast.

Every car in that photo except for my 260Z and the 280Z between my car and the Roadster is his. Plus he still has the 240Z he bought from Redwing (Jai) in his garage waiting to be reassembled.

Since it was his birthday, I got the horns and speedometer working in his Roadster.  He swapped a 240Z for the Roadster. The Roadster has a 2.4L turbo engine in it. Unfortunately, the wiring looks like it was done by a body guy, and the body looks like it was done by an electrical guy. I've been helping him sort out electrical gremlins and install better connectors. He's done a lot of work on my 260Z in the past, so I'm just returning in-kind. A few other Zs showed up along with a 240SX and a G60. There was even a 65 Mustang 2+2 and a 1st gen Camaro SS on hand. 

There was one strange guy there who was saying something about needing to go to Czechoslovakia to rescue his platoon as he left.

 

[Jeff G 78]

I installed the missing U bolt clamps and changed the engine oil before I fired it up to see if it had any leaks or groundouts.  It's still on jack stands and there is no oil in the trans, so I kept the clutch disengaged.  I think it sounds really good at idle and throttle blips.  Time will tell if I have any drone, but maybe the heat and beat I had to do will break up the sound waves enough to keep the drone away.  🙂 

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, SteveJ said:

guy there who was saying something about needing to go to Czechoslovakia to rescue his platoon as he left.

That's a beautiful EM-50.

[Yarb]

Isn’t that the GMC motor home that was front wheel drive back in the day? Same drive train from a Riviera?

[Jeff G 78]

16 minutes ago, Yarb said:

Isn’t that the GMC motor home that was front wheel drive back in the day? Same drive train from a Riviera?

Yes, but the drivetrain was from a Toranado.  455 CID.  My dad had one about five years ago.  

[Yarb]

My Bad!! Toranado slipped my mind, but now that you refreshed my memory that monster of a car is fresh on my mind. What a beast of a car that was. I’ve always loved those motor homes!