grannyknot

yeah, the battery tray. Only that little drain hole plugs up easily or the drain hose falls off and acid drips right on to the metal underneath.

Nissan was painting the engine bay black by 74?

I don't know about long term but I've driven with mine for a season and a half, 2000 kms and it has performed flawlessly.

Wow, an expert! You can see how shiny it was in the lower left corner, from your description it sounds like the heat has dulled it. I'll try a polish. Thanks you. Chris

I have a header that looked great when it came from the coaters, silver ceramic but it has dulled over the years and wondering if there is some way to bring back the shine? I have tried 0000 steel wool and Autosol polish in unseen areas but nothing is working sofar. Thanks, Chris

Blue, Was that plumbers solder you were using? I ask because this stuff that I was going to use is quite different. AC systems really test solder joints and this stuff has a working temp range of 350*F to 500*F and a tensile strength of 20,000 psi. My oil temp rarely gets over 200*F and 80psi on a cold start. But you have started me thinking of other ways of doing it, I can't use steel pipe as the oil pump is cast aluminum, aluminum pipe is a bugger to work with. I could do some AN fittings and braided SS hose or friction fit cooper tubing. I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks guys

Can anyone tell me if the seat sliders from a 280z are the same as the sliders from a 240-260z? Thanks, Chris

I was going to have aluminum tube bent and welded in but now I'm thinking I might try the copper plumbing pieces, they fit perfectly, spin to allow adjustment and offer the mechanical advantage of the male/female fitting. I have ordered this kit, http://uniweld.com/en/productlisting/622/113/alloys/p4kd9s-detail This solder is used in the HVAC industry so I'm sure it can handle anything that happens in an oil pan. As I mentioned above I may still have to notch out the new pan for the steering shaft u joint and I will also have to find a new place for the dipstick to mount and figure out where the new min/max markings need to be for the dipstick. The new position of the sump is about 1.5" lower then before so that should add about 2 litres oil capacity so that's nice. Modifying the original pan and oil pump looks like it will cost about $550 which is a 1/3rd the cost of an auxiliary wet sump set up and 1/6th the cost of a dry sump. It's also a lot more interesting to build, I love one offs

I took the mock up oil pan to my aluminum welding guy today and he said "no problem" so that is a big relief. I should have it back in 2 weeks so that gives lots of time to catch up on stuff I have been neglecting. The first pics are the mock up pan and then the test fitting in the engine bay, there may still be an interference with the steering rod u joint but it will be much easier to repair a notch that needs cutting out then it would be to try and build the notch in.

Because if it involves a laptop, I'm an idiot. If I had been exposed to it as a kid I would be fine, but now, forget it. I did mange to get the 123Ignition distributor programed, I was pretty proud of myself. But engine management, that sounds a lot harder.

1/2" thick steel plate drilled and tapped to hold the oil pan flat while cutting and welding, hopefully the sealing flange will still be flat when I take the pan off.

Black

As strange as it sounds, to prevent that musty smell from starting inside the cabin, throw a bag of real charcoal on the luggage shelf and open it so the charcoal is exposed to the air. Years from now the inside of your car will smell sweet and you can still have a BBQ with it. Chris

No VVT on this older engine.

I had similar sounds coming from the back and it took me weeks to track it down, it turned out that one of the gland nuts that hold the shock absorber secure in the strut tube had worked itself lose and the shock was banging around with every little bump in the road. Chris

Ron T. had the option of different oil pan configurations to choose from and that engine, the s52, was designed around a very different car. He also had to drop the crossmember down 1/2" using spacers, I'm planning on dropping mine 3/4" and relocating the lower control arm pivot points and adding bump steer spacers to compensate. Ron T. had to use an aftermarket engine management system because the BMW system was too intricately designed into the cars security system, I don't think I will have that problem as the Motronic1.1 ECU from the M6 is rudimentary (or so I have read) compared to the later systems. I don't mean to sound like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to fuel injection systems because I don't, even though fuel injection is in every other vehicle I own, it's just so darn reliable that I have never had to mess with before now. Chris

This is a cast aluminum baffle out of an oil pan I'm working on, those oil stains are 28 yr, 221,000 miles old. The clean spot on the left is 30 sec. of scrubbing with Armour Etch an old toothbrush, the clean spot on the right is 30 sec of scrubbing and left for 9 hrs. Not much difference. Although Armour Etch is very effective on aluminum it is not designed for it and you can get similar results with an industrial cleaner with Potassium Hydroxide in it.

In addition to moding the oil pan I think will also have to do some cut and paste on the crossmember as well. The crossmember on the M6 sits about 12" rear of where the Z does so the oil pan and pump are completely wrong for the Z, but the engine is soooooo right. I would like to make the stock oil pump work because first it's brand new and is also a very good pump. The cost of dry sumping the engine was $3000 and climbing when I decided that I had find a cheaper way. On the first pic that pointy triangular piece on the pan is exactly where the steering rack/shaft u joint sits.

To answer my own question, a steering pump could deliver the pressure but not the volume. I'm going to try modifying the oil pump and oil pan so that they clear the cross member, I think that will be the simplest compromise compared to firewall surgery or dry sump route.

Raff, that stuff is too pretty to put in an engine bay. Nice work. I have had good results using this stuff called Armour Etch, it is primarily used by glass hobbyist to etch glass but it works very well on aluminum. Ammonium and Sodium bifluoride and some citric acid. I got mine on ebay. Looking forward to seeing the Sharkshide. Chris

That is good to know, it's so easy for info like this to get lost. maybe we should start referring to this topic as the Kia/Mazda seal.

John, thanks for that part #, looks like just the thing. But while were on the topic, I would be interested in your opinion on the OBX unit with the rbryant washer and bolt upgrade kit. I've read a couple of things that imply that with the better washers it is a decent unit at 1/4 the price. Thanks, Chris

Someone has to fix it properly, it might as well be you.

So I have run into some big problems, the oil pump pick up, oil pump and chain drive are all in the way. Even if I can find an M30 with rear sump and oil p/u I still have the pump itself, sprocket and chain in the way. Anyone with experience in dry sump or electric oil pumps, please jump in here! I can use spacers like Ron did in his build, http://forums.hybrid...-bmw-m-powered/ to lower the main crossmember and steering rack but probably no more than 3/4". It would be easy enough to remove the entire oil pump & p/u and fabricate an oil pan that gives the clearance i need but I have zero experience with alternate oil pumps. Every other aspect is a go, it fits very well, some pics of todays work, Now I just had an idea, possibly a stupid idea but here goes, would the power steering pump provide enough pressure so I could re-purpose it to act as the external oil pump? That would allow me to shave 5" off the bottom of the oil pan. Chris