Considering a 1980zx

[JHzcar]

Typical Chevy engine, hemorrhaging oil from every possible place it can.
You know it is time to add oil when it stops leaking, eh?
 

more when the oil pressure has a very slight surge at idle is when it’s time to top off, it only had a 5qt pan so it didn’t have to lose much to start surging


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[Racer X]

4 hours ago, JHzcar said:

more when the oil pressure has a very slight surge at idle is when it’s time to top off, it only had a 5qt pan so it didn’t have to lose much to start surging


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It would have to be more than a quart low to have trouble picking up oil at idle (assuming the car is not moving).

My first car was a 62 Impala with a 283. It leaked at the front and rear seals, the oil pan, and the rocker covers. It still ran great when I used that car up and sold it to the junk man, probably the only useful thing left.

I was pretty hard on that car.

My second car was a 64 Chevelle, 2 door post. I yanked the 6 banger out and dropped in a 327, and a 2 speed Powerglide out of a 65 Chevelle hardtop a buddy had that he totalled. It leaked oil, but not as bad as the 283 in the Impala.

I sold that car and bought a 65 Comet Caliente, 289, 3 speed full syncro floor shift. It didn't leak oil, or burn any.  Fun car. Fast car.

My next car was a 66 Impala SS396, Turbo 400, posi rear end. The rear main leaked a little bit, but not enough to make me want to pull the tranny to fix it. Besides, I nearly went broke keeping tires in the rear wheels. 

After too many tickets I traded it straight across for a 66 VW Beetle. It didn't leak oil. It was a fun car to load up with beer and 3 buddies, then go up into the  mountains where only 4x4's dare run. If we did run into a stretch that was impassable, we all got out, picked up the front of the car and swung it around. Otherwise we always had a good time watching the reactions from the 4x4s when we reached the top of a particulary difficult stretch of road.

After that I bought a 72 Camaro. I did't leak oil. An old timer I apprenticed under showed me how to seal up Chevy engines.

A while later I discovered Datsuns, started racing one, and bought a 73 GMC dually with a 396 to pull the race trailer. Using the secrets imparted by the sage mentioned earlier, I sealed it up. It was a good truck, and later replaced by a 75 Chevy 3500 dually with a 454. Again, leaking was addressed and that rig served me well.

In 2001 I replaced it with a brand new Ram 3500, Cummins 5.9 24 valve and NVG 6 speed manual. I just gave it a 140,000 mile oil and filter change, rotated the tires and adjusted air pressures, and gave it a full inspection. I doesn't leak anything but torque.

By the way, I like the color you shot the car with. What is it from? Looks a bit like the bright colors used on the Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars of the early 70's.

Is a manual transmission coming? A 5 or a six speed would compliment the car well, especially on twisty roads, or the road course.

 

 

 

[JHzcar]

2 hours ago, Racer X said:

 

It would have to be more than a quart low to have trouble picking up oil at idle (assuming the car is not moving).

My first car was a 62 Impala with a 283. It leaked at the front and rear seals, the oil pan, and the rocker covers. It still ran great when I used that car up and sold it to the junk man, probably the only useful thing left.

I was pretty hard on that car.

My second car was a 64 Chevelle, 2 door post. I yanked the 6 banger out and dropped in a 327, and a 2 speed Powerglide out of a 65 Chevelle hardtop a buddy had that he totalled. It leaked oil, but not as bad as the 283 in the Impala.

I sold that car and bought a 65 Comet Caliente, 289, 3 speed full syncro floor shift. It didn't leak oil, or burn any.  Fun car. Fast car.

My next car was a 66 Impala SS396, Turbo 400, posi rear end. The rear main leaked a little bit, but not enough to make me want to pull the tranny to fix it. Besides, I nearly went broke keeping tires in the rear wheels. 

After too many tickets I traded it straight across for a 66 VW Beetle. It didn't leak oil. It was a fun car to load up with beer and 3 buddies, then go up into the  mountains where only 4x4's dare run. If we did run into a stretch that was impassable, we all got out, picked up the front of the car and swung it around. Otherwise we always had a good time watching the reactions from the 4x4s when we reached the top of a particulary difficult stretch of road.

After that I bought a 72 Camaro. I did't leak oil. An old timer I apprenticed under showed me how to seal up Chevy engines.

A while later I discovered Datsuns, started racing one, and bought a 73 GMC dually with a 396 to pull the race trailer. Using the secrets imparted by the sage mentioned earlier, I sealed it up. It was a good truck, and later replaced by a 75 Chevy 3500 dually with a 454. Again, leaking was addressed and that rig served me well.

In 2001 I replaced it with a brand new Ram 3500, Cummins 5.9 24 valve and NVG 6 speed manual. I just gave it a 140,000 mile oil and filter change, rotated the tires and adjusted air pressures, and gave it a full inspection. I doesn't leak anything but torque.

By the way, I like the color you shot the car with. What is it from? Looks a bit like the bright colors used on the Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars of the early 70's.

Is a manual transmission coming? A 5 or a six speed would compliment the car well, especially on twisty roads, or the road course.

 

 

 

you've owned  lot of my dream cars, thats really really cool! the paint color i used is from tcp global, its called "Royal Crown Purple" https://tcpglobal.com/products/kus-umb-8011-qt_2, its a urethane based paint, i couldn't decide between red and blue and  so purple seemed to be the best compromise.  

as far as transmissions i like the 700r4 but i do agree that a manual would a lot of fun, but i don't have the budget for that at the moment. however i will be putting a gated shifter on the transmission so i can choose and hold each gear similar to a manual, but it still won't quite be the same. maybe when i inevitably explode the 700r4 it'll get manual swapped.

with sealing the chevy engines do you have any advice you could give? i'm replacing all the gaskets and cleaning all the surfaces beforehand but is there some secret tricks to make them last longer/seal better? 

[mailnome]

[emoji3516]I agree, sealing tips please!

My boss, old mechanic, has had me “lock tight” rear main seals on high horsepower cars

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[Racer X]

Sealing is the same for any engine that uses gaskets. Get high quality fiber based gaskets, not cork. Cork gaskets will leak before you even install them.

For the oil pan, timing cover and rocker covers, be sure the flanges are straight, flat and true. No deformation around the bolt holes.

Clean the mating surfaces with lacquer thinner using clean lint free rags, and wipe dry with another clean dry rag. This is important. The cleaning solvent must be wiped off before it dries, or any contamination will be left behind, and the sealer will not adhere properly.

Apply a thin film of grey RTV (if there is squeeze out, you used too much), apply the gasket, apply more RTV to the other side, install the cover or pan and the bolts.

Only run the bolts down finger tight (I use a 1/4 drive deep socket). Let it sit overnight.

Pull the bolts out and add one drop of blue LocTite 242 to each one and reinstall. Then torque every bolt to the torque spec for the fastener size.

Do not overtighten.

For the intake manifold, again, don’t use cork gaskets. If I recall correctly, rubber gaskets come with the intake gasket set for the front and rear of the valley. A thin film of grey RTV on both sides, and an extra dab at the right and left ends where the surface transitions to the cylinder head (there was a GM service bulletin on this back in the day). The better quality gasket sets will have silicone sealer preapplied to the gaskets common to the head and intake manifold, so no additional sealer is needed there.

If there is any squeeze out, you have too much sealer on. The excess can break off, get picked up by the oil pump and clog small oil passages in the crank, and valve train, resulting in lubrication failure.

Like with the pan and covers, thread the bolts finger tight, wait overnight, then pull the bolts, add a drop of blue LocTite 242, and torque to spec.

The distributor only needs a paper gasket, with no sealer. Again, do not use cork.

 

 

[Racer X]

23 hours ago, Racer X said:

Sealing is the same for any engine that uses gaskets. Get high quality fiber based gaskets, not cork. Cork gaskets will leak before you even install them.

For the oil pan, timing cover and rocker covers, be sure the flanges are straight, flat and true. No deformation around the bolt holes.

Clean the mating surfaces with lacquer thinner using clean lint free rags, and wipe dry with another clean dry rag. This is important. The cleaning solvent must be wiped off before it dries, or any contamination will be left behind, and the sealer will not adhere properly.

Apply a thin film of grey RTV (if there is squeeze out, you used too much), apply the gasket, apply more RTV to the other side, install the cover or pan and the bolts.

Only run the bolts down finger tight (I use a 1/4 drive deep socket). Let it sit overnight.

Pull the bolts out and add one drop of blue LocTite 242 to each one and reinstall. Then torque every bolt to the torque spec for the fastener size.

Do not overtighten.

For the intake manifold, again, don’t use cork gaskets. If I recall correctly, rubber gaskets come with the intake gasket set for the front and rear of the valley. A thin film of grey RTV on both sides, and an extra dab at the right and left ends where the surface transitions to the cylinder head (there was a GM service bulletin on this back in the day). The better quality gasket sets will have silicone sealer preapplied to the gaskets common to the head and intake manifold, so no additional sealer is needed there.

If there is any squeeze out, you have too much sealer on. The excess can break off, get picked up by the oil pump and clog small oil passages in the crank, and valve train, resulting in lubrication failure.

Like with the pan and covers, thread the bolts finger tight, wait overnight, then pull the bolts, add a drop of blue LocTite 242, and torque to spec.

The distributor only needs a paper gasket, with no sealer. Again, do not use cork.

 

 

I have to add one thing.

The L series engine cam cover gasket doesn’t require any sealer. The correct gasket (remember, don’t use the cork ones!) will seal perfectly, and can be reused over and over, dozens of times. Torque the cover bolts every time you install it.

 

 

[JHzcar]

quick update:

engine has been fully assembled, only had to do some minor grinding on the block for clearance of the rod caps and bolts, and of course they forgot to send the flexplate so i had to wait for that after 3days of customer service calls, but they were nice so i didn't really care.  i sealed everything to RacerX's advice so now the engine should hold oil as intended, lots of nice parts so i'm excited to get it running!

Engine and trans are back in the car, currently working out how to make these headers fit, if i can get the driverside to fit then ill just use a blockhugger on the passenger side for the time being. i borrowed an oxy acetylene torch from a friend and the goal is the bend the collector slightly so that it stops hitting the frame rail allowing the header to bolt up, and i've made a sizeable dent in the primaries to clear the gearbox, but i'm out of oxygen so i'm waiting on another tank before i can finish that task.  

i drained the fuel cell today, gonna replace all of the rubber lines and the fuel pump. i installed a fuel pressure regulator as well so that i can monitor that and keep the carb from flooding at idle.  

car sits almost a full inch higher than before just from the amount of weight removed from it, and it has a much simpler look now which makes me happy. i'm gonna have to get a cage fairly soon, i'm thinking the jegs 12pt cage for the 240z and just modifying it slightly to fit the zx(if anyone has done this chime in with your experience), i have a good welder and a tubing notcher so install can only be so impossible, but that'll be a summer project.  i attached some pics hopefully of the engine on the stand and of my girlfriend and i installing the engine and some misc snapchat stories from building the engine and stuff. ill update again when its making loud noises!

[JHzcar]

finally got the car to run, and i drove it today, my what a blast that was until the trans died and i had to tow it home, and ****ed up my truck in the process. i had slack in the throttle cable so i could only get about half pull, but it would still break the tires loose in  3rd at 50mph, so time for better rubber, im getting some nitto nt05s installed tomorrow in a 235/40R17 front and a 275/40r17 rear so hopefully they will grip better. also note to future self if i need to replace the dizzy again i need to advance it more than i think.  

 

i did eventually get the lt1 longtube headers to fit my car, but its very far from just a bolt in and go kinda deal, definitely wouldn't advise unless you have more patience than a saint times 1000.  if anyone wants a full writeup on what i did to make them fit i can post one, but itd really be so much better just to get a custom one made.

also the car now leaks oil worse than it did before and its pissing me off, but its simples fixes, the first leaks are the fittings on my remote oil filter, i had to relocate to clear headers, but i was able to put the oil filter right behind the hole where the i6 airbox would've gone, allowing me to get somewhat of a cooling effect on the filter.  the second issue is my valvecovers, the stamped steel dented around the bolt holes and lost any sealing capabilities so it leaks a fair bit onto the header, making a constant massive smokeshow and coating my windshield in oil. i ordered new valvecovers that are a cast aluminum so that they have a much thicker gasket surface that i can make seal better.  after these areas are addressed it should seal, everything except those two has been sealing fine without issue

my brother and i went to go look at an 82 for him, still with the original i6, it is in much better shape than mine was at first, so hopefully it works out for him, i think itll be cool both having Z's.  he rode with me today as we were breaking it in and it was a lot of fun, hes been helping me these past few nights waking up at 7am and going to bed at 3am just trying to get the car done, and ive been appreciative of that

i lost a trans cooler line while i was out and drained the transmission while i was driving, i think how much i abuse this trans is really proof that they arent as bad as people say they are if you do the necessary mods to them(bascially just a shift kit and up the line pressure some).   ill replace the line with something better, change filter and inspect trans for damage and call it a day. in the process i had to trailer it home, and my dad forgot to lock the hitch to the ball, so when i drove onto the trailer it jumped up and slammed into my tailgate, it made me shed a manly tear, but it still opens and closes so im just gonna pretend the dent and hole in the tailgate doesn't exist, besides would it really be a toyota if i didn't constantly beat the stuffing out of it?

ill upload some pics of the car and some videos of driving it, the videos are definitely a volume on deal with how nice the open headers sound, carb still needs some tuning but the engine only has 27miles on it, lots of mid throttle acceleration then letting the car engine brake to establish a good ring wear pattern, basically just running from 2000-4000 rpm with no more than half throttle, and a bunch of in between stuff,   feel free to leave comments or ask questions

[Patcon]

Congrats on getting it running

[JHzcar]

its been a min since i posted an update so here goes, ill try and keep it semi in order and ill attach lots of pics cause itll be nice to look back n see the progress ive made.

shortly after my last update i did the s13 coilover conversion, and noticed a significant improvement, next goal is to do sway bars but that will be a while.  i shed 19lb up front and 7lb in the rear, while not really important it was interesting seeing the difference. i used the maxpeedingrods coilovers from ebay, and they've actually been decent, should i need to replace them they are quite cheap. i did the alignment myself, -2.7* on the front and the rear is whatever cause i cant adjust it yet, and i set it to 1/8" of toe out but ill move it closer to zero toe soon.  i also added a bunch of rake to the car to offset the squat some and make the car look more how i want it to.

carburetor: sunk a float and set the engine on fire, but i had a fire extinguisher on hand so im just cleaning up residue, nothing major got burned thankfully, i also have been trying to sort why my jetting changes dont affect performance and it always behaves like its lean especially when it gets hot, culprit is what i believe to be gasoline boiling inside the carb as heat from the intake manifold transfers and heats the carb, causing vaporlock.  ill 3d print a plastic spacer to alleviate this issue hopefully.

electrical: ignition wise i lost an icm inside my hei, replaced it and things got better, been having trouble with keeping all 8 cylinders firing but ill resolve it one day.  i also updated/cleaned up some wiring, so its easier to sort in that regard. i tried to wire the tcc lockup on my 700r4 but its not working so ill check my wiring again and go from there, millions of different ways to wire a 700r4 lockup.  timing at the dizzy also seems to randomly be slipping which is odd, gonna try a few things after its redialed in to resolve it.

exhaust: i finally built a full system for it, i loved the open headers but after my ear dripped blood onto my shiny valvecover i had enough and decided it was time, i did dual 3" in to single 3" out with a nice borla atak muffler, it sounds literally exactly how i wanted it to so i couldn't be happier, and my ears dont ring after driving the car.  ill try to attach video of it. 

transmission: dropped the transmission for the 3rd time this year, replaced the tail shaft seals and bushings, sealed up the governor cap and the dipstick tube so i now officially don't leak any fluids in noticeable amounts, which warms my heart.  

tires: currently on nitto nt05, 200tw tire and they actually have some grip, combined with the suspension upgrades this thing handles really well, but is very twitchy so i need to tone it back a bit. 

racing: i am officially signed up for my first autoX race on august 15th, im super excited, i been working hard trying to get the car dialed in enough to go race, so if i can pass tech then i will have a ton of fun, even if i break the car at the start line ill still be happy

gonna try and add pics, feel free to ask questions or leave suggestions

[Reptoid Overlords]

Glad you didn't burn anything up.  I caught Holley 750 on a 350 in an '86 Suburban on fire once.  Had a fire extinguisher and caught it, but that initial sight of fire sure does wake you up. 

[JHzcar]

quick update, realized i haven’t updated this in a while.

july 25th: i figured out my jetting issue was timing, my distributor slipped and it had 12* total, i’m surprised it even ran. also trans gave up

transmission: i blew up my 4l60(700r4) which wasn’t shocking just disappointing, i was hoping it would last longer. fully disassembled and everything flushed ect, it burned the forward clutch and the band, and the lower planetary gear set was junk.

upgrades coming: .500 boost valve, hardened sunshell, wide band, new frictions, unbreakable pump rings, 13vane pump, 2-3 shift kit and full manual valve body, and i’m gonna go for a 3500stall torque converter, just give it a little more jump off the line

i also 3d printed a carb spacer, after i get it running consistently i plan on porting the intake, and building a custom header for the driver side, i can 3d print 1” sections that snap together and have angles ect to model it before i cut and weld stuff, but that’s after i’ve driven the car for a bit cuz i needa drive this damn car

school has crushed me these past couple of months so i ain’t been able to work on the car like i’ve wanted, but when i get it back together i’m gonna be the fastest car at the school


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