JLarson's build thread

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Spooler

I will be up that way shortly.

Let me know when. And I'll try to meet you there.

[onzedge]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Let me know when. And I'll try to meet you there.

[JLarson]

9/21/2018 - In Which Our Hero Arrives At Rusty's Garage

Left work early on Friday and drove from NE Philly out to the Pittsburgh area to meet up with Rusty, as planned. Drive is pretty easy, lots of long virtually empty highways, and even with a couple stops for coffee/food/fuel/toilet, I arrived at Rusty's Garage around 7:40.

Rusty and the missus were kind enough to have burgers and fresh corn waiting for me (excellent), and after a tour and jawing for a bit, we started working on the car.

I actually expected to only get the car in the air and drain the differential, but once we started knocking out tasks, we just kind of kept going.

Rough list of tasks:
-Drained the diff
-Removed rear portion of the exhaust
-Removed V-brace
-Removed rear swaybar
-Marked axles and driveshaft using metal stamp and paint marker
-Disconnected axles and driveshaft, using bungie cords to keep the axles suspended
-Disconnected the differential and lowered, using a jack (almost forgot about the breather hose, Rusty spotted it in time)
-Removed differential cover
-Removed OEM hardware from diff cover, and transferred key components to Z1 diff cover
-Checked internals of the differential. Rusty showed me how to check backlash. Mine was about .0027
-Prepped the mating surfaces of the differential cover and the differential, put the sealant on, and put the new cover in place.

We wrapped up a little after midnight. Everything went pretty smoothly, no hiccups.

[JLarson]

9/22/2018 In Which Josh and Rusty Destroy A Bushing

7 am came a little too quickly, but after reinforcing myself with coffee and a delicious omelette courtesy of Chef Rusty's Grill and pleasant conversation with both Rusty and his wife Chris, I was ready for another round!

-Finished prepping the differential by cutting off a couple of the fins which will interfere with the Fast Intentions exhaust. Again, the sort of thing I wouldn't have expected, and glad Russ did! I'm sure it's much easier to do when the differential isn't already installed.
-Went after the bushing. I'll spend a little more time on this particular topic. First, do not waste your time with the Z1 Bushing Removal kit. I guess it might work as an act of desperation, or on a lift with a lot of room for a breaker bar + extension, but the kit works by applying tremendous force to try and push out the bushing. We did give it a try, but quickly went with Rusty's actual plan - an 18v drill and a hole saw.

At the first application of the hole saw, the bushing employed its squid-like self defense mechanism and sprayed Rusty down with black goo. Undeterred, Rusty cut the core out of the bushing, set its guts on a shelf as a warning for future bushings. I'd guess it was probably about 20 minutes to cut out the bushing core using this method. Do not expect the hole saw to be good for much after this.

The OEM bushing is surrounded by a metal collar, which Rusty removed using an impact gun and an exhaust tool. Maybe 1 minute to remove by this method. We took a few minutes to celebrate this victory with pictures. Because the OEM bushing hole is not truly round, Rusty used a grinding tool to remove some of the burrs and remnant material from inside.

-Installation of the new bushing came next. Again, Z1's instructions are not awesome. They recommend installing the bushing with a rubber mallet. This is a bad idea, for several reasons. First, you have very little room to swing the mallet. Second, the bushing is fat and the hole is thin. Third, as previously discussed, the hole is not perfectly round, and the bushing will try very hard to go any direction other than straight. If you try this method, expect to spend a lot of time working at it for fairly minimal results. Practice your swear words.

The solution was that the z1 bushing has a sort of groove in the surface on the differential-facing side. Rusty matched a large diameter socket to that groove, and using that socket, 2 metal plates, a length of all-thread, and some nuts, he made a bomb! Oh wait, that's MacGyver. He made a bushing installation tool! The bushing was forced into place, and there was much rejoicing.

At this point, it was pretty much just reversing what we'd done so far, and by a little after 2 pm, we had everything reinstalled, new lube in the diff, and the car on the ground. Total work time was about 10 hours, and Rusty guessed we could've dropped a couple hours off if we had lift access instead of ramps + jack stands.

[JLarson]

9/22/2018 - In Which Our Heroes Go For A Cruise

Next phase (after cleanup) was test drive, and Rusty toured me around some of the fine and winding roads of western PA, ending in the Ohio Pyle park. Very pretty area, and apparently ideal for whitewater rafting! Back to his place, said goodbyes and thank yous to both Rusty and Chris for their hospitality, and then it was back to my side of the state.

I'm overall quite pleased with the modifications. The change in gear oil has resulted in quieter and smoother shifting, and the bushings (in conjunction with the metal subframe bushing collars and poly transmission mount) make for a more solid feel which is very apparent both in a launch and during 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. A lot of drivetrain slop is gone, and my acceleration has improved. I'd like to compare the feel of the poly bushing to a solid bushing at some point, just curious how much of a difference that would make. This concludes my update for now, though I'll be adding some pictures shortly.

[Rusty]

Here's my collection of pictures.

[Rusty]

And more.