Soooo. Yeah. I think your'e right, Rusty.

Here's the photos, clearly it's keyed. I think the reason I was of the belief that mine wasn't keyed is because when the shaft is collapsed (like when you push it up out of the way to do headers) the upper and lower shafts are no longer engaged internally, so you can actually spin the lower shaft completely independent of the upper shaft. That's how you can end up with your steering wheel misaligned even though the shaft is clearly keyed. What a pain the ***! haha.

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1370873275

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1370873330

http://twilight.ponychan.net/chan/fi...7076973667.png

Yeah I'm pretty sure somewhere in the Service Manual, or in the directions for one of the sets of headers I put on the car, they talked about that. The "easy" solution (not that it helps you now) is to mark the steering shaft and where it inserts with a paint pen before you disconnect, so you can put it back the way it was.

I suppose, but it's actually already marked in teal paint (you can't really see it without taking the shaft out) and it can really only go in one way, since the bolt path is cut into the shaft. The key is to make sure the wheel doesn't turn (steering wheel) while you have the shaft collapsed, otherwise you could de-index the upper shaft with the lower.

Now if I can just get the damned thing to slide back in to the steering rack joint.

Another thing that's goin' to bite you in the a$$. Your traction control light will be on because of the steering shaft mess. The sensor on the rack will have to be reset. ;)

HA! I have no traction control system, so it'll be on either way. :P

Thanks for the encouragement, I was able to get it reinstalled on my lunch break and get the entire steering column back together without issue.

Also got the rest of the chassis grounds connected (there are a bunch!) and began the process of filling up the radiator. She lit up just fine, sounds shitty with the exhaust leaks due to the non-fitment, but even so... this bitch is going to be loud as hell even when the leaks are closed up... Holy Moly.

I got the exhaust on. The inlet pipes aren't reversible... flipped them around, went right on. Ugh.

Recorded a video for ppl that wanted to hear the sound. It's barely any quieter than open header... :D

I love it's tone, just the rasp gets in the way of the glorious sound on decel. Glad you got it worked out. I wanna hear her at full song :)

Installed the last of the bolts needed for the exhaust.. had to go to the hardware store and get a new one for the triple-bolt flanges in the rear section, I broke a header flange bolt (taking it off, of all things) and had to use one of those to re-attach it yesterday.

Tightened up the rest of the bolts, always funny how much more squish you can put on an exhaust after you've heat cycled it once or twice.

Added more coolant... After I let it run and sit, I was able to add maybe another half pint of coolant... I am thinking it may actually be full now.. hard to say. Temps seem normal (at idle with revving) based on what the ECU reports, so after it's seen some road time we'll see where the levels are.

Also, opened the catch cans up and checked for evidence of oil. Looks like they're working perfectly, oil dribbles were very evident on the inlet tube, oil was clearly coming into the tube and flowing down to the bottom of the tube and dripping out the bottom.

The outlet tube had ZERO evidence of oil on it, meaning the engine isn't sucking the oil in. Which is perfect.

If anyone cares, I can make some drawings of how I built the oil/air separators for the cans in case someone wants to buy these super cheap cans and make them work.

The car sounds fcking amazing. Can't wait to actually drive it and terrorize the neighborhood.

Got the front end (sans the hood) buttoned up and the interior squared away (for now) and was able to take her for a spin... Good times!

Let my buddy try and drive her (he can't really see over the wheel or reach the pedals very well) so I could record a video...

"Race Brakes!"


:bowrofl: :tup:

Loud as ****. hahaha

I'm on the Ferodo DS2500s, and they do the same thing till I get some rotations in, and they're not even full track pads. :icon17:

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1371481436

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1371481436

So as you can see from that picture, I need to get into the foot well with acetone and a torch and get rid of the rest of the sound deadening and sealant that is right where my heel sits in the floorboard.

Ugh!

I have a design in mind for mounting the ECU more securely as well as a design for a center console area to begin organizing the harnesses and various switch gear.

Work work.

I hate that tar so much. I have a crapton to remove from my 350Z still. I swear the 350 has three times as much sound deadening as the 370.

I think it does have a lot more than the 370.

The drivers side foot well was one place that the dry ice just didn't help at all. I think this is because it gets very hot in that area with the longtubes and the tar had been melted/re-melted so many times that it was well and truly bonded with the metal. Acetone will take it right off, just takes off the paint with it, so it's a mess. Gotta do it though, the way it is right now is unacceptable.

I'm about to roll my hole floor pan with truck bed liner. This will give my ugly floor pan some style with grip.

Can I be super lazy and roll that **** right over the tar and expect it to stay in one piece? Cuz I'll totally do it.

Not the whole interior, but the driver's side floor pan at least.

Isn't that pretty much the same as the tar? I bet grip tape would weigh less and still keep your feet from slipping when wet.

Hmm. I could roll grip tape over the tar to hide it...

Lets keep these ideas coming people, I don't want to spend an entire day with a can of acetone, a wire brush and three rolls of paper towels! THEN have to rattle can the floorboard because the acetone took the paint off!

Yes. It holds up great. My dad has rolled this inside of his lawn mower deck eight years ago and is still holding up great.
It's not tar per say. It dries hard and is very durable. I just want my floor pan to look great and not slip. Not so worried about weight there. I'm going to do my roll cage in it also.

Good news! The Dacia Sandero is coming to the UK!

Err, I mean, I have a new cage builder and the car is going under the knife on the 29th.

It's also going on the dyno that day to see where we are on power after the mods I've done since last year.

This means I have to get my hood modified and installed this week, inspection done and oil changed this weekend.

Woot! :happydance:

Where are you getting this stuff? Would like to slap some down this weekend.

You could also look at stripping to the metal and putting in Lizardskin for interior heat shielding along the firewall + footwells (+ grip tape where appropriate), and then use reflective foil on the "outside" of the firewall to keep some of the engine bay heat out.

Also while googling around on the subject, I found this post/thread to be pretty informative, has some neat info on overengineering with Aerogel mats: Lizard Skin vs. Second Skin vs. DynaMat or other- Which did you use? - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum

I'll have to look in to it I suppose.

Heat isn't so much of an issue since my exhaust is fully wrapped, it does get toasty, don't get me wrong, but not overly so. Was much worse before the headers and exhaust was wrapped.

I really just want it coated in something that won't come off on my shoes. lol

Yeah, but in TX every bit helps. Hell even if you had perfect insulation from the engine bay and exhaust heat, you're still fighting 100-degree weather coming in the windows :)

That's the damned truth.

My dad keeps telling me of the lizard skin. The other stuff you can buy at any auto store. They have DIY kits.

Alrighty, I'll check it out. Hopefully they have small or touch up kits, really don't wanna buy two gallons of the stuff! hahaha

From the brief search I've done. It seems to be a spray on only. I really want to roll it on. You still might be able to. It's pretty cool stuff. Helps with heat and sound.

Ninja edit. Can be rolled in.

Nice. I'll have a look for it on Saturday when I go to buy oil and shiz.

Here's what I did last night...

Still need to monkey with the pin alignments to make them work properly...

In essence, I cut the holes in the wrong spot, but it's not entirely my fault. The curvature of the hood mean that if you install them directly above where the pins are located, you won't be able to get them to line up right because the angle of approach is outside of the 15 degree max that the latches allow for.

Well, silly me for making them perfectly aligned vertically over the pins.

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1371743553

I learned that from my 350. So I didn't to it this time around.

That's the difference... This is my first AeroCatch install. The next time, if there is a next time, I won't make the same mistake.

"IF" there's a next time. I'll be doing this hobby for the rest of my life. Or where you just talking about the hood pins?

I was actually talking about the hood pins on this car.. haha

Hood pins sloppily installed.

At least the sloppy part is inside the engine bay where you can't normally see it. Sigh.


http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1371790821

You asked

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/...yandCSF013.jpg

I'm confused then, do you or don't you have the cowling plastic around the base of the windshield removed?

Personally I think it's a good idea to leave the two main pieces in place, mostly to protect the bottom edge of the windshield from being chipped/cracked. You could trim the pieces down significantly though and still have them perform that function. I also like the stock plastic covers on the battery/brake bays, I figured it must help reduce the influx of engine bay heat to the brake system. I have my catch can in the battery bay which also works better when it's less-hot than the rest of the system.