trying to upload a mass exodus of photos to photobucket so I can update this; feels like it takes literal YEARS to do sometimes (ZzzzZzzzZzzz). Could be the shitternet I guess

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pswajhsdbk.png

In the mean-time.... here's a troll I had to squash this morning; don't normally go out of my way to feed them. God I hate these Facebook pages. They're a damn cesspool of idiots I swear.

Kid deleted his comments after that roasting. Cya around @$$hat!

WOT IN PROCRASTINATION!?:rofl2:

okay, but really though, time to update the build thread forreal this time... I just REALLLLLYYYY HATEEE messing with photobucket. JFC there are more ads on this site than a got-dam super bowl!:icon14:

So middle of last spring the ole VHR that could suffered from an oil control ring failure. Unfortunate, but as they say: "you pay to play":ugh2:. for those of you that are new to this game....

http://vid1044.photobucket.com/album...pszhccki9l.mp4
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pscxtxjz9d.jpg
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FYI you shouldn't be able to dump oil out of your turbo manifold.. that's usually a pretty tell-tale sign of ring failure XD

Anyway, so as with the new season came a new idea; several actually.

I should've known how the next 9 months were going to go at that time. This car has been nothing short of problematic at times; most self inflicted. All part of the learning curve. I have allowed my pocket book to test almost every corner of this engine with the final hurdle being the open deck design. The "oh so scary" TRUE reliability nightmare. At what point do we really need to go sleeves or block guards? Or are these people diving in $1700... $3000 for a piece of mind they will likely never need. If the point should come, I think I'm going to take a different rout(a pioneering route for this platform of sorts) but the test of time will give me the answer for that. Blah Blah... enough with the rambling on this for now back to the build!

It was time for a change of heart... Betsy's heart that is; and you could say she had me "feeling a little blue".

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pspsrhkcsm.jpg

damn I'm so "punny" :icon18:

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psmqhyolob.jpg

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http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pshc55cfaz.jpg

as usual... no shortage of OCD bringing attention to detail here folks. Went a littleeeee off the deep end and decided to polish the piston crowns as well. results were fantastic though I must say! XD

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pszfdrltpf.jpg

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psgybzxno4.jpg

maybe Wiseco will give me a hire on opportunity :bowrofl:

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you guys have seen all of this before I'm certain, but for the sake of watching the rest of the blueberry grow :P...

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psy8ks7doe.jpg

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psujungsqj.jpg

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This time I decided to do a little better job documenting the timing arrangement as a reference for anyone in the future.
Its VERY important to understand that when building an engine everything is referenced as looking at the crank pulley.

With that said R-Right(Passenger) Side is aligned to the "Circles"
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5mibbwhp.jpg

L-Left(Driver) Side is aligned to the "Ovals"
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psylfrd1al.jpg

Intake Cam-Crank timing is a little more tricky crankshaft MUST be placed in TDC and not a single tooth off of the timing circles at any location.
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pste4gdxm0.jpg

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pszy6qmulj.jpg

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psizwuwb3t.jpg

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4hkzicu6.jpg

Yes, it is a pearlescent, for those curious. Couldn't keep things THAT simple ;)

this time I decided to paint the actuator housings as well. which required tearing them down... in which doing so meant............ NO MORE PRELOAD ON THE ACTUATOR SPRING :eek:

but don't worry. I once again did all of the hard work to reassemble the oh so scary VVEL assembly. Most people would buy into the bs that you have to buy new actuators from Nissan in a situation like this :icon14: bold or not, I called their bluff.

place the VVEL cradles back on the car and use a digital level gauge on a consistent flat spot on the eccentric cam. With a 7/8" wrench adjust the eccentric cam itself to 5.5*. WITHOUT BUMPING THE ASSEMBLY place the actuator assembly onto the rear of the head(don't install your gasket sealant just yet), and once again, CAREFULLY place the magnetized actuator to the rear of the eccentric cam. Like so. (Its also a smart idea to install on of the housing bolts to keep the assembly from falling off the back of your head before its aligned and fastened.
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psr582ivfu.jpg
You'll see I stress the careful multiple times because you will really begin to hate yourself for being so rough after having to start the process over 4 or 5 times when you bump the gauge out of calibration. It only takes a slight "jiggle" of the engine stand to do so, and while sure I may make this task sound less daunting than it really is make no mistake here this isn't a part you want to half-@ss...

Now if you were paying attention when removing the actuator motors from the assembly you would realize that holding the end of the motor connected to the actuator spring is a square "collar" of sorts. In the real world we refer to those as a coupler. conveniently enough this collar houses a 1/4 drive extension WONDERFULLY. Place the coupler on the end of a 3-6" 1/4 extension attached to a 1/4" drive ratchet and set it to the "On" position. carefully rotate the ratchet until the actuator preload is set aligning the holes on the actuator to the threads in the rear of the eccentric cam; such that you can now properly reinstall the two 6mm Allen bolts in the rear of the eccentric cam. There is no "messing" this part up they either thread in or they don't. if they don't slide right into place then you have too much, or too little preload. simple as that. the picture above has this alignment part already complete.
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psqozbgzyz.jpg
Here is one of the whole process though capturing the 1/4" drive ratchet being used to set the preload while I re-home the Allen bolts. Don't mind my brothers chubby belly photobomb. He watches in amazement as this whole "VVEL" thing baffles 2JZ owners apparently :inoutroflpuke:

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6qmbnfom.jpg
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7yoygztr.jpg
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pslyzwnsla.jpg
and here's your finished product! now remove the 1/4" ratchet and extension leaving the coupler in place, and align the drive shaft on the electric motor to the coupler. fasten the motor back to the actuator assembly with the 4 5mm Allen bolts(be sure not to forget to reinstall the gasket) and viola! at this point you're safe to remove the actuator from the cam for gasket sealant and proper reassembly.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pssvedhgyu.jpg

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Yes, that is those pistons I shined up GLEAMING through the spark plug hole ;)

I'm going to call her quits there for tonight folks its 2:45am and I gotta work in 4 hours lol. Should get around doing another decent write up tomorrow!

Thought about sliding over to the "meaty tire thread" and dropping some bombs to show the meaning of, but nahhhh. I think ill keep the imaginations right. here.
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psihamwmvb.jpg
http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psghwbrjjq.jpg

night folks!:tiphat:

I see threads like this and wonder if I'll ever trust myself to get to the point of working on my Z like this. Taking the engine out and putting it back. Nice work!

Looking killer so far!!! Lots of attention to detail. :tup:

Nice!

gonna try and squeeze in another update before I take off for Toledo for the night here...

Hows the saying go... something like "If it aint broke, don't fix it"? well mine wasn't broke but I decided to fix it anyway. Permanently.

By now you might've guessed it...








Everyone wants to whine about replacing and rebuilding the factory CMC, but NO ONE wants to make a solution! Well. I did the "solution", and boys/girls... I'm here to tell you the results are FANTASTIC.

I'm sure anyone by this point can tell these updates are well behind and at this point I have broken in a triple disk clutch on this setup comfortably. No leaks. no failures. no mushy pedal strokes.

Meet my new friend Tilton.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psyasl8lqo.jpg

Lets dive into the install; shall we?

Our trusty buddy Joe Allison over at Z Speed Performance does a STELLAR job of laying out some serious ground work to make this conversion relatively simple I just turned some gears to make it work on our platform:stirthepot:. So, Thank you Joe. :) :happydance:
ZSpeed Performance Nissan Infinti OEM & Performance Parts

First things first I want to note that a second person will be necessary for wrapping up this install.

SAFELY elevate your car onto a lift/jack stands to be able to separate the clutch line either at the transmission, or along the fender wall; the choice is yours(if you already have a SS clutch line I would choose the latter of the two options). Capture the fluid that will drain from the CMC reservoir for reuse(if that's your thing) or disposal. Dismount the driver front tire(at minimum. All four ideally), and remove the inner well liner closest to the cabin; as well as removing the bonnet plastics to access the brake booster/clutch master cylinder, and ABS module completely.

Locate your CMC so you're familiar with what you're working with here.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pswhixessd.jpg

Disconnect the two associated sensors by the brake master reservoir, and tuck them out of the way.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pssol47lbn.jpg

For the next part I highly suggest having a few rags handy as if you're not familiar with working with brake fluid it WILL eat paint. Clear coated or not(in the case of your engine bay), and there is no guaranteed way to remove the hazard of brake fluids leaking during this mod. Also, I would recommend sourcing a few cap plugs like you will see in my pictures to keep all of you brake fluid from draining out of your lines everywhere. I used 4 1/8" and 4 3/16(or1/4" IDR) red cap plugs. They will be a very tight fit, but that's what you want to keep from lines dribbling.

Locate and remove, with a 12mm wrench, the two feed lines from the brake master to the ABS module. this is where you will want to use the plugs in the side of the ABS module and the

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pslz1m3cca.jpg

Next use a 10mm wrench to disconnect the 4 brake lines at the top ABS module, and use your 4 1/8" plugs to plug the bottom of the lines from draining the stored fluids out.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...pswhixessd.jpg

Locate the 3 12mm hex head nuts holding the ABS module to the fender well. Remove them and pull upward on the module to remove it. Set it aside on some rags and a non painted surface, as any captive fluid will drain out.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5vebnml.jpg

(Lack of pictures through out this part you'll have to excuse me)
You will then need to awkwardly position yourself in and underneath the driver foot well of your car and disconnect the two 10mm nuts as well as removing the cotter pin from the back of the clutch pedal separating the threaded shaft from the pedal assembly. Back up top in the brake booster compartment remove the two 10mm bolts holding the clutch fluid reservoir as well as disconnecting the clutch line from the CMC. carefully remove the CMC from the firewall and set it aside.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6oxjidlz.jpg

At this time you can then remove the existing hard line by fishing it down and out of the compartment. You wont be needing this anymore.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...psq6ivccu0.jpg




Going to make a brief pause here... didn't realize this was going to take me 2 hours to fully prepare haha. TO BE CONINUED!:rock: