My 86½ N/A Project Fiona

[thinhman]

Alrighht everyone...I just want to make this car reliable and look good.

So let's list some current plans and goals I got going on here.

The engine sitting in her now is about to take a shit any time soon, so I bought another 7m and is now sitting in the garage. I'm planning to do a major engine overhaul and cover as many issues and replace as many parts as I can to avoid future issues.

I do not have really huge hp goals; I mainly want to daily drive this car and occasionally take it to the track or the canyons. :icon_bigg but nothing crazy.

I basically want to make this car look good. WIth all that said let's jump onto the main dish.

First off; some pics of how I got it.

Then I wanted to install a deck into my car as the first thing so I started to take apart the center pieces.

My shift boot was really ripped up so I just trashed it

Funky shift knob?!

Sure seemed as if...the P.O. cut the shift lever. Is this the SOGI mod?!

Really dirty ass tray, I mean ash tray.

Black center trim off!!

Pretty dirty huh?

Look what the car came with!

That'll be doing up for sale...once I get 50 dang posts :icon_mad:

And the old stereo is off.

So after the stereo was off...I picked up my deck and tried to attach the harnesses together. Well guess what? There was no harness :nono: The P.O. directly connected the wiring to the stereo.

So I took a break and ran over to pick your part and snipped some off another toyota. Came back and added on my new harness and such.

Before putting in the dash, I came across the old sound system wiring. I thought to myself "Why not use it if it's already set up?" So I followed the wires to their end points and guess what...the connectors were snipped.

So I said screw it and started to pull out all the wiring. Here we go...

 

[thinhman]

(Darn 20 post limit, haha)

Started to expose the rear seats

After about 10 minutes or so, the seats were out.

And so were the wires.

There were some other wires that ran through the dash...and it was incredibly hard to splice my new harness into the dash wiring in the position it was in...so off the dash came!!

HKS TEMS Controller came out while I was at it.

After a long day, I put everything back and installed my new deck.

Some extra shots after the day!

 

[Skoorbnut]

Cars looking pretty good if i dont say so myself.

 

[mobes]

Looks like a cool project. It also looks like you're taking no time in getting down to business.

That shifter does look to be SOGI modded.

Now all you need is a white 300ZX to round out your collection

 

[thinhman]

Looks like a cool project. It also looks like you're taking no time in getting down to business.

That shifter does look to be SOGI modded.

Now all you need is a white 300ZX to round out your collection

HAHA got you on check :icon_bigg

Too bad it's not white. =[
I actually just finished getting that z31 up and running in that pic.

 

[thinhman]

For this engine, I mainly just want it to be reliable and not having to tear it apart again for a while. I'm just basically doing a full engine overhaul and replacing as much as I can. So far my list sits at:

- HKS MHG 1.2mm
- ARP head studs and bolts
- New exhaust studs and bolts with helicoils
- New Timing, AC, PS, and alternator belts.
- New timing belt tensioner and spring
- New dizzy and rotor
- New spark plugs and wires
- New engine gaskets
- New main and rod bearings
- New pistons and rings
- New water pump
- New silicon vacuum hoses




Alright, here are some pictures of the engine sitting in my garage.

Here are the valve covers off

Here is the head

The head again with the cam brackets off

Middle valve cover is off now

Cam gears off next

Along with the cover behind it

Ran to the auto store and grabbed this sucker

and off came the head bolts!!

Here is my head off the block

Back to the block

Here are cylinders 1 and 2...look at all that gunk

3 and 4

5 and 6

Warzone as it sits now in my garage

 

[SupraCorwin]

Car looks sweet already, nice sandals too :naughty:

 

[thinhman]

Car looks sweet already, nice sandals too :naughty:

lol too bad they ripped during the process of removing the crankshaft haha. darn asian sandals can't hold out for crap!

 

[CyFi6]

not even gonna ask....


BTW are you doing an NA or turbo build? Looks like someone put a MHG on an NA... why would anyone do that unless it was turbo'd..

 

[thinhman]

not even gonna ask....


BTW are you doing an NA or turbo build? Looks like someone put a MHG on an NA... why would anyone do that unless it was turbo'd..

just took the nearest ones to me (out of like 7 pairs?), and those happen to be it!
I'll take a pic of the all sandals for you guys lmao.

I honestly don't really know what work was done to the motor; I bought it from a shop with 55k miles on it. I'm staying na, and I thought its good to put MHG on both na AND turbos regardless?

 

[Chambers]

A pre 89 7M-GE build, I thought I was the only one! hehehe.

I would go ahead and put a MHG on, its good insurance, and with all the other new parts you have going on why not. Good luck!

 

[JDMMA70]

Just curious but was that a AJ USA Headgasket you pulled off your motor? Other than that looking good N/A builds are nice to see

 

[jugodegolf]

:aigo::aigo::aigo:

Pulling a dash is no small feat.

cy beat me to the punch.:evil2:

 

[Zumtizzle]

Just curious but was that a AJ USA Headgasket you pulled off your motor? Other than that looking good N/A builds are nice to see

Thats a MLS.

 

[CyFi6]

MHG isn't going to hurt on both NA and Turbo applications, but for stock power its not necessary. And for NA, its really overkill. I say if you want, go for it since you are pulling it all apart and doing all the machining, but if its really much extra work, i would just stick with a stock gasket, there's a greater chance for success with it.

 

[thinhman]

MHG isn't going to hurt on both NA and Turbo applications, but for stock power its not necessary. And for NA, its really overkill. I say if you want, go for it since you are pulling it all apart and doing all the machining, but if its really much extra work, i would just stick with a stock gasket, there's a greater chance for success with it.

So are you saying it doesn't increase my head gasket security?!

And no I do not know what kind of head gasket I pulled off the engine; I thought it was interesting as well.

I just don't wanna deal with a BHG in the future; I wanted to eliminate that problem. So with that said, I thought ARP and MHG would solve that issue?

I also have a MHG question...I pre-bought the gasket (HKS 1.2mm). Now do I tell the machine shop to cut off that much? Or should I get the block decked and then buy the gasket respectively to the amount they cut off?

 

[funky_monkey58]

What do you want for that hks tems controller? Pm me a price lol.

 

[thinhman]

What do you want for that hks tems controller? Pm me a price lol.

pms replied!

little update: tried to degrease my pistons and the gunk wasn't coming off...so I decided to leave them in for a bit.

well school and work slammed me and i forgot I left them in...so when I went back to them there was mold growing on the damn things >_<

so I took out the pistons and put them all in a bucket and started spraying them down with some water. haven't checked back on them yet...but I'll let y'all know.

 

[CyFi6]

You have to get the machine work done, see how much they take off the head and block combined, then add those to 1.2mm and then find your proper gasket size.

Make sure when you go to have the block machined you have the rear timing cover bolted to the block! It is the aluminum one that the water pump is bolted to. Also make sure you have the timing belt tension er bolted on there and torqued to 36ft lbs when you have it all machined if you are getting the cylinders done.

Also, you need to make sure the machine shop can get a good enough (smooth) finish on your parts, otherwise your head gasket wont seal. You cannot just go to any shop and ask them to deck the block/head, you have to make sure that their machines can meet the requirements of the head gasket you are buying.

 

[thinhman]

Also, you need to make sure the machine shop can get a good enough (smooth) finish on your parts, otherwise your head gasket wont seal. You cannot just go to any shop and ask them to deck the block/head, you have to make sure that their machines can meet the requirements of the head gasket you are buying.

I don't quite understand this part. I know I have to slap the rear timing cover on; I didn't know about the tensioner but I do now. And I understand the head gasket size measurement now.

But how do I determine whether the shop's machines can meet the requirements of the head gasket I'm buying??

This shop I'm going to is a reputable shop I suppose; I got it from a good mechanic friend of mine. For you people in SoCal, the shop is called "A Head Above The Rest". But yeah, how do I determine the quality with the machines they use?

Note: I'm getting the block decked and honed plus a HKS head gasket if that helps.