260z 7mgte

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Right! Adjusted the brake pedal so have some play now at the neutral postion, hopefully that will sort out the brake bind issue I occasionally get. Was all set to go after setting up the suspension (went with your advice jonny) and doing a quick check over everything and the top rad pipe was hard after only just starting.

Now I have done a fair bit of research on the 7M engines and they had a head gasket issue out of the factory and so knew it was always a possibility but honestly just kept ignoring it, we did a test putting the header tank hose into a big bottle of water, started the car and got a regular "bloop, bloop" of air coming out. Blown head gasket!

So engine bay:

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Little bit more off:

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Cheeky topless shot:

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Kept the turbo on and my weak desk job arms aren't up to the task, luckily Tel has a tool for that:

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And finally some gasket shots:

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Gasket was fairly well mangled as you can see but pistons and bores look ok, head is off to be measured for flatness now, got some ARP head studs, new OEM gasket and silicone hosing set to go on.

Big thanks as always to Tel and the boys for their advice and help, just hoping that head comes back in tolerance.
 

tel240z

Club Member
Just love the way you always get that Nissan fork truck in your pictures Tom

Took the head to CTM (Charlie) and yes it needs a skim, on closer inspection the blow by parts on your gasket seen on the block are a mirror image on the head,
going to do a vac test on the valves tomorrow have a strip down then put him in the bath then skim

That's the head .......... not Tom :eek:
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Right just realised I never updated this thread after the rebuild and didn't take many pics of building it back up, however:

Picture of the head after getting it back from CTM, nice and shiny
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Tel's birthday cake
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The car back together and at the house
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Still running a bit higher than I would like at the front but want to fab up a sump guard before I dare going any lower

Finally my favourite of all Tel's employees
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Maybe if I spent less time playing with the cat it wouldn't have taken so long.

Anyways big thanks to Tel and the boys for all their help and advice (and Darren for having his german **** box there to make me feel better :D )
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Spent some time cleaning out the interior and giving the car a hoover, took up the carpet in the back and the plywood its sitting on and noticed the two little holds behind each seat

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Stupid question but can someone tell me what was meant to go in the storage areas and what in the original cars stops the luggage sinking into the wheel well (or is it just the wheel?)
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Quote: Stupid question but can someone tell me what was meant to go in the storage areas and what in the original cars stops the luggage sinking into the wheel well (or is it just the wheel?).

Nice job Tom - yep Terry and mates are decent guys.

Jack, wheel chock, wheel nut spanner etc go in the storage bins. There is a circular fibre-board cover that fits over the wheel onto which the carpet rests.
 

moggy240

Insurance Valuations Officer
Staff member
Club Member
there should be a round hardboard panel that sits over the wheel well and the storage compartments normally have the jack,wheel brace,tool kit and some wheel chocks in them and some room for other stuff
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Haven't done an update in a while so thought I would put up a post. Been putting some miles on it and saving up to do a little work in the winter. Plan is to replace the dash, put in some new dials, new seats, new exhaust and start to clean up the wiring. Also will replace the oil cooler set-up (the system on the 7M is really badly designed) and the inter-cooler money permitting. I have dreams of putting a megasquirt ECU in but I want to do this in stages.

So for the past few months I have been restoring a dash to put in the car, cracks were cut out to expose fresh foam and filled with a plastic weld which is flexible. I decided to sand the entire surface back to flat and use a textured paint, turns out all the sanding was pretty much pointless as the texture could have gone over a very rough surface. I then plastic primed and painted with u-pol paint.

Dash mid way through repair

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Surface finish after painting

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The surface is a finger print and dust magnet so under advice I'm going to put a semi gloss coat over the top to allow it to be wiped down and hopefully match the finish of the centre console, if not I'll repaint that.

The engine swap left most of the dials useless, I have got a set of Speed Hut dials and taken the original dials apart and glued the new bits in the old housings to hopefully keep it a bit more stock looking inside.

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Overall pretty happy with the result, when gluing the dials some of the epoxy got in the edges of the perspex so I will make some blanking cutouts to hide this.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Yes, that's a great result Tom.

I also notice Terry has been accommodating too.
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Right, time to install the new dash. Took the old one out and I reckon its going to be an easy fit.


Hahaha, hah. . . .

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What sort of colossal b*ellend thinks that's an acceptable way to install wiring! I think its time to start again, luckily an activity which is more in my sphere of knowledge.

At least Tel and Johnny didn't take the p*ss too much. . .
 

johnymd

Club Member
That picture doesn't come close to representing just how much wiring there is under your old dash. A monumental task to remove all that's not required.

Good luck.
 

tel240z

Club Member
It's all sorted now Tom I let the apprentice Jordan loose with a large pair of side cutters and told him to remove any wires that weren't connected to anything, looks a lot better now
 

racer

Club Member
Quote
"At least Tel and Johnny didn't take the p*ss too much"


I find that hard too believe :D
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Looks like it will be a job well done Tom!

An area of the car very often 'bodged' and yet vital to good running, reliability and safety.

I remember Darren did some good work on his hybrid to sort the wiring out.
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Luckily the MA70 supra it came out of is not too complex, no CANbus and only a few signals actually need wiring to start. I knew it needed doing when I picked the car up a few years back, still a shock to see how much is there (like johny says). Needed something to do now the Great British Bake Off has finished
 

johnymd

Club Member
Did things get any better after I left Tom?

Now what was it you said yesterday............... not too complex, and only a few signals actually need wiring to start.
 

TomZupra

Well-Known Forum User
Yeah got it started but it's idling a bit rough.. . .

Unfortunately the above is a lie, going to go over the diagrams I have and work out what's needed. Sorely tempted by an aftermarket Ecu at this point, have to sleep on it.

Btw I put the cat in your rusty snot green car Johnny
 
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