That shiny stuff is someone's attempt to stop a water leak I think. It's an additive as far as I can see.
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Just bought our first Z (240Z)
- Thread starter Woody928
- Start date
My coolant also has bronze shiny bits - it comes from the copper spray sealant I put on the HG and it’s fine.
So yours could be that or it could be a leak sealer as Rob says.
On your oil and water leaks: a failed timing cover gasket could cause both.
So yours could be that or it could be a leak sealer as Rob says.
On your oil and water leaks: a failed timing cover gasket could cause both.
Thanks Jon, I feel very relaxed about this now following yours and Rob's comments.
That's a very good shout! Hopefully all will become clear shortly, trying to move things along to get the car looked at in line with planned work where possible. Unfortunately it's not going to be show worthy for the next couple of weekends though
toopy
Club Member
Unfortunately it's not going to be show worthy for the next couple of weekends though
Thats a shame, does that mean your car wont be at Motors by the Moat, next weekend?
Correct, I'm not going to have time to adequately investigate and resolve the issue in the time available. Particularly when I'll be at two shows over this weekend.
Quite gutted really, it seems somewhat ironic given it was a coolant issue from the head gasket that I was nursing through both events this time last year. My problem with this car is as soon as I improve one area it seems to move the strain on elsewhere and expose another area that was neglected by the previous owner. The only good news is I really am running out of things that I haven't touched in the engine bay so after the next lot of upgrades I'd hope I'll have several years of relaxed motoring to come
Well more to report still, recently its felt like one step forward and two steps backwards however I finally feel as though some progress is being made.
Quite a few weeks back now my new OS Giken single plate clutch and lightweight flywheel combo turned up from Japan which looks like a piece of art, currently placed on the shelf gathering dust for now though. I’ve also received an uprated diff mount from the US which seemed like some sensible over engineering to go in with the LSD not knowing the state of the oem hardware which I imagine is still very original.
I now have a good lead for S14 gears thanks to JP so keeping my fingers crossed on that count, my Z therapy setup is also just waiting on the polished intake manifold and then that’ll be on its way as well. In other good news the stub axels made by John Williams have just been finished so I’m finalising details to have a small batch sent across for a few of us at the same time to keep costs down.
Having further investigated my coolant issues as several of you now know it turned out to be that the water pump gasket had failed and was leaking coolant down the block onto the alternator belt and arb. Having written the car off from attending both the Donington Historic and Japfest I changed my registration on both tickets not thinking I wouldn’t be able to source and fit a replacement before the weekends shows. Having nearly given up in a last ditch attempt I gave Four ways a call on Thursday who happened to have literally one left in stock so a priority delivery later and I had a replacement on Friday morning before show day. Having got home and drained and stripped the front end it was clear that the original gasket was knackered and where the leak was coming from, having cleaned the surfaces and fitted everything back up it was apparent the gasket hadn’t seated properly so back it all came off with some more gasket sealant more generously applied to the bottom to seal the joint. Everything was going well at this point until in my tired state I over tightened the last bolt and snapped it! A job for later, the system was refilled and the leak was gone. Following a short test drive, fuelled up and loaded all the spares I could think of into the car as well as printed off my breakdown cover policy the car was ready to go at 11pm.
Having recycled the coolant following the installation more signs have been appearing to support the theory that the car had serious coolant system issues in the past before my ownership and the band aid approach was applied. Having now done the heater matrix, head gasket, water pump and physically inspected and seen the poor state of the oem radiator it’s clear that some form of rad weld was holding the system together for a while. Plans in the short term are to remove the water pump to sort the snapped bolt and replace all bolts with new ones, completely flush the system again and look to sort the radiator. I’m still in two minds as to whether to re-core the oem radiator or to take the opportunity to drop a Mishimoto Ali rad in its place to improve the cars cooling. I’ve also been recommended a Gano filter that can be put into the system to pick up any remaining crud as well which should all massibly improve the efficiency. Fingers crossed that once this has been done everything was be in tip top condition and I won’t have any more surprises from the engine bay.
The good news was despite the fact the engine needs a health check it made both Donington and Japfest and managed both journeys without complaint! Both shows were fantastic and allowed for some long overdue catch ups, let me put some faces to names and get plenty of ideas of things to be done. Having not been out in the car properly in months it was really nice and gave me some much needed motivation to push on with the project. The car got some fantastic attention over the weekend particularly at Japfest which was really nice, and on the home had people hanging out of windows and all sorts to get pictures and wave. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed everything slots together I can try and ambitiously get everything some before the Le Mans Classic in July.
IMG-5612 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG-6011 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
When most people are cleaning their cars or chilling with a beer before show day!
IMG-6013 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Out with the old and in with the new
IMG-6014 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Looking fairly tired and abused
IMG-6016 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
More evidence of my band aid theory, this didn’t get back into the system
IMG-6021 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Quite a few weeks back now my new OS Giken single plate clutch and lightweight flywheel combo turned up from Japan which looks like a piece of art, currently placed on the shelf gathering dust for now though. I’ve also received an uprated diff mount from the US which seemed like some sensible over engineering to go in with the LSD not knowing the state of the oem hardware which I imagine is still very original.
I now have a good lead for S14 gears thanks to JP so keeping my fingers crossed on that count, my Z therapy setup is also just waiting on the polished intake manifold and then that’ll be on its way as well. In other good news the stub axels made by John Williams have just been finished so I’m finalising details to have a small batch sent across for a few of us at the same time to keep costs down.
Having further investigated my coolant issues as several of you now know it turned out to be that the water pump gasket had failed and was leaking coolant down the block onto the alternator belt and arb. Having written the car off from attending both the Donington Historic and Japfest I changed my registration on both tickets not thinking I wouldn’t be able to source and fit a replacement before the weekends shows. Having nearly given up in a last ditch attempt I gave Four ways a call on Thursday who happened to have literally one left in stock so a priority delivery later and I had a replacement on Friday morning before show day. Having got home and drained and stripped the front end it was clear that the original gasket was knackered and where the leak was coming from, having cleaned the surfaces and fitted everything back up it was apparent the gasket hadn’t seated properly so back it all came off with some more gasket sealant more generously applied to the bottom to seal the joint. Everything was going well at this point until in my tired state I over tightened the last bolt and snapped it! A job for later, the system was refilled and the leak was gone. Following a short test drive, fuelled up and loaded all the spares I could think of into the car as well as printed off my breakdown cover policy the car was ready to go at 11pm.
Having recycled the coolant following the installation more signs have been appearing to support the theory that the car had serious coolant system issues in the past before my ownership and the band aid approach was applied. Having now done the heater matrix, head gasket, water pump and physically inspected and seen the poor state of the oem radiator it’s clear that some form of rad weld was holding the system together for a while. Plans in the short term are to remove the water pump to sort the snapped bolt and replace all bolts with new ones, completely flush the system again and look to sort the radiator. I’m still in two minds as to whether to re-core the oem radiator or to take the opportunity to drop a Mishimoto Ali rad in its place to improve the cars cooling. I’ve also been recommended a Gano filter that can be put into the system to pick up any remaining crud as well which should all massibly improve the efficiency. Fingers crossed that once this has been done everything was be in tip top condition and I won’t have any more surprises from the engine bay.
The good news was despite the fact the engine needs a health check it made both Donington and Japfest and managed both journeys without complaint! Both shows were fantastic and allowed for some long overdue catch ups, let me put some faces to names and get plenty of ideas of things to be done. Having not been out in the car properly in months it was really nice and gave me some much needed motivation to push on with the project. The car got some fantastic attention over the weekend particularly at Japfest which was really nice, and on the home had people hanging out of windows and all sorts to get pictures and wave. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed everything slots together I can try and ambitiously get everything some before the Le Mans Classic in July.
IMG-5612 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG-6011 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrWhen most people are cleaning their cars or chilling with a beer before show day!
IMG-6013 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrOut with the old and in with the new
IMG-6014 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrLooking fairly tired and abused
IMG-6016 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrMore evidence of my band aid theory, this didn’t get back into the system
IMG-6021 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Jay.
Club Member
Was good to see you at Donington Woody! Car looked incredible, and was super happy to hear it took all those miles in its stride - especially in such hot weather!
Amazing job getting it all together in time... No doubt it was stressful but it's all worth it.
Did you manage to get the bolt out and fully seal the gasket in the end?
Amazing job getting it all together in time... No doubt it was stressful but it's all worth it.
Did you manage to get the bolt out and fully seal the gasket in the end?
Likewise dude, thank you
It could do with a proper clean but I didn’t have the time.Haha a little maybe, well worth the effort though! Yes she did a good job considering the temps, given the now apparent issues I’m impressed its coped with the heat as well as it has. Particularly Le Mans last summer.
Lol I’ve not had a chance, the cars been tucked in the car since Japfest, I was shattered after the weekend with my sunburn. I’m ordering a new gasket and bolts from the states and will have it sorted with the major upgrades I’ve got planned shortly. In the meantime I’m planning on risking another adventure this Sunday with Leeds castle before tucking it back away till all the parts are sorted.
Ian
Club Member
Glad to hear you appear to have the cooling issues sorted.
That is a seriously nice looking clutch, similar in appearance to my Nismo Super coppermix clutch. You should find that RT mount a good upgrade, mine works great, for low power levels use the puck style bush, just make sure its a couple of mm off touching the diff at rest and you should get less NVH but it will still hold it solid when the diff moves up under hard acceleration.
That is a seriously nice looking clutch, similar in appearance to my Nismo Super coppermix clutch. You should find that RT mount a good upgrade, mine works great, for low power levels use the puck style bush, just make sure its a couple of mm off touching the diff at rest and you should get less NVH but it will still hold it solid when the diff moves up under hard acceleration.
Thanks dude, I'm quite excited to get it installed and see what it feels like. The shame is I'll never see it again though! That's good to hear, seemed sensible under the circumstances. I assume when you say the puck style one, you mean the one already fitted rather than the top mounting one I got extra in the plastic bag? I pressume that's just keep any vibration down under normal driving conditions?
Alphabettispaghetti
Club Member
Have you tried the old coke trick to just flush/clean the radiator?
Great car you have, quite envious.
Great car you have, quite envious.
Tell me more? never heard of this one.... It has damage though so really needs replacing or refurbishment. I'm currently leaning towards getting an Ali Mishimoto one and painting it black to blend into the engine bay more.
Thank you
I'm so looking forward to just sorting out all of this work so that I can just enjoy the damn thing! lol
Well time for another update, I'm getting painfully close to putting the car through its next transformation having collected parts, researched and talked about it for the past few months. The car made it to Leeds Castle again and home with no dramas despite being a little unhealthy and was a cracking day out, it was great to see a few S30's together again this year and some of the usual faces. The weather even turned up by the end of the day so awesome all in all.
IMG_6097 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
So the parts are now really stacking up, with everything now sorted via the gearbox which is waiting on the local shop to get their arse in gear and take another look. Looking at radiator options having had several conversations about cooling and the state of the radiator we decided to go ahead and over engineer so we are now the proud owners of a Mishimoto Aluminium rad which should be more than man enough for any engine build we do in the future! It also comes with a lifetime warranty. Just trying to decide whether to paint it black or anodise it black to make it blend into the engine bay a bit more or not?
IMG_6136 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
I need to give a shout out to Toopy for kindly selling me his old rocker cover as I've been meaning to attempt to refurbish one in a wrinkle/crackle black finish having seen so many done before I've been keen to get one done and move away from the polished look as it's really not for me. Having spent several evenings this week, I managed to strip it down, degrease, paint it and finish it. It's not perfect having had to spray it in the garden at compete with the wind and flies which kept being attracted to the paint (fortunately the wrinkle finish hides most of it). With paint not really being my forte though I'm quite please with how its come out and I've learnt lessons for if I do it again. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves though.
IMG_6142 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6154 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6172 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6186 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
With parts continuing to pile in I also need to give a massive shout out to Mike, Chris and Alan on here. Having missed the window on anti roll bars for my suspension work I had a rethink and was sensibly pointed in the direction of suspension technics anti roll bars on the basis that the rear bar mounts off of the diff support like the period BRE cars rather than requiring any body modifications, particularly when being an early car with no brackets to talk of. Having realised shipping would be insane with the quote coming in at $850 dollars! Mike allowed me to have them shipped to him, dropped into Chris's car to be shipped over to the UK before it was sold to Alan (who I coincidentally met at Donington and found out lives just down the road). Who in turn delivered the bits to my front door! It never ceases to amaze me the sense of community, with three members generously helping me out and getting parts several thousand miles to my front door free of charge Having now seen them in the flesh I'm convinced these are going to go a long way towards removing hte body roll with a seriously chunky front bar and a sensible looking rear one to bolt on. At the same time I also picked up a brand new passenger grab handle as one of the Chrome pieces of trim had decided to fall to pieces, the nice thing its a Nissan nos item. I always love original parts in bags with the stickers! lol
IMG_6178 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6175 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Finally my evening has been topped off with another arrival from the US, this time after months of waiting on the list ZTherapy have come through with the goods. Fantastic packaging to keep the newly refurbished carb, intake manifold, euro balance tube, heat shield, fuel rail and throttle linkage all protected. The setup looks amazing, and everything feels very slick. The only problem is that now there's loads of nicely zinc plated items, there's lots of little bits and pieces that will need to be done to match in, I'm not sure quite what I've started here! I'm still recovering from the import duties and had second thoughts over tripples however they will come at a later date long way down the road, for now these are going to be awesome and should give some decent performance and economy. I think it's fair to say the car is going to drive like a different beast very shortly with all the parts that are being thrown at it, I'm getting super excited as fingers crossed work will begin in a couple of weeks time.
Getting an idea of what things will look like shortly:
IMG_6191 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6194 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6195 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
More to come in due course, don't go away
IMG_6097 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrSo the parts are now really stacking up, with everything now sorted via the gearbox which is waiting on the local shop to get their arse in gear and take another look. Looking at radiator options having had several conversations about cooling and the state of the radiator we decided to go ahead and over engineer so we are now the proud owners of a Mishimoto Aluminium rad which should be more than man enough for any engine build we do in the future! It also comes with a lifetime warranty. Just trying to decide whether to paint it black or anodise it black to make it blend into the engine bay a bit more or not?
IMG_6136 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrI need to give a shout out to Toopy for kindly selling me his old rocker cover as I've been meaning to attempt to refurbish one in a wrinkle/crackle black finish having seen so many done before I've been keen to get one done and move away from the polished look as it's really not for me. Having spent several evenings this week, I managed to strip it down, degrease, paint it and finish it. It's not perfect having had to spray it in the garden at compete with the wind and flies which kept being attracted to the paint (fortunately the wrinkle finish hides most of it). With paint not really being my forte though I'm quite please with how its come out and I've learnt lessons for if I do it again. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves though.
IMG_6142 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6154 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6172 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6186 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrWith parts continuing to pile in I also need to give a massive shout out to Mike, Chris and Alan on here. Having missed the window on anti roll bars for my suspension work I had a rethink and was sensibly pointed in the direction of suspension technics anti roll bars on the basis that the rear bar mounts off of the diff support like the period BRE cars rather than requiring any body modifications, particularly when being an early car with no brackets to talk of. Having realised shipping would be insane with the quote coming in at $850 dollars! Mike allowed me to have them shipped to him, dropped into Chris's car to be shipped over to the UK before it was sold to Alan (who I coincidentally met at Donington and found out lives just down the road). Who in turn delivered the bits to my front door! It never ceases to amaze me the sense of community, with three members generously helping me out and getting parts several thousand miles to my front door free of charge
Having now seen them in the flesh I'm convinced these are going to go a long way towards removing hte body roll with a seriously chunky front bar and a sensible looking rear one to bolt on. At the same time I also picked up a brand new passenger grab handle as one of the Chrome pieces of trim had decided to fall to pieces, the nice thing its a Nissan nos item. I always love original parts in bags with the stickers! lol
IMG_6178 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6175 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrFinally my evening has been topped off with another arrival from the US, this time after months of waiting on the list ZTherapy have come through with the goods. Fantastic packaging to keep the newly refurbished carb, intake manifold, euro balance tube, heat shield, fuel rail and throttle linkage all protected. The setup looks amazing, and everything feels very slick. The only problem is that now there's loads of nicely zinc plated items, there's lots of little bits and pieces that will need to be done to match in, I'm not sure quite what I've started here! I'm still recovering from the import duties and had second thoughts over tripples however they will come at a later date long way down the road, for now these are going to be awesome and should give some decent performance and economy. I think it's fair to say the car is going to drive like a different beast very shortly with all the parts that are being thrown at it, I'm getting super excited as fingers crossed work will begin in a couple of weeks time.
Getting an idea of what things will look like shortly:
IMG_6191 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6194 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_6195 by Mark Woodrow, on FlickrMore to come in due course, don't go away
chrisvega
Well-Known Forum User
Glad to be of service You are the young blood from the next generation keeping the marque interest alive so deserve all the help, support and assistance you can get from us old..er timers. Your car is looking good and can vouch for the Mishimoto radiator upgrade as completely worthwhile. I kept mine silver and had to laugh when someone dissed it for not being painted black.
You are the young blood from the next generation keeping the marque interest alive so deserve all the help, support and assistance you can get from us old..er timers. Your car is looking good and can vouch for the Mishimoto radiator upgrade as completely worthwhile. I kept mine silver and had to laugh when someone dissed it for not being painted black.
Hope that wasn't me - I've got one on the Sam.
