What did you do to your Z this week?

[atomman]

This week I've been playing around with making a rear strut brace out of carbon fibre with titanium ends and re designed the mounts so I can still fit the plastic trim pieces,



I happy with how it turned out and its much lighter than the ally one I had fitted before , will do the front one next,

 

[johnymd]

What a superb idea. I've always thought it a shame you can use these.

 

[uk66fastback]

Fantastic work, Atomman - a low run of these would go like hot cakes!

 

[Matt Berry]

Some more panel repairs for me

 

[uk66fastback]

Nice work ... love seeing new metal.

 

[Matt Berry]

Nice work ... love seeing new metal.

Hopefully have it all ready to go in for spraying by the end of January. Still can’t decide on a colour

 

[richiep]

Another delivery from Japan (this one creeped in with no duty charged. A win!).

A Harada intake (resold by Kameari) for 40-45 size carbs/ITBs. Very comprehensive kit and super quality. Has built-in return spring, really chunky rod, and the hardware for running either via stock bulkhead linkage rods or cable throttle.

This is actually for my red FairladyZ, but I’m going to get another for Dixie’s ITB stroker engine, running cable throttle on both. Originally the plan for Dixie was that I would use a Mangoletsi intake, but tbh, these are excellent quality, tried and tested pieces, and I can get two of them for the price of the full fat Mangoletsi with the cable setup and have change left over.

On another note, the JDM N42 head porting continues in the evenings after the kids are in bed. All ports now opened to size at the head face. Now need to match the internal sizes and finishes to the first two finished ports.

 

[richiep]

More goodies from Japan arrived (although bastard DHL have misplaced the other box with another one of those Harada manifolds in it!).

Kameari adjustable cam sprocket and a beautiful set of Kameari 89mm forged pistons for L20/24 size rods. These will be paired up with the MaxSpeedingRods forged rods and the Farndon billet stroker crankshaft I have to give Dixie a nice 3.1L bottom end underneath that JDM N42 head.

So, recapping, the engine’s basic spec will be:
L28 block bored to 89mm (either F54 or N42, sleeved for assured wall thickness; F54 is already bored to 89mm but needs sonic testing)
Kameari pistons
MaxSpeedingRods forged rods
Farndon 83mm stroke billet crank
N42 head, welded, 36cc chambers, big ports!
Tomei 46/38mm race valves
Nismo race valve springs
Nismo/Kameari/Isky retainers (depends on me finding a replacement for the one retainer missing from my Nismo set!)
Iskenderian .580 lift, 306deg cam
DCOE-style ITBs, Emerald K6 ECU
Plus other stuff!

 

[uk66fastback]

Oooo ... looks like lots of £££ there

 

[jonbills]

More goodies from Japan arrived (although bastard DHL have misplaced the other box with another one of those Harada manifolds in it!).

Kameari adjustable cam sprocket and a beautiful set of Kameari 89mm forged pistons for L20/24 size rods. These will be paired up with the MaxSpeedingRods forged rods and the Farndon billet stroker crankshaft I have to give Dixie a nice 3.1L bottom end underneath that JDM N42 head.

So, recapping, the engine’s basic spec will be:
L28 block bored to 89mm (either F54 or N42, sleeved for assured wall thickness; F54 is already bored to 89mm but needs sonic testing)
Kameari pistons
MaxSpeedingRods forged rods
Farndon 83mm stroke billet crank
N42 head, welded, 36cc chambers, big ports!
Tomei 46/38mm race valves
Nismo race valve springs
Nismo/Kameari/Isky retainers (depends on me finding a replacement for the one retainer missing from my Nismo set!)
Iskenderian .580 lift, 306deg cam
DCOE-style ITBs, Emerald K6 ECU
Plus other stuff!

That should be a great engine.

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

That should be a great engine.

A bloody quick one!

 

[richiep]

A bloody quick one!

That is the intention!

 

[status]

Are you still getting another manifold would it be cheaper to import two as interested as upgrading a few bits on the Zed over winter,

 

[status]

Tried me new wheels,bloody wheel nuts are too long so have to get on to Image today but happy they fit,should look the nuts when fitted

 

[johnymd]

Great spec engine Richie. I've also gone down the Maxpeeding (note no S) rod route. My engine builder wasn't overly impressed with them (poor machining with a floor where the cutter has jumped) but said as long as the engine isn't rev'd too high then they should be fine. You get what you pay for.

Do you think buying from Japan is an economic way of getting these bits?

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Great spec engine Richie. I've also gone down the Maxpeeding (note no S) rod route. My engine builder wasn't overly impressed with them (poor machining with a floor where the cutter has jumped) but said as long as the engine isn't rev'd too high then they should be fine. You get what you pay for.

Do you think buying from Japan is an economic way of getting these bits?

If you had an issue with a rod, you could have requested a new one, which they would have replaced, based on all the research i've done, any issues will be sorted, its worth paying for someone to assess them on arrival though.

It is an economic way. If you look at the price of their piston sets £7-800 depending on final spec, its about £3-400 less than it'd cost to get a set made in the UK. Thats for a fully tested and developed set, even with post/duty its less.

what other options do you get here?

 

[IbanezDan51]

More goodies from Japan arrived (although bastard DHL have misplaced the other box with another one of those Harada manifolds in it!).

Kameari adjustable cam sprocket and a beautiful set of Kameari 89mm forged pistons for L20/24 size rods. These will be paired up with the MaxSpeedingRods forged rods and the Farndon billet stroker crankshaft I have to give Dixie a nice 3.1L bottom end underneath that JDM N42 head.

So, recapping, the engine’s basic spec will be:
L28 block bored to 89mm (either F54 or N42, sleeved for assured wall thickness; F54 is already bored to 89mm but needs sonic testing)
Kameari pistons
MaxSpeedingRods forged rods
Farndon 83mm stroke billet crank
N42 head, welded, 36cc chambers, big ports!
Tomei 46/38mm race valves
Nismo race valve springs
Nismo/Kameari/Isky retainers (depends on me finding a replacement for the one retainer missing from my Nismo set!)
Iskenderian .580 lift, 306deg cam
DCOE-style ITBs, Emerald K6 ECU
Plus other stuff!

Hey rich, I mustn’t have been paying much attention but I didn’t realise you were going ITB too, which are you going for? The more I look at the Jenvey full kit the more I’m tempted.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

............My engine builder wasn't overly impressed with them (poor machining with a floor where the cutter has jumped) but said as long as the engine isn't rev'd too high then they should be fine.....

I thought that was a joke at first.....

Seriously?

If so what max rpm is your 'engine builder' recommending?

I agree with franky - you should get it replaced. Quality control is their responsibility not your's.

 

[johnymd]

When I got the rods I had a quick look at them and was very impressed. I bought them some time ago. When the engine builder was over my workshop and I showed him all the parts I had assembled, he looked at the rods and immediately pointed out the poor machining on them. He has built lots of engines with these rods and said it was pretty common for them not to be absolutely perfect, as the higher end rods are.

 

[richiep]

The rods will get checked over before use. For the most part, they've been used without issue if you look at feedback around the net though. If I recall, pmac and Steve K have used them in engine builds they've done and been happy enough with them.

ITBs - I'm planning on being a guinea pig and trying the Chinese FAJS ones out. They are essentially copies of the Jenveys. FAJS are a pretty decent operation though from what I understand. They are the manufacturer for EMPI carbs. They also make a range of Weber copies that can use Weber parts. I read an interesting thread on another forum recently where an FAJS IDF carb was bench-tested next to a genuine Weber and the FAJS actually outperformed it. So we will see.

TBH, the complete kit now available from Jenvey for Zs just seems a ridiculous price to me. I'd rather piece things together myself and try something different. Plus, budget needs to be directed into getting the shell treated, modded, and painted. That's the main priority for next year - have a finished rolling shell by the end of the summer, with summer 2020 as target for completion of the car.

Ordering from Japan: it's reached the point where I think its better than ordering from the states TBH. The performance parts are better, prices competitive, and ordering from RHDJapan/BidJDM allows for combined shipping. They will store your parts for up to 56 days, so you can stockpile and then have a consignment sent. The shipping prices via courier are actually way more sensible than the ludicrous USPS international rates that many of the US sellers use.