Alright. I know I have been slacking on updates guys! Im lazy. Also I have a bunch of pictures because everyone loves pictures. Anyway, continuing where I left off:
Like I mentioned earlier, Im replacing all of the bushings on the rear subframe to SPL. The bushing removal process was long, hard, and nasty like your moms college years. I burned them out and drilled out the rest. I thought my differential bushing was busted, but I figured out that it wasn't when I hit it with a drill bit. I had silicone fluid all over my face and had to clean it off of my Z and garage wall about 7 ft away lol. I havent put the bushings in yet because I have been lazy. I need to do my fuel stuff before I put the subframe back in anyway because it will be much easier to just drop the tank and work on it out of the car than to be cramped in the car working in limited space since its accessible now with the subframe out.
I finally ended up getting my stuff back from the machine shop for balancing. They told me it would be 2 weeks. It ended up being about 3 and a half. No biggie. Ive learned that these time tables are very fluid lol. After getting my stuff back from the machine shop I sent the bearings to Calico Coatings to be coated in their magical wizard powder. These guys are extremely professional and got them done extremely quickly. I sent them off and had them back within the week. I was very impressed with their company.
I started engine assembly shortly after I got them back. This was a tedious process because I'm a little obsessive about doing this right. I can't tell you how many times I checked the ring gaps and bearing clearances lol. Also I was paranoid about the head studs since they are the L19 studs. I was very careful not to touch them at all when putting them in, and after getting them in nice and snug my brother comes over and touches one lol.... I quickly cleaned it off, and moved forward.
I decided since the motor is out, now is the perfect time to do the JWT cams. The "kit" comes with new shims and springs. If anyone ever attempts to DIY cams, do yourself a favor and buy the JWT spring compressor tool. I used an old school spring compressor and had to use an O2 socket in order to compress the spring. It was a huge PITA, but I was able to get it done. Trust me on this, save yourself the headache and spend the extra money. Not to mention the cams didnt come with any instructions. Now most people will say, they are cams you idiot, you don't need instructions. Thats what I said to myself too. Well after I got the cams, VVEL ladder, rear timing cover, and most of the timing stuff on, I realized that when putting the new longer exhaust cam bolts through the cam gear that I had two little plugs left over in the bag. I looked on Jim Wolfs website and no mention of what they are. After some research and deductive reasoning I discovered that the plugs go in the back of the cams.... Idiot me. So I had to remove the rear timing cover and VVEL ladder and a few other covers, which really sucked the big one because of all of the RTV that needed to be cleaned. After a good 6 hours I finally made it back to where I could put the timing stuff back on.
So with the motor finally assembled I feel a breath of fresh air. I have started putting the AAM turbo stuff together. The lines on the turbos were a little confusing at first, but after some research and help from Ibenjammin, I think I've got them figured out. I will say that running the lines isn't very exciting but it needs to be done I guess lol.
Thats pretty much where Im at now. Just waiting on some fuel stuff to be ready with CJM before I place my order and start moving on that. All I really lack in parts is fuel components. Once those come in I can really start moving and putting stuff back in the car. Needless to say I'm pretty stoked. Most of the "hard" work is done. I know I'm a little wordy with these, but I want to share the whole story so maybe someone else can learn from my mistakes or from these experiences.
I have a few other things going in as well. I bought the EPS throttle bodies because I have heard good things, and since Im already balls deep, why not go all out on my little mild build. I also got the Greddy Profec whatever boost controller as recommended by Jon at Z1 and the Z1 34 row oil cooler since my last one was sold with the BP kit.
At this moment, my Z has been dead just 2 weeks shy of a year. Man I'm itching to get back into it. ZdayZ didnt help any. It killed me not to have it there. I also drove a friends stock Z a few weeks ago and it felt like a damn rocketship compared to my Rogue and Accord that I have been driving as a daily lol. I can only imagine what my Z will feel like once I get it going again, provided that it actually starts lmao.