Mr. G. Brettin's Slow Motion Leg Hump

gbrettin

Well, after a bit of debating with my self... I'm going to jump in and post some of my build progress, again... version 2. It's hard for me to relive this mentally and I didn't care to post this initially, I wasn't out thrashing on the road and I had a pending court case (which I won). I had a major set back earlier in May where my OEM VLSD rear diff turned into a peg leg and I went off the road into a swamp... all the way in. (see picture). No one was hurt, and ultimately that is the only thing that matters to me.

Yeah, I'm lame and beat the sh1t out of myself. I took the term break in miles far too literal. If you feel the urge to joke about this to me, I probably wont find it funny. ... well... First thing I said to the cop on scene was "I can't park there, right?". Anyway, I think the context is important as to why I'm going through the build again with pictures, which is why I offered that information up. I'm taking it in stride and want to make my car better than before fixing issues that I didn't like. So much for having a clean titled Z.

Moving forward...

The last couple months has been jack stand life and poking around the car to see what I need to do. Immediate issues were addressed: draining the water from my car, rolling over the engine over with some oil in the cylinders, change the fuel and testing electrical (BCM worked perfectly). During that time insurance was pretty reasonable to deal with and I ended up buying my car back from them because they marked it as a total loss.

Since then I've been getting a list of parts/purchasing parts. The more I dug into the engine the more stuff I saw that I didn't like, mainly swamp water coming in through the valve breathers. I made the decision to pull the engine and transmission to get them fully serviced. The short block was taken to Baker Engineering for main studs, light cylinder hone and an inspection. The 4L80e was taken into Capizzi Automotive to have the clutch packs redone and a billet sprag put in. Heads were taken into Irwin Engines in Kalamazoo to have the valves inspected and loaded with BTR .650 titanium retainers (SK703). Remember when the timing was out 180deg? Well, that bent all my intake valves slightly, not surprised about this.

I'm trying to nail this build down exactly how I want it. Both the transmission and heads will be dialed in to spin 9k RPM. The twin intake was removed and sold to Bryan Settle (way better for his build) in favor of a Shearer Fab ULP air to water which has shorter runners to support higher RPM and to remove a TON of weight off the nose... which also cleans the clutter. A Motion Raceworks Billet merge will for simplified boost tubes to the plenum.

Wheels have been upgraded to Nismo 57cr Clubsport 19's with r888r on the front and the rears are getting the same but in 18's with MAC Fab beadlocks w/ Mickey Thompsons.

So yeah, lots going on. I'm looking to have the car back up and running Dec so that I can get the car to Sick Week 2024. I'm not entirely sure if that is going to happen but I'm certainly attempting to give it a go.

Current progress has me to the point where I need to replace the rear subframe with my new: Sikky Subframe, Winters Quick Change, DSS Axels, SPL components (most of the rear), IDS drag shocks.

The engine and transmission will return in November... I think. Shops around here are backed up.