Daily Driver No Longer

JARblue

Original Post:
Ok, I finally got serious about getting the Z out on the track. I've collected some serious parts over the years, and I'm open to any input from an experienced perspective. My goal is for the car to be street legal with a heavy emphasis on track performance. And since I'm not quite to the point where I can trailer it to a location (because I don't currently have a vehicle to tow with), reliability is the name of the game at this time. So while I prefer to stay focused on track performance, I don't mind sacrificing some to make sure the car can drive home after track sessions.

The vehicle has 100K daily driven miles. A lot of highway miles, but there are a number of hard driven miles in there as well. I change fluids frequently and never had any real mechanical issues other than a steering rack replaced under warranty at 80K, a broken fuel top hat, and a power steering leak fried my alternator.


Parts List:


UPDATE 05/2020
Oil pump gears are ready. Insurance is back on the car.

UPDATE 06/2020
Rolled the Z out of the garage for the first time in over 18 months. A quick spit shine cleaned her up nicely. Towed the car to Austin Z Clinic with the most of the front end torn down to minimize labor costs. Phase 1 begins.

Phase 1: oil gallery gaskets, oil pump gears, oil pan, oil cooler, crank pulley, thermostat, water pump, PS pump, PS cooler, coolant reservoir, intake, engine mounts, front sway bar, and front endlinks.

UPDATE 08/2020
Found some misc bits in the oil pan. Moving forward as planned. A good bit of the upper gallery gasket was missing when it was removed.

Phase 1 is complete.
Post #217



UPDATE 11/2020
Hydraulics went out so Phase 2 gets a head start.
Phase 2: dropped the car off at Austin Z Clinic for clutch kit, slave kit, transmission mount, and test pipes.
Driving like a champ now

UPDATE 12/2021
A Tundra backed into the Z while I was stopped at a light. It was at the body shop for 10 weeks for a new front bumper and hood. Not particularly happy with the shop communication or the finished product

UPDATE 02/2022
Got the Z back from the body shop and promptly put it up on a curb. That was 6 more weeks in the body shop for another new front bumper, new LH fender, headlights and a wheel

UPDATE 04/2022
The Z started knocking and smoking on the way home one day. Towed it to Austin Z Clinic. Had him replace all 4 accessory bearings, alternator, and spark plugs. Might as well move forward with Phase 3.
Phase 3: fuel assembly top hat and fuel starve solution.

UPDATE 05/2022
Phase 3 complete and the car is driving like a champ. Turns out the power steering fluid was seeping and dripping onto the alternator. Replace an o-ring but that doesn't appear to have solved the issue. Will be digging deeper. In the meantime, doing logs to update the tune with Eugene (Bythabay).

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