GMballistic Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Very nice. Noticed you still have your Tax disc in your front window though, actually two of them. You can bin them now if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 Very nice. Noticed you still have your Tax disc in your front window though, actually two of them. You can bin them now if you like. I know - bit sad really. I still need a paper pass for work. I went for coordinated Richbrook TDHs when tax discs were still needed. Work might be stopping paper passes for ANPR style entry too, so all a bit historic now - but still shiny, can't bring myself to take them off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Come on then chaps, it's not that hard. S/C oil is changed with no dramas - pretty easy really There's just enough room to slide the dipstick out here. There is minor fiddlyness involved here, but only minor.. Meant to post this in here a while ago but totally forgot. When you say "minor fiddlyness" Chris do you actually mean "right pain in the ar*e!". My mate let me do my S/c oil change round the back of his house near his garage as he had level ground for me to use (pretty rare in Wales ). Anyway everything was going so easily until I came to that bl**dy dipstick. I found that thing was a nightmare to get in & out. In fact I'm thinking of getting a hammer or some sort of cutting implement this weekend to try and remove some of the metal near it so that it is easier to put in & out next time. Oh and I followed your guide thanks, ...apart from I filled it from the top vent plug as Mark@Abbey Motorsport said that's how they did it so if it's good enough for him it will do for me. All's running great so that's nice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Hahahah - drama queen person You just have to extract the dipstick into the void under the inner wing, then let it naturally rotate find it's way to the exit gap as shown above (assuming you've got no looms in the way etc ..I did spend ages repositioning looms when I did my install) peasy is easy Glad you got it done and glad you said ages ago as yours must be well over 2500 miles s/c by now Ahh the old vent plug - dipstick filler debate - see I was right after all if Mark stamped his approval, I'm happy (Go me ) Kudos for DIY Gareth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmck13 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Hi guys, did mine last weekend with my boy and found with the previous very welcomed info from Chris it was fairly easy. It was a nice clear view when the inner wheel liner was removed so the drain pipe and dipstick were exposed and with a little negotiation with the dipstick i.e. if you don't struggle and fight too much I wont break and bend you too much it came out with a little wiggle and witchcraft.The only difference I did was to use a small funnel that allowed me to pour the full amount in one go from the bottle into the dipstick opening that took a few minutes to fill up. No problems at all, like most jobs like my boy said the next time probably 30 mins with us both working together. Cheers Chris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Nice one mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Hahahah - drama queen person You just have to extract the dipstick into the void under the inner wing, then let it naturally rotate find it's way to the exit gap as shown above (assuming you've got no looms in the way etc ..I did spend ages repositioning looms when I did my install) peasy is easy Glad you got it done and glad you said ages ago as yours must be well over 2500 miles s/c by now Ahh the old vent plug - dipstick filler debate - see I was right after all if Mark stamped his approval, I'm happy (Go me ) Kudos for DIY Gareth I didn't have any problems with electrical looms in the way (mine runs the same as yours in the pic) it was just getting it passed that metal lip that I found troublesome. Hence my reason for thinking about trimming some metal off to give it a bit more clearance (or belting it with a hammer ). It did trip a little passed 2.5K as a local garage that an old mate owns let me down twice as I was supposed to be using their lift to make the job easier but in the end my mate said I could come & do it at his house where the ground was at least level so I just used my trolley jack. Worked out for the best as he made me a cuppa whilst I did it & we had a good chat whilst the oil drained. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Not sure cutting or hammering is really anywhere near considering - a bit one way that process Can't beat a cuppa whilst draining the supercharger oil - I had a cup of coffee emptying and another filling. Love coffee nearly as much as ale, me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I get what you're saying about the cutting/hammering but it's a useless piece of metal that's in the way imo. It would only need a slight modification like bending it down a few mm's or cutting off a few mm's to make getting that dipstick in & out a lot easier. We'll see though as I've things to do this weekend so may just forget about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) Holiday! Oh yeah ..what does that mean? Tinkering with the car of course. None of that desert island beach stuff here, oh no.. The American Rocking horse recycled some grass and Adrian@Torqen got it imported - A CJ Motorsport Stage 2 fuel return system with final edition fuel rails and flexible braided fuel pipe. This will be a joy to fit no doubt - fuel pipes can be a mare around the tank - but I do have a cunning plan to try to use the existing OEM fuel pipe link and AAM return line to pull the new ones through once I've dismantled everything... So on to dismantling. As I have some SuperPro in the post from CMS, I decided to make space for access to engine side pipes.. Jack her up with the excellent new jack from Costco - way too big to fit under, especially after reversing on to ramps, so a 3 jack method is required. Shame you can't appreciate the drive slope in the picture Before I knew it, this was off (very easy BTW - lots of ferrosol, easy does it with the breaker bar) Compression arms off via the Zmanalex measured bit of wood and jack method. It traps the ball joint from spinning. Separating the cone from the knuckle happened naturally when the jack was released. Initially, after removing the cotter pin and using a breaker bar, I used a 19mm ring spanner so I could see (and feel) any nut/bolt movement and I could apply just enough jack pressure to stop the bolt spinning without risking crushing the ball joint. Cones were fine for re-use, although one nut needed changing. It's best to start with a posh hex face socket on these nuts rather than ordinary sockets as the angle is a bit deceiving, and a fair bit of breaker force is required - jobs a good-un Tada. Easy. I used a G clamp to ease the bush end off the body stud. Little squeeze here, slack it off, little squeeze the other side, and the bush (and it's sleeve) move slowly down the stud. Gently does it and both arms came free without drama Makes for a very bare but very accessible Zed. As well as the bushes, I'm putting some power grid adjustable drop links on (the old, albeit only a couple of years old OEM links were a minor pita to remove) Just got to work out how to use my 6T A frame press to push the mahoosive compression arm bushes out - may involve buying some 60mm and 42mm sockets as drifts if I can't find anything proper. More destruction should happen tomorrow, followed by prep including removal of the surface rust (BTW it looks way worse in flash photos - it's quite minor in the flesh) painting, fitting the new stuff and re-assembly.. but maybe not all of it tomorrow Edited June 25, 2015 by ChrisB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Was wondering why you went quiet! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Practical mechanic-ery at last not PMs today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Almost zero progress today due to the 1 11/16 (or 42mm) rocking horse socket as a press drift debacle and bad planning on my part, but in case anyone ever wondered, you can balance compression arms like this: I thought I might as well primer and silver Hammerite the compression arms (and paint the under frame Hammerite red). Good old wire wheels, black and decker drills and dremels again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Rolling quietly along.. I'm starting to puzzle the CJ Motorsport S2 kit. No instructions available, but I did install the AAM basic kit previously. First of all, puzzle the mounting clips. I decided to whip the W brace off to get a better look. Here the pipe bend cover is removed. I have a nasty feeling that the factory fuel pipe has to be cut in two to get it out - unless I take the fuel tank out (which would mean exhaust, prop, rear suspension, plates, filler pipes etc etc all being pulled off - feck that ) A quick inspection of the other (easier) end - I need to work out exhaust heat free routing 'up the transmission bell housing' apparently Too hard for now. Thought I'd paint some rusty iron railings instead in my highly accessible man cave (NOT) Also of note is the age of these cars is starting to show. I spent ages scraping away and degreasing sills and underbody that is showing slight signs of the metal mite. As it will never be perfect, I'm going to use a layer of Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 then silver Hammerite. Lovely stuff Hammerite 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Whats in the S2 kit? Does it allow you to add fuel rails onto the AAM basic kit (something I have and would like to upgrade eventually) Looks like red is the in colour this year for under car parts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Whats in the S2 kit? Does it allow you to add fuel rails onto the AAM basic kit (something I have and would like to upgrade eventually) Looks like red is the in colour this year for under car parts I think Hammerite red and silver are cool The S2 kit contains the new 'V.fe' final edition fuel rails - with dampers and large bore pipes and twin parallel feed. The rest of the kit is FPR, return pipe and tank correction kit - which will replace the AAM (might as well - in for a penny), but the other addition with S2 is it swaps out the OEM fuel hard pipe. Charles has done an 'international version' which is a flexi pipe (1/2" bore instead of the 5/16" OEM hard pipe). Downside is it is quite fat - as are the couplings.. In theory, whole loop less restriction, better flow, best placed damping to remove local rail pressure spikes and drops, long term more healthy Oh - forgot to add - EPIC WIN Amazon - I ordered the Draper impact 42mm socket yesterday at 4pm and it arrived here by 11pm. Unfortunately.. EPIC FAIL Amazon: their micrometer is clearly rubbish - 59mm diameter it is not. 61mm it is, so won't do I've ordered a cheaper Sealy 42mm socket from Amazon now - allegedly 57mm diameter - Epic win Amazon - it's in stock from a UK supplier, and it's already displatched. ..but Epic fail Amazon it's estimated ETA is Mon 6th July (after my holiday ends) - WTF? One of those we're in the UK but in China really outfits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Yesterday was taken up with marriage friendly social events, but today is different.. so now it's stopped raining Stinky day.. petrol not paint this time. Into the fuel bucket for the THIRD time. Firstly, change the AAM regulator plug to a CJ one. The CJ plug has it's supplied O ring in a more sensible spot and a much more flexible internal pipe. Glad I bought a spare bucket O ring in advance as the old one got splashed again - it seems to be a good idea to buy an £12 O ring every time you pull the bucket out, as it always gets fuel on it however careful you are it seems Nice and tidy Anyone else monkeying with their fuel system, especially if you are going large with a stage 2 return system, a big tip is to take both your front and rear braces off first. It was a pita fiddling with pipes last time - it's been much more of a breeze this time with braces-off. Which leads on to the final bit of vandalism (and discovery of a bit more rust) that leads ultimately to a POINT OF NO RETURN... cutting out and destroying the OEM fuel pipe :scare: A new fatter 6AN not 4AN return pipe and an 8AN (1/2" not 5/16") will be laid in their place. Somehow But not today.. Peace, and may the fumes be with you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 After a lot of bump 'n grind with a wire brush, file, gasket scraper and damp microfibre on the sills and underbody, I applied the magic de-rust ingredient of Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80. The idea behind this stuff is to stabilise existing metal or un-flaky painted surface with a tough barrier and reduce any oxidation back to something metallic. Sounds good on the plastic tin anyway.. The camera flash still shows unconverted badness (BH has just been applied), but the surface took a lot of punishment, so must be stable enough for overpainting After a second coat and when that has done it's thing and set (a good 24h), I will overpaint with ...silver hammerite since I have bucket loads of the stuff.. The underbody paint is really thin in places, but the metal looks like it's good quality as rust is pretty only surface - but you can't be complacent with ageing metal Hopefully a barrier and more paint should keep the underbody half decent for the next 12 years then In the mean time, devastation has ensued at the head end.. When preparing the injectors with the funky new retainer clips, do them fully un-installed. It is not possible to click them in in-situ on the rails or with plugs on. Use lots of nice oil to moisturise the o rings too On the way to swap over - I kept the same injectors in the same spots Bit sad really. The OEM fuel rail is a thing of beauty - its just that it's bores are tiny tiny weeny, and the configuration of twin spur isn't really the best compared to parallel. Not only are the bores much bigger, the top of the range V.fe rails each have a damper installed right in the middle of the rail This little so and so caused me a bit of gyp. No way can it be tightened in situ without a lot of swearing, so it needs setting up before install. No instructions for this kit, and there are a number of incorrect possibilities (e.g. which way round the AN couplings go, where the bends are supposed to fit), so a fair bit of test fitting-dismantling-fitting is required ...and there you have it. I had to stop as at this time of day, the sun makes shadows black when in the engine (so I can't see) and shines straight in my eyes when underneath (so I can't see then either) Still no sign of the press drift 42mm socket, so hammeriteing and fuel feed pipe wrangling will happen tomorrow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I've melted. This morning was spent with a tub of hammerite silver and a totally destroyed brush.. Very stinky, and I have a gob of Hammerite in my hair now Anyway, back to the stage 2 FRS install..... :scare: It is done. The pipe is gone - except for a scrag end I haven't managed to pull out yet. Nevermind, pipes are provisionally threaded now. Anyone who's done this before knows what a t1t it can be - but it's much much easier with W brace off I will have to address clamps etc later. Pipes are roughly measures out while the paint dries ...oooo shiny... But then fecking disaster - seem's my kit's quick connector for the tank is incorrect. Unless I'm being dim, there is no way that this is directly compatible!! Until that is fixed, I have a dead Zed So close and no banana.... On the plus side, the 42mm socket has turned up and looks to be a perfect fit On the other hand, my press is a bit on the small side. I will have to remove the floating bars before I can get the whole arrangement in my press... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 (edited) Phew.. subject to confirmation, I think I've worked out how the replacement quick connector AN coupling works - I need to carefully modify the fuel bucket nozzle by grinding away at the plastic nozzle shoulder. Emphasis carefully - don't want to muck that up as it would require a whole new bucket Edited July 1, 2015 by ChrisB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Phew.. glad I didn't jump in and do that ^^ It appears I was being dim after all.. The quick-AN billet adapter is actually two piece - I had no idea that it unscrewed as the machining was invisible I had a email chat at 1am with Charles form CJ Motorsport, and he answered all my niggles and clarified a few routing quandaries Back to the quick connector; it does this: Petrol floods have once again stripped and turned to goo, the dynax on the petrol tank And.. Tada. Machining is obvious now Makes for a very nice strong connection I connected the TB and MAF back up then the battery for a test. I have an augmented fuel pump circuit which lets me power the pump whilst logging and displaying pressure for test and calibration. This let me check for leaks and set the 50psi - without the engine running, the vacuum reference is neutral atmospheric pressure. There were a couple of leaks when pressurised in the big couplings underneath, but they are easily fixed as they are AN - provided they are clean and seated correctly, just a tighten and we're good to go. There were no leaking seals in the engine bay Pulled No 2 plug out, spark electrodes look OK, fair bit of oil on the threads.. 8 months boosted so far Looking down the bore to the plug seat - you can see the plug oil seal leak just starting Nice clean piston crown though Bunged it all back together, and modified the EVAP pipe with a bit of spare fuel hard line - perfect fit Underneath there were dramas wrangling the new braided pipes. Man those things are wild. I had to chop out part of each clip to make a U channel for both pipes. The big coupling is supposed to sit so the 90 degree bend points toward the outside (not on the downward facing corner). Also popped the new rear Powergrid drop links on and started putting underneath furniture like the brace (in fetching red) and plastic covers back on. Temporary cable ties are training and retaining the pipes while the car is off the road. Keeps the pipeage junk out of the way until I can fix the clips properly. What it's like up that bit.. The new routing 'down the bell housing' leaves the fuel feed crossing under the cat (heat rises - so it's colder in front and below the cat). It looks exposed now, but when the front brace is back on, it will be secured to that for extra support. I thought I'd done a fairly good job with the Hammeriteing - clearly I missed loads and splashed loads (I hate painting ). My brush was a disaster afterwards - totally fubarred Bushes revisited tomorrow - uh oh.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) Wahhh!!! I have pushed the bush - twice infact! Playing in the background to get the Metal Warrior courage going* was the FREAKING AWESOME Two steps From Hell : Invincible I'm going to set up for 'performance' setting, naturally By all accounts, this is better * I had to modify my press to fit everything - it's OK, everything is in tension down the legs, and push rod remains in vertical compression And.. Gidday mates! Bonzer SuperPro banana bushes are fair dinkum Edited July 3, 2015 by ChrisB 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Super Pro are great quality Chris. Had mine for ages now and I'm sure you'll prefer the drive afterwards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Bit hot for all this, and we went out for pizza/wine and a visit to a bird sanctuary, so slow old progress today. It's been a tad surreal too. We had a thunderstorm last night, so at 1am I heard my car cover fall off - I had to go out in strong winds in a dressing gown and ugg boots to fight the spinnaker that was my car cover. Eventually got it on after chasing round the car pinning a corner only for it to get ripped off by the time I was the other side.. repeatedly.. people walking back from the pub were amused.. but I digress.. Bolt back has occurred. There are a few paint splashes and rough bits - and I missed an entire support that could have got treated but pretty tidy if I do say so myself Big ole fuel feed pipe rests nicely and gets secured like this (big cable ties are water proof and strong - and the pipe is not subject to any movement from the structure) I've fixed up the underbody hardline retainer clips with extra bolts to jam the clips in. Seems to work. System testing is promising - fuel couplings are pretty secure. Compression arm bush bolts take 140-170 Nm torque (wheels on the ground) which is very heavy - keep expecting bolt snap or nut strip Back in one piece, same old but different engine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Like the under body painting. Looks very smart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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