the rewire is just about completed, just need to tidy it up here and there and get started on the write up/photoguide to go with it. few more side projects to post up too, plastic welded/shaved cam gear covers and fan shroud, new sway bars and new rear ball joints (urgh). starting my new job on monday in the marketing/sales area, 55 hours a week so I will have considerably less time to donate to the build, but conversely more money available to start the motor and bay work. bit anxious to see how it pans out with the car so we'll see.
it's been a while since I put some new content up. there are two reasons for this; firstly, my new job has me working some pretty serious hours and my spare time is no longer plentiful. secondly, I realised I have about seven different ongoing projects for my zed (some of which I have posted about, some I have not) and that I need to start finishing more of them before I take on more, haha. however here's something new anyway. I snapped up a pair of whiteline sway bars from gumtree a week or two ago and am super happy about it. the OP said he didn't know what brand they were, just that they were the last good bit left over from his car when it went to scrap. yellow bushings are sort of a no brainer lol. $120 pickup for the lot, 18 months old. I was going to go with Stillen bars as they are rear adjustable, but for the price/convenience I'm more than happy to give these a go. they weigh a god forsaken ton (literally twice as much as the OEM bars, more than 9 KG for the front one alone). if Stillen bars are also hollow I'd be mighty tempted... depends how stiff I find these. they do look especially pretty next to the VeilSide caster rods -A
In my experience the whiteline bars are pretty decent bang for buck, but yeh heavy as hell. Also, i dont know if you are aware or not but roadranger (the company that makes whiteline/nolathane products) is stopping producing those urethane mounts in yellow. It will be black once all stock is sold out and have the same material hardness as the nolathane ones. In other words, no more glaring yellow bushes.
I have these swaybars and I felt the rear one did alot for my car and at $120 your winning! I dont run a front sway bar but yeah the front whiteline bar is REALLY heavy. you got a pretty cool suspension setup. hope you got good insurance.
One I put the SPL tie rod ends on the front will be done for now. I'm pretty happy with the set up. Just the photo Ross.
well now that I'm employed, a motor. in a few weeks I'll be putting in a decent CZP order with some 1mm oversize pistons, bearings, full ARP stud kit, gasket kit, 100k service kit and all the other odds and ends required for a basic forged rebuild. I'm looking into having the rings, bearings and possibly crank WPC treated. UAS will be putting the donk together. basically right now I need to finish my various projects before moving onto the engine bay. stuff like the timing covers, rear ball joints, last of the wiring, modifying my bonnet, tuck plumbing, wheel well clean ups, catch can install, dashboard repair and a few more. when those are taken care of I'll have to get myself a welder and start on the small holes on the bay before it goes off to my bodywork guy to for fabrication, welding and final smoothing before he paints it. some of the projects such as the bonnet and dash repairs I'll probably leave for myself to do while the bay is being worked, as he'll have the car for about six weeks. when it's back, motor will have to be finished, chassis foamed, interior refitted and it'll be back on the road. something like that anyway, haha.
it's going to be a fun few months. another quick photo to show that I am still working on the wiring how many looms you know flow like this? that's all that's left of the passenger side OEM loom now that the fuse/relay boxes are inside - headlights, indicators, horn, parkers, AFM, fog lights and that's it - now, the whole loom on either side can actually be detached from the front end -A
the long section that won't be moving is covered in conduit, the ends where flexing is necessary have braided sleeve. quick close up pic of the other side and yes, it looks super nice IRL haha. -A
Looking a lot better than the times I saw it, haha. Made heaps of progress. Is the entire look wrapped up now?
thanks guys. yeah, the whole loom in the interior is connected and wrapped up now. it is insanely close to being completely finished. more small news. I picked these up last on Saturday, one of those right place at the right times rare opportunistic purchases which really makes me tick The Robs will be pleased about this. Genuine Specialty Z 3" expansion dumps to replace the crappy Tuneagent ones I had previously. unfortunately this means I'll have to make up some new tucked front pipes again... might look into some oval pipework into some new downsized cats. I can't help but think how easy it would be to cut out a portion from the divorced section, weld on some V-band flanges and have twin screamer pipes reversible in half an hour without even needing to remove the dumps from the car... -A
another small update and a new "worst preventative maintenance job ever": changing the rear outer HICAS ball joints. Ended up removing the whole knuckle, axle and LCA assembly and taking them into work after screwing around for three days at home trying to get the ball joints out with the wrong tools. the inners however weren't really difficult at all. found a monumental 4-5mm of play between the pair of inner ball joints - tyre killer! explains some horrid toe wear I was starting to experience, so I'm glad I went to the trouble. nice shiny new toe linkage assembly update on this post too, 235/40 front federal 595s are being sold tomorrow (driven on twice haha) and I'll be going to some 235/35s. getting rid of the rake resulted from having staggered wheels with uneven profiles front/back to even out the rolling diameter. going lower on the front!
