A work in progress.

Ok so this isn't so much a build thread but more of a what I've done to the zed lately thread. Most of the work I've done to the car so far is with track work in mind.

Getting the rear end sorted
- Pulled the subframe and replaced the main bushes with alloy mounts.
- All the other bushes were replaced with energy suspension bushes.
- Replaced HICAS ball joints
- Cut the dust shields off.
- New wheel bearing seals
- Got a complete rebuilt diff that's had leader gears installed. Thanks Kieren.
- Put a seal kit through the rear calipers and a gave them a coat of paint.
- D-project camber and traction arms (had these for a while)




- Machined down the rear subframe spacer to 3mm and inserted a 5mm spacer under the front mounts for more squat, 11mm difference between the front and back of the subframe mounts.




- New centre bearing this is the old one..



- Installed a new Exedy cushion button clutch as well as the old one started slipping bad.

- Also put a new trans mount in while i was there.



Took it for its first drive in months today and well its a f'kn animal!! The leader gears really get it up and going. A Bit noisy with the alloy subframe mounts and the leader gears whine quite loudly. You can hear everything vibrate through the car now.

But that's ok handling wise it's awesome, massive improvement over what it was. Once the clucth is worn in I'll give it heaps and see if the axle tramp is gone. Had no problems frying first and second with the RSR's on the back but they were a bit cold.


thanks for reading

 

Great job and a great result.

 

Cool thread and pics. Its great to hear another Leader customer happy. Mine have been sitting on the shelf for two years now. One day lol.

 

gay

nah its not gay. I went the other way, I had leaders and sold them, bought a NA Cradle replaced everything in it. New wheen Bearings, New Adjustable toe/camber/traction rods, New Energy Bushes alround, New Hand Brake Shoes, New Rotors. The diff itself got a clean/paint and replaced the old fluid which stank like sh*t

 

I liked the whine of the leader gears when I had them, but I had new diff bushes installed so it probably wasn't as loud as having solid bushes lol. After a while I could barely notice the noise at all. Reminded me of straight cut gears though

 

What's the chance of a bit of video footage with the in-cabin sound?

Also, where did you pick those solid subframe mounts up from, or did you turn them up yourself?

 

Not a daily so don't mind it to much, makes it sound kind of tuff or to some maybe like the gearbox is fk'd.

Got them from coz but I decided i could improve them. If I were to buy them again I would of got the spl ones, gets the subfame right up onto the car only 3mm more than what i have now though.

Here is a sound file gives a bit of an idea of the sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvV6O2UMeZ0

Have to say the handling difference is amazing sits really firm on the road now and power oversteer is very smooth and predictable. It likes to step out at the top of second gear now

 

Sounds amazing. Diff noise sounds tuff :br:

 

great job mate, nice pics

 

A bit more progress of late.

Fitted ES bushes into the steering rack which was a right prick to do!!

Front lower control arms fitted with ES bushes.


Camber arms fitted with super pro camber kit giving 1 degree of adjustment, which should be enough plan on running -2.5. When UAS has there revised pivoting camber arms for sale again I'll grab a set.


New drift works tension rods.


One side down one to go tomorrow, then off for a wheel alignment. I think I have now replaced every suspension bush in the car.
Can't wait to take it for a spin

 

Where did you get this camber kit from and how much? I like the fact that it uses the standard arms if I could not out 1* of neg camber i'd be keen.

 

I needed something asap so bought them off ebay for $250 delivered, $100 cheaper than the whiteline kit. Bit of mucking around getting the old bushes out and putting the new ones in, but if you can do it yourself its worthwhile and cost effective. I'd say it took me 4hrs would of been way quicker if i had an air chisel.

Only problem I can see with these is the setting possibly moving if bolts are not tight enough, and have heard of people complaining that they squeak. I think they will be ok with the grease nipples installed.

 

Did you also install the grease nipples? Do you have an ebay link?

Cheers,

 

Nipples come in the kit just need to drill and tap a hole.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NISSAN-R...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3ee8a09a76

 

So bit of a progress update, not so much forward but more backwards. Wasn't 100% happy with my highflow turbo's even though I managed to snap the diff output shaft at the drag strip. But yeah motor and box now removed for like the 3rd time since ownership. Might paint the engine bay while I'm at it.



Here's a sneak preview of what's in the works.

Not that much bigger?


Booost!! Might need a beefier clutch now, they are GT28rs's

 

Ok progress has been pretty slow, not much motivation lately.

While I'm waiting to get the motor back I decided to give painting a go.
Here is how it turned out, not a pro job but better than what it was.
My phone camera doesn't do it much justice.




I finally got around to pulling the diff as well here is what broke. I pulled one out of my spare diff to replace it. Hopefully the centre isn't fried as I drove it from Ipswich to Wynnum like that, not a fun drive.

 

nice job on the engine bay, do mine

 

nice job mate, i also had the rear diff cradle out of my zedo and used energy suspension bushes all round, a bit of a prick as you said and alot of frustration but the end result is amazing on handling, its like a different car, well worth it.

 

I got a bit more work done this week. I bought a Quaife torsen LSD in the hopes of 1. less chance of breaking axles/output shafts. Quaife gives a perfect 50/50 torque split off the line, as opposed to viscous unit that needs a bit of slip on one wheel before it locks up and 2. quicker track times.

The Quaife centre is the exact same length as stock LSD and also the crown wheel is at the same offset, so its an easy install. No need to play around with shims to get the backlash and bearing preload right (mine was rebuilt recently and was setup good).

Since the crown wheel is still spinning on the same centre line as before, ring and pinion meshing will be fine as long as the backlash is the same after the swap.

Crown wheel and bearings removed, I re used the bearings because they are not that old.


Crown wheel swapped and torqued down with lock-tight, bearings pressed onto the new centre.


Centre re-installed into the housing all shims and caps back to original positions. Checked the backlash was the same as what it was when removed, 0.010" all good. I didn't bother measuring bearing preload but it felt good and the shims were nice and tight when I tapped them into place.


Just to check meshing is good put some bearing blue onto the teeth and gave it a spin. I'm no diff expert put the contact footprint is nice and wide and in the centre of the teeth so looks very good to me.


Now I just need to get one of the output shafts machined down to fit in the new centre and its all good to go. Needs to be machined down to the same length as the short one.


thanks for reading

 

looking good

my diff is also new so pretty much the same process .

although couldn't be stuffed doing it myself