Another Car in My perpetual S12 ownership machine

Started by SC S12, 05:28:17 PM / 20-Jun-13

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SC S12

Mainly starting this as a nice place holder and place to dump pictures and details as i get to things. Hoping to at least get her in good driving condition in a few months.

a small back story.
Purchased a KA swapped 86 turbo that was not quite what the owners thread here made it out to be. I went ahead an purchased it, got it running but lost the drive as i wanted to make it into something it was not, i wanted a fully factory looking car and due to lack of interior and messy wiring and stuff, and a small budget i decided to scuttle the car and move on. (sold locally to a new guy on the forum)

I had recently driven to Georgia to look at an 87 SE that seemed (a bit) nicer in the pictures. But the price was low for a running car but still high given some issues
they or the previous owner had replaced the stock engine with a z31 engine and in the process messed up some stuff : distributor is borked, valve covers are on the wrong sides, and she burns a bit of oil (at start up she puffs like a diesel, assuming its valve-stem guides like most Z's) There is some minor parking lot collision damage that i will need to work on, the car was repainted ( and they didnt take any moldings or anything off... a macco special i assume)

Its saving grace is an almost nice interior, and new breaks all the way around , calipers lines pads and rotors... which is why i convinced myself to set foot in this en devour. She ran and drove nice other than the stock shocks are long past gone, the oil in them most likely sludge, wheel bearings in the front are shot, but the VG really hauls compared to my CA, and returned 30 MPG on the 3 hour drive home.

Plans are to start with the engine mechanical, Pull the motor, check everything out, fix what needs it, clean and paint everything up all pretty and then move on to other things.
Want to follow in the footsteps of others and make myself some adjustable front coil overs, fix the rear ride height and drop her down a bit, clean up the exterior etc.

Commencing Photo Dump











Yes THE VALVE COVERS ARE REVERSED.... i dont know how someone did that and didnt notice...



Johnny_boi


SC S12

Quote from: Johnny_boi on 06:13:02 PM / 20-Jun-13
Clean ass car. Who MK1 in the back ground?
Thats my 86 XE, my pride and joy, and as stock as can be other than a new head unit

night_s12

I have a center garnish if yous wants. Nice ass se tho
"speed limits are like herpes, you can never get rid of them"-Jeremy Clarkson
Quote from: EightySix200SX on 10:33:26 PM / 11-Mar-12 Going places knowing your driving something you won't see every five minutes is priceless
1988 200sx SE-ROXY
1987 200sx xe hatch back - Shelli(sold)
2002 mitsubishi lancer OZ rally- daily driver - Flow(traded for SE)

SC S12

seeing as how the fenders and bumper cover were borked i pulled them today.
Passenger fender is silver it looks like, and the drivers was red <.<... meaning this is at least the second wreck.

LUCKILY there does not appear to be any stresses in the inner fenders or the radiator support so she was never hit very hard. Just parking lot damage i suppose.

Any insight into the wiring of the engine harness ? it has ductape on it and that scares me







READY for the engine to get unbolted/plugged and to come out...now to bum an engine lift


Refinished a stock wheel (dented and paintless) to test out some Duplicolour wheel paint, actually a really close match so i know what ill be doing on the XE in the future...


And a little fun with the lights, since the set of MK1 light i got from the yard are chipped and fill with water blowing the lights.

punkguitarz66

dude I love that first set of rims. looks tight, like the Star Wars Empire symbol haha

rednucleus

What's the plalstic tank in front of the left front wheel?  Stock??

MasterSpazez

You're the other guy in Charleston with an S12!!!! Wicked! Glad to see you picked up a SE, too.

SC S12

Quote from: rednucleus on 07:39:39 PM / 21-Jun-13
What's the plastic tank in front of the left front wheel?  Stock??
Its part of the Windscreen fluid reservoir, it is connected by some really thin clear plastic tubing to the main tank.

Quote from: MasterSpazez on 08:05:37 PM / 21-Jun-13
You're the other guy in Charleston with an S12!!!! Wicked! Glad to see you picked up a SE, too.
I assume you are in Charleston too with the white V6 200sx? i heard about you some from Brian (crx, toyo truck,  and integra) and also from the Brian with the silver s2k
well at least if you are him Nice to meet you
Quote from: punkguitarz66 on 06:49:32 PM / 21-Jun-13
dude I love that first set of rims. looks tight, like the Star Wars Empire symbol haha
the stock wheels are so ugly, trying to balance my budget for some black 92's for it, and ill be rocking the mesh turbo wheels on the white car when they get back to me.

seishuku

That tank is for the rear window sprayer, se only thing.
Matt W.
Daily: 2015 Ecoboost Mustang
Previous Daily: 2011 Camaro V6 (tree fell on it)
Previous previous: 2013 VW Jetta TDI super polluter (got bought back)

SC S12

More updates on two fronts.

First of all the V6

After taking off the messed up valance panel, and the headlights, all seems to be in order !


Look at that > nice and not dinged !



even the wiring is okay, no splicing that i can find





Now for more issues
I new the dizzy was loose and cracked, but i failed to realized how badly crossthreded the bolt was <.<



Im sure the timing is WAY off as you can smell gas all the time as it runs



*****************************

ISSUE IS BEING RESOLVED WITH MY BUYER : information as to the person in question removed

SC S12

Some updates :

progress has been slow, helped a friend fix his bimmer 2 days in a row cutting into my weekend work time.
Used some of my free time to see about getting stuff powdercoated  (stock turbo wheels, valvecovers, intake plenums/manis etc)
OF course the colour ( a titanium tint coat )powder i want they only special order, so additional cost there, parts need to be bead blasted ...more cost there... meh not worth it)

Compression test is seemingly good
1 = 192 psi
2 = Plug either fused to block, or was cross threaded (they didnt use any anti seize copper grease, or dialectic on the plugs or..anywhere...)
3 = 205 psi
4 = 197 psi
5 = 200 psi
6 = 200 psi


all are alot higher than the 173 specified, i suppose the combustion chamber HAS A LOT of carbon build up. the plugs i got out, 5/6 were black fouled, wet with both fuel and a bit of oil.

Suppose i will be redoing the heads, replacing the valvestem guides.

SC S12

UPDATE :

Plug #2 had be put in with no anti-seize grease, and they didn't clean before putting it in, getting grit or sand in the threads. After setting for a few days with PB blaster it was slick enough to remove.

Compression is good at 205PSI so it looks like luckily i wont have to do a total rebuild.

However the smoking means i might have to take the heads in to get new valve stem guides, and get the valves seat reground : anyone got a good price range high to low on that ?


and pics from a cell phone for that terrible grainy look

The even plugs, note the one clean threaded plug, it had 'grit' or sand or something in the threads that along with the PB cleaned it right nice
And it was running CRAZY rich.


And valve covers off : dirty in there, i dont know why people dont ever change oil at normal intervals, its cheap insurance and then i dont have to deal with inky black crap



The collector was not even hand tight, so there appears to be some leakage and dirt build up between the gasket and the manifold and the collector side of things


And last but not least, stripped the valve covers down to bare metal, and recoated them in high temp semi gloss silver for that nice factory fresh look (and before anyone says anything, i vasalined the oil cap threads to keep them paint free



SC S12

So after pulling off the plenum, i found that the injectors were, well 2 of the bolts to hold them in were MIA.
tried out a new set of injectors on a rail for a Z31, and damn did it look nice and clean ! Unfortunately, the injector harnesses were EPOXIED to the injectors, no metal c clips to be found ... couldnt get the harness off without breaking it, so out go the new injectors and in go the old ones.


a little bit of rattle can to keep any more surface rust at bay on the inner fenders, sadly the spray from a 5$ appliance epoxy black, is smoother and glossier than the paint on the exterior of the car.


Got a new dizzy coming in soon, and new front suspension. However i really like the way that the oil shocks feel on the front other than the dive from the oil degrading. Anyone got any links to either rebuild kits, or how to properly restore them back ? the thickness of oil in them etc ?