ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

These next pictures are for Scott, aka @signcrafter , as he was asking how I replace the spark plug tube seals.

I grab a corresponding driver from my ATM EZ-Driver set that will allow the seal's bore to be supported.


Then place it under the rocker cover around the seal.


Here you can see the driver supporting the underside of the rocker cover.


Next a punch is used to drive the seal out of the bore.


One down, then rinse and repeat.


Three seals removed.


Then place the driver on the opposite side of the cover and flip the cover over so it is supported.


With the cover supporting the outer seal bore the seals can then be driven into the rocker cover. Care must be taken to ensure no other protrusions are damaged or disturbed so take the time to support or stand-off any other components before driving the new seals into place.






This next bit of tool **** is for Scott. You know you need this set, don't tell yourself you don't.




Thanks for looking.

 

[Jgaz]

Mike, Do you wait for the engine sealant to ”skin” at all before the cover instalation?

 

[signcrafter]

Mike, I could have swore you were in industrial maintenance but sure seems like you would be a great salesman!

No doubt I need it, along with a lot of other tools. It's a daily shuffle of priorities of new tools for upcoming jobs. Doesn't help that I have people asking me to do a wide variety of work from auto repairs to residential and commercial jobs construction jobs. So tool funds get spread out all over the place and trying to frugally(is that even a word?) piece together the shop at the new house. Need to run boxes and conduit for electrical and start getting that wired up for the compressor and other machines. Going to do that next week along with running the water lines so I can get the electric pressure washer I mounted last year up and running.

I've wanted a 3D printer for a long time now and haven't pulled the trigger because it's kind of a toy, but a useful toy for shop projects and organization. While it doesn't take much for me to buy a new tool I usually need to justify it to myself with upcoming jobs. Especially when it's that expensive for something I won't use all that often, although you keep showing uses for it in your posts. Need to look into my truck rear end more this next week and see if I can tell for sure what is going on. That will be my justification for the ATM kit. Until then I'll just have to keep admiring it in your posts. LOL

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, Do you wait for the engine sealant to ”skin” at all before the cover instalation?

Jim, no, I do not let the sealant skim over.

That being said, I make sure to give myself enough time to completely install and torque the parts or they wait until the next day. Once I begin I don't walk away and do something else nor do I even answer my phone. My process on anything of this nature is to have all of the fasteners cleaned and at the ready, knowing which holes specific fasteners will need to be inserted, wrenches and/or sockets for the specific task sitting there cleaned and ready. I then give the component receiving the sealant a wipe with brake wash on a towel, then apply the sealant, then give the mating surface a final wipe with rag and brake wash before mating the part with the engine, installing the fasteners and snugging them down followed lastly by torquing the fasteners.

Mike, I could have swore you were in industrial maintenance but sure seems like you would be a great salesman!

No doubt I need it, along with a lot of other tools. It's a daily shuffle of priorities of new tools for upcoming jobs. Doesn't help that I have people asking me to do a wide variety of work from auto repairs to residential and commercial jobs construction jobs. So tool funds get spread out all over the place and trying to frugally(is that even a word?) piece together the shop at the new house. Need to run boxes and conduit for electrical and start getting that wired up for the compressor and other machines. Going to do that next week along with running the water lines so I can get the electric pressure washer I mounted last year up and running.

I've wanted a 3D printer for a long time now and haven't pulled the trigger because it's kind of a toy, but a useful toy for shop projects and organization. While it doesn't take much for me to buy a new tool I usually need to justify it to myself with upcoming jobs. Especially when it's that expensive for something I won't use all that often, although you keep showing uses for it in your posts. Need to look into my truck rear end more this next week and see if I can tell for sure what is going on. That will be my justification for the ATM kit. Until then I'll just have to keep admiring it in your posts. LOL

I completely understand Scott, I just had to poke the bear and give you some ****.

 

[signcrafter]

Jim, no, I do not let the sealant skim over.

That being said, I make sure to give myself enough time to completely install and torque the parts or they wait until the next day. Once I begin I don't walk away and do something else nor do I even answer my phone. My process on anything of this nature is to have all of the fasteners cleaned and at the ready, knowing which holes specific fasteners will need to be inserted, wrenches and/or sockets for the specific task sitting there cleaned and ready. I then give the component receiving the sealant a wipe with brake wash on a towel, then apply the sealant, then give the mating surface a final wipe with rag and brake wash before mating the part with the engine, installing the fasteners and snugging them down followed lastly by torquing the fasteners.





I completely understand Scott, I just had to poke the bear and give you some ****.

I know Mike, one of these days I'll get one in the shop. Keep posting pictures of yours for me to enjoy until then!

 

[zmotorsports]

I didn't get much shop time last night due to it being lawn edging, trimming and mowing night. But I was able to get a little accomplished.

The engine will get a complete oil and filter change after it is back up and running, but being a little low on oil when it rolled into the shop, I figured I'd pour some over the cams and chains before installing the cam covers.


Then a little dab of sealant at the intersections between the heads and front timing cover.


And that is where I left off last night. Cam covers installed and torqued, coil packs installed, some wiring moved back in place and the water pump and upper outlet reinstalled and torqued to spec.




Thanks for looking.

 

[M.Brane]

Seeing you work on that timing setup makes me wanna hug my gear driven cams.

 

[zmotorsports]

Seeing you work on that timing setup makes me wanna hug my gear driven cams.

What do you have gear driven cams on? I'm assuming nothing modern automotive or if so, import European?

 

[M.Brane]

2 Honda VFR800s, and 3 Ford/Navistar 6.0 diesels. Everything inside the VFRs is gear driven except the oil pump which has a tiny little chain, and sprockets. A little humor from the Honda engineers I think.

 

[zmotorsports]

2 Honda VFR800s, and 3 Ford/Navistar 6.0 diesels. Everything inside the VFRs is gear driven except the oil pump which has a tiny little chain, and sprockets. A little humor from the Honda engineers I think.

OK, that makes sense. Bikes and diesels lend well to gears, modern automotive with engine management systems, not so much.

 

[bowtiguy]

OK, that makes sense. Bikes and diesels lend well to gears, modern automotive with engine management systems, not so much.

Can you give us a little insight as to why? I’m just an SBC, Lotus LT5 , LS kind of guy, but I’m open to learning new things.

 

[zmotorsports]

Can you give us a little insight as to why? I’m just an SBC, Lotus LT5 , LS kind of guy, but I’m open to learning new things.

I think it's twofold and both from an engineering perspective. First is that chains are much quieter than gears, especially when combined with UHMW type of guides and followers. Then there's some of us who built engines using gears not only for the more positive cam to crank timing, but also specifically for that gear whine.

Then there's the issue with knock sensors. The gear to gear mesh will "rattle" a bit and that can trigger the knock sensors to retard timing.

I learned this the hard way back in the early 90's when I built a small block Chevy to much of the same specs I had built dozens prior, but this time I combined it with a tuned port GM setup and fought trying to get it dialed in and eventually learned my ignition timing was all over the place. Speaking with my good friend and mentor, we came to the conclusion that the knock sensor was sensing the slight gear rattle, thus retarding the ignition timing randomly. Lesson learned and years later I spoke to a gentleman at SEMA who had confirmed the main reason chains and belts are used in place of gears.

I've still used gear setups on a few builds over the years, but they've been carbureted engines.

 

[M.Brane]

Honda had a clever solution for the lash issue: https://v4dreams.com/shop-blog/cam-gear-tech

For the 98-01 FI bikes the cam drive was moved to the side for a more compact engine. The drive is still quite loud which is one reason they went back to chain in 02 i.e. noise emission regs, but for me that's part of the sound of a VFR along with the flat plane crank 90° V asymmetrical firing order. Music to my ears.

 

[zmotorsports]

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I was able to get the Buick completed and out of the shop over the weekend and the owner seemed pleased with the results.

Friday evening I was assembling the car and I just simply couldn't put the wire loom back together like this.

Next thanks to @bryson for showing me a wire loom tool that I didn't think I needed, this dang forum , I ended up purchasing one from my Snap-on dealer a few weeks ago. I used it for the first time over the weekend to cut a wire loom apart as it looked hideous and I couldn't put it back together looking like that.


That looks much gooder.


I then moved on to installing the new harmonic balancer so I could button up the lower portion of the engine bay. This is where I left off Friday evening as the wife arrived home from work and we could begin our Friday evening relaxing together.


Saturday morning after a few cups of coffee and watching it drizzle from the deck, which was very pleasant and we very much needed the moisture, I finally headed out to the shop to complete the car.

Serpentine belt installed, engine mount installed and vacuum pulled on the cooling system.


Seems to be holding so no leaks were evident.


While allowing the cooling system to sit in a vacuum for a few minutes, I moved on to prep the intake manifold for installation. The throttle body looked like it needed a good cleaning. I cleaned it 30k miles ago, but it could use it again.


My cleaner of choice for cleaning throttle bodies.


Spray a little on a rag.


And thoroughly wipe the inside of the throttle body and throttle blade.




Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.


I noticed upon teardown that the coolant surge tank had recently been replaced by someone other than myself and upon teardown, I saw a small leak from the original plastic coolant line. When ordering parts for this car, I noticed that GM offered a revised version of this coolant tube in steel rather than the original steel one so I added that to the order.


The revised tube still retained the original quick disconnect coupler for the upper coolant housing.


and also came with the original style of hold-downs for the tube across the intake manifold. Looks like it's been there the entire time.


Airbox going back in with new Wix air filter.


There were a couple of small plastic retainers on this project that had crumbled. Upon reassembly and using zip-ties to attach wire looms to certain brackets, I like to use my flush cut pliers to trim them short and eliminate those sharp pointy edges that end up cutting a person when working around them. I pull them snug before cutting flush, but not so tight that they squeeze the loom and create a bulge in them as that looks terrible.


Once cut, I take my finger and merely roll the cut end around to the backside of the bracket.


This leaves a nice smooth looking appearance without that ugly looking cut end.


Another one I used the same process for along the back of the engine. Granted it would be better to have the OEM type of wire loom connectors, but there are so many used that it would be next to impossible to have a full selection available. This works well, but I may order a couple different versions of the OEM styles just to have on hand.


Vacuum pulled on the cooling system again so I can vacuum fill the cooling system.


After a couple cranking sessions with the car in "clear flood" mode to prime the oil pump, I fired the ole' girl up and she purred like a kitten. Just smoked a little bit from some spilled coolant and oil on the bank 1 exhaust manifold and cat.



Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

With the car idling and warming up so I could do an oil change I cleaned the engine cover.


After an oil and filter replacement, a short test drive and back in the shop, I installed the freshly cleaned engine cover.


Ready for the owner to pick up.



While waiting I began the arduous task of cleaning and putting tools away.



The owner of the car seemed quite pleased, especially after showing him and his wife the few little extra details I did on the car. I feel very blessed to have some of the clients that I do. It's nice to feel appreciated after a long and tedious job such as this rather than having people dispute the bill or criticize the work performed like I hear from other people and/or shop.

Thank you for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

A few pictures from the deck over the weekend during morning coffee. Some of you asked to see pictures of my poor looking lawn this year so here they are.


Saturday morning during out nice little rain storm. It drizzled most of the night and into mid-morning Saturday. A nice saturating rain.


Sunday morning a different story. Beautiful blue skies and crisp morning air with the birds singing in the background.


The lawn is beginning to come back, but it's got a ways to go. The water restrictions this year are taking their toll on my yard.




And if anyone is interested, I did a short YouTube video showing the measuring and diagnosing the phenolic washer issue I mentioned at the middle of this cam phaser project on the Buick/GM High Feature engine.

 

[moab11]

I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing their lawn looked that "rough" Mike. It will come back around again, enjoy the beautiful scenery until then.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing their lawn looked that "rough" Mike. It will come back around again, enjoy the beautiful scenery until then.

Thank you. It looks rough to me and it's hard to enjoy looking like that because I know what it "can" look like.

 

[larry4406]

That wire loom cutting tool looks just like the tool my mom had in her sewing kit for undoing seams on clothing.

 

[zmotorsports]

That wire loom cutting tool looks just like the tool my mom had in her sewing kit for undoing seams on clothing.

Yes, that is exactly what I have used for decades, just a standard hem cutting tool. I posted the one I use several months ago when working on a Volvo and @bryson showed me the Snap-on version.

This stinkin' forum just ends up costing me more and more money every day.

 

[Finallygotit]

This stinkin' forum just ends up costing me more and more money every day.

Costing YOU money!!! Last I recall, you're a pretty good enabler, sir.

 

[zmotorsports]

Costing YOU money!!! Last I recall, you're a pretty good enabler, sir.

 

[signcrafter]

Costing YOU money!!! Last I recall, you're a pretty good enabler, sir.

These next pictures are for Scott, aka @signcrafter , as he was asking how I replace the spark plug tube seals.



This next bit of tool **** is for Scott. You know you need this set, don't tell yourself you don't.




Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

I had had my Jeep on the lift for the past couple of nights giving it a once over and yesterday pulled the truck in to go through the connections on the controller for my Amp Research power steps. They've started acting up intermittently. We'll see if that does the trick.


I checked the torque on the chassis fasteners and a few of them moved just a small amount, so I removed the paint marks and then I shot some paint on a few areas of the Jeep frame that were showing signs of needing to be touched up.



While the chassis paint was drying so I could remark the fasteners with a paint pen, I was curious about the cam phaser that was making noise in the Buick so I thought I'd tear into that before it went in the garbage. By clamping in the vise and grabbing the reluctor with pliers, I could move the components independently of each other very slightly, and while doing so, I could hear the clicking or slight rattle coming from within the phaser. That must have been the noise while idling.


My wife found it hard to believe when I told her I didn't have the correct socket for the 5-sided star. I figured I would just knock the coating off the heads.


And weld some 3/8" nuts to them.


Remove them with a wrench.


That worked perfectly and didn't cost me anything, so no new tool needed.


Inside cover removed.


Which revealed the oil chambers and vanes as well as the internal locking pin.


This is the internal locking pin.


It was very slightly loose in the pocket from wear. I'm assuming this was allowing the movement and therefore the noise.




Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

This morning before the sun came up, I wanted to check on the sprinklers to make sure there was adequate coverage. Lawn seems to be improving.




I still have a few areas that are trying to fill in and need some more time, but it's looking a little better each day.

 

[PugetDude]

This morning before the sun came up, I wanted to check on the sprinklers to make sure there was adequate coverage. Lawn seems to be improving.




I still have a few areas that are trying to fill in and need some more time, but it's looking a little better each day.

Needs gravel.

 

[zmotorsports]

Needs gravel.

There is gravel Scott, don't you see it? Much more than last year.

 

[PugetDude]

There is gravel Scott, don't you see it? Much more than last year.

Just a starter kit.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I took my daughter to Vegas for a volleyball function.
We were amused when overhearing locals talk about what color rocks they have in their yard.
Absolutely no grass, just a color palette from Mutual Materials I guess.

 

[PugetDude]

I took my daughter to Vegas for a volleyball function.
We were amused when overhearing locals talk about what color rocks they have in their yard.
Absolutely no grass, just a color palette from Mutual Materials I guess.

Xeriscape/low water consumption landscaping is an accepted part of living in the Desert Southwest.

 

[madison069]

Xeriscape/low water consumption landscaping is an accepted part of living in the Desert Southwest.

Growing up in West Texas, the family yard was just sand with random patch of weed and prairie grass. I raked that yard more then I cut it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Xeriscape/low water consumption landscaping is an accepted part of living in the Desert Southwest.

Accepted........Accepted by who Scott????

 

[LXCam]

Accepted........Accepted by who Scott????

Well to start with..

Scott, Dan, Ryan and meself

 

[zmotorsports]

Well to start with..

Scott, Dan, Ryan and meself

Well, I may have to quit hanging around here with such riff-raff with that kind of thinking.

 

[madison069]

Accepted........Accepted by who Scott????

Growing up it was only the rich who had the yard full of grass, nobody could afford the water bill that comes with a grass yard in the desert. I had multiple mowers on my truck for different yard types. One was the nice, leveled mower for the grass yard, one was the nice but not perfect for the sandy and weed covered yard with stickers, or sand spurs as some folks called it, all over the place. Didn't want to use that mower in the grassy yards and transfer those stickers! Then there was the mower that was beat to hell but still worked which was for the yards with random rocks that popped up while cutting or the back alley that gets cut twice a year.

The grass yards were steady weekly cut yards and I got paid well. The sandy weedy yards were cut every two weeks just to keep the yard looking ok and was mostly social security income family so $20 was the standard charge back then. The random yard with rocks and alley were the violation noticed yards and they either paid $500 fine or paid me $140 to cut their little alley. Hence why I also had a mower collection in my back yard as I went through mowers when cutting those stupid yards with rocks and trash. You would think weed whacking the rocky yard would have been smarter, but I learned my lesson when I had to replace my first house window due to a rock got kicked out from the string trimmer. Mower didn't kick rocks up as high as the trimmer did. No matter how well I thought I had the yard picked up, there would be some random junk that got missed in the thick weed patch and the mower would take a hit.

 

[madison069]

I also don't remember anyone having secondary water sources in the town. It wasn't till you were out of the town where folks had well water and it seems like those folks had the greenest grass around their house. So, your option to have the second source of water for cheaper is something I never seen before.

Honestly, I'm wondering why folks in the desert doesn't collect more rainwater for their yards. We didn't get rain often, but when it did rain boy did it pour!

 

[zmotorsports]

Northern Utah isn't the desert that most people think of, we are a "high desert" terrain with a semi-arid climate. Yes, we get warm (into triple digits), but we also get quite a bit of snow, at least in typical winters with temps in the teens.

Growing up in the country everyone had "fair" looking lawns. I thought they were quite nice at the time, but based on my point of view now I would call them fair at best. Green? Yes, but a lot of other things mixed in, such as weeds and other things that grow and eventually get cut on a normal or routine basis.

My dad had a pretty nice lawn, but I wouldn't consider him rich by any stretch of the word, at least not most of my childhood. Yes, he had property, but we weren't rich and not much liquidity. He did take pride in what he had so I think that is where I got that gene from. As I grew up on a farm with no curb & gutter, but a ditch out front separating the street from our yard, I swore when I got off the farm and was able to have my own place, I would have freakin' curb & gutter and a beautifully green lawn. Maybe in my mind that is how I view that I have achieved my goals.

 

[ntsqd]

In some places there is a ticket that comes from watering a lawn. Others only get the ticket if there's run-off, but that's like farm country where they get mad when you irrigate the county road.

 

[zmotorsports]

In some places there is a ticket that comes from watering a lawn. Others only get the ticket if there's run-off, but that's like farm country where they get mad when you irrigate the county road.

Here in our local municipalities if you go over your allocated water usage there is a ticket and warning issued the first time and the second time the water is shut off for the remainder of the season. They've cut our allocation by 20% this year as well as two months off our watering season due to our dismal winter snowfall putting us in a drought situation. Next week we will hit our 25% for the season (for this season anyways) and as of today I am sitting right @ 11.5% of my allocation. I am trying to underuse with milder temps so when July and August hit with the higher temperatures I can increase time per zone and still not go over my allocation. It's a balancing act to minimize water usage all while trying to keep a green lawn, but I have learned a lot by "tweaking" my system over the past few years. I also think that I am not the norm when it comes to tracking it so closely and making such adjustments. But when I pull into my driveway and see my yard I do feel a sense of accomplishment that I am trying to be a good steward of what I have been blessed with. Even with the amount of rocks I had to add.