Cement
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Everything posted by Cement
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Yuuur not sure, I assume they put them in place pretty accurately ... I should have made a little jig to test them out hmmmm. When my new Powerflex bushes arrive i'll try and remember to check it out 👍 Made up the remaining lower bracket for the dry sump tank which is adding some piece of mind, although it was very secure with just the top mount installed. Replaced all of the shocks with the near new items I got from @Eagle, which is great as it has a go at a WoF today (essentially generation of another todo list probably hah). Drivers airbag was replaced this morning at BMW under recall but alas did not clear down the code there Will start a thread for that as will need to get it resolved. Completed the custom pool noodle intake tubes, could have spent longer getting them looking perfectly round / smooth but compromised to get things moving. Got a custom can of 2k clear satin to finish them up but ended up with a lot of pinholes for some reason. Still look ok, just don't inspect closely !! Finally got the air filters installed which is pretty exciting ... had to change out to some compact models as the original cheap pod's I got were never going to fit once the guard liners were in place.
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Yea, one of the few times I have been pleasantly surprised !! Would be keen to make up some jig and compare the spring strength to the stock item 🤔
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Got the sway bay back from Archers Auto Springs, paint job is a bit industrial (expected) but looks accurate to my mockup. Had it made with three holes per side with the middle being the OEM location. Mounts up fine and is a really great fit Stoked !! Pretty cost effective also at only $405.
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Got out for a drive last night to see if my oil leek repair had been successful and its definitely better. Got to and from the motorway on the test mission and made some observations: Driveline is smooth which is really nice Calculations seemed to be accurate and 100kph was about 2250rpm Really got to get the throttle response / idle sorted as it makes shifting and cruising at moderate rpm a bit pants It feels much faster than you are actually going, probably just getting used to sitting much lower plus the sound Radiator performs real well, showing about 40 degrees at radiator outlet to the engine indicating partial thermostat opening under steady state driving. Oil temp never gets high enough which I'd like to sort but really don't know how, most I saw was about 70 degrees at the tank Seems to pull fairly well, yet to get past 5k rpm as there is just a lot going on experience wise 🤣 Booked in Monday for the airbag recall at BMW then to see if the Nissan folks can do the idle air volume relearn process via their diagnostics etc. Got the PWM radiator fan controller mounted up in its little 3D printed box ... learnt that the power is on all of the time and draws about 100mA in standby so might need to put a relay in front of it. Works well though, highly recommend the controller if you need one Below some more snaps from the making of the intake tubes, the carbon sleeve was SO much better than trying to spiral wrap !! Peel ply applied and hung up to cure. Moved to a 100mm wide peel ply and was pretty well behaved to wrap. The PVC conduit pulled out of the tubes fairly easily once I softened it with steam again then it was down to getting the noodle and tape out. Made up a series of hooks out of 8mm steel rod with a sharpened end ... worked away until the mother load came out ... very satisfying. Test fitted the tubes and should work well ... once the filters arrive i'll finalise the length and make them pretty by painting on more resin, sanding back and clear coating. Also got the radiator fan mounted up with two bolts out of 4, bit floppy but functional
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Not stoked with how the glass layers went but it'll be workable and functionally good ... the trick now will be getting plenty of epoxy filler on and sanding back to a reasonable shape before the carbon goes over the top. Need some sort of oven or heating arrangement to cure things faster and also post-cure the finished product which is a good idea according to the helpful man at NZ Fibreglass Supplies. On a side note, the same nice man at the shop has just made a mold of an E46 (to confirm) carbon roof ... they made the first part off it and it looks super swanky !! He is going to give me a call when they make another ... super interesting !!
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Back on the arts 'n crafts jobs now ... reeeeeally hoping a nicer flow through the MAF sensors sorts out the throttle response / hang and idle. Decided to mount the factory plastic MAF tubes inline with the new tubes to keep things simple and have the diameter / sensor readings match what the ECU is expecting. Have taped the tubes ready for wax and composite ... located a chap with some carbon sleeves also which will be awesome as I can get two layers of flat cloth on then fill and sand etc then two layers of the sleeve to finish.
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Popped in the Chase Bays window washer reservoir finally which the WOF man will be happy about; its the lower one attached to its cousin the power steering tank. Also did a quick test of my steam punk noodle solution to make the intake tubes ... should work really well and super easy to get a bespoke shape out of it !! Only complication with the intake tube creation will be the MAF sensor tubes which are a bit smaller than the noodle so will probably end up integrating the factory plastic parts into the composite tubes.
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So I got out for another short drive this afternoon to try and get the idle sorted (no luck) and I can concur, its in need of the LSD alright !! Got my front sway bar mocked up this weekend, welding the spring steel is not easy (apparently needs pre-heating and other black magic) but it should hopefully hold up long enough to have the real item made. The wacky step in it will be some kind of bend in the real item ... unless they make it like the mock, which would be really funny ... but also really lame Yes, thats a piece of 16mm rebar in there to lengthen it a little hah. The source of drama around the oil pump plumbing ... will be a pretty tidy solution once made at least. Had to bore a hole in the bracket to tack the cut pieces back together at a new orientation. Ta daaaa ... what a thing of beauty 😆
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Hope thats Hirepool's problem and not yours now !!
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Ha, that was me on Treadme asking about the shocks 😂 I know my front left is pretty sad and will hold me up at WOF / cert time shortly. Online decoder says I have "S226 Sports suspension settings" for my 318Ci so should be perfect. Consider them sold, please PM me bank acc details etc ... are you in Akl any time soon ?
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Not sure if this is a bit controversial but I spotted ... myself 😆 First time in over two years parking the car any place but my garage, took a couple quick happy snaps to celebrate the occasion !!
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No LSD at present 🤣 Its the standard auto 330i diff with 3.38 ratio. Below is the comparison chart I put together (cell values are kph) to compare with the 370Z diff ... it will be a little longer all over but hopefully light enough weight to pull it off. Blue cells are the speeds at the previous gears redline to see where the revs end up. Also great news i can do 341kph 🤪 Wish I'd gone for the fronts also (got EBC's) for a matching set but should all look pretty fancy pants when nicely worn in.
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Exhaust is complete and hung up ... great result !! Bit concerned about the mid muffler and how low it may hang down, will see how it goes. Popped the 6 cylinder front sway bar up to the car and it basically fits !!! Statically at least, may need to still go custom just to get it away from some oil system plumbing but am unsure how much it moves about just at the moment. Also changed out all of the rear parking brake components while fitting the new DBA rear discs ... the second hand 330 items were pretty tired. Now with more exhaust, will be zoomin this weekend !!!!!
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Car is back in the garage and up on stands again so I can finally get the exhaust done. Got it complete and back on the car but not mounted. Sounds SO much better, only ran it for 30 seconds before rushing out the door. Will get a few more other bits ticked off (big ones are sway bar template fabrication and tracking some leaky oil fittings) while its up on the stands still before I can FINALLY take it on a little outing and get above 3000 rpm !!!! Have not even had the oil up to temp properly yet, takes ages with the dry sump system.
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I'm wondering if this blower fan is a common item on E46 (and apparently other models of the same era) vehicles which are not NZ new. It blows (or sucks) air through the engine bay electronics box. My car has not got one and I would like to get one as the Nissan ECU(s) are not usually mounted inside the engine bay. Anybody know if these can be sourced locally ? https://www.ebay.com/itm/265537637247
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New concrete is poured and looks great !! Will be able to give it the first test drive on Friday ... exciting times 🚙 Checked the laser cut profiles I had made post pour and it looks spot on.
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Made a fun time lapse of the concrete driveway / garage slab demolition
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Looks awesome !!
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Just more concrete demo work round these parts ... pretty heavy work, got a little setup going to drag the large slabs into the skip 🤓 Can't wait to see the truck to a wheelie trying to lift it !!
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Concrete demo weekend well under say ... pretty heavy and hard work !! The mesh is right at the bottom of the slab in the garage (as in, sitting on the polythene) so the saw cuts don't quite get all of it and then it rises up into the concrete in places soooooo basically the blocks are still tied together with the mesh mostly 😫 Instead of using the big breaker to turn the slab into small rocks I got a couple of log splitting wedges from Bummings and they work an absolute treat !!! Pound on those with the sledge hammer and it pulls the mesh apart no problem .... RESULT !!!
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Bump bump...
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Sweet I have race car at the moment then as no exhaust at all 😆 I get to about 2500rpm and have to button off as it sounds like the world is ending !
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Yea made a bit of a day of it, was a great excuse to catch up with people !! Have since driven it up the road and back, I think 1.5km in all now 😄 The idle is trying its best and does manage to settle around 1000rpm but its not quick at getting there and there is a small oil leak where the pump attaches to the filter block. So all in all pretty good ... really needs the exhaust pronto as its ultra obnoxious as it is and prevents much driving. Still progressing on other items and just today got the tacho working !! Switched from pulling the value from the Nissan CAN data and instead plumbed in the dedicated engine speed signal wire from the ECU (otherwise unused) to the Arduino. Bit of jiggery pokery in the code and it seems to be working like a champ now ... very pleased. Just need the temp reading now from Nissan land and I'm good to go. Will likely double down and get the Arduino to control the cooling fan relay also ... easy after what has gone before it. In other pictorial news the concrete mods are under way so I can get in and out of the garage ... got the skip and concrete breaker hire lined up for the weekend.
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And here is the money shot video folks ... no exhaust and a F1 'idle' to sort but no fundamental problems !! 2 years on stands and we are super close to being back on the road. I can almost taste the fossil fueled fun 😆
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Such progress ... much gains ... wow. Not many images but a lot of small items but important jobs sorted in the last few days due to the time pressure of hosting a party for the hopeful first starting 😅 Made a wacky steam generator which I will use to help shape my intake tube pool noodles with PVC electrical conduit ... another side project of significance !! Pretty tricky welding the super thin stainless complete with somebody elses left over food stains !! Made the required plate with new outlets for the heater and coolant bypass hose. Had to get to one tricky location to shrink down one of my fancy hose clips so made a heat gun attachment, got the job done !! Then onto the main event ... got the wheels on and the car lowered down for the first time in over 2 years !!! Looks so much better with a wash and not being up on the stands.
